Los Angeles herald., 1891-02-18
JOSHUA A. TALBOT.

De present.
JOSHUA A. TALBOT.
A Pioneer Soldier and Printer with an
Eventful History.
The HERALD announced yesterday the
death of Joshua A. Talbot, at the Solr
diers' Home. There have been few more
remarkable careers among old Califor-
mans than that OF this we'll known fig
ure who closed his earthly accounts on
Sunday last. When / last saw him in
this city, he requested me to write
letter to Governor Treichel, of the Sol
diers' Home, saying that he wished to
60 there so as to secure soldiers grave.
On demonstrating with him for harbor-
ing thoughts so lugubrious, and saying
that he was good for many years OF life
yet, he replied that he was much Trailer
than he appeared, and that his eighty
years of rough and checkered life had
brought him, he felt, very near to it's
close. His prophetic instinct was soon
verified, and he had not long to wait to
find what he so dearly longed for, SOL
dier's grave.
On the 18th OF February, 1849, the
writer sailed from New Orleans for Cha
gres, en route to California, on. the
steamer Galveston. Conspicuous
amongst the six hundred argonauts who
freighted that i'll fated steamer,
was the subject Of this sketch.
When week out from port
the Galveston was left almost helpless
in the Caribbean sea by the explosion Of
her steam chest, carrying with it other
injuries to her machinery which COM
PEELED the captain to steer for Balize,
British Honduras. With aid OF single
sail, the only one on board, we reached
that quaint port in ten DAYS. A party of
seventeen, including Mr.. Talbot and my
self, chartered small sloop and sailed to
the old Spanish town, remarkable for an
immense fortress, of Omoa. Thence we
traversed the continent, and reached
the Pacific at Puerta la Union, on the
bay of Fonseca. There a portion of our
party remained, determined to build a
small vessel and make their way in her
to San Francisco. This they accom-
plished, and arrived at their destination
on the same day the writer reached
there, October 5, 1849.] Mr.. Talbot was
of too restless a nature to stay with this
party, and proceeded to Realiio, in
Nicaragua. Here, he and three others
purchased whale boat, which they
fitted up, with the design of sailing to
San Francisco in ner. This was most
perilous voyage to undertake, and when
saw them depart in this open shalop
to face the dangers of 5000 miles of nav
igation, thought we should never meet
again. They reached Acapulco after q
stormy voyage and great suffering for
want Of water. Here they found an
American bark, the captain OF which
took them on board and gave them
passage to San Francisco.
next met Talbot at Mokelumne Hill
in 1852. He had already become famous
as lucky prospector and discoverer of
various new diggings. But Talbot was of
so restless character that he never re-
mained long enough in one place to reap
the benefit of his discoveries. He was
as striking an illustration as ever saw
OF the truth of the adage about the roll
ing stone.
In 1854 he organized an expedition
to prospect the headwaters of the Am
azon, where he had heard there were
mines of fabulous wealth. The party
went to Callao and from there crossed
the Andes. After many adventures and
untold sufferings, they reached their
destination, only to find the old story re-
peated, that "far-off-felds are ever
green" The placers were not worth
their working, and barely offered the
scant living which the natives eked out
OF them with their boteas.
He returned to San Francisco in 1855,
strapped" but not disheartened. His
buoyant nature always saw fortune
right ahead, but he lacked the winged
heels of Mercury to catch up with her.
After having formed part Of nearly all
the early expeditions to Gold Hill, to
Gold Bluff, to Pitt River, etc. and having
been disappointed in every instance, he
came to Southern California. Here he
again entered upon his favorite work of
prospecting, and was among the first to
discover many of the rich, but even as
yet the undeveloped, districts in the
Colorado desert region. The great min
ing boom of 1868 which was financially
managed from San Francisco, he was
mainly instrumental in starting. But
the uprising of the Indians in that year,
their destruction of all the mills that
had been erected, and the massacre OF
Yarbrough and his party and many iso-
lated miners, brought the boom to an
end.
Talbot then came back to first princi-
Piles, and settled down to work at his
trade as printer in San Bernardino
and this city. He was for years en-
ployed on the HERALD, but not con-
stantly, for periodically the old weak
ness would come over him, and with the
aid OF some of our people he would fit
out team and 60 on prospecting trip
to the mining districts Of the desert. He
| would come back laden with specimens
and radiant with the consciousness oi
having become possessed of fabulous
stores of wealth-still in the ground.
| OF late years his failing strength com
PEELED him to give up his periodical ex-
cursions, but to the last he would talk
of the millions he was worth in mines
and which would one day make himself
and all his friends Monte Cristos. His
eanguine temperament kept with him
to the end, for his very last word to me
| was that the iron mountain he had dis.
covered would one day prove rich her.
itage.
There are few lives that present to
the biographer greater or more inter.
esting variety Of points out Of which to
write q book that would at once enter.
tain and instruct every class Of readers
than that Of poor Uncle Josh" Talbot;
the type Of those pioneers who blaze the
| WaV to 4 civilization which il Aurichod