Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-01

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Il vi "oih Is belnS done TO
4 IN M ,h-N make the golden ill.,
| M.E >ttASNS< bilee a great success
~ a The Native Sons As
| ISOLATION Is engaged
| /" e, in the work of prem
| aration and the par
ade which Will take place i'm San Francisco
| promises to e a spectacle well worth wit
| Messing. This is a worthy affair and 7
nope 1t will be all that is promised for il
| but L wonder how many of the real old
f'ers VIII be present to witness this if
| ttetn anniversary of what after all has
been the biggest gold excitement that this
| country ever experienced. / wonder If ,
people who will witness the pageant which
| Is 10 typify in It's way the final triumph of
| 'he early struggles. hardships and destjtu
| 'oh winch the old miners encountered In
the old days, will fully realize in their
present prosperity what those first wears
meant to the gold seekers"
Inc speaker was George S. Lee who in
MS YOUTH took part in the great rush
across the continent. which followed the
! discovery of gold in California Mr.. Lees
adventures in search of the yellow metal
Were as varied and as startling as any
pa' ticipated IN by any other '4ger and
MS "reminiscences are well worth REGARDING
1T was not all hardship. to be sure :;
says Mr.. Lee. but there was enough of IL
| 10 go round and not nearly enough of the
pieasanter side of life. At the same time
every man who was there and is stilI Uy
ING VIII. on the occasion of this Jubilee
TOOK PACK to the o. days with many n re-
sfet. Inc scenes and characters have
never. believe been duplicated i'm any
mining district in the world 7 have read
many descriptions OF life in the old camps.
put none or mem seemed to have got deem
down into the human life of the thing.
q mn. 70,
nave never been recorded. and yet they
were essentially typical of the old days and
stood out prominently, and will be remem-
bered by any forty miner"
Curious Lot
characters met with in no other part
| OF the world outside of mining fields co.,,
gregated there-broken down and dissipat
ed preachers, gamblers, horse thieves law
yers. doctors. clerks; men of every ma
tionaity and Of good and bad repute But
so strictly were the laws of meum and
'uun lnforced in impartial trials by miners
jury, That cabins and camps were lief,
without lock, bolt or bar, often with great
value In gold dust or other property left
therein. but few instances OF theft occur.
req. murder being far more frequent than
robbery. Saloon rows were of daily or
weekly occurrence. and there were al
ways one or more victims to be planted
win their boots on Gambling was car
ried on openly at all times, more espe-
ciaily from Saturday night TO M1ojsy
morning, and the weekly earnings of the
miners generally were in the pockets of
the gambler on the latter day. Every
mining camp bcasted of its typical bad
man or men, and at slight proyocation
the revolver made itself heard, and another
victim was credited to the already large
score of the desperate.
one of the typical characters whom /
recall was n man named Bronson "A good.
lODklnU. We'll mea ming fellau ttith al,
cation. but with intense desire not TO let
the lack OF 1t appear. Whenever he heard
word not in common use he treasured II
up, and whenever opportunity to use IL
presented itself he was sure to bring A
into the conversation. Thus he heard the
word 'quondam' Seated one day on n
saloon porch when a woman went by, he
was asked who she was and made an.
swer: Why. that is Mrs. Smith, quondam
MISS Jones As a special and greatly de-
sired favor he was invited to one of the
infrequent weddings that took place in
the section. The bride a girl OF fourteen
had attended school in San Francisco for
several months, and, being also the daugh.
ter OF the stage driver { a high functionary
IN those days., 1t was esteemed a mark of
great favor to receive an invitation 10
her wedding. After the ceremony Rron-
son was seen i'm conversation with the
bride, and the following conversation be-
tween them was overheard:
up. Miss Nellie?
"'Well, no; but dad sort of reckoned
1t was about time, seem as 1 had finished
my education.
Coin TO hang out i'm the old dispins?.
Sort O. think l will. Bills got right
smart show to pan out well in the Lottie'
CHS mining claim.
Still. Miss Nellie, it sorter beats me-
after swingin' round with them high
toned gallutes in Frisco how you can con.
tent yourself in these nefarious hills alb
sentary from all female sociability'
Dramatic and Pathetic.
Some of the pages in the history Of the
time were highly dramatic. others exceed
lngly pathetic: they were all interesting
During this period the valley of the Sacra-
mento was one vast mesa, reaching from
the coast range of the Pacific ocean on the
east to the Sierra Nevada mountains on the
west. and from the head waters of the Sac
ramento on the north to the bay of San
Pueblo on the south. No Enclosure or fence
restricted or bounded any special domain
and transportation across the plain was
generally accomplished In the old-t me prai-
RE schooner. Several of these outfits tray-
eied In company. so as to aid each other in
case of accident
Once during the hottest month of the
year l remember seeing what to me was
one of the strangest sights l had ever en-
countered. Behind one of the prairie
schooners was man trudging along in the
Dust of the rear or trail wagon. Noosed
dbOut MS neck was q rope, the other end
of which was fast to the rear end Of the
wagon. When halt was made to feed the
animals, either at noon or when camped
for the night, instead of Joining the trav-
elers assembled around their camp fires,
this erratic individual held aloof stretching
himself on the heated, barren ground to
sleep, partaking of food only when II was
thrown to him by one another of the
campers. In every respect IT was his en-
deavor to follow out and initiate the &C
tions. of dog. and to be treated as such.
Day after day this strange procedure was
persistently followed to the end of a long
and weary journey, when. with gruff
thanks to the travellers, who would have
befriended him and shared with him all the
comforts Of the camp. he disappeared. The
causes impelling this singular parsonage
to adopt such humiliating self-sacrifces
were not known for years: but afterward
I had the good luck to come across him ia
a mining camp. and we became partners.
The story / cleaned from him was as fol-
lows.
A Typical ArgOnaut.
Before coming to California he lived on
the shores Of Cayuga Lake, New York,
with his wife and four children. His life
as a farmer had been happy enough, until