The San Francisco call., 1896-08-16

part in 'many of the scenes and incidents
of their eYentful lives and deaths.' Not
trusting to lapsing memory he took notes
at the time, or soon after, of the various
occurrences to be herein retoId, and he
was afterward shown all of the letters
written by E. A. ana H. B. Grosh to their
father from the time they left home in
1849 until their deaths in 1857. With such
a faithful and intelligent biographer
ready and willing all these wears to give
information about the Groshes it is, to say
the least, curious fact that nearly All
those who have written of the period have
been contented to gather up and tell over
and over again the misleading and frag-
mentarY surface traditions.
The interest of the Grosh episode, as
especially typical of the real tolls and
dangers Of pioneer mining life, has, there
fore, in some way, missed its fair express
sion. The antagonisms their names once
aroused are long ago ended, and it is time
to give them their proper place in the
mining history of the Pacific Coast.
Ethan Allen Grosh, born in 1924, and
Hosea Ballou Grosh, born in 1926, both in
Marietta, Pa, were the sons of quite
prominent Universalist minister. The
family moved to Utica, N. Y, and thence
to Reading, Pa. where the boys were
living when the discovery of gold in Cali
fornia led them to join a company of forty
men, who started for the new Ell Dorado
from Chestnut-street wharf, Philadelphia,
February 28 1849, in the schooner Newton,
CAPTAIN George II. Smith, clearing for
Tampico, Mexico. &C. w. Haskins in his
"Argonauts Of '49" gives the date of this
departure as March IL The company
were mostly young and not very we'll
provided for the journey before them.
Among those whose names will be re-
membe-ed by many Californ ians was
Robert Farrelly. Thomas Diehl, S. NJ.
Dane, Captain Mcdowell and Robert Rob-
inson. but the modest Newton expedition
was only one out of more than hundred
which set sail from various ports that
eventful spring of 1S49.
The Newton had excellent weather until
within sixty miles of Tampico, when
every one was making ready to go for the
land journey across Mexico. A violent
storm, however, drove them out to sea,
and five days were lost in beating back to
Tampico. They landed and spent fort
night in Quitting, under thu leadership
of Captain ]. r. West, to whom they had
each paid to land them in San Francisco.
The expedition started from Tampico for
San Bias, on the Pacific Coast, April 10.
DIR. Bucke says that the journey seems
to have had nearly all the unpleasantness
and drawbacks that such journey could
have and still be finally accomplished -
Water was scarce in the hot, barren coun-
trv over which the forty Argonauts passed.
Their mules and horses often strayed and
many were not recovered. Vests out
fitting had been extremely parsimonious.
The fleas, sand flies, mosquitoes and other
insect pests drove men and animals nearly
wild. Long before the luckless expedition
reached the Pacific many of its mem bers
were sick with malarial feVers, dysentery
and other disorders. Lastly, to cap the
climax, Captain West, who had foollshly
been paid in advance to take them to San
Francisco. went to pieces financially and
disappears from the story, leaving many
of his unfortunate victims nearly penni-
less. as one and all had expected to pick
up money by the bushel in golden Cali
fornia.
The forty, however, took possession OF
Vests horses, mules, wagons, harness
and whatever assets were in sight, and
managed to reach San Bias on June %.
When the mail steamer Panama came
along two or three of the pilgrims had
money enough to pay their fares to San
Francisco. Several stayed in Mexico, but
most of them, including the Grosh