Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1916-08-31

COMEWHERE in this story l must
write a paragraph exclusively
about myself. The fact that in
o. the outcome Of oil these STIR
ring events have ended as a mere
bo%okkeeper is perhaps a good reason
why one paragraph will be enough. In
my youth l had dreams a-plenty, but
the event and the peculiar twist Of my
own temperament prevented their full
fllment. Perhaps in Il more squeam-
ish age-and yet that is not fair either
to the men whose d~estinies 1 am try
ing to record. Suffice it, then, that Of
these men l have been the friend and
companion, of these occasions l have
been a part, and that the very lacks
and reservations of my Owl character
that have kept me to . subordinate po-
sition and a little garden have prob
ably made me the better spectator.
Which is q longer paragraph about my
self than 1 had %purposed writing.
Therefore l will pass over briefly the
various reasons, romantic and practi-
cal, why 1 decided to join the gold rush
to California in the year 1S49. 1t was
insthe air, and I wasethentofa roman
tic'and adventurous'disposition.
The first news Of the gold discovery
filtered to US in a roundabout way
through vessels to the Sandwich is
lands, and then appeared again in the
columns of some Baltimore paper. Ev-
erybody laughed at the rumor, but ev-
erybody remembered it. The land was
Infinitely remote, and then, as now, TO
nance increases as the square of the
distance. There might well be gold
there, but more authentic We're the re-
ports of tleas, rawhides and Il dried
up coast. Minstrel shows made a good
deal of fun of it all, l remember.
Then, when we were of q broad grin,
came the publication Of the letter writ
ten by Governor Mason to the war de-
partment. That vas Il sober official
document and had to be believed, but
it read like a fairy tale.
81 have no hesitation in saying"
wrote the governor, chat there is more
gold in the country drained by the
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers
j4aA NfCulo pay Liz Noolo VI lAS 1dlC
war with Mexico q hundred times
over" And he then went on to re-
port in detail big nuggets and big wash
ings, mentioning men, places, dates, in
q circumstantial name that carried
conviction.
Our broad grins faded. The min
:strels' jokes changed color. AS 1 look
back it seems to me that l can almost
see with the physical eye the broad
restless upheaval beneath the surface
of all society. The Mexican war was
just over, and the veterans-yOung vet
Grams all-flled with the spirit Of ad-
venture turned eagerly toward this
glittering new emprisc. Out In the
small villages, on the small farms, the
news was talked over seriously, al
most without excitement, as Offering a
possible ean Of lifting the burden
war had laid. Families strained their
resources, mortgaged their possessions,
to equip and send their single strong
est members to make the common for
tune.
Then came the song that caught the
popular ear, and the rush was IN.
Most great movements are done to
song, generally commonplace. 1t was
so in this instance. "Oh, Susannah!
or rather a modification of the original
made to fit the occasion, first sung In
some minstrel show. ran like fire in
the finder of mems excited hopes