The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1858-12-09
way TO our country, that ne might yield up
his breath, and be inferred On the banks OF
his beloved stream"
What sI,osa Fraxer River.

constantly osciIlating between opposite ex
tremes- constantly rbourding from some
dicnlous exhibition Of exaggerated credo.
lily to some still more absurd manifestation
Of impracticable skepticsm.
ia the spring the report spread through
California that rich gold mines had been
discovered along the valley Of the Frazer
river. The facts which had been long 10
possession Of the British Government, came
sufficiently well attested TO induce u series
Of explorations to verify the statements Of
the irst DISCOVERIES, and the evidence re-
luctanty cxtorted from the agents OF the
Hudson Bay Company. Their success kin
died tbs already growing excitement in Cal
iforuia into blaze. 10 few months between
thirty and forty thousand adventures had
rushed to the new III Dorado. without any
previous knowledge Of the country to guide
their explorations Without provisions or
tenemenis; and prevented from reaching
the pioeers where report had fixed the con.
cealtd treasures Of gold, by an unusual
frcshet where inundated the banks Of the
rivers and converted its currents into innay.
igable torrents, large number Of the adj
ventnrers were subjected TO great priyations
and disappoin'men's. and months wore on
without developing the expected riches, at
least on the expected scale. The towns
which sprung up at what was supposed to
be the most favorable points Of departure
for the interior, and which had been theatres
of the widest speculation in real estate, and
had been built u)on the most extravagant
expectations OF rich harvest Of gold, soon
ceased to afford the prospects Of rapid for.
tunes which their projectors had INDUCED
IN. In fact the whole experience of the
crowds that thronged irto the new field Of
adventure. was precisely analogous to tina,
Of the first emigran's to California in 1850,
except that the suif rings Of the Califor-
MA emigrants, crowded into q country uE-
prepared to receive them. was much aggra.
waited 10y the distance which separated them
rom oil possibility Of relief II cannot have
escaped the observation of the newspaper
reader that, from the ii rst, there has been n
disposition on the part Of the California
Journals to give 10 every casual instance Of
pr'vation and every individual failure in
the experience of the Frazer river emigranls
u much wider Interpretation than it would
bear Indeed, it is very doubtful whether
the reports Of Frazer River matters which
fen,h che A,i~"''" seshoe-j, eomlng as they
do through Californian channels, ought not
to he taken cum g,dno sails. These re-
ports, up TO the present time, arc mainly to
the III ct that little success has as yet ut
tended the search for gold, aud that the
California mines pay better TO work than
those OF Frazer River. II il u pregnant
lact That, notwithstanding tloc assertions
which are duly reiterated ty the New York
J urnals, the accounts cmanaing from
Frazer River itself give much more en-.
onraging view OF the matter, aud Instead of
the stories OF deserted towns and returning
mIntr' and general dependency which i'll
the California papers, we are presented With
pictures OF n prosperity 50 general. and OF q
success IN mining so extraordinary, if not
50 uniform, us would almost lead to the sup.
position that these opposite accounts relate
to regions entirely iIiput At any rate,
il viii be obvious TINT California has u
deep interest in d,prcciatipg the attractive.
ness Of he Frnzcr River min,s which. in q
few months DREW n such crowds fr, m its
population rs to make serious decrease in
its product Of gold aud the JEALOUSY with
which il had witnessed the emigration from
the Atlantic scaboard going pas, San Fan
CISCO 10 Vancouver thrca,caug to build up
u successful rival 10 It's supr, macy on the
Pacific may well explain the umlorm tone
Of d,parag,m,ut which Las marked the
comments of the California journals on the
! Pr"Sr'ss OF itS ampItl'us ntlSbbor.
The uortheru agl tat on Of Pacific Rail-
road 10 fugvi's Sound, which would asst
rcdIy give 10 that point The asctrdcucy in
the Pacific now held by san Francisco. We
NAV he sure has had 10 +, n c; u diminish
irg l's JEALOUSY Of IA success which implied
80 significant a mtuacr The mercantile
mt rcst ri New Work too. il SD iultrwtvn
with that OF California. that the tone OF tie
New York journals upon this subject IS a
r,c. >ssry SqIcno Of th' 81 intimate relations
We th'nk, then, We mly safely predict
that the r,yu'sion IN FrsEr River s,ocks
which HIS taken pace IN California, and
which ha. bcen duly improved tor the trne-
81 at Eas,,rn readers. il a. gruundtss az the