New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-07-22
EARLY CALIFORNIA.
RECORDS OF PIONEER DAYS.

Classical Abnormitics. By HUBERT HOWE BAN
CROFT svo, PIP. vi, s2s. San Francisco: Tho
History Company. New.York: Frank NJ. Derby,
140 Church-st.
In this volume Mr.. Bancroft has brought to-
gether mass Of illustrations Of the pioneer times
in California, Of kind which could hardly find
place in his historical series, yet the omission OF
which altogether would involve the sacrifice Of
much characteristic and entertaining matter The
question Of the gold discovery itself is treated in
detail. The various accounts Of that event are
given in tup, but Mr. Bancroft rejects all the
versions which traverse the claims Of James W.
Marshall and he is right. number of impudent
impostors have ut different times attempted to
wrcst the honors of the discovery from Marshall
but no one Of them had the least serious ground
for such pretensions There is no room for doubt
on the question; no more room than there is for
doubt as to the fatality Of the gold discovery
to Marshall himself, 1t ruined him. Had he
not made it he would in all probability have
acquired modest competence. Through II he
lost every vestige Of the property he possessed at
The time, and was further subjected to perse-
cution which unsettled, embttcred, and made of
him confirmed bohemian California behaved
shabbily TO the poor old man. In spaSm OF
conscientiousness the Legislature once gave him
pension, but it was only continued for couple
of years or so, and then this fountain of gener-
osity dried up. After his death-in squalid indi-
gence-steps were taken to erect monument to
his memory. Five thousand dollars were appro-
prated for this purpose, though the peoples rep
resentatives had refused to spend dollar to
keep the discoverer from starving No
doubt in his latter years he was given to
drink, and could not take care of himself, but
the people Of California directly responsible
for his condition, for 1t was they who had robbed
him and hunted him and spied upon him, and all
but driven him mad, in their attempt TO reap the
advantage of what the superstitious miners called
his luck" In truth his finding of the gold in
the mill-race at Colousa was the most unlucky
event conceivable for himself.
Mr. Bancroft follows the course Of the
two great lines Of immigration, by land
and ly water, which the California
gold discovery set in motion, and gives
graphic and picturesque descriptions of both
routes, carefully setting down those ugly
features which most chroniclers omit gloss over
The journey to California early in the fifties was
certainly full of difficulty and discomfort, which
ever road was taken The voyager by water had
70 travel in an UNANIMOUSLY equipped and command
ed line Of wrctched old hullls 10 the Isthmus of
Panama That line of steamers was disgrace to
the corporation that owned them. They were
manned by ruflians, differed by blackguards, and
supplied as though the passengers had been swine
Though the rates Of passage were extortionate
those who paid them were treated like dogs and
perhaps nothing but their intense eagerness to get
20 California prevented them at times from rising
and throwing the brutes who abused them over
beard.
At Aspinwall they had to take, first the few
miles of railroad then built seven miles, and
then canoes and bateaus the river There
were bogus express companies which undertook to
carry the baggage over the Isthmus and, accord
ing to Mr.. Bancroft deliberately and Systematically
stole it, by the simple process Of delaying the de-
livery until the California steamers on the Pacific
side had left-the unfortunate owners in most in
stances preferrng the loss of their chates to miss
ing the steamer. The Pacific steamers were much
better than those on the NewYork side, but they
could not accommodate the crowds always wait
ing at Panama, and, as a result of the lack of
roonl several hundred passengers often had to stay
some weeks at Panama, and thence great NOR
tally from rccklessness, unripe fruit and drink
1t was period Of dominant egoisn, and nobody
cared for his neighbor. Woe to the feeble in that
frantic rush to the mines. They were abandoned,
and might think themselves fortunate if they were
not also stripped There immense amount
of energy and courage in those crowds but very
little humanity On the plains the experience
was, if possible, worse. The majority Of those who
undertook the long, hard journey had little or no
knowledge of the dangers Of the route When.
after weeks of slow progress desert regions were
entered and water ran short, and cattle foundcred
and wagons with all their contents had to be aban-
doned, the meanest tendencies of mankind came to
the front. Help was refused to the weaker MEM
bers Sometimes they were left behind to die in
the road Sometimes their last cent was eXacted
for little water or lift in G wagon The suf-
fering was great and the victims many. Many
a small war has cost fewer lives
Mr.. Bancroft gives graphic account Of perhaps
the most fearful experience on record that of the
Bonner party. 1t has been described frequently
but never with more succinctness and vlvldness
than here. The party must have numbered some
particularly hard men in it, for from the begin
ming of the trouble q brutal selfshness
far beyond the average distinguished the
behavior Of the stronger elements In the
wretched party. 1t is needless to particular
ize. All the world knows how the travellers
struggled desperately into the Sierra only to ind
at Bonner Lake that they were caught in the
middle of the mountains and showed in There for
weeks they tried to live, mostly burrowing under
the deep snow When rescued the survivors had
long been practising cannibalism, and it was more
than suspected that murder had in some instances
preceded this horror. Some of the wretcheS who
had thus sustained themselves had come to esteem
human flesh so highly that when fresh, wholesome
provisions were offered they looked indifferently
at them and continued TO gnaw the half-cooked
bones of their late comrades. One curious circum-
stance noted by Mr.. Bancroft deserves more caro-
full examination. 1t is that the proportion OF women
surviving these terrible experiences was much
larger than that of the men. The women seem TO
have been equally exposed on the march and in the
camp. Their clothing was not specially warm,
their food was that of the men. Yet they proved
more enduring Was it because they were not al
cohol drinkers? But the presumption is that as
most were Germans or of German descent they did
drink alcohol when it was to be had. The ques-
ton is interesting, but obscure
In getting to California it is clear that the law
Ga aliad