Weekly Trinity journal., 1876-05-13
LOCAL HISTORY

historical sketcn OF every town and county
in the country, to be prepared by some
one selected for that purpose the sketches
thus read to be preserved in the State,
National and local archives. There will
be an interest attached to sketches of the
character asked for which, if they are
confined to The subject matter indicated,
will give to them value far above that
possessed by the usual style Of patriotic
oratory. 1t will be "new departure {"
from the general line of addresses, whose
authors have heretofore sought to COM
memorate the day by recalling the deeds
Of heroic daring the lofty principles ;
the unselish devotion and other noble
traits exhibited by the men of rs in their
struggle for their liberties which have
descended to us. And such was the line
OF oratory looked tor by the audiences
which the occasion brought together.
There is u love Of country implanted in
the heart Of every man, and that love
seeks 10 manifest itself in recalling all of
the past in which that country glories /;
IN seeking to pierce in the imagination the
clouds of iuturity and with wish that is
" "lather to the thought, " predict in the
ages yet unborn an upward and onward
career ior the land he loves. The dry,
minute details Of history even when pre-
sented in the most attractive shape are
barren of interest compared with patri-
otto thoughts clothed in patriotic Ian
guage. But the history, when perused
after the joyous ebullitions of the day has
passed, will then assume its proper place
and become II source Of both pleasure and
profit to the reading mind.
In the preparation Of historical facts,
the Older States will possess advantages
Of which the people Of California will be
unable to avail themselves, no:withstand-
ing the omparatively late day Of its set
tlement, The Old Thirteen can date from
a period long anterior to the revolution
with greater facility than can the people
Of many mountain town Of California
|
quarter OF century. The traditions of
the settlement, the struggles, the reverses,
the growth and prosperity of every little
Eastern hamlet were recorded while yet
the actors in the drama we're living, and
the searcher after historical facts has but
to turn to these records for the intorma-
ton he seeks. And in the States of the
West, the pioneers, the men who rolled
back the frontier line, redeeming the land
from its savage pOssessOrs and laying the
foundations Of the Empire to the center
OF the Contnent-were men who took
with them their wives and little ones,
their househould gods, building their
homes on the spot where their children
grew to maturity. Their narratives of
the struggles and triumphs in which they
were the victOrs is iutermingled with our
country's history, or handed through
their descendants to the generation of to-
day. But no such condition marked the
settlement OF the mountain counties of
California. The acquisition of its territory
WAS almost contemporaneous with the
discovery Of gold, when at once the tide
Of emigration began to pour into it from
every quarter. 1T was not like the un-
broken line pushing steadily toward the
setting sun, which marked the settlement
OF other States, not moving with house
/ hold gods to build up homes in the new
/ Ell Dorado. The tide which flooded here
from every quarter was animated by the
one tbought-to work, get rich and re-
turn to the homes which had been left.
No thought of permanent residence filled
the mind, and nothing was farther from
the thought of those constituting the i'm
migration OF 1S49. Their only thought
WAS like that of the Virginia settler when
god was believed to be discovered there.
which the quaint historian of the time
says was to "dig gold, wash gold, refine
god and load gold" In their search for
the precious metal they were guided in
too many cases by the widest rumor,
leaving spots where each days work
yielded little fortune for the mere hone
OF doing better. Such were the men to
make hi.tory, but not the ones to record
it. Their every day life passing from one
point to another would, if properly written
up, esent features Of equal interest with
the Biographies Of Boone, Dale, Kenton
and many other of the heroes of the
Western border. But they have passed
away and We know nothing of them or
OF thelr deeds but what is handed down
to US III the doubtful traditions of the
mines. Take our own county of Trinity
as a sample. Or the thousands of brave
spirits VINO, flushed with youth and am
blllon, climbed the steep and trackless
ridges OF the Trinity Range in search of
the new gold field which Reading discov-
cred, wllhln year from the time the dis
covely WAS made known, how MANY can
be found within Its limits at the presnt
day. Not one that we can call to recol-
leOtion. We have the traditions of their
discoveries, OF the places where thew
found the gold so plentiful that steelyards
were used to weigh it, but OF who thew
were, when, where and how thev labored
they have kept no record.
what Is true of us is equally true in
regard to localities OF the mines. The
tide of miners settled in some favored
spot, cities were built with speed paral-
lelled only ic the tales of the Eastern
! magiclAns, for time hundreds and thou
sands Of busy miners delved and pros.
pered. and then The towns were deserted
and suffered to decay, their late denizens
scattering as they had came, to the four
quarters Of the universe. 1T was not unit!
population began To assume a permanent
character, wren men began to bring their
Families here, to rear homes for them
selves IN the wilderness where they could
literally hope to sit in the shadow of
their own vine and fig tree," that our
local history Is taken out of the realms of
lladi'lon and can be deemed worthy OF