The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-04-30

@AESI of the camps on one
NM \ California gold bearing
& river will touch a re-
~ sponsive chord in the
heart of some old Californian; for the
life and incident of the bars / describe
reflect in certain respects the life, his
tory and incident of hundreds and thou
sands of places settled in 40, and per-
haps abandoned by co. which have now
no name or place on the later maps of
the state. Your genuine old miner likes
to revisit the camp where first he dug
for gold, in thought if not in person. 1t
was no common affection they enter
tanned for these places.
If the "boys" moved away to other
diggings they had always to make a
yearly pilgrimage back, SO long as the
camp lasted So, yearly from Vallecito,
thirty miles distant, used Jake Wager to
revisit SWEETS, and he tramped the
whole distance too What was it that
so drew them back? Perhaps the mem
DRY of the new and exciting life they
experienced from 40 say till SO or
80, with its cups and downs" its gilt
tering surprises in the shape of ''strikes,"
its comradeship soon SO developed among
men who, meeting as strangers, so soon
found out each others better qualities,
its freedom from the restraints OF older
communities, its honesty and plainness
in the expression of opinion, engendered
by such freedom. All these thought
over and over again during absence
brought about that strong desire to see
the old bar again, the scene of SO much
experience and private history. Then
the visitor always met a hearty welcome.
He was an old 'residepter." Cabin own
ers contended for the pleasure of enter
tanning him. No wives or families were
in the way. Conviviality was uninter-
rupted.
If black bottle could De produced it
could be worshiped undisturbed until
long past midnight. And such was al
ways produced on the return of the old
acquaintance. When the ''boys" at last
tumbled into their hunks and smoked
pightcap pipe abed there was no wife
in special charge of husband to modest
or make them afraid or disturb their in
ternal peace by reason of her near pres
ence. Those were the golden seasons of
masculine domestic tranquility on the
banks Of the Tuo5 g. Woman never
disturbed the bar p-c.per 9th her pres
ence. 1t was always masculine bar.
at least on the right bank of the river.
On the left, at a later date, on fiat,
where enjoyed the privilege of digging
for next to nothing for two years, there
did live for time three foreign house
holds glorified by womah's presence.
But this was after the paluy days Of
SWEETS Bar proper, right bank.
l have heard that Swett's Bar was
named after John SWEET, once superin-
tendent of public instruction II Cali
fornia. If so, he never there left any
relics or reminders of himself-not even
a grammar. SWEETS lies equidlstant
from Hawkins and Indian bars. Nhey,
last | passed through it the floods -,
washed out every trace of mans 80
ence on one side of the river. LEAH
there an enormous heap Of logs
brushwood. The bar proper had be 80
smoothed down by the flood, every hd 10
or bowlder heap, or heap of ''heat5,
ings" or "tailings," or the deep pits du6,
and laboriously kept free of water by
machinery, or heavily rock freighted crib
of logs, the work of miners in the rivers
bed, had been planed away. The peb-
bles and powders had all been rear
ranged, the sands were smooth, white
and glistening as though ''fresh from
the Creators hands," and none save
those conversant with the rivers history
could have guessed that every foot of
the bank adjoining the river had been
turned over and over again In the search
for gold.
We elected one member OF the legis-
lature from SWEETS. When he left the
Bar he distributed his cabin blankets,
and household effects among the remain
| ing miners He confidently thought
never to need these articles again. That
was as great niscalculation as when
| SWEETS Bar or any other bar miner
would resolve and swear violently that
never again would he strike pick" in
| the river. We came to regard such an
| oath with a superstitious credulity that
ne certainly would strike such pick again,
| for never did such a case occur IL nv
! recollection but that the mad resolver
was back next season, ignoring his VOW
and striking his pick on some claim gen.
eral poorer than the one be worked the
season previous So at the end of four
| months, after cUmbenng the law books
| OF the state Of California with statutes,
whose very existence was forgotten
| eight months after their passage, our
SWEETS Bar legislator was seen one even
ing coming down the hill bearing in one
hand two whisky bottles tied together
By oas string-one being empty and the
other IQll
''Silver and gold have / none,- said
he, as he came to my cabin door, "but
what have give unto thee, which rs
did n Is day came MS trunk The
principa acoesions TO the legislative
wardrobe were three rev shirts and
blue Goa with brass buttons That
the session, think. OF IS5s-was known
as the legislature OF 10000 drink"
Our lawn aker said il lad been the star
winter e MS existence, and ne never
expected 20 see soeh another. Three
days aftei his arrival AZ the Bar be bor-
rowed pst.o< blankets, "cabinsd" with