Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1877-02-24
" MORMON GULCH. !"
The Story of the First California
State Election.

The "reminiscences of California
pioneer are thus graphically detailed ii
a recent issue of the San Francisco
D0iLy- Eucning BuUetin:
If L do nOG mistake my reckoning the
rain and election day came together
Tuesday, November 13, 1949. IT was
the first election in California for the
State officers of the country's youngest
sister of the Union, and the rain was the
first Of that rainy season. It was
damp day, but it was far from peing &
dismal or a dull day in our camp. We
were in cold Tuolumne, in camp
then noted for its richness and excep-
tionally free from the wild, lawless and
tragic scenes which too often, in those
days, brought to mining camps an evil
name, and desperate characters to make
the game worse even than the name. It
was known as Mormon Gulch, and was
situated about four miles from West Van
Benschotan's noted camp on Woods
creek, and eight miles from the Sono-
ranian camp (now Sonora), which was to
the southern mines then the same as
Hangtown (Placerville) was to the
northern mines.
PIONEERS OF MORMON GULCH.
Mormon Gulch was not dull camp.
1t had its characters" and among the
chief men were A. A. Tuttle, afterward
county judge of Tuolumne; Mike
Tubbs, an English sailor, our alcalde,
and his brother, the sheriff; Tom Wade,
IN after years a prominent citizen Of
Mokelumne Hill and mayor of Placer
vile; Charley Shaw, q wild Texan, who
succeeded Tubbs as sheriff; Oliver
Twist-the only name he went by in
camp-a mountain man, son of an old
trapper, and a nimrod who never failed
to bring down his grizzly in the three
" bar hunts we had; "Poker" Burns,
famous for his Munchausenisms in praise
OF the empire city; Yankee, "who was the
only New Englander among us; and last
and luckiest, "Nigger Bob" faithful
slave, who maintained his dissipated and
worthless master-a son of an Alabama
clergyman-in his extravaganza at the bar
and the monte and poker tables, uncom-
plalningly, out of the rich claim he was
allowed to hold up the gulch. He was
general favorite, and before the first
rain fell he sold his claim and started for
Stockton, there to provide in some way
to send his young master back again to
Montgomery; but the wretched man fell
by the wayside on the journey from ex-
cessive drinking, and Bob, unable to
find any teamster willing to carry the
corpse to Stockton, had it decently
buried near the old Mountain House"
returned to the camp and took up fresh
claim, which proved mine, indeed, to
him, for in few months he made bis
pile in it.
There were two notorious characters,
not exactly of the camp, but who regu-
larly once fortnight made it the scene
of their howling orgies. They were
known as Nick-o the Woods" and
"Oregon Tom, and 10 Proctor as the
Jlbbenainosay" would have paled his
Intellectual dramatic fire before the de,
monical display Of our Nick, had he
ever encountered him when in the
height Of his "good time with his in.
separable other daredevil bacchanalian,
the partner of his morning luck in the
diggings and the sharer of his big trees il
camp, when the whisky suffered until
their joint purse was emptied, The
pair always entered the camp at night
never left it or slept while their T" dust ;
held out, and regularly departed before
daybreak, when the protracted spree wa,
over Just where their claim was, M
one in camp, except Oliver Twist, knew
and all that he could be induced to say
of it was, that it "was lousy with gold,
as it must have been to maintain then
as it did in their frequent carousals
when drinks were four bits, cigars a dol
lar, and their average squandprings a
least four or five ounces per day. Bu
with all their riproariousness they wer,
scrupulously "square" in their dealing
and as open handed as princes are pro
verbally accredited to he. There wer
among the irnpzovidsnt ea5 desperate