The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-08

teen miles desert travel $50 dead horses, $50
| oxen and 10 mules were counted Loss of
| personal goods seemed a matter OF small
Importance. and leather trunks. clothing.
wagons and sil were left on the trail to
save the animals and reach the journeys
| end. In the desert were encountered
| traders from Sacramento, out twelve days
with provisions to sell to incoming emf
grants; -four $3.50 per pound. sugar S.3
per pound, bacon 81 per pound. ETC.
A TERRIBLE JOURNEY.
After the great desert the Sierra Nevada
mountains. Seven yoke of oxen pulled the
| Abbey Wagon up to the first summit. over
a rocky road described as a hundred
times worse THAI any road yet travelled be-
tween Indiana and California Snow eight
feet deep and December weather on Aug. j.
On the second mountain one wagon was
thrown away, and teams doubled by the
two messes. In half a mile these oxen re-
fused to pull; provisions and clothing were
packed on their backs, and the last wagon
abandoned. The kitchen ox-so to speak
became frightened. and ran off down the
mountain, throwing pans, dishes. tin cups,
knives and forks, helter-skelter in every
direction; he was caught up with, how
ever, and his load partially recovered. Six
miles per day was considered good travel
over these ~frightful, p~erilous roads,
through banks of snow fourteen feet deep.
Aug. Is found the New Albany emigrants
fifty miles from the "gold d~iggings." trav-
cling terrible mountain miles, which were
estimated to be "twice as long as miles in
the valIey;' the next few days travel
brought them to camp near Weaversville,
Cal. and at the last dinner on the trip they
cooked the last provision made for the long
Journey. Men who had preceded them
were found in low spirits, gold being scarce
and provisions high. The miners on Weaver
creek were in number eight to ten thousand
in a district eight miles by ten; and james
Abbey was of the opinion that the gold
harvest was about over, except in excep-
tional cases. 81 have done some tall dig
ging,' he wrote, and the most / could
achieve in one day was 81, wet feet and
aching bones.' Gold was to be found, how
ever, and by industry and perseverance, a
number of the Indiana men amassed a
creditable quantity before returning home.
With these Indiana gold-seekers of 1850
was Mr.. John Nafius. still a hale and
hearty resident of New Albany, and vivid
- 1ONoA-Ao Aetch anu avn
dents of the long overland pilgrimage.
On the boat-passage up the Missouri river
a huge snag ripped into the steamboat,
throwing six or eight oxen overboard; al
though this occurred at midnight, the cat
tie were all recovered. In the Black Hills,
while camping, Mr.. Nafus and his part
ner started out with pick and pan for a
little private gold-digging. They came in
sight of the wigwams of a large Indian en-
campment, and swiftly left the trail, to
hide in the underbrush; soon they en-
~countered a white man, crying and in an
almost distracted state. He told them he
had lost his partner and felt quite sure
that he had fallen into the hands of the
Indians. Messrs. Nafius and Sutton urged
the man. for his own protection to remain
with them, but he dashed off wildly into
the thicket and was lost to view. No gold
was found in the Black Hills, but the two
New Albany men. on attempting to return
t. camp. discovered themselves to be lost.
They wandered until 10 o'clock at night.
fearing Indians. not daring to lie down for
fear of wolves; and finally happened on a
stranger camp, where they were cared
for and fed until. sadder and wiser.
they found their own wagons on the march
the next day. Five yoke of oxen were
driven by John Mains; and only one OK of
the six lived TO reach California. At Salt
Lake City they exchanged two oxen for
one fresh one, and bought lighter wagons.
The blanket coats" often referred to by
James Abbey, were heavy overcoats, light
or dark blue. made of Mackinac blankets
an inch thick, and lined with flannel. These
coats cost from s2 to SIS; and many of
them had to be cast ava on the Salt Lake
trail to tighten the burdens of the toiling
oxen. A Floyd county farmer. who had
purchased a blanket coat wore it twenty
years, and then brought it to town to have
it refined.
On the mountain trails Mr.. Mains re-
calls the emigrants would hear hearty
cheering, as if from a great distance; look
ing vainly below them. forward and back,
they would finally look up, TO see almost
hanging over their heads emigrant wagons
on the trails miles higher up the mountain
side. At Salt Lake City the new great
temple of the Mormons was building, while
the old small temple in the center of the
new edifice was intact, and still in use by
Brigham Young and his followers. Mr..
Mains witnessed much of the outlawry and
violence which characterized early days in
golden California; and remembers the
earliest organization of the "Vigilantes,'
who instituted law and order in the primi-
tive and ungoverned mining districts. In
front of the Weaversville hall. where the
"V~igilantes" met, hung a huge four-foot
triangle on a pole: and this instrument
was hammered Justify for the public good
when il became suddenly necessary to call
a council of these preservers of the COM
mon peace and welfare. Men who were
Industrious and persistent found gold; even
the small accumulators made it pay in
time; and those who failed did so because
they were constantly making changes,
leaving and thus losing the claims they
had taken, in the expectation of finding
richer fields.
Reviewing the terrible overland journey,
and the hard work at it's end. il is evident
that the men OF half a century ago were OF
the kind recently and felicitously described
by Frederick Remington as linen with the
bark on" On the "old West" even those
who suffered from it wilds and dangers
now look regretfully. Says a current maya.
zine writer: 1.-The West of the good. old
days is gone forever. 1t costs a thousand