The Coolidge examiner., 1933-09-15
.COLD-MAD DAYS
OF HISTORIC 40


old bonanza mining camp of Virginia
City, New, has drawn its hundreds
of fortune seekers from nearby ter
tory; but it is not of magnitude
to start stampede from the East,
such as those that set a large frag-
ment of the nation on the march to
California in 1S49 and to Colorado
in 1859.
"Once only a rumor was needed to
lure thousands of men across a con-
tinent, or over the seas via Panama
and the Horn to the wilderness that
was California" writes Frederick
Simpich in a communication to the
Washington %. c. headquarters of
the National Geographic society, re-
calling the stirring, lusty days of
CalifOrnia's big gold rush in 1S49.
"When Marshall found gold near
Suffers mill, it was the richest
strike in history. With their jack
knives men gouged chunks of pure
gold from hillside seams. Seven
Americans, with the help of Indians,
took out 275 pounds Of gold in lit
tie more than six weeks.
Two men in seven days obtained $17,-
600 from a trench a few feet wide
"The news spread east. Polk COM
mented on the find in message to
congress. No such excitement had
ever swept the nation. BY 1S49 the
whole world seemed gold mad. On
every continent men talked Of Cali
| fornia, and in ever-increasing thou
sands they moved on San Francisco.
In that year go American vessels
reached California. During three
weeks, in the spring of 40, nearly
$4,000 people crossed the Missouri
river, westward bound.
"The migration was so stupen-
dous', says Cleland, the California
historian, 'as to outrank anything of
it's kind in the nations history A
single issue of the New York Herald
carried more than 40 advertisements
offering 70 the California-bound
crowds every aid, from maps and
pistols to 'gold-fnders' and patent
gold-extracting engines.
"Steerage tickets via Panama sold
for $1,000. Thousands went this
way; another army around the Horn
others across Nicaragua or Mexico.
Death took frightful toll, especially
among those crossing the western
deserts. James Abbey. FOrty-nin-
er, wrote in his diary that on one
15-mile stretch Of desert trail he
counted 750 dead horses, oxen, and
mules; In the last ten miles, 362
wagons, besides leather trunks, cloth
ing. and other things thrown away to
tighten the loads.
Imagine San Francisco then.
Gold crazy. Off on the treasure
hunt months ahead of eastern hOrdes.
It's homes, cows, chickens, gardens.
goods in stores-all were deserted.
At excitement's height even the sail
ors quit arriving ships to race for
the gold fields, till vast ghost fleet
of silent vessels lay idle and aban-
doned in the bay.
Newcomers, pouring in now by
sea-. made frantic demands, at any
price, for food, clothes, and mining
outfits. In few weeks population
multiplied a hundred times. Thou
sands slept in open fields. Two
streams, new arrivals on their way
to the mines, and men Fastening
back to spend their dust and nuggets,
brought the young San Francisco
amazing wealth. Literally, millions
of dollars poured into it. Some min
ers brought back gold enough to toss
nuggets at the feet of stage singers
in the smoke-flled, boisterous music
halls.
Houses couldn't be built fast
enough. ANY room 20 by go feet
wrote Gen. w. 7. Sherman, in his
Memoirs would rent for 81 900 a
month"; A Kentuckian, later famous,
got his start selling homemade pies
at $40 each. Tents and flimsy shacks
spread for miles.
mines or camps with such names
as HelTs Delight, Hangtown, De
lirium Tremens, Blue Belly Ravine,
Poker Flat, Shirttail Canyon, and
Petticoat Slide, limited at the bois-
ferrous spirit of the time. Nobody
shaved. Behind the full boards Of
the miners were the faces of young
men. in topboots, flannel shirts, and
slouch hats, all miners looked alike.
as they crowded the Ell Dorado, Bella
Union, and other glittering gambling
dens of the day, losing their dust as
easily as they had found it.
"Malays. MeXicans, Moors, Aus
tralians, Chinese, Kanakas, Chileans,
Peruvians-all joined with Ameri-
cans and Europeans TO give San
Francisco, heart Of the boom, that
cosmopolitan character it still re-
tains."