The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-02-05
THE BURIED RIVER
A Romance of California.
WRITTEN FOR II PROGRESSIVE FARMER, BY
JOAQUIN MILLER.
Copyright by the Author.)
CHAPTER 1.
THE CoNoAvE R

LIN IOIAOWlHS extract IRON. the RECORDS
OF Che the Senate of the United States,
exact and literal, lies before me under the
great seal of the Nation. There can be
no mistake about it whatever. The Rich
ard M. Johnson referred to was at one
time Vice-President of the United States.
The other party named was a brave and
honorable officer of our army, who fought
with Scott at Lundy's Lane, and won emil
nent mention in many battles. He was
Washington's Surveyor General of the
Northwest Territory !; a man of spotless
honor; and the most distinguished mem
Der of the family from which descended,
on the maternal side, the present Presi-
dent-elect of the United States.
1t may De mentioned that the same
matter can be found in Benton's Abridge-
ment, page III. The writer mentions
the last fact so that any one who cares to
enquire as to the literal truth of what is
here set down has only to turn to the
works of Senator Thomas II. Benton, and
verify it all without appealing to the
archives of the Senate of the United
States. But here is is a copy of the ex-
tract which has just come to hand under
the great seal:
"Senate, March 18th, A. D., 1922.
"Mr. Richard NJ. Johnson, of Kentucky,
presented a petition from John Cleves
SYmms, of Cincinnati, Ohio, stating his
belief of the existence of an inhabited
concave of this globe; his desire to en-
bark a voyage of discovery to the Polar
regions, and his belief in the great honor
to his country of the discoveries he would
make"
This of itself and alone is of little
weight and consequence. But when you
come to read this old soldiers works, and
follow the paved way by which he claimed
gradually to his conclusions, you will not
be in haste to dispute the idea which the
title of this very prosaic narrative
cherishes. will quote but one paragraph
from the published works Of the old
friend and fellow soldier of the Conquerer
of Mexico. This is it:
Buried in the bosom of the earth, I
heard her heart beatl Standing there
alone in the mammoth cave of Kentucky.
with that dark river LAYING and tapping
ny feet, Icried out: Whence? Whittier?
where do you flow p"
Let us not pause to debate, but hasten
on with our statements and our story.
At the same time it may be suggested
that if any man, woman or child cares to
answer this question of the honest old
soldier, which has remained unanswered
for a solid half century and more, why of
course let it be done. From whence,
oh river, and whittier p
Go down into the bosom of the earth,
as the old soldier did; stand there in the
awful solemnity and silence as he stood
hear the heart beats of nature as he heard
them feel the dark, deep river slip away
to the undiscovered somewhere as he felt
it, and then be stupidity stolid if you will.
If you can do this, l beg you lay this page
aside. 1t will not please you. 1t will
not ever so much as amuse you.
But if on the contrary you care to ask
the long-unanswered question, whence,
oh river, and whither2" why, follow
along a little way. We may find gold.
And this mention of gold brings US at
once to the gold mines and the gold
miners of California.
Forty years ago the n continual talk
and topic was of this: the B,ried Riverl
Snow or sun, fair or or foul weather,
always came up this one subject around
our camp or cabin fires for years and
years and years. And why so continually?
And why in California so especially
Let us explain: The gold, the larger
half of our hundreds and hundreds of
millions at least, was from the first, and
is even to this day, taken out of the beds
Of ancient, dried up rivers. Now what
dried up those rivers? And where now
flow the waters that one filled them?
Do not accuse the stout-hearted gold hun
ter of c~ultivating an unhealthy magma
ton when he tells you that there is surely,
surely a deeper river-one wide, deep
river-away down under all these dried
up rivers. Do not call him foolish when
he explains that this one wide, deep river
most certainly must be literally paved
with gold. I. The gold must be there, or
the laws of gravitation must be suspended.
Yes, you may smile here. Laugh at the
old gold hunter if you will. But who
knows better than he the laws that gov
ern the Judgments of gold away down in
the deeps of the earth? Who knows
better than this man, who has grown gray
at his work, how deep down in the earth
the gold can hide away2 Smile at the
old gold hunter of the Sierras and myself
together, if you will. But the last gold
hunter of California will be long in his
grave before you can dig up the belief
that IS in him of his Buried River; and
that rivers bed a bed of gold.
HHAPTER