Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1880-11-04

men there was hardly ono woman.
There were young fellows Of twenty,
fresh from college, young lawyers,
| young doctors, young preachers, young
farmers. young invalids. Some were
in wagons by pairs, trios, quartets;
some mounted on mules, ponies or
horses, with an extra animal 20 pack
the necessary provisions aud some
few were bold and hardy enough TO un-
dertake the adventure nfoot. trusting to
the rifle for their supplies. One OF
these latter nm lrishman, carrying "a
4 Pack heavy enough tc have killed
I mule IN fortnight was picked up on
the Platte four hundred and fifty miles
out from 81. 10, and brought through
In a train as far rs Thou
sand Springs Valley, where he was
expelled for misconduct He worked
his way on foot 20 Sacramento, and,
after accumulating 50, 600 in the mines,
returned to a Western city, where no
became an Alderman and capitalist.
with millions at his command. He was
last seen on the road near the sink of
the Humboldt. Cutting the throat of a
mired horse and feeding himself upon
choice bits of the carcass. The pas
sage from the Missouri To the Sacra-
mento occupied from ono hundred to
one hundred and thirty days. Gener-
ally the provision was made for but
ninety days. and this mistake caused
scarcity Of supplies. The cholera fol-
lowed the trad, rs plague pursues the
pilgrims 10 Mecca. and the graves of its
victims were thicker than mile stones
on the highway. There was no time
f,,r 4, ff,
tenderness on the dying. They were
/ buried in haste. without stone or epi-
taph 10 mark the spot, and hunger or
Z fear OF the pestilenee hurried the sur
yiyors Of the train with all possible
speed. The aggregate of the grand
army has been variously estimated at
from $4,000 to $4,000 The latter mum
ber is perhaps nearest the mark. The
! first arrivals were as early as July, The
main body came in from the 10th to the
25th OF August. They all headed for
Suffers fort (Sacramcnto), But dur
ing the winter and spring preceding
I their coming the discoveries in III Do
I rado County had extended from Colo
mo along the American. Weber Creek,
! Matheuas Creek and Hangtown Creek,
/ as far eastward "a Noayertown (uow
as much a lost place as Babylon or MIN
oyeh) and Iangtown, now known as
! Placcrvlle. These towns or camps are
/ directly ON the line Of route from Car
son Valley 10 Sacramento, and thou
sands of the grand army stopped and
tried their fortunes there. In the
/ spring of 1850 the County of III Dorado
contained greater population than
+ San Francisco or Sacramento, nine
tenths of ii being engaged at placer
mining,
There was no organized civil Govern
/ ment on the American plan till the 18th
OF November, 1919, when Peter III.
/ Burnett was elected Governor and John
I McDougall Observation-Disclosures.
/ Among the Argouauts chiYalrous re-
/ spect for woman was carried To the ut
most extremity and often to the ludi-
! crous; Us n single instance will explain
I In the spring and summer OF 1850 some
two hundred miners, nearly all Ameri-
cans were working on one of the many
:" dry creeks in the foothills, forty
/ FIVE to fifty miles To the eastward of tho
/ Sacramento valley. They were do
ing we'll that is, those who worked
faithfully ten or eleven hours day
were making from $40 to $50. out of
which thoy had to pay expenses say
three TO four dollars day--for wear
I and tear Of tools, clothes, board, medi-
oines, etc. every miner in those times
washing his own shirts and undercloth-
ing. which were OF gray. blue or red
flannel. They lived in cabins by groups
OF twos, threes, fours and lives. One
day cart, TO which single old COW
was harpessed, drove up 90 the trading
post in the noighborhood A slouchy-
/ looking Pike was the driver. In the
curious craft sat very plain-looking
and sadly-dejected woman, holding in
her lap an infant child In less than
fifteen minutes a crowd of fifty or sixty
young men collected about the cart.
Most Of them had not seen woman
for six months, Eager inquiries were
showered upon the strangers. "What
are you going to dop" =" Where are
YOU fromP' "Will you not stop hereP
! II you will wo will build you house,
! furnish IT, set You up with supply
| of grub, and all come and board
at your house" The offer was
gladly accepted, with such rude
thanks as honest ignorance can master.
In less than six months after this event
"Pike,n his wife and baby departed
from that camp on stage and six, aud
in lne style, with a purse OF $4,000.
They returned to the Western States,
and were never again heard of by their
benefactors. The slightest insult 10 a
woman was resented on the spot with
out regard to her character, education
or condition. The man who cheated a
woman IN his board or wash bill was
treated as a thief aud driven out OF
camp as a pariah There are unreeord-
ed deeds Of mercy and charity done in
those early days, The simple truth OF