Mexico weekly ledger., 1897-09-02
Some California FOrty-Niners
INTERVIEWS WITH A NUMBER
OF PERSONS WHO CROSSED
THE PLAINS FOR WEALTH.
Audrain County People Who Sought
the Gold Fields of California Near
ly Fifty Years Ago.

An&kC uuLuD6E Ql6Q III
the search for gold, many were dis.
appointed and a few got none,
enough to start in life.
Quite a number of Audrain count,
people went to California in 1919 and
1850 and the following interviews from
Sundays Republic will be of interes
to all Of our people: :
j. d. Morris, OF Mexico, Mo-, {
prominent merchant and well known
business man:
There were 1872 in the party of for.
tune seekers who left Mexico the 1Ott
of April, 1850. Most of them are dead
though Richard Byrns, who lives neal
here, and R. 8. Pearson, of this city,
still survive. 1t was q long, hare
journey, as we went in wagons drawn
by OK teams, and the first of Octobe,
a come when we arrived at a towr
called Ringo, the stopping place of al.
most all the Missourians who went te
the Golden State.
81 began work here in Matheney,s
Greek, and after continuing for two
years took up headquarters at Yankee
Jim, a mining town % miles to the
northwest. Here I remained the Other
four years of my stay in California
Twice a month I paid 25 cents a COPY
for the Missouri Republican, now the
st. Louis Republic.
81 arrived home in June, '56, bring.
ing with me $1,000 or more, which wat
my beginning from a financial stand
point. My return was by sea an6
across Panama.
"No especial incident varied the
monotony of our trip to the coast. We
were sometimes seriously troubled by
the stampeding of our cattle, but new.
or were We in especial danger from
Indians or other attendant perils oil
Western wilds."
Rufus Hisey, ex- Mayor of Mexico
Mo-, says:
81 left Concord, Galloway county
Mo-, on April Q, 1850, when l was moi
quite of e,and with a party of three
others from the Kingdom arrived OF
the 25th of July at Ringo, Cal, a sinai
town northeast of Sacramento. WI
started in a wagon, but when we goi
to the Humboldt River we threw ou1
wagon away, packed our horses anc
continued the rest of our journey
Immediately upon arrival we sold oul
team. My interest in this, together
with what 1 g~atheredup intwo months
aggregated $1,000. 1 was then takeI
sick, and for five months was seriously
i'll. l had to pay the doctor $4S a visit
and when l finally recovered I did no
have $40 left.
81 determined to seek other fields
and, in conjunction with DR.. Longiey
of Galloway county, purchased two
cows and a wagon and went north 15t
miles to Redding Springs, at the heat
of the Sacramento. Here we set up Q
blacksmith shop, and would have
made a fortune out Of it If we ha6
stuck to it. We got S4s for shoeing 6
horse, and our iron cost US nothing, at
we secured it from tires of wagons
that had been thrown away and de
serted in this locality. We had tt
mine our own coal, a very dangerouI
proceeding, q the Indians woult
shoot a fellow every time they caugh
him out. We kept at blacksmithinl
nearly six week and made $500 O.
more apiece.
"About this time there came tn
news of new mines that had been dis
covered in Shasta Valley, Northern
California, and the reported find
we're more marvellous than those o
the KIondyke of to-day. Everybod.
went crazy over them, and / was n
more sensible than the rest. / left m,
shop, purchased five mules and loade'
them with flour at $16 per hundred
When I arrived at Shasta there wer'
dozens OF people almost starving t
death, and they immediately sur
rounded me, and without giving m
time to measure out the precious food
they rippO the sacks open an
scooped it up. Afterwards, however
each man paid me at the rate OF $1.2
a pound for what he had taken.
Sat this place I worked in a black
smith shop at $40 a day, and after
wards staked off a claim of my owl
from which ] dug up the precious mets
until the 9Th of July, 1850, when, wit
II other miners, I started back acrot
, the plains, arriving home about tn
, middle Of September.
81 brought with me two mules, m
travelling outfit and $500 in gold. Tn
money Invested, and afterwards bui
, up from it an estate OF s65 600.
:. "My most thrilling experience
Well, that is hard now to determir
upon. Perhaps as exciting as any
thing else was the following incidel
of our return: We had been travelin
/, only about two days when we got ini
!. the lava beds and mountains, an
were completely lost. On all side
there were cracks of various width
and sometimes 100 feet deep. La
one afternoon we came to the top OF
mountain, and there spread out befol
us at the base was q lake. 1t was a
most night when we reached it. Lool
+. ing above we saw nj guide, who hi
8 been left behind to warn us against
attack, running down the mountai
. jumping from ledge to ledge, and pu
suing him q party Of rs Indians.
was the famous Captain Jack and b
.gang Of dssperadoes. When they g
q lust far enough down to be beyo'
y the range of our rides they stoppe
. We picketed u mules near the La
and lay down, concealing ourselves
u the sage and underbrush. We he
n watch all night, but they did not 9
tack us, probably because they mi
Judged our numbers. We found t
next morning, however, by tn'
i tracks, that they had crawled do'
q within about 40 yards OF rs. tn
worried us for several days, thou
r. they never gave MS any trouble"
=. J.. q. v. Baskin, of Mexico, Mo-,
y tired farmer and an old and highly !