Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1877-04-06
SAN FRANCISCO, March, 1877

To the Editor Of the Vermont PhRniI;
In one of the lovsliest of all New Eng
lands lovely villages, whose streets wer
lined with stately oaks, graceful elms an
shapely naples, encompassed by forest
clad hills, whose foliage afforded grateful
shade in the heats of summer, and mad
brilliant the landscape of autumn near
beautiful river and a swifl-runnirg brook
in climate that required a pretty long
geared thermometer to indicate its ex
tremes where the weather in the midst o
summer oflen gave limitations of the torriC
zone, and yet generally afforded good skat
ing privileges at Thanksgiving time anG
excellent sleighing on Fast days-witl
such surroundings and in such a climate
your correspondent first saw the light o
day.
Lest you should fear that this is 10 be ar
autobiography, will al once declare that
consider this initial optical experience o
mine as a matter of minor importance, but
as it occurred during the administration ol
Andrew Jackson, it will serve 10 remind
| you that al am a child no longer" as
Fanchon says. l have a dim recollection
of log cabin and hard cider times, and oi
hearing the cry of "Tippecanoe and Tyler
too" and more distinct remembrance of
seeing the little log cabin that was paraded
| through tue streets of my native village by
the enthusiastic Wings during the presi-
dental campaign of 1910. The next pub
lie event of general interest that remem-
Der was the Mexican war. l was only
about len years old, but read the newspa-
pers with as much interest as my elders.
With my schoolmates / discussed the re-
spective merits of Generals Taylor and
Arista, Worth and Ampudia, Scott aud
Santa Anna; and many a Time have l
stormed the heights of Monterey in imag-
inaticn and violently propelled my nasal
protuberance against numerous particular
ly hard and dlscouraging snow balls in so
doing.
But while 1 was fighting my boyish bat
ties, and the attentions Of men were absorb
ed in the achievements of Scott and Tay-
lor, events of the utmost importance were
tran spring in far distant and almost I'M
known portion of this continent, from
whence news came but slowly. At that
time the general public were better inform
ed about the wilds of Africa, or the pros
poets from the mountains of Patagonia
than they were of anything pertaining to
Alta California. Yet some wise heads at
Was hington bad dispatched Commodore
Stockton around Cape Horn, Gen. Kearny
through upper Mexico and Capt. Fremont
over the Rocky mountains. These COM
manders, with their handful of soldiers
aud marines, united upon the banks of the
San Gabriel, and upon the plains of the
Mesa conquered much superior force of
Mexicans and Indians, and entered Los
Angeles in triumph. Our heroes at that
time little knew the import of their sue
cess, and the vanquished were quite ignor-
ant Of the immense value of their loss.
This occurred in lS47.
Since that time a Great Magician, more
pow werful than he of the e"wonderful lamp"
has been at work. He has brought a mil
lion OF his slaves from all parts of the
world 10 these shining shores. lie has
transported scores of houses in great ships
from the far East and from the distant
West and erected them upon this coast.
He has built and furnished, not one only,
but many palaces as gorgeous as Aladdin's.
He has dam med the mountain streams and
turned great rivers from their courses. He
has leveled mountains aud honey-combed
the earth with thousand caverns, many Of
them two thousand feet below the surface.
He has caused lovely villages, hourishing
towns and great cities to spring up in the
wilderness, made the valleys to rejoice
with the fatness of good things, and the
hills TO resound with the hum of human
activity. He has created an empire where
he has ever held undsputed sway, and his
subjects still honor, worship and obey their
most powerful sov ereign, GOLD. His most
devoted worshippers appear to be the pio-
neers of lS49, thousands of whom still sur
vive, but ere many years they will pass
away aud relieve us later corners of a cer-
tain sense of unworthiness aud inferiority
which we are all made TO feel in the pres
ence of "forty-niner."
suppose that very large majority of
the unfortunate inhabitants of "the Slates,"
and many also in foreign countries, who
have, during the last twenty-five years,
felt a grave necessity of improving their
fortunes, have had the California fever, So
ealled. NV attack was of a comparative
recort doto I'm, NV fooo has Neon oni,o
rarsis,on,I,, ,rrnod uos,,vord sinco 7 ,yo.
prudent enough to labor and Wah for a call.
Thousands in these latter days who have
risL cd ,boIr all 10 rooch Co,,cornio and who
have Gmrd oil Tho ovenues N ornlovmant
sni,ed 70 ,boir canacitIes oboked with other
Ihonsands bava rsoret,ed in sackclo,b and
osho. ,hot ,bov vvore NOT 90 c,n,ions uow-
evor !, 10 in consonrerco Of ,ho or,orrriso
and sniri, and NAV add love of oold of
that nioneer class that sncb ranid sIridev
In wealth and cIvi,ization have heen made