The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1886-12-15
CHAPTER VII.
THE BANK OF CALIFORNIA.


In the middle of September, 1850, found
myself located with B:oener at his cabin on
the Stanislaus river where the lower and
rounded foothills commence merging into the
mere abrupt, craggy and higher formations
of the vast Sierra ange, 1t was for me a
great change Mountains towering all about,
no roais, no wheeled vehicles in use, only
trails or bride paths, traversed by horsemen,
cur provisions brought from the nearest Ntore,
two miles distant, on n.uleback; 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, chs All now corners
are more or less crazy on that subject. Now,
I'll sum it up in a word. The mines are a
hun1bug-a gigantic humbug."
"a humbug!n
"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 everybodys 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 a 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 a 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 all about here are now really
digging for them You wonder to hear me
say this Not bright picture, is it} Now,
I'm lucky miner You think this about
here is my claim. Well, it isn't. This dirt
pile is blind. My real claim is half a 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 a pretty steep in
clination, and after attaining height of
about 1000 feet, going down again.
Look down" said Broener, as we came to
an opening in the manZanita bushes, where
our way led along steepiy jutting projection
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
u take this path, said Broener, "to keep
out of the way of those fellows It's a 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
law 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 a little shelf densely COW
ered With foliage, about five hundred feet
above the .,Fiyer Miners at work were
thiekly clustered directly below US
Softly nowl" said Broener. s'Stoop
here, so they won't see us and don't talk
louds
STOPPING, and at times half crawling
through the chapparai, we crossed shelf,
coming directly on the rocky mountain side
rising an overhanging barrier before US
Fragments Of gray and white rock lay all
about as they had tunbled down. the noun
tain. :
Br6ener sat down on fragment and whis-
pored to me:
eve are at the nina
Il see nothing here like mine, said I
sOf course not, be replied, / don't mean
that anybody shall But those fellows down
there would give their heads if they knew !
what was up here. What do you think Of
that7. and be handed me bit Of white rock,
theoutside thickly crusted with gold, brighter
Tar than the dust I had seen taken from the
river and its banks That's a part Of the
nina That's quartz. They haven't got On
the trail Of quartz ret in this land When
thay do thersu be bigger whoop up than