Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-08-25
CHAPTER VII.
TrJE RANK OF CALIFORNIA.

In the middle of September, 1850, found
myself located with Broener at his cabin on
the Stanislaus river, where the lower and
rounded foothills commence merging into the
more abrupt, craggy and higher formations
of the vast Sierra range. 1t was for me a
great change Mountains towering all about,
no roads, no wheeled vehicles in use, only
trails or bride paths, traversed by horsemen,
our provisions brought from the nearest store.
two miles distant, on muleback; the vegeta-
ton and flowers entirely different from those
of the east; the birds of other species; the
very air seemed made of other elements 1t
was all another world, and it brought to me
continually a sensation Of newness.
MY boy" said Broener, one evening soon
after our arrival, "you want to know about
the mines and mining, ehs All new comers
are more or less crazy on that subject. Now,
I'll sum it up in a word. The mines are a
humbug-a gigantic humbug."
"a humbug!"
practically, for three-fourths of those who
dig, yes. The cream of it won't last over
three Or four years. Thousands more are to
come. Every digger who takes an ounce out
of the soil takes it out forever. Gold don't
grow again=-soon. Then there isn't half as
much dug as people imagine. One lucky find
blinds everybody's eyes to the nineteen or
twenty-nine, or may be more, people who find
just enough to scratch along on. It's the
hardest kind Of work. Knocks mans con-
stitution over in short metre. No let up, sum-
mer or winter. It's digging, lifting rocks, or
standing in ice-cold water for hours. No
recreation but cards, poor whisky, or worse.
You dig out dollar, and must spend half OF
it for what would cost you but three cents in
the states. The men who are really to make
the money are the merchants and land owners.
These idiots ali about here are now really
digging for them. You wonder to hear ME
say this. Not bright picture, is its Now,
I'm lucky miner. You think this about
here is my claim. Well, it isn't. This dirt
pile is a blind My real claim is half mile
from this spot. I'll show it to you tomorrow
and reveal you some mysteries.
The next day we went to the spot he had
indicated, first ascending Scrub mountain, in
the rear Of our cabin, at pretty steep in
clination, and after attaining a height Of
about 1000 feet, going down again.
'Look down." said Broener, as we came to
an opening in the manzanita bushes where
of the mountain.
did So The rivers bank-in some places
rocky and steeply inclined, in others denting
the rapid current with little level beaches
was alive with working miners. Hundreds
of cradles were rocking to and fro. The graf
ing of the pebbles on the iron bottoms of their
top selves sounded like the crashing roar Of
some great factory. Men were toiling to and
fro with dirt-laden buckets. Others were
lying in all manner of cramped-up positions
on the bare, steeply shelving rocks, already
hot from the glare Of the morning sum- draw
ing from deep crevices with long spoons, or
pieces of iron hoop bent at the end, bits Of
dirt and placing them in pans at their side.
At other points men were standing waist
deep in the river, occupied in laying semi
circular walls of stone projecting into the
stream.
II take this path" said Broener, 'to keep
out of the way of those fellows It's hard
one, but it pays Could reach my claim in
ten minutes by the river. This route takes
near an hour. Reason: mustn't let those
chaps scent out my lead. They'd avalanche
me if they should I've got, you see, a big
thing; but if they got wind of it; there's no
lsw could protect me- They're all in Egyp-
tian darkness now. They think all the gold
in the country is in that dirt. Hope they'll
think so for some time to come"
Walking down the mountain at varying
angles, we came to little shelf densely COW
cred with foliage, about five hundred feet
above the river. Miners at work were
thickly clustered directly below u.s.
"Softly now" said Broener. "Stoop
here, so they won't see us, and don't talk
loud"
STOPPING, and at times half crawling
through the chapparal, we crossed shelf,
coming directly OH the rocky mountain side
rising an overhanging barrier before us.
Fragments of gray and white rock lay all
about as they had tumbled down the noun
tain.
Broener sat down on fragment and whis-
pered to me:
1--WE are at the mine"