ON A SUNDAY BOWIE-KNIVES AND REVOLVERS GOLD-DEPOSITS
METHOD OF WASHING LONG TOMS ROCKERS PROSPECTING
M1DDLETOWN OUR MENAGE.
THE town of Placerville or Hangtown, as it was
commonly called consisted of one long straggling
street of clapboard houses and log cabins, built in a
hollow at the side of a creek, and surrounded by high
and steep hills.
The diggings here had been exceedingly rich men
used to pick the chunks of gold out of the crevices of
the rocks in the ravines with no other tool than a
bowie-knife ; but these days had passed, and now
the whole surface of the surrounding country showed
the amount of real hard work which had been done.
The beds of the numerous ravines which wrinkle the
faces of the hills, the bed of the creek, and all the
little flats alongside of it, were a confused mass of
heaps of dirt and piles of stones lying around the
innumerable holes, about six feet square and five or
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE MINES. 113
six feet deep, from which they had been thrown out.
The original course of the creek was completely obli-
terated, its waters being distributed into numberless
little ditches, and from them conducted into the
"long toms" of the miners through canvass hoses,
looking like immensely long slimy sea-serpents.
The number of bare stumps of what had once been
gigantic pine trees, dotted over the naked hill-sides
surrounding the town, showed how freely the axe had
been used, and to what purpose was apparent in the
extent of the town itself, and in the numerous log-
cabins scattered over the hills, in situations apparently
chosen at the caprice of the owners, but in reality
with a view to be near to their diggings, and at the
same time to be within a convenient distance of water
and firewood.
Along the whole length of the creek, as far as one
could see, on the banks of the creek, in the ravines,
in the middle of the principal and only street of the
town, and even inside some of the houses, were parties
of miners, numbering from three or four to a dozen,
all hard at work, some laying into it with picks, some
shovelling the dirt into the " long toms," or with long-
handled shovels washing the dirt thrown in, and
throwing out the stones, while others were working
pumps or baling water out of the holes with buckets.
There was a continual noise and clatter, as mud, dirt,
stones, and water were thrown about in all directions ;
and the men, dressed in ragged clothes and big boots,
wielding picks and shovels, and rolling big rocks about,
114 THE STREET.
were all working as if for their lives, going into it
with a will, and a degree of energy, not usually seen
among labouring men. It was altogether a scene
which conveyed the idea of hard work in the fullest
sense of the words, and in comparison with which a
gang of railway navvies would have seemed to be
merely a party of gentlemen amateurs playing at
working pour passer le temps.
A stroll through the village revealed the extent to
which the ordinary comforts of life were attainable.
The gambling houses, of which there were three or
four, were of course the largest and most conspicuous
buildings ; their mirrors, chandeliers, and other decora-
tions, suggesting a style of life totally at variance with
the outward indications of everything around them.
The street itself was in many places knee-deep in
mud, and was plentifully strewed with old boots,
hats, and shirts, old sardine-boxes, empty tins of pre-
served oysters, empty bottles, worn-out pots and
kettles, old ham-bones, broken picks and shovels, and
other rubbish too various to particularise. Here and
there, in the middle of the street, was a square hole
about six feet deep, in which one miner was digging,
while another was baling the water out with a
bucket, and a third, sitting alongside the heap of dirt
which had been dug up, was washing it in a rocker.
Waggons, drawn by six or eight mules or oxen, were
navigating along the street, or discharging their
strangely-assorted cargoes at the various stores; and
men in picturesque rags, with large muddy boots,
STORES AND BOARDING-HOUSES. 115
long beards, and brown faces, were the only inhabit-
ants to be seen.
There were boarding-houses on the table- d'hdte
principle, in each of which forty or fifty hungry
miners sat down three times a-day to an oilcloth-
covered table, and in the course of about three
minutes surfeited themselves on salt pork, greasy
steaks, and pickles. There were also two or three
" hotels," where much the same sort of fare was to be
had, with the extra luxuries of a table-cloth and a
superior quality of knives and forks.
The stores were curious places. There was no
specialty about them everything was to be found
in them which it could be supposed that any one
could possibly want, excepting fresh beef (there was
a butcher who monopolised the sale of that article).
On entering a store, one would find the storekeeper
in much the same style of costume as the miners,
very probably sitting on an empty keg at a rickety
little table, playing " seven up" for " the liquor" with
one of his customers.
The counter served also the purpose of a bar, and
behind it was the usual array of bottles and decanters,
while on shelves above them was an ornamental dis-
play of boxes of sardines, and brightly-coloured tins
of preserved meats and vegetables with showy labels,
interspersed with bottles of champagne and strangely-
shaped bottles of exceedingly green pickles, the whole
being arranged with some degree of taste.
Goods and provisions of every description were
116 THE JEWS.
stowed away promiscuously all round the store, in
the middle of which was invariably a small table
with a bench, or some empty boxes and barrels for
the miners to sit on while they played cards, spent
their money in brandy and oysters, and occasionally
got drunk.
The clothing trade was almost entirely in the hands
of the Jews, who are very numerous in California,
and devote their time and energies exclusively to sup-
plying their Christian brethren with the necessary
articles of wearing apparel.
In travelling through the mines from one end to
the other, I never saw a Jew lift a pick or shovel to
do a single stroke of work, or, in fact, occupy himself
in any other way than in selling slops. While men
of all classes and of every nation showed such versa-
tility in betaking themselves to whatever business or
occupation appeared at the time to be most advisable,
without reference to their antecedents, and in a
country where no man, to whatever class of society
he belonged, was in the least degree ashamed to roll
up his sleeves and dig in the mines for gold, or to
engage in any other kind of manual labour, it was a
very remarkable fact that the Jews were the only
people among whom this was not observable.
They were very numerous so much so, that the
business to which they confined themselves could
hardly have yielded to every individual a fair average
California rate of remuneration. But they seemed to
be proof against all temptation to move out of their
JEW SLOP-SHOPS. 117
own limited sphere of industry, and of course, con-
centrated upon one point as their energies were, they
kept pace with the go-ahead spirit of the times.
Clothing of all sorts could be bought in any part of
the mines more cheaply than in San Francisco, where
rents were so very high that retail prices of every-
thing were most exorbitant ; and scarcely did twenty
or thirty miners collect in any out-of-the-way place,
upon newly discovered diggings, before the inevitable
Jew slop-seller also made his appearance, to play his
allotted part in the newly-formed community.
The Jew slop-shops were generally rattletrap erec-
tions about the size of a bathing-machine, so small
that one half of the stock had to be displayed sus-
pended from projecting sticks outside. They were
filled with red and blue flannel shirts, thick boots,
and other articles suited to the wants of the miners,
along with Colt's revolvers and bowie-knives, brass
jewellery, and diamonds like young Koh-i-Noors.
Almost every man, after a short residence in Cali-
fornia, became changed to a certain extent in his
outward appearance. In the mines especially, to the
great majority of men, the usual style of dress was one
to which they had never been accustomed ; and those
to whom it might have been supposed such a costume
was not so strange, or who were even wearing the old
clothes they had brought with them to the country,
acquired a certain California air, which would have
made them remarkable in whatever part of the world
they came from, had they been suddenly transplanted
118 SUNDAY IN THE MINES.
there. But to this rule also the Jews formed a very
striking exception. In their appearance there was
nothing whatever at all suggestive of California ; they
were exactly the same unwashed-looking, slobbery, slip-
shod individuals that one sees in every seaport town.
During the week, and especially when the miners
were all at work, Hangtown was comparatively quiet ;
but on Sundays it was a very different place. On
that day the miners living within eight or ten miles
all nocked in to buy provisions for the week to
spend their money in the gambling rooms to play
cards to get their letters from home and to refresh
themselves, after a week's labour and isolation in the
mountains, in enjoying the excitement of the scene
according to their tastes.
The gamblers on Sundays reaped a rich harvest ;
their tables were thronged with crowds of miners,
betting eagerly, and of course losing their money.
Many men came in, Sunday after Sunday, and
gambled off all the gold they had dug during the
week, having to get credit at a store for their next
week's provisions, and returning to their diggings to
work for six days in getting more gold, which would
all be transferred the next Sunday to the gamblers,
in the vain hope of recovering what had been al-
ready lost.
The street was crowded all day with miners loafing
about from store to store, making their purchases and
asking each other to drink, the effects of which began
PISTOLS AND KNIVES. 119
to be seen at an early hour in the number of drunken
men, and the consequent frequency of rows and
quarrels. Almost every man wore a pistol or a
knife many wore both but they were rarely used.
The liberal and prompt administration of Lynch law
had done a great deal towards checking the wanton
and indiscriminate use of these weapons on any slight
occasion. The utmost latitude was allowed in the
exercise of self-defence. In the case of a row, it was
not necessary to wait till a pistol was actually levelled
at one's head if a man made even a motion towards
drawing a weapon, it was considered perfectly justifi-
able to shoot him first, if possible. The very preva-
lence of the custom of carrying arms thus in a great
measure was a cause of their being seldom used.
They were never drawn out of bravado, for when a
man once drew his pistol, he had to be prepared to
use it, and to use it quickly, or he might expect to be
laid low by a ball from his adversary ; and again, if
he shot a man without sufficient provocation, he
was pretty sure of being accommodated with a
hempen cravat by Judge Lynch.
The storekeepers did more business on Sundays
than in all the rest of the week ; and in the af-
ternoon crowds of miners could be seen dispersing
over the hills in every direction, laden with the pro-
visions they had been purchasing, chiefly flour, pork,
and beans, and perhaps a lump of fresh beef.
There was only one place of public worship in
120 GOLD DEPOSITS.
Hangtown at that time, a very neat little wooden
edifice, which belonged to some denomination of
Methodists, and seemed to be well attended.
There was also a newspaper published two or three
times a-week, which kept the inhabitants "posted
up" as to what was going on in the world.
The richest deposits of gold were found in the beds
and banks of the rivers, creeks, and ravines, in the
flats on the convex side of the bends of the streams,
and in many of the flats and hollows high up in the
mountains. The precious metal was also abstracted
from the very hearts of the mountains, through
tunnels drifted into them for several hundred yards ;
and in some places real mining was carried on in the
bowels of the earth by means of shafts sunk to the
depth of a couple of hundred feet.
The principal diggings in the neighbourhood of
Hangtown were surface diggings ; but, with the
exception of river diggings, every kind of mining
operation was to be seen in full force.
The gold is found at various depths from the sur-
face ; but the dirt on the bed-rock is the richest, as
the gold naturally in time sinks through earth and
gravel, till it is arrested in its downward progress by
the solid rock.
The diggings here were from four to six or seven
feet deep; the layer of "pay-dirt" being about a
couple of feet thick on the top of the bed-rock.
I should mention that " dirt" is the word univer-
sally used in California to signify the substance dug,
"LONG TOMS/' 121
earth, clay, gravel, loose slate, or whatever other name
might be more appropriate. The miners talk of rich
dirt and poor dirt, and of " stripping off" so many
feet of " top dirt" before getting to " pay-dirt," the
latter meaning dirt with so much gold in it that it
will pay to dig it up and wash it.
The apparatus generally used for washing was a
" long torn," which was nothing more than a wooden
trough from twelve to twenty-five feet long, and
about a foot wide. At the lower end it widens con-
siderably, and the floor of it is there a sheet of iron
pierced with holes half an inch in diameter, under
which is placed a flat box a couple of inches deep.
The long torn is set at a slight inclination over
the place which is to be worked, and a stream of
water is kept running through it by means of a hose,
the mouth of which is inserted in a dam built for the
purpose high enough up the stream to gain the
requisite elevation ; and while some of the party
shovel the dirt into the torn as fast as they can dig
it up, one man stands at the lower end stirring up
the dirt as it is washed down, separating the stones
and throwing them out, while the earth and small
gravel falls with the water through the sieve into the
" ripple-box." This box is about five feet long, and
is crossed by two partitions. It is also placed at an
inclination, so that the water falling into it keeps the
dirt loose, allowing the gold and heavy particles to
settle to the bottom, while all the lighter stuff washes
over the end of the box along with the water. When
122 "ROCKERS."
the day's work is over, the dirt is taken from the
"ripple-box" and is "washed out" in a "wash-pan,"
a round tin dish, eighteen inches in diameter, with
shelving sides three or four inches deep. In washing
out a panful of dirt, it has to be placed in water deep
enough to cover it over ; the dirt is stirred up with
the hands, and the gravel thrown out ; the pan is
then taken in both hands, and by an indescribable
series of manoeuvres all the dirt is gradually washed
out of it, leaving nothing but the gold and a small
quantity of black sand. This black sand is mineral
(some oxide or other salt of iron), and is so heavy
that it is not possible to wash it all out ; it has to be
blown out of the gold afterwards when dry.
Another mode of washing dirt, but much more
tedious, and consequently only resorted to where a
sufficient supply of water for a long torn could not
be obtained, was by means of an apparatus called a
" rocker" or " cradle." This was merely a wooden
cradle, on the top of which was a sieve. The dirt
was put into this, and a miner, sitting alongside of it,
rocked the cradle with one hand, while with a dipper
in the other he kept baling water on to the dirt.
This acted on the same principle as the " torn," and
had formerly been the only contrivance in use ; but
it was now seldom seen, as the long torn effected
such a saving of time and labour. The latter was
set immediately over the claim, and the dirt was
shovelled into it at once, while a rocker had to be set
alongside of the water, and the dirt was carried to it
A FRIEND'S LODGINGS. 123
in buckets from the place which was being worked.
Three men working together with a rocker one dig-
ging, another carrying the dirt in buckets, and the
third rocking the cradle would wash on an average a
hundred bucketfuls of dirt to the man in the course
of the day. With a " long torn" the dirt was so
easily washed that parties of six or eight could work
together to advantage, and four or five hundred
bucketfuls of dirt a-day to each one of the party was
a usual day's work.
I met a San Francisco friend in Hangtown prac-
tising his profession as a doctor, who very hospitably
offered me quarters in his cabin, which I gladly
accepted. The accommodation was not .very luxuri-
ous, being merely six feet of the floor on which to
spread my blankets. My host, however, had no
better bed himself, and indeed it was as much as
most men cared about. Those who were very par-
ticular preferred sleeping on a table or a bench
when they were to be had ; bunks and shelves were
also much in fashion ; but the difference in comfort
was a mere matter of imagination, for mattresses
were not known, and an earthen floor was quite as
soft as any wooden board. Three or four miners
were also inmates of the doctor's cabin. They were
quondam New South Wales squatters, who had been
mining for several months in a distant part of the
country, and were now going to work a claim about
two miles up the creek from Hangtown. As they
wanted another hand to work their long torn with
12-fc PROSPECTING.
them, I very readily joined their party. For several
days we worked this place, trudging out to it
when it was hardly daylight, taking with us our
dinner, which consisted of beefsteaks and bread,
and returning to Hangtown about dark ; but the
claim did not prove rich enough to satisfy us, so we
abandoned it, and went " prospecting/' which means
looking about for a more likely place.
A " prospecter" goes out with a pick and shovel,
and a wash-pan; and to test the richness of a place
he digs down till he reaches the dirt in which it
may be expected that the gold will be found ; and
washing out a panful of this, he can easily calculate,
from the amount of gold which he finds in it, how
much could be taken out in a day's work. An old
miner, looking at the few specks of gold in the
bottom of his pan, can tell their value within a few
cents ; calling it a twelve or a twenty cent " pros-
pect," as it may be. If, on washing out a panful of
dirt, a mere speck of gold remained, just enough to
swear by, such dirt was said to have only " the
colour," and was not worth digging. A twelve -cent
prospect was considered a pretty good one ; but in
estimating the probable result of a day's work,
allowance had to be made for the time and labour
to be expended in removing top-dirt, and in other-
wise preparing the claim for being worked.
To establish one's claim to a piece of ground, all
that was requisite was to leave upon it a pick or
A NEW CLAIM. 125
shovel, or other mining tool. The extent of ground
allowed to each individual varied in different dig-
gings from ten to thirty feet square, and was fixed
by the miners themselves, who also made their own
laws, defining the rights and duties of those holding
claims; and any dispute on such subjects was settled
by calling together a few of the neighbouring miners,
who would enforce the due observance of the laws
of the diggings. After prospecting for two or three
days, we concluded to take up a claim near a small
settlement called Middletown, two or three miles
distant from Hangtown. It was situated by the
side of a small creek, in a rolling hilly country, and
consisted of about a dozen cabins, one of which was
a store supplied with flour, pork, tobacco, and other
necessaries.
We found near our claim a very comfortable
cabin, which the owner had deserted, and in which
we established ourselves. We had plenty of fire-
wood and water close to us, and being only two
miles from Hangtown, we kept ourselves well sup-
plied with fresh beef. We cooked our "dampers"
in New South Wales fashion, and lived on the fat
of the land, our bill of fare being beefsteaks, dam-
per, and tea for breakfast, dinner, and supper. A
damper is a very good thing, but not commonly
seen in California, excepting among men from New
South Wales. A quantity of flour and water, with
a pinch or two of salt, is worked into a dough,
126 DAMPERS AND BEEFSTEAKS.
and, raking down a good hardwood fire, it is placed
on the hot ashes, and then smothered in more hot
ashes to the depth of two or three inches, on the top
of which is placed a quantity of the still burning
embers. A very little practice enables one to judge
from the feel of the crust when it is sufficiently
cooked. The great advantage of a damper is, that
it retains a certain amount of moisture, and is as
good when a week old as when fresh baked. It is
very solid and heavy, and a little of it goes a great
way, which of itself is no small recommendation
when one eats only to live.
Another sort of bread we very frequently made
by filling a frying-pan with dough, and sticking it
up on end to roast before the fire.
The Americans do not understand dampers. They
either bake bread, using saleratus to make it rise, or
else they make flapjacks, which are nothing more
than pancakes made of flour and water, and are a
very good substitute for bread w r hen one is in a
hurry, as they are made in a moment.
As for our beefsteaks, they could not be beat any-
where. A piece of an old iron-hoop, twisted into a
serpentine form and laid on the fire, made a first-rate
gridiron, on which every man cooked his steak to his
own taste. In the matter of tea I am afraid we were
dreadfully extravagant, throwing it into the pot in
handfuls. It is a favourite beverage in the mines-
morning, noon, and night and at no time is it more
refreshing than in the extreme heat of mid-day.
A GRIDIRON BED. 12V
In the cabin two bunks had been fitted up, one
above the other, made of clapboards laid crossways,
but they were all loose and warped. I tried to sleep
on them one night, but it was like sleeping on a
gridiron ; the smooth earthen floor was a much
more easy couch.
CHAPTER VII.
DIGGER INDIANS THEIR LOVE OF DRESS THEIR DOGS THEIR
FOOD THEIR INGENUITY INDIAN FEMALE BEAUTY, OR OTHER-
WISE "HUNTING" THE INDIANS, AND TEACHING THEM MAN-
NERS COON HOLLOW COYOTE DIGGINGS COYOTES WEAVER
CREEK THE WEATHER AND THE CLIMATE CHINAMEN A
CELESTIAL " MUSS."
WITHIN a few miles of us there was camped a large
tribe of Indians, who were generally quite peaceable,
and showed no hostility to the whites.
Small parties of them were constantly to be seen
in Hangtown, wandering listlessly about the street,
begging for bread, meat, or old clothes. These
Digger Indians, as they are called, from the fact of
their digging for themselves a sort of subterranean
abode in which they pass the winter, are most
repulsive-looking wretches, and seem to be very
little less degraded and uncivilisable than the blacks
of New South Wales.
They are nearly black, and are exceedingly ugly,
with long hair, which they cut straight across the
forehead just above the eyes. They had learned the
value of gold, and might be seen occasionally in
AN INDIAN SWELL. 129
unfrequented places washing out a panful of dirt,
but they had no idea of systematic work. What
little gold they got, they spent in buying fresh beef
and clothes. They dress very fantastically. Some,
with no other garment than an old dress-coat but-
toned up to the throat, or perhaps with only a hat
and a pair of boots, think themselves very well got
up, and look with great contempt on their neigh-
bours whose wardrobe is not so extensive. A coat
with showy linings to the sleeves is a great prize ; it
is worn inside out to produce a better effect, and
pantaloons are frequently worn, or rather carried,
with the legs tied round the waist. They seem to
think it impossible to have too much of a good
thing; and any man so fortunate as to be the pos-
sessor of duplicates of any article of clothing, puts
them on one over the other, piling hat upon hat
after the manner of " Old clo."
The men are very tenacious of their dignity, and
carry nothing but their bows and arrows, while the
attendant squaws are loaded down with a large creel