The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-01-19
FRANCIS BRET HARTE
The Early Life of the Now Popu-
lar HumOriSt.
ORIGIN OF THE HEATHER CHINESE
Bret Was not Success as a Practical
Man, But He was Never
Commonplace.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 16, 1S9O.-[Specia
correspondence of The HERALD. ]-Th,
genuine Argonaut-th gold-seeker of 1874
was little concerned with the genera
geography of California. The bustline
town that was running up the hills anC
around the shore on the awakened bay Of
San Francisco, the Sacramento river, tn,
thoroughfare that led to the placer mine.
on its tributaries, and those exciting goal.
themselves. were all that held any interes
to the new corners. Everyone who could
RUSHED TO THE MINES,
some to gather hurried fortunes, some t.
endure disappointment and live for better
things; some to fill unvisited graves.
Very soon the enterprise and push o.
these frienzied fortune seekers carried
them along the length of all the gold bear
ing streams. One basin after another wa.
prospected, occupied, and practically
worked out. A find on the bank of new
river soon brought rush of adventurer:
that staked out everything in sight on gen
eral principles. 1t was not long before the
rivers in the extreme sections of the state
were paying rich tribute to those first in
the field. Quite early in 1850 mining was
in full blast on the Trinity river. and soon
after on the klamath, into which il
empties, and the Salmon, sister tribu-
tary.
THESE RIVERS WERE RICH
and the returns excited the cupidity of
merchants. The route by the valleys was
long and transportation expensive: the
streams ran to the sea- and it was probable
That there was navigable mouth some
where on the coast. Adventurous travel
ers had reported large land-locked bav
some go miles to the northward, which had
been named for the great traveller. Won
Humboldt No one knew but it might re-
ceive the waters of Trinity river, and, if it
did, 1t would be fine stroke of business to
tap the rich region by establishing direct
line OF transportation and founding a
town, seaport outlet and a source of sup
ply.
Expeditions finally reached Humboldt
bay, where Francis Bret Harte was soon
to tgure as one of the characters of that
remarkable region. The land about Hum
boldt bay was fair and fertile and very
soon 1t became the entrepot for the Trinity
and Salmon mines. The festive mule came
in to make up for natures oversight, in
not DETECTING the klamath into Humboldt
bay, or enabling it to have a navigable
mouth of its own. To one who has sought
to
NAVIGATE IT IN AN INDIAN CANOE
and found walking across the bars. a con-
siderable part of the operation these
dreams of the early Argonauts seem very
amusing. For many years there was a
thriving trade with the rich mining region.
and gradually the settlers began to realize
and begin the development of those splen.
did natural resources that have made Hum
boldt county among the richest in the state
With soil of unsurpassed strength the
finest body Of redwood timber on the face
of the earth, and a magnificent grazing
country stretching back to the mountains,
no wonder 1t is now something more than
land of promise
Eureka, then a mere string of buildings
along the wooded shore, became the county
seat. 1t was pleasant community, made
up. OF course, of all sorts of people, but
with good deal of human nature of the
better sort. The lumber interest attracted
large proportion of men from 'sthe state
of Maine, % with little sprinkling of "blue
noses" from over the border. The reced-
ing one here found no farther west to go
for, and rested from his wanderings. In
business, every nationality was repre-
sented. In one store Russian, a Holan-
der and Frenchman tremendously united
and around the square were signs bearing
names of Germans, Swedes, English.
Scotch, Irish, Spaniards and Americans.
Alphabetically,
THE YOUNG TOWN WAS NOT BEAUTIFUL.
Most of the buildings were made of red
wood, and some of them ha been built be-
fore the advent of the sawmill, so evenly
and reliably did good redwood bolt con-
sent to split. Strangely enough, the first
house lived in was made of zinc-one of
the relics OF the very early shipments to
the land whose only known resource was
gold. Very strange, too, in retrospect.
seem the then familiar brands of chile
-four. Apropos of the primitive square,
barn-like houses so general at this time,
remember Bret Harte once discussed the
style OF architecture to which they should
be assigned, concluding that they were
probably ''1owan."
When Bret Harte appeared in this local
ity in 1859, the Indians were still plentiful,
coming in from their rancherias on Mad
river to supply the communities with fish
and berries They were peaceful, and in
different to failing fortunes, reaching their
acme of enjoyment when feeding on a
stranded whale. Their mountain brothers
were of different temper-treacherous
resentful, and never averse to killing
white man if it could be done with little
personal risk. At times in their raids they
would come perilously near to town, and
SHOOT DEFENSELESS MEN
from behind some sheltering redwood
Serious fears of a general massacre were
held, and the towns militia company often
stood guard at night On one occasion the
women and children in the center of the
town were aroused in the night and taken
to Jacoby's store, the only brick building,
in expectation of attack. The hostiles
were fortunately cowardly set, and sell
dom made an attack if it was ACCOMPANIED
with much danger. A settler who had been
a kind and generous friend to them, they
shot from behind his barn while he was
milking his COW; another, who was an In
dian-hater, and shot on sight, they left I'M
molested through all the troublous times
that greatly retarded the settlement of the
country
The spiritual wants of the settlement
were supplied at this period by the enter
prisipg Methodists alone, and the represen-
tatives were not naturally of the first
order in point of ability. Sincerity and
zeal are excellent in themselves, but when
unaccompanied by other gifts, are some
what inadequate to make an acceptable
preacher One good brother told me that
he had run a saw mill and kept lumber
yard, but he
he had sever been at'' But we worried
along some way, and later the Presbyter-
ians occupied the field, and there was
choice of privileges (or evils) to exercise.
Man will find amusement of some kind
wherever he may be- Horse racing was
one prolific source, mostly confined to
single dashes of quarter of mile under
saddle. One can lose all the money he has
on this as on any other contest, and what
more is wanted! And we had theatrical
perfol N lnces of no mean order occasion
ally. Murdock's hall, the whilom court