The Shasta courier., 1860-01-07
Horsetown Correspondence.
HnRsErowS. January. ls6


EDIToR COURIER :-Horsetown has been one
the places you hear of-and still is. In the
good times OF '54 and '55, that mountain wave
of prospectors, whose eddes rest not, poured
upon it, surging with energy, and it rose like
phoenix from the-alkali; but the billow afore-
said dashed in vain against the impassive gran
lite of Slush, Hill, and was thrown off, broken
fnot dispirited to meander in a thousand rip
pies through all the regions of the North, and
Horsetown slightly 'wilted." Since then it has
experienced many yicissitudes of fortune Some
times, animated with hope and "good pay" it
has dreamed of a successful contest for suprem-
acy with corporate Shasta and again, chasten-
ed by adverse experience, it has exerted all its
energies to avoid the fate of Tyre and Middle
town. And yet, in defiance of the lapse oftime,
in spite of the Pixies Peak excitsment-of the
Fraser river depletion-of the Cottonwood exo-
dus-though its founders have departed though
its streams have been lifted from their parent
bed-though its very hills have been torn from
their bases, it still lives and-esta perpetua.
VIEWED AS A MILITARY POSITION.
In taking a general view of this neighbor-
hood its advantages as a military position are
not to be ignored. The most obvious of these,
in consideration of the threatening state of mat
tiers at the North, 70 say nothing of Mexco,&~
of great Importance, more especially should the
threatened difficulties at Gas Point break out in
open war, and the victorious Diggers attempt
demonstration against Shasta. | am led to be-
lieve that it is upon this strategic line the most
favorable stand for defence could be taken Let
me recall to your remembrance (as officer of
e1perience,) the topography of this interesting
| field The Creek, for miles above this
place, flows through rocky canon which can
neither be bridged, scaled, nor jumped across
and is therefore impassable At the point where
the creek debouches into the fiat is built a
splendid bridge, founded upon the solid bed
rock, and protected by tste-du-pont construct
ed and manned by COL B., of the rilemen
which doubt not he would make good against
Zouaves, rifed cannon, and Louis Napoleon
himself tunless, indeed they paid their toll J.
1t is true, the creek is fordabe lower down, and
that our defenses would not stand long against
N~---O-'-@Sj
ordnance in line-though, doubtless, the zeal
and activity SO conspicuously displayed during
the " Shasta war" would soon remedy this de-
feet. But still. the great, impregnable defence
of Horsetown, on which her citizens could con-
hdently rely, is, that it isn't worth taking.
TOUCHING IT'S WHISKY.
Akin and naturally following the war subject
is the whisky subject and certainly the preva-
lence and popularity of this Subject" around
here is remarkable. l think the operation of a
Maine Law would affect our business communi-
ty considerably. Like Falstaffs sack whisky is
the one great item in our bill. Our Commercial
centre" is composed of one barber shop, one
butcher shop, one apothecary shop, and thirteen
whisky shops, or places where whisky is sold
but not exclusively. The universally of the
business plainly shows either very generous con-
sumption of the fiuid or very generous profit
on what is actually consumed. A philosophic
| inquiry into the cause of this state of affairs
might show that it is in great measure owing
to the relatively high price of water not of
course that the miner could substitute the ar
Is,
perhaps in ground sluicing-but the outrageous
and sxtortionate sums which be is forced to pay
to cast-iron-conscienced monopolists for the use
Of Heavens freest gift and his first necessity, by
shutting out almost his last hope of successful
labor, like other crushing expressions, leads him
to seek resource in the dew Of hell, viz ,rhisky
ITS LITERATI, MANUFACTURES, &C.
In members of the liberal professions Horse
town keeps pace with the times. We have one
lawyer, two physicians, several "Doctors"-wth
fair supply of bummers, funny men, and those
who " "shooae re card, beside es a number of
professors Of religion, who claim that title,
though, like some of the other learned gentle
men, they can claim little else. But notwith-
standing this circle of literati the arts and SCI
ences-with the exception of the production of
China brandy Zone of the fine arts makes but
little progress, and manufactures are quite un-
known. Our horticultural interest, including
fruit and cabbages, is in a aourishing condition,
though am sorry to say that our worthy pio-
neer in the fruit raising, Major McGee, has been
for some months extremely i'll, from which his
| hulnerous ifleHuS Will De RlaQ 10 near ne Is now
fast recovering:
| YR MINER
Our camp contains some forty or fifty miners
that useful but singular portion of community,
which gracious Providence has apparently
created for the sole use and benefit of ditch
owners and bar keepers yet in spite of their
unfortunate position and ungrateful and ungrub-
ful services, they wear look OF manly indepen-
dencs in comparison with the " ducking obser-
wants who feed upon them, that would almost
lead one to believe that virtue is its own re-
ward. The producing classes of society resem-
BILE spreading oak on which these trading
parasites fasten and Feed, Haunting their gaudy
flowers and perennial green in the sweet face of
Heaven while the passing crowd, overlooking
the rugged stem from which they draw their ex-
istence, gazes upon their pilfered greatness and
inhales their odors with delight Well, well,
maybe the angels have better smellers.
The length of this document prevents the in
sertion of some tabular statistics which have
prepared, touching our social, political and pe
cuniary condition, and which l hope to make
public soon, when, if they are not read with