The Nevada journal., 1860-03-02
D o G T O W N
Where IL as, and What it is, and the
People there.

trading-post on the south branch of Walkers
river is known, and is just the place one would
imagine from the name-less the pack of nou-
grel ours we would picture, in all the glory of a
free fight before the door of the principal ss-
loon. This town contains, or rather, consists of
some half dozen huts and shanties; two of these
are "stores," another is, or was, ameat market.
One of the principal buildings on the principal
street, is a store of goods" as we are informed
by "shingla" above the door; and is built of
whip-sawed lumber, placed upright, with a fat
roof. As this roof was something of curiosity
to me, and as may give hint to some one in
search of cheap roofing material, I will give
the receipt for making this " cheap roof" I be-
lieve it is not patented:
Get lot Of polcs--no matter how crooked
and lay across your walls in the manner of joist,
spread over them lot of old gunny-bags and
sugar-mats; now pile on a few inches of earth
and cover the whole with lot of thorny brush
to keep the hens from scratching holes in it, and
you have not only cheap roof but one that is
highly picturesque-very suitable for
"A cot in the valley love-.
n. B. Sugar mats are not particularly insist
ed upon in the above roof, but gunny- bags are
indispensable.
Now let us take a7peep at the inside of this
store. In front of the door as we enter is a
ties, cans-of fruit and boxes of yeast powders.
In one corner is pile of rice mats and sacks,
with few hats of the umbrella style, for the
Chinese miners.
You have now seen the greater part of the
"stock in trade" of this establishment Now
look to your right and you will see large fire.
place, filling nearly the whole of that end of the
room, and lowering over few faggots of sage
brush, which yield sputtering and ftful fame
you will see n woman" A woman ?" YES a live
woman and the only olive" white woman Wis
ible in the Dogtown horizon. The Old French
woman" they call her, and this Is her store
her "store of goods" Come when you will,
you will find her covering over the elnbers. She
alwaysh has that same old black shawl about her
shoulders with her hands folded under it. She's
always cold. always shivering and always bare
headed, with her black locks struggling about
her neck and shoulders. She always has on that
black worsted dress, highly glazed in prominent
parts, with service and grease. She has always
a finger or thumb "donc up" in roll of dirty
rags, on account Of felon. Now she has both
of her thumbs bandaged on account of feloni-
GUS disposition manifested by them, which she is
bound to nip m the bud.
Is tie end Of her muse always so red ?" Yes,
always so, always red; it's owing to living so
near to perpetual snow. Only four or i've miles
west from her "store" snow lives the wear
round, and she can see it from her door every
day In the year-pOor woman no wonder her
nose is red; your nose, my nose all our noses
would be red if we-if we should live there
As we enter she leaves her place at the fire and
steps behind the little bar, casting an inquiiin
look on us, then giving glance at her row Of
bottles, we shake our heads, and giving us a look
which says as plain as words !" I am disgusted
with you," she moves off toward her chimney
corner. Her brandy is of the most malignant
type, and as for the drink she calls "kersha
wasser,' it is among liquors what the minnie ri
file is among guns. We have come to buy some
-four, sugar, and other articles in the grub
line, we make known wants after the follow
ing fashion, as she has learned her smattering of
English of her Chinese and Spanish customers,
and we talk no French: Got um flour? "No
fou', me no got re fou'." Got any sucre. sugar?
mon sucre. no got nm su-gare." Any rice,
Cknaman lisa? All wee. ees, me plenta lisa,
heap, moche" How mucha one poun'? "Two
poun' hap, one dolla." Have you pork or bacon?
" Non poke, no any ba-cone." Any coffee p
Plenta caf-feep How mucha? "Two poun'
hap, one dolla."
But bark what means that whooping and
shouting? We run to the door--it's the 'train'
coming in, the long ng.looked-for & Sonora train"
Not a train of ears, brt " mule train,' fifteen
or twenty animals, all told, mules, asses and
horses, and ten or ffteeL men, some are drivers,
the rest miners on their way to Mono Camp
We arc Ia luck, we buy our grub of these itine-
rant merchants, and save few dollars We
give eight good dollars FOR fifty pound sack
of flour, but never dream of the fine, plump
lot Of worms, half q finger in length, included
in our purchase. Amt there some tall swearing
done among the miners within the ensuing week
about bread making time? IOu bet! Among
the crowd of new comers we notice youth with
just sproutiRg moustache, who has violin
beneath his arm, which he has carried all the
way over the mountains. He has just come up
from San Francisco, where he landed from the
last mail steamer, and no doubt secured his fa-
nous "yaller fiddle" at some auction, at n tre-
mendous bargain. Little do we dream, as we
gaze on this innocent looking pine single fd-
die, with its lions head, of the shrieks, the
groans, the sereeches. and agonizng walls, lying
dormant within its "yaller skin," only to be
poured forth when darkness has settled down on
the low, sandy bills and sage-brush fats of
Twin Pine Greek, and we are trying to compose
ourselves to sleep. Wasn't there bad language
used in connection with the name of that instru-
iHeut Ol ydlier melOuy NO wonder the
strings broke! no wonder the gaping mouth of
the :" roaring and furious lion" was found filed
with CONCEALED talow !
But the train has gone on toward Mono Camp
and will leave our q stuff at Twin. Pine Camp,
so we will look about us little. We are now
standing in front of the French woman's
storc; before us to the south, at the distance of
three or four rods, is Walker River. You don't
see it Z" of course yon don't! 1 can hardly see
it myself and know where to look for it, it is
but three or four feet wide and about as many
inches deep, for we away up near its head.
You see that patch of snow on the side of that
big black mountain, four or five miles off to the
west! Well, that is near to where Walker River
heads, and the snow never entirely meits away
up there. Across the river from where we stand
and some forty rods up the stream, is "tother
store it is built of quaking ash poles planted
close together in trench, in such a manner as
to form the walls, which are plastered with mud,
and the whole topped out with roof of shakes
There is nothing for sale at this store now the
owner is "going over the Mountains " to 'win-
ter and has "driel up"-even to the last of his
whisky is gone There is one house here with a
roof of raw-hide; his roof might be made into
soup in caseAof famine. We have now seen
the town, we will next take. a look at the mines,
for it is at near this place that all the Walker
River mining and gassin gewhs done before the
Mono diggings were struck, since when but few
whites have worked here. The "Celestials"
have found their way here, and the omnipresent
"John may be seen rocking away perfectly at
home From what.I could learn they have new
er found "bed rock. in these diggings, and all
the work done heretofore has been in the top