History of the State of California Part 10

"Two years ago, California did not probably contain more than fifteen thousand people. That portion of it which has since been so wonderfully peopled by American citizens was, comparatively, without inhabitants, without resources, and not supplied with the common comforts of shelter afforded by a forest country.

"Notwithstanding the great distances immigrants have been compelled to travel to reach the territory, more than one hundred thousand have overcome all difficulties and spread themselves over its hills and plains. They have been supplied from distances as great as they themselves have pa.s.sed with not only the necessaries, but the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. Houses have been imported from China, Chili, and the Atlantic States of the Union. All the materials required in building cities and towns have been added to the wants of a people so numerous, dest.i.tute, and remote from the sources of supply.

"These wants will exist as long as immigration continues to flow into the country, and labor employed in collecting gold shall be more profitable than its application to agriculture, the mechanic arts, and the great variety of pursuits which are fostered and sustained in other civilized communities.

"This may be shown by mentioning the prices of a few articles. Last summer and autumn, lumber was sold in San Francisco at $300 to $400 per thousand feet. At Stockton and Sacramento City, at $500 to $600.

At these prices, it could be made in the territory, and many persons were engaged in the business. I perceive, by recent accounts, that the price had fallen at San Francisco to $75. At this price, it _cannot_ be made where labor is from $10 to $15 per day; and the difficulties attending its manufacture are much greater than in the Atlantic States. Lumber can be delivered in our large lumber markets for an _average_ of the various qualities of $16, and freighted to San Francisco for $24, making $40 per thousand feet. This price would cause the manufacture of it in California to be abandoned. We may add $20 per thousand, to meet any increase of price in the article itself, or in the freight, and the result would be the same.

"It is probable that the demand, for several years to come, will not be less than twenty millions of feet per annum, which, at $40 per thousand, will be $800,000.

"When California comes to have a population of 200,000, which she will have before the close of the present year, she will require nearly half a million barrels of flour from some quarter, and no country can supply it so good and cheap as the old States of the Union. Including freight and insurance, this may be set down as an item of about $5,000,000. The article of clothing, allowing $20 to each person, would be $4,000,000.

"There is no pretension to accuracy in these items, and they may be estimated too high; but it is quite as probable they are too low.

"We have no data on which to found a calculation of what the value of the trade between the States east of the Rocky Mountains and California will be during the current year. I will venture the opinion, however, that it will not fall short of twenty-five millions of dollars. It may go far beyond that sum. At present, I can conceive no cause which will r.e.t.a.r.d or diminish immigration.

"If the movement shall continue five years, our commerce with that territory may reach one hundred millions per annum. This is doubtless a startling sum; but it must be borne in mind that we have to build cities and towns, supply machinery for mining, coal for domestic purposes, and steam navigation, and all the multifarious articles used in providing the comforts and luxuries of life, for half a million of people, who will have transferred themselves to a country which is to produce, comparatively, nothing except minerals and the precious metals, and whose pursuits will enable them to purchase, at any cost, whatever may be necessary for their purposes.

"It is difficult to imagine or calculate the effect which will be produced on all the industrial pursuits of the people of the Old States of the Union, by this withdrawal from them of half a million of producers, who, in their new homes and new pursuits, will _give existence_ to a commerce almost equal in value to our foreign trade.

Let no one, therefore, suppose he is not interested in the welfare of California. As well may he believe his interests would not be influenced by closing our ports and cutting off intercourse with all the world.

"The distance round Cape Horn is so great that bread-stuffs and many other articles of food deteriorate, and many others are so perishable in their nature that they would decay on the pa.s.sage. This would be the case particularly with all kinds of vegetables and undried fruits.

Until some more speedy mode of communication shall be established by which produce can be transferred, the farmers and planters of the old States will not realize the full value of this new market on the Pacific.

"Many other important interests will be kept back, especially the consumption of coal. The American steamers, now on that ocean, those on their way there, and others shortly to be sent out, will consume not far from one hundred thousand tons of coal per annum. The scarcity of wood in California will bring coal into general use as fuel, as soon as it can be obtained at reasonable prices. Suppose there may be, three years hence, forty thousand houses, which shall consume five tons each per annum. This, with the steamers, would be a consumption of three hundred thousand tons. If delivered at $20 per ton, it would compete successfully with the coal from Vancouver's Island and New Holland, and amount to $6,000,000.

"The construction of a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama would secure the market for those articles against all compet.i.tion.

"Some idea may be formed of the demand for them from the prices paid in San Francisco last autumn. Coal was sold at $60 to $100 per ton; potatoes $16 per bushel; turnips and onions for 25 to 62 cents each; eggs from $10 to $12 per dozen.

"The distance from Chagres to New York has recently been run in seven days. The same speed would carry a steamboat from Panama to San Francisco in ten days. Allow three days to convey freight across the Isthmus, on a railway, and both pa.s.sengers and freight will be conveyed from New York to San Francisco in twenty days.

"This celerity of movement would secure for American produce the entire market of California. Sailing vessels may be successfully employed between our Atlantic and gulf ports and the terminus of the railway on this side of the Isthmus; and _propellers_ from Panama to San Francisco. These latter vessels will be found peculiarly suited to that trade; they can use their steam through the calms of the Bay of Panama, and against head-winds and currents going north, and their sails with favorable winds and currents coming south.

"These modes of conveyance, in connection with the railroad across the Isthmus, would be sufficiently expeditious and economical to turn the tide of commerce, between the Atlantic and Pacific States of the Union, into that channel. The tendency of our commerce on the Pacific to promote the employment of ocean steamers is of much importance as connected with the defence of our extensive line of coast from lat.i.tude 32 to 49, the protection of the whale fishery, and other branches of trade on that ocean. The establishment of a line of heavy steamers to China would promote all these objects; increase our intercourse with that country, and probably be the means of opening communications with j.a.pan. Money wisely employed in promoting these objects, it is believed, would add more to the power and prosperity of the country than its expenditure on any _general system_ of fortification at the present prices of labor and materials. There is one point, however, of such vast importance that no time should be lost in taking the necessary steps to render it perfectly impregnable--that is, the entrance to the harbor of San Francisco. On the strength of the works which may be erected to defend that pa.s.sage will depend the safety of California in time of war with a maritime power. Permit a hostile fleet to cast anchor in the harbor of San Francisco, and the country would be virtually conquered.

"The coast has not been surveyed, nor has its outline been correctly ascertained. There are many rocks above and below the water-line, and small islands not mentioned or indicated on any chart, which render navigation near the land, especially at night, extremely dangerous.

"An accurate survey of the coast, to commence at the most important points, the construction of lighthouses, and the placing of buoys in proper positions, are objects of much importance, and, it is not doubted, will attract the early attention of Government."

We come now to that which has built up so rapidly this empire of the Pacific--the metallic and mineral wealth of California. As to the extent of the region, and indications of the existence of the gold, together with the attendant geological formations, the statements of Mr. King's report will not be, nor have not been, gainsayed; but as to the origin of the gold, whether in combination with quartz, or mixed with the sands of the ravines and streams, various opinions have been expressed by those who have spent considerable time in working and observing the different formations. That due weight may be given to both of the princ.i.p.al theories, we extract the observation and opinion of a person who favors the idea of the gold having been scattered over the country, by a tremendous volcanic eruption.

"The gold found in every placer in California bears the most indubitable marks of having, at some time, been in a molten state. In many parts it is closely intermixed with quartz, into which it has evidently been injected while in a state of fusion; and I have myself seen many pieces of gold completely coated with a black cement that resembled the lava of a volcano. The variety of form, which the placer gold of California has a.s.sumed, is in itself sufficient evidence of the fact, that it has been thrown over the surface while in a melted state. The earliest comparisons of the California gold were to pieces of molten lead dropped into water. The whole territory of the gold region bears the plainest and most distinct marks of being volcanic.

The soil is of a red, brick color, in many places entirely barren, and covered with a flinty rock, or pebble, entirely parched in the summer, and during the rainy season becoming a perfect mire. The formation of the hills, the succession of gorges, the entire absence of fertility in many portions, distinctly exhibit the result of a great up-heaving during past times. But there is one phenomenon in the mining region which defies all geological research founded upon any other premises than volcanic formation. Throughout the whole territory, so generally that it has become an indication of the presence of gold, a white slate rock is found, and is the princ.i.p.al kind of rock in the mining region. This rock, instead of lying as slate rock does in other portions of the earth, in horizontal strata, is perpendicular, or nearly so; seeming to have been torn up from its very bed and left in this position. On the banks of the Middle Fork are several excavations, which can only be accounted for upon the supposition, that they were at some time volcanic craters. There is one of these on the mountain side, about five miles below the "Big Bar;" from which, running down to the base of the mountains, is a wide gorge entirely dest.i.tute of verdure, while the earth around it is covered with shrubbery. This, I am fully convinced, was the bed of the lava stream that was thrown up from the crater; and in searching for gold at the very foot of it, I found several pieces entirely covered with the black cement or lava, of which I have previously spoken. From all these evidences, I am fully satisfied that at some early date in the world's history, by some tremendous volcanic eruption, or by a succession of them, gold, which was existing in the form of ore, mixed with quartz rock, was fused and separated from its surrounding substances, and scattered through every plain, hill, and valley, over an immense territory. By its own gravity, and the continual washing of the rains, it sank into the earth until it reached a rock, or hard, impenetrable clay. It still continued washing and sliding down the hill-side, until it reached the rivers or ravines, and in the former was washed along with its current until it settled in some secure place in their beds, or was deposited upon their banks; and in the latter rested among the crevices of rocks."[13]

The following from Mr. King's report, presents the opposite theory, with its evidence in full. The two accounts are at variance both in regard to fact and theory. But that of Mr. King, who enjoyed every facility of obtaining information from observation, and from the statements of intelligent miners, is considered most reliable, in respect to matters of fact, and, therefore, of more dependence in forming a theory. He says--

"The princ.i.p.al formation, or substratum, in these hills, is talcose slate; the superstratum, sometimes penetrating to a great depth, is quartz. This, however, does not cover the entire face of the country, but extends in large bodies in various directions--is found in ma.s.ses and small fragments on the surface, and seen along the ravines and in the mountains, overhanging the rivers, and in the hill-sides in its original beds. It crops out in the valleys and on the tops of the hills, and forms a striking feature of the entire country over which it extends. From innumerable evidences and indications, it has come to be the universally admitted opinion, among the miners and intelligent men who have examined this region, that the _gold, whether in detached particles and pieces, or in veins, was created in combination with the quartz_. Gold is not found on the surface of the country presenting the appearance of having been thrown up and scattered in all directions by volcanic action. It is only found in particular localities, and attended by peculiar circ.u.mstances and indications. It is found in the bars and shoals of the rivers; in ravines, and in what are called the 'dry diggings.'

"The rivers, in forming their channels, or breaking their way through the hills, have come in contact with the quartz containing the gold veins, and by constant attrition cut the gold into fine flakes and dust, and it is found among the sand and gravel of their beds at those places where the swiftness of the current reduces it, in the dry season, to the narrowest possible limits, and where a wide margin is, consequently, left on each side, over which the water rushes, during the wet season, with great force.

"As the velocity of some streams is greater than that of others, so is the gold found in fine or coa.r.s.e particles, apparently corresponding to the degree of attrition to which it has been exposed. The water from the hills and upper valleys, in finding its way to the river, has cut deep ravines, and, wherever it has come in contact with the quartz, has dissolved or crumbled it in pieces.

"In the dry season, these channels are mostly without water, and gold is found in the beds and margins of many of them in large quant.i.ties, but in a much coa.r.s.er state than in the rivers; owing, undoubtedly, to the moderate flow and temporary continuance of the current, which has reduced it to smooth shapes, not unlike pebbles, but has not had sufficient force to cut it into flakes or dust.

"The dry diggings are places where quartz containing gold has cropped out, and been disintegrated, crumbled to fragments, pebbles, and dust, by the action of water and the atmosphere. The gold has been left as it was made, in all imaginable shapes; in pieces of all sizes, from one grain to several pounds in weight. The evidences that it was created in combination with quartz are too numerous and striking to admit of doubt or cavil. _They are found in combination in large quant.i.ties._

"A very large proportion of the pieces of gold found in these situations have more or less quartz adhering to them. In many specimens, they are so combined they cannot be separated without reducing the whole ma.s.s to powder, and subjecting it to the action of quicksilver.

"This gold, not having been exposed to the attrition of a strong current of water, retains, in a great degree, its original conformation.

"These diggings, in some places, spread over valleys of considerable extent, which have the appearance of an alluvion, formed by washings from the adjoining hills, of decomposed quartz and slate earth, and vegetable matter.

"In addition to these facts, it is, beyond doubt, true that several vein-mines have been discovered in the quartz, from which numerous specimens have been taken, showing the minute connection between the gold and the rock, and indicating a value hitherto unknown in gold-mining.

"These veins do not present the appearance of places where gold may have been lodged by some violent eruption. It is combined with the quartz, in all imaginable forms and degrees of richness.

"The rivers present very striking, and, it would seem, conclusive evidence respecting the quant.i.ty of gold remaining undiscovered in the quartz veins. It is not probable that the gold in the dry diggings, and that in the rivers--the former in lumps, the latter in dust--was created by different processes. That which is found in the rivers has undoubtedly been cut or worn from the veins in the rock, with which their currents have come in contact. All of them appear to be equally rich. This is shown by the fact that a laboring man may collect nearly as much in one river as he can in another. They intersect and cut through the gold region, running from east to west at irregular distances of fifteen to twenty, and perhaps some of them thirty, miles apart.

"Hence it appears that the gold veins are equally rich in all parts of that most remarkable section of country. Were it wanting, there are further proofs of this in the ravines and dry diggings, which uniformly confirm what nature so plainly shows in the rivers."

It is an interesting inquiry--what was the amount of the golden treasure collected during the years 1848 and '49? The satisfaction of this inquiry will enable us to form some faint conception of the value of the gold region, and the dependence which may be placed upon its yield for a commercial return. Premising that the gold was first discovered in May, 1848, and that intelligence of it was not received in the United States till late in the following autumn, Mr. King, in his report, proceeds in making an estimate of the quant.i.ty acc.u.mulated till the close of 1849:

"No immigration into the mines could, therefore, have taken place from the old States in that year. The number of miners was, consequently, limited to the population of the territory, some five hundred men from Oregon--Mexicans, and other foreigners, who happened to be in the country, or came into it during the summer and autumn--and the Indians, who were employed by or sold their gold to the whites.

"It is supposed there were not far from five thousand men employed in collecting gold during that season. If we suppose they obtained an average of one thousand dollars each--which is regarded by well informed persons as a low estimate--the aggregate amount will be $5,000,000.

"Information of this discovery spread in all directions during the following winter; and, on the commencement of the dry season in 1849, people came into the territory from all quarters--from Chili, Peru, and other States on the Pacific coast of South America; from the west coast of Mexico, the Sandwich Islands, China, and New Holland.

"The immigration from the United States came in last, if we except those who crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and went up the coast in steamers, and a few who sailed early on the voyage round Cape Horn.

"The American immigration did not come in by sea, in much force, until July and August, and that overland did not begin to arrive until the last of August and first of September. The Chilenos and Mexicans were early in the country. In the month of July, it was supposed there were fifteen thousand foreigners in the mines. At a place called Sonoranian Camp, it was believed there were at least ten thousand Mexicans. They had quite a city of tents, booths, and log-cabins; hotels, restaurants, stores, and shops of all descriptions, furnished whatever money could procure. Ice was brought from the Sierra, and ice creams added to numerous other luxuries. An inclosure made of the trunks and branches of trees, and lined with cotton cloth, served as a sort of amphitheatre for bull-fights. Other amus.e.m.e.nts, characteristic of the Mexicans, were to be seen in all directions.

"The foreigners resorted princ.i.p.ally to the southern mines, which gave them a great superiority in numerical force over the Americans, and enabled them to take possession of some of the richest in that part of the country. In the early part of the season, the Americans were mostly employed on the forks of the American, and on Bear, Uba, and Feather Rivers. As their numbers increased, they spread themselves over the southern mines, and collisions were threatened between them and the foreigners. The latter, however, for some cause, either fear, or having satisfied their cupidity, or both, began to leave the mines late in August, and by the end of September many of them were out of the country.

"It is not probable that, during the first part of the season, there were more than five or six thousand Americans in the mines. This would swell the whole number, including foreigners, to about twenty thousand the beginning of September. This period embraced about half the season, during which gold may be successfully collected in the rivers.

"Very particular and extensive inquiries respecting the daily earnings and acquisitions of the miners lead to the opinion that they averaged an ounce per day. This is believed by many to be a low estimate; but, from the best information I was able to procure, I am of opinion it approaches very near actual results. The half of the season, up to the 1st of September, would give sixty-five working days, and to each laborer, at $16 per ounce, $1,040. If, therefore we a.s.sume $1,000 as the average collected by each laborer, we shall probably not go beyond the mark.

"This would give an aggregate of $20,000,000 for the first half of the season--$15,000,000 of which was probably collected by foreigners.

During the last half of the season, the number of foreigners was very much diminished, and, perhaps, did not exceed five thousand. At this time, the American immigration had come in by land and sea, and the number of our fellow-citizens in the mines had, as was estimated, increased to between forty and fifty thousand. They were most of them inexperienced in mining, and it is probable the results of their labors were not so great as has been estimated for the first part of the season, and experienced miners. a.s.suming that the average of half an ounce per day ought to be considered as reasonable, it would give an aggregate of about $20,000,000. If from this we deduct one-fourth on account of the early commencement of the wet season, we have an estimate of $15,000,000; at least five of which was collected by foreigners, who possessed many advantages from their experience in mining and knowledge of the country.

"These estimates give, as the result of the operations in the mines for 1848 and 1849, the round sum of $40,000,000; one-half of which was probably collected and carried out of the country by foreigners.

"From the best information I could obtain, I am led to believe that at least $20,000,000 of the $40,000,000 were taken from the rivers, and that their richness has not been sensibly diminished, except in a few locations, which had early attracted large bodies of miners. This amount has princ.i.p.ally been taken from the northern rivers, or those which empty into the Sacramento; the southern rivers, or those which flow into the San Joaquin, having been, comparatively, but little resorted to until near the close of the last season. These rivers are, however, believed by those who have visited them, to be richer in the precious metal than those in the northern part of the gold region."

Adopting the hypothesis that the gold found in these streams had been cut or worn away from the veins in the quartz through which they have forced their way, and considering the fact that they are all equally productive, we may conjecture what a vast amount of treasure remains undisturbed in the veins which run through the ma.s.ses of rock over a s.p.a.ce of forty or fifty miles wide, and near five hundred miles long.

Such an estimate would almost defy our belief; yet, if the hypothesis is true, there is no reason to doubt that the value of the gold which that region will yield, is almost beyond calculation.