Audubon's Western Journal: 1849-1850 — A Tour Of The Gold-fields Part 2

[Illustration: HAWKINS'S BAR, TUOLUMNE, LOOKING SOUTHEAST _April 1, 1850_] _March 29th.

_ The Tuolomne here, one mile above Hawkin's Bar, comes out of a gorge in the hills, which is both steep and rocky, and sends forth the troubled stream to be tossed and dashed over rocks and shallow bars, for miles through hills and chasms until it reaches the plains, when it moves quietly, but still rapidly at this season, as it makes its way to the San Joaquin, ninety or a hundred miles from the mouth of that stream.

The river here rises and falls daily and nightly almost with the regularity of the tide, not ordinarily more than a foot or two, this being due to the effect of the sun on the snows of the mountains; the warmer the day the higher the water.

At night many men in parties of from twenty-five to fifty are here engaged in digging canals to drain the bed of the river at low water.

I learn however that they are greatly hindered in this by numerous springs in the bottom of the river, and though there is no doubt a great deal of gold, the difficulties of getting it without machinery are more than can be realized by any one who has not been here and tried.

The buzzards in this upper country are just pairing.

I have seen three or four couples of the California vulture but have not secured one yet.

The bar which was dug here last year is now under water, but I am told it was very profitable and many made five or six thousand from their summer's work.

There are many here waiting for the plains to dry and snows to melt, when Hawkin's celebrated bar may again be worked.

While I am here, I may as well try to give an idea of how the work is done.

When a spot has been selected the digger opens a pit, ordinarily four to six feet deep, but sometimes only the top soil has to be removed before the digger can commence washing; this depends on whether he comes to soil tenacious enough to hold the gold, and keep it from sinking down through light, sandy, or porous soils, until it meets with a formation which prevents it from going deeper into the earth.

Sometimes in such places are found large deposits called "pockets," and doubtless there are still many to be discovered.

When suitable soil is found the digger takes a panful for washing, and with doubt and anxiety goes to the nearest water to see if his "hole" will pay.

He stirs the earth and sand in his pan around, until all the soluble part floats off over the sides of the pan, which is kept under water; he then begins shaking backwards and forwards with a regular movement what is left in his pan, to settle what gold is in it; the gold sinks and all the lighter gravel is tipped to the sides, and the gold is quite below all except the black sand, so like emery that when the gold is very fine it is a great drawback, and difficult to separate.

Should the digger find gold enough to warrant his washing the clay at the bottom of his pit, and thereby gaining half an ounce a day he goes on washing, but grumbles at his hard luck, hoping that as he gets deeper in his hole he will get richer also, and that when he comes to rock, he may find a "pocket."

The cradle is set up, the water poured over, and the monotony of the digger's life begins, a sort of voluntary treadmill occupation, until homesick and tired, even if successful, he ties up his wallet which contains his wealth, secretes it about his body, and tramps off.

A man who is usually successful, and there are not so many, may have acquired five or six thousand dollars, but he has usually aged ten years.

_April 5th.

_ Leaving Hawkin's Bar for Green Springs, we sauntered along the trail under the beautiful post-oaks, just now in their greatest beauty, with leaves half-grown and pendant catkins.

Now we shot a partridge or a hare, or stopped to let "Riley," our pack mule, luxuriate in some little patch of rich grass, in which he stood knee deep.

Overhead we saw the heavy, sweeping motion of the vulture's wing, or watched his silent circles.

Around us are flowers innumerable, brilliant, soft, modest, fragrant, to suit all fancies, till, having finished our eight-mile journey, the sun began to cast its evening light over the landscape, for we had started late.

Layton had rejoined me, and we set up our tent and I made a sketch.

_April 6th.

_ Four o'clock found us on our way back to Hawkin's, to meet a friend of Layton's, N. Howard, who was to be our companion.

It was cloudy but beautiful, and at Wedgewood's tent we found our friend, and shelter, of which we were glad, as rain was beginning to fall and soon came down in torrents, swelling the little brook near the tents to a roaring stream.

_April 8th.

_ After being delayed by rain, our trio started for Don Pedro's Bar, eight miles down the Tuolomne.

The country to look at is most beautiful, and our short walk was one of pleasure and admiration.

_April 9th.

_ This morning we crossed the river and after a trot of about five miles came to the cañon.

I made my way to the lower end called Indian Bluff and my sketch was finished by probably five o'clock; but having no watch I cannot tell.

Here I saw the nests of the California vulture, but on the opposite side of the river, now an impassable torrent.

The country on the south side of this river, where we are, is very hilly, the soil tolerable, and the trees still post-oak.

We leave for Stockton tomorrow.

_April 10th.

_ The road was pleasant on our way back to Green Springs and for a mile further, and when evening came we pitched our "line" tent, and commenced cooking our supper.

We had a California hare, a mallard and a plover, all killed out of season, but food we must have.

Howard boasted of his coffee, Layton is the baker of the mess, whilst I parboiled my slices of pork to rid it of its coarse flavor, fried out the lard, and have turned and re-turned the loin and hindlegs of our hare.

"Riley" safely tethered near us had an equally good supper of the grass and flowers that were to be his bed, and we spread our blankets and went to sleep, or rather the other two have done so, and I, writing by the firelight, shall soon follow their example.

_April 11th.

_ Our road today was almost the same that I had travelled with the company going from Stockton to Chinese Camp or diggings, but how changed the scene.

The road then was soft mud and mire for miles;

now it is as hard as brick, and the hills then scarcely tinged with green by the early sprouting vegetation are now fresh and beautiful with every shade of green and brilliant flowers of all colors.

At every rise of ground we paused and turned to look back at the range of the Sierra Nevada softening and mellowing in the hazy light of the sun, the brilliancy enhanced by the deepening blue of the distant hills which form the last outline on the eastern horizon.

Here I tried my hand again at oil painting for landscape, but can only blot in what will answer hereafter to give me local color.

After painting about three hours we packed up and started again, as there was no water near us, and took our direction westerly.

We found the beds of the streams that in January were beautiful little rivulets, now bright sand bleaching in the sun, their waters dried up or only a tiny trickle.

As we descended from one table land to another the rich vegetation became broken by spots of barrenness, and at times whole plains of weeds, not strong and rank showing fertile land, but coarse, noxious, ungainly with disgusting smell, extended for three or four miles and we followed the dusty road almost feeling that we were again on our terrible journey through Mexico last summer.

All these valleys along the river look more fertile in winter than at this season, as the wet and moisture gives the appearance of richness, which is now completely dissipated by the already parched-up effect of the land.

To give you some little idea of the changes occurring in this country: the ferry we crossed last winter (and could only be taken over after great bargaining for a dollar each), we crossed today, all three of us, and our mule for the same sum of one dollar.

So at the mines, the same change has taken place; last year an ounce was considered the average of the produce of good working men per diem; this year half an ounce is considered the average, by equally good and better skilled workmen.

The people at home will not believe that the roads are travelled by a continuous line of miners; some on foot, some with packs, mules, wagons, in search of "better luck."

The snows are melting so fast just now that the river is within two feet of being as high as when I crossed in the winter just after two nights of rain; then it was muddy, and anyone could see was not in a natural state, now though almost as rapid and deep its clear waters do not give the angry look it had then—so much for summer and its softening effects.

* * * * * The road from Stanislaus over broad prairies of poor sandy soil extends for miles until nearing the edge of the line of beautiful old oaks that fringe French Creek and its swamps; then the earth becomes richer and sends up a growth of clover and beautiful grass knee high, until you reach Stockton.

Indeed all the best lands of the San Joaquin River are admirably suited for planting with proper drainage and cultivation.

The sea breeze at this season is cold and searching, keeping the thermometer at 60 degrees and 62 degrees for days; when a lull comes the heat is at once oppressive, and the mercury rises to 80 degrees or 85 degrees, and the heat dances before us almost in palpable shapes; the water all stagnant sends its odor of decaying vegetation everywhere, accompanied by myriads of mosquitoes.

These conditions exist for miles over the east side, towards the mountains of the San Joaquin.

_April 16th.

_ I am still at Stockton making various excursions with Layton and his friend Howard from New Orleans, and sketching constantly and steadily.

I am indeed crowding all sail to start for home on the steamer which sails on June 1st, with Capt. Patterson.

I have made nearly ninety careful sketches, and many hasty ones, the most interesting I have been able to find in these southern mines, and expect to leave in a few days for Sacramento.

_Stockton, April 18th.

_ I am hardly fit to write for I have just had most melancholy news from Simson.

Lieut.

Browning, my dear and devoted friend; to whom I owe a debt of gratitude which I can never pay, for his friendship and kindness to me last year, from the hour that he took my hand on the accursed Rio Grande River until we parted in San Francisco, has been drowned.

With Lieuts.

Bache and Blunt he was examining the coast near Trinidad Bay, and on attempting to land, the boat "broached to" in the breakers and capsized.

Five were drowned, among them Lieuts.

Browning and Bache.

Thus is added another victim to our ill-fated expedition.

Strange that from first to last we have been so fatally followed.

Night after night Browning and I shared the same tent, the same blankets; we knew each [other] well, we were friends.

_April 23d.

_ The whole country to the north and east of Stockton through to the Calaveras is most rich and splendid soil, but in many places too low for farming, but the grazing was excellent, quantities of wild oats, rye grass (I think), clover and a species resembling red-top.

In many places the grasses were breast high as I waded through them but generally full knee-deep.

As we neared the Calaveras we lost our way trying to avoid some bad arroyos, and followed a trail off to the eastward, perhaps three miles, and the country if changed at all, changed for the better.

Finding the trend of the trail we were following did not suit our ideas of direction, we turned back at even more than a right angle, and in half an hour entered a wood of open timber, with here and there a lagoon or quagmire of mud and mire; but we worked through and Layton went ahead to reconnoitre, and in about twenty minutes reported the river, which we followed down on a good firm cattle trail, and in half an hour more had come to the upper settlement of the ferry, and were stopped by the fences of newly made farms, and again driven to the swamps to get only a few hundred yards down to the ferry.

We crossed the river after having assisted some Germans with about six hundred sheep, and camped for the night tired enough, having made only about ten miles, but walked nearly twenty of hard travel.

_April 24th.

_ As the traveller leaves the north side of the Calaveras and rises higher, the ground becomes cold and has a bluish-looking clay for the road, almost as hard as soft brick, and more tenacious;

there are streaks of sandy soil, and in a few places good land; this is scarce however, between the Calaveras and Mokulumne where the Sacramento road crosses the plain.

The last three miles of the road is through a pleasant, half-wooded country of live-oak and a few varieties of other shrubs, for the whole of the wood is small.

The sandy road was a great relief to us after the lumpy one of the morning, and we tramped merrily on, until we reached the Mokulumne, and saw a comfortable (for this country), log and jacal built house, and passing about two hundred yards further on, spread our blankets under some half dozen magnificent oaks, and after washing away the dust and heat in the clear, cold little river, very rapid but smooth, ate our lunch of fried pork and bread, and stretched ourselves out to rest for an hour, when we packed up, and being ferried across in a pretty good flat-boat, the only one between Stockton and Sacramento, we continued our walk to Dry Creek over just the same description of country we had had in the morning; but it became more sandy if anything, and towards evening was more of a rolling country.

Before we camped for the night we swam "Riley" across a creek about twenty feet wide, and paid one dollar and fifty cents for ourselves and belongings to cross in a sort of canoe, which took us about five minutes.

At the ferry house was a comfortable looking woman with four little children, one an infant; like the Texans she told us they had plenty of cattle, but only one milch cow, so we went on.

_April 25th.

_ This morning mounting a slight rise of ground we at once found ourselves on a high dry, too dry, prairie, facing a bracing northwest wind, just strong enough to feel it stirring up our spirits, and we went cheerily on for about eight miles to a bridge, crossed it, and for about two miles had a succession of sloughs to cross, some boggy, some quicksand, others we had to swim.

By carefully sounding we kept our packs dry in crossing, and safely reached the back of Murphy's corral, where I skinned a magpie I had shot, and Layton took a nap.

We then went to admire Mr. Murphy's fine stock of brood mares, and the young horses he is raising.

At three in the afternoon we packed and left for Sacramento City, keeping to the road for eight miles, when we came to a wood where we collected sufficient fuel for our evening cooking, and went on two miles or so to a lagoon of excellent water, and camped.

We had no tent poles, so did as we had done often before, spread one side of the tent on the ground and laid our blankets on that, and covered ourselves with the other part; a corner was put over my gun used as a pole, which gave a place to sit, and also protected our solitary candle from the wind, so we ate our supper in comfort, and enjoyed a kill-deer and a couple of snipe we had shot.

We did not hear a sound but the croakings of hundreds of frogs from the pond by our side.

Our long campings out had accustomed us to solitudes like this, but on our desolate, half starving march of last year, doubt, anxiety, yes and fear, had always taken from the complete enjoyment of such freedom as this.

The country was so flat that the horizon was lost even in the bright moonlight, and the perfect silence, the pure cloudless sky overhead, the quiet little lake, tended to make everything full of solemnity and peace.

_April 26th.

_ This morning half a gale was blowing from the northwest and we were glad to wear our blanket coats until the sun warmed up the earth.

We reached "Sutter's Fort" at noon, and lay down under the adobe wall to take our lunch.

I was disappointed in the view I had hoped to take; here, on a boundless plain, with two or three hospitals around it, stands a sort of rancho, not so good in many respects as those of New Mexico, but all in the same style, the sides being a series of rooms, one corner being better fitted up for the rancher and his family.

Under some grand old oaks three hundred feet to the eastward, is a cemetery containing a number of graves all made, they tell me, last year when miners and emigrants alike succumbed to illness brought on in many cases by exposure, poor food, and, in some cases, doubtless by disappointed hopes.

Sacramento City is a country village built on a flat point, between a lagoon and the river just below the junction of American River, so low as to be eighteen inches under average high water mark.

It has been a source of such speculations as '36 never heard of.

I was shown a plot of some half-dozen half lots, which cost last fall two hundred and fifty dollars.

The gentleman who owned them, Dr. Pierson, told me he had sold two of them, about a quarter of the whole, for three thousand five hundred dollars, after holding them six months.

Truly people did come to California to make money, and some made it, but California will for the present lower the moral tone of all who come here.

There are few refining influences and men become coarse and profane in language, while the hard life does not improve the temper; the sight of the gold they see dug, and the fortunes they hear of that have been made in months, some few even in weeks, make them avaricious.

Many lots of land, valued last year at one thousand dollars, are now valued at ten thousand dollars, but sooner or later the fall must come.

Sutter's Fort appears to have been built with great care as to its means of defence, though at first sight a visitor would be puzzled to know why it was called a fort at all; closer examination shows that it once had, from all appearances, four square towers, some twenty-five feet high, one at each corner, each tower mounting four, eighteen, or at most, twenty-four pound carronades, and the effect of these on the Indians was all that was required for protection, for the Indians here are a very low class and poor race, far inferior to the eastern tribes, and like the Mexicans cowardice is their chief trait, or at least their most prominent one; and if Mr. Sutter could have had twenty faithful followers, he must have been "monarch of all he surveyed."

The swampy neighborhood, bad atmosphere, and malarial conditions must render this section of country unhealthy to a great degree for half the year; for as autumn comes on the daily supply of freshly-melted snow-water from the mountains will no longer purify the lagoons and bayous of the vicinity.

[Illustration: "A DRY GULCH" AT COLOMA, SUTTER'S MILLS _May 2, 1850_] Fever and ague is very prevalent now, and dysentery feared by all.

Many of the farmers I find here tell me they are only working to get money enough to get back with, and that nothing would induce them to settle here.

They have unfortunately not seen the lower part of the valley and what lies about Los Angeles and to the southward—that is the flower of California.

_April 29th.

_ Alas, is it for good or for bad luck, that I have just learned that Layton and myself cannot travel with safety across the country here, as below, on account of the ill-will of the Indians, and that a party of less than six will be unsafe up and across the middle fork of the American River.

How stories of Indians are told to every traveller.

Though often near them, I have never found any who were not greater cowards than myself, and we leave today for Sutter's Mills, Georgetown, etc. , in good health and spirits.

_May 4th.

Coloma.

_ "Sutter's Mills" is about fifty miles [distant], nearly east of Sacramento.

The road to it after passing the first four or five miles runs through a sandy soil, covered at present with what we call "sneeze-weed."

There is no water, until after leaving the river, American Fork, we crossed a pretty little "spring branch" as it would be called in Louisiana.

The grass is sparse and poor along the whole route, and the face of nature looks like August in the eastern states, so completely that as the refreshing cool breezes come to us each morning, I almost fancy it is the first of September.

But in the valleys and on the hillsides the heat is most oppressive, though, as in England, if you stand still for only a few moments in the shade, you soon feel chilled through.

The valley here is not as wide as at Stockton by at least twenty miles, and the grand masses of snow covered mountains seem almost within a day of you, whilst south you still have distance to give additional enchantment to the view.

The oaks here are small, not more than from eighteen inches to two feet in diameter; if the soil in which they grew had any richness, I should say the whole forest was of forty years growth at most, but for the occasional presence of a grove of magnificent pines, from a hundred to nearly two hundred feet high.

I

have measured many at the angle on the ground and have proved it with rods so that I know I am very nearly correct in my statement.

_May 6th.

_ Crossing the river at Coloma, on a good bridge, we commenced our ascent of the long and in many places very steep hill.

We found a start at dawn would have been much better than at ten, which it now was, as our poor mule "Riley" felt the heat greatly; but with occasional pauses up we went, passing wrecked wagons and broken pack-saddles in several of the narrow parts of the cañons that the road wound through.

We were not sorry when we found we had reached the last hill and mounted it, hoping to be repaid by some distant view, but on no side could we see more than a few miles; and we journeyed on, wondering who would be[40] at the mushroom town, Coloma, renowned for being the place where gold was first found by the whites.

We were told that Captain Sutter had made a large fortune by digging gold with many of the Indians he had about him; how true the story is, of course, I cannot say.

[_No date.

_] Starting early we had time enough to reach Georgetown, and after the first few miles, were pleased to see a most favorable change in the forest we passed through.

A better class of white oaks appeared, and following up a beautiful little creek we gradually came to a pine growth large and magnificent; both yellow and white pine were there, also the long coned pine, and many superb cedars over a hundred feet high.

In many places these trees were felled, and split into laths and joists so straight and fine that but little dressing was requisite to fit them for the buildings here constructed, frame houses one story high.

I saw some maples, very like what we call "soft" maple, an elm or two, and many specimens of Nuttall's splendid dogwood in full bloom.

The ultramarine jay is here by dozens, robins, fly catchers, chats, finches by hundreds.

I see daily new birds and plants that a year's steady work could not draw, but if our government would send good men, what a work of national pride could be brought out!

Geology, botany, entomology, zoölogy, etc. The views are frequently superb, and the hemlocks and pines of many species most beautiful.

We reached Georgetown—two rows of poor houses and sheds.

The houses all one story, but some with piazzas, and here we took our supper at the "Pine settlement" as it is called.

APPENDIX

LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE ORIGINAL COMPANY[41]

[Extract from the New York "Evening Express," February 9, 1849. ] A company of young men started yesterday afternoon, who, under the command of Major H. L.

Webb and J. W.

Audubon, will take the land route via Corpus Christi, Monterey, etc. , to the gold regions of California.

The whole company will number one hundred.

Thirty-five or forty went from Philadelphia yesterday.

They proceed direct to Cairo, which is the rendez-vous of the party;

here they will be joined by companies from the West.

At New Orleans or thereabouts as most convenient, they will purchase mules, horses and all necessary equipments, each man finding his own outfit.

We append a list of the names of those who go from here in this company, so far as known.

Audubon, John W. Ayres, Venancia Bachman, Jacob H. Barclay, William B. Benson, Leffert L. Benson, Robert, Jr. Black, John A. Bloomfield, John J. Boden, Hamilton J. Brady, Henry Brady, John Cararley, John Clement, James B. Combs, Frederick S. Cowden, Henry Cree, William J. Damon, Luke Davis, Geradus T. Delancy, John Doubleday, Ulysses Elmslie, James D. Ely, Justin, Jr. Graham, Charles Montrose Graham, A. Clason Graham, A. Spencer Hall, Thomas H. , Jr. Havens, Langdon H. Hinckley, Lyman T. Hudson, David Hutchinson, William A. Kashon, Israel Kearney, John, M. D.

Lambert, Edward A. Lambert, John B. Lambert, John S. Lambert, Joseph Lambert, J. Robert Lee, Augustus T. Liscomb, Samuel H. Liscomb, William H. Mallory, Henry C. McCusker, Peter McGown, Andrew J. Molinear, William D. Nevin, Andrew M. Osgood, E. W.

Plumb, John H. Powell, Emmett Rodgers, J. Kearney, Jr. Sherwood, James W. Sherwood, Richard W. Shipman, Aaron T. Sloat, Lewis M. Steele, George D. Stevens, John Stille, Henry Stivers, Daniel A. Stivers, William D. Tallman, Harmon Tone, John H. Trask, John B. , M.

D.

Valentine, Charles Valentine, Thomas B. Valentine, Matthias B. Van Buren, George T. Watkinson, Joseph S. Walsh, Nicholas J. Warner, James Webb, Edward C. Webb, Watson Weed, George Whittlesey, Gilbert B. Whittlesey, William Williamson, Isaac H. Winthrop, Francis B. INDEX

Abert, Lieut.

James W. , 142. Alamito, 95. Alamo River, 74, 76. Altar, 16, 143-145. American River, 233, 237. Angel's Diggings, 210. Aquafrio, 85. Arizona, 154-165. Audubon, Caroline Hall, 26. Audubon, John James, 21-28, 35, 41. Audubon, John Woodhouse, 12, 14-18, 241, 242;

memoir, 21-38;

Journal, 41-240. Audubon, Lucy, 26. Audubon, Lucy Bakewell, 21-25, 27. Audubon, Maria Bachman, 26. Audubon, Victor Gifford, 22, 25, 36. Ayres, Venancia, 169, 195, 242. Bachman, Jacob H. , 75, 83, 85, 168, 169, 174, 199, 242. Bakewell, Howard, 61, 64, 65, 204. Bakewell, W. G.

, 46, 48. Baltimore, 14, 44. Barclay, William B. , 70, 242. Barratt, ——, 119, 140. Bartlett, John Russell, 84, 168. Benson, Leffert L. , 61, 70, 242. Benson, Robert, Jr. , 58, 61, 70, 242. Berthoud, Nicholas, 22. Birds, 56, 86, 111, 146;

bald-pates, 175;

buzzards, 221;

Caracara eagles, 139;

chats, 239;

cliff swallow, 129;

finches, 202, 239;

fly catchers, 239;

gadwalls, 175;

geese, 183, 184, 185, 216;

hawk, 182;

heron, 111, 185;

jay, 182, 202, 239;

mallard, 224;

partridge, 159, 223;

plover, 224;

quail, 202;

raven, 203;

robin, 202, 239;

sandhill cranes, 183;

vulture, 176, 182, 221, 223, 224;

woodpecker, 128, 182, 202. "Birds of America," 23, 36-37. Black, John A. , 106, 115, 195, 242. Bloomfield, John J. , 75, 195, 197, 242. Boden, Hamilton J. , 60, 61, 63, 116, 204, 242. Boggs, Biddle, 51, 138, 153, 187, 195. Brady, Henry, 61, 70, 242. Brady, John, 61, 70, 242. Brazos, 50, 51. Brice, Maj.

Benjamin W. , 52. Browning, Lieut.

, U.

S.

N.

, 34, 71, 77, 78, 79, 81, 85, 94, 102, 120, 125, 170, 171, 179, 193, 195, 197, 228. Brownsville, 15, 45, 51-55. Buena Vista, 16, 91. Cactus, 93, 136, 142, 157. Cairo (Illinois), 15, 46, 241. Calaveras, 207, 209, 229, 230. Caldwell, Lieut.

James N. , 69. California, 11, 13, 165-240. Camargo, 58. Camels, 12. Campbell, Dr. , 63-66, 72, 73, 77. Camp Ringgold.

_See_ Ringgold.

Cararley, John, 242. Carrol, Frank, 85, 92, 106, 110, 111. Carson's Creek, 213. Cerralvo, 84. Cerro Gordo, 99-100. Cerro Prieto, 118. Chapman, Maj.

Wm.

Warren, 50, 55. China (Mexico), 58. Chinese Diggings, 200, 202, 203, 204, 209, 216, 217, 225. Cholera, 14-16, 50, 58-71, 74, 94, 105. Cincinnati, 45. Circus, 100, 102. Clement, James B. , 29, 33, 51, 61, 70, 77, 140, 195, 199, 204, 242. Cole, Thomas, 138. Collier, Col. James, 165, 167. Coloma, 17, 237, 238, 239. Colorado River, 16, 163. Combs, Frederick S. , 74, 75, 242. Concepcion, 113. Conchos River, 110. Cooke, Col. Philip St. George, 155 Cooke's Wells, 166. Couts, Cave Johnson, 161, 163, 164. Cowden, Henry, 70, 242. Coyote, 211, 212, 213. Cree, William J. , 174, 195, 242. Creosote plant, 158. Cumberland, 14, 44. Damon, Luke, 75, 195, 242. Davis, Clay, 68, 69, 77, 78. Davis, Geradus T. , 242. Davis's Rancho, 55, 59, 64, 71, 104. Delancy, John, 242. Don Pedro's Bar, 224. Doubleday, Ulysses, 83, 85, 242. Dry Creek, 230. Elmslie, James D. , 70, 83, 85, 195, 242. El Pozo, 94. El Valle, 102. Ely, Justin, Jr. , 61, 70, 242. Exchange Hotel, 187. Florida, Rio, 101. Follen, ——, 61, 70. Frejoles, 137. Fremont, John C. , 142. French Camp, 187. French Creek, 227. Frenchtown, 44. Gabilana, 117. Gaines, Gen. Edmund Pendleton, 48. Gambling, 177, 188, 193, 196, 197, 206, 214. Georgetown, 17, 237, 239, 240. Gila valley, 155-163. Gold, discovery of, 11, 13. Gold-fields, 199-240. Graham, A. Clason, 242. Graham, A. Spencer, 242. Graham, Charles Montrose, 91-92, 242. Graham, Col. James D. , 155. Grasshoppers, as food, 150. Green Springs, 223, 224. Hall, Thomas H. , Jr. , 242. Harrison, W. H.

, 59, 61, 64, 65, 67. Havens, Langdon H. , 33, 62, 71, 111, 138, 165, 174, 193, 195, 242. Hawkins's Bar, 217, 218, 221, 223. Hays, Col. John C. , 29, 75. Hewes, ——, 195. Hidalgo.

_See_ Parral.

Hinckley, Lyman T. , 59, 105, 138, 195, 242. Horde, ——, 68, 71. "Hounds," 188. Howard, N. , 223, 224, 228. Hudson, David, 62, 75, 127, 185, 187, 195, 199, 242. Hutchinson, William A. , 195, 242. Independence (Missouri), 13, 14. Indian Bluff, 224. Islip's, 199. Jamestown, 215. Jesus Maria, 120-122. Kashon, Israel, 242. Kearney, John, M. D.

, 72, 242. Kearny, Gen. Stephen W. , 13, 16. Kingsland, Daniel C. and Ambrose, 14, 31, 34. Labrador, 24. La Cadena, 97. Lambert, Edward A. , 106, 195, 242. Lambert, John Booth, 58-59, 242. Lambert, John Robert, 195, 242. Lambert, John S. , 106, 195, 242. Lambert, Joseph, 106, 195, 242. La Motte, Maj.

Joseph H. , 55, 67, 71. "Landmarks Club," 180. Laurel Hill, 45. Layton, Robert, 17, 130, 163, 195, 206, 217, 223, 224, 228, 229, 231, 237. La Zarca, 98. Lee, Augustus T. , 174, 195, 242. Liscomb, Samuel H. , 63, 66, 105, 110, 195, 242. Liscomb, William H. , 61, 65, 242. Lizards, as food, 150. Los Angeles, 16, 178, 179, 218, 237. Luis Rey, 175-176. Maguey, 72, 89. Mallory, Henry C. , 33, 82, 107, 108, 163, 179, 190, 193, 195, 242. Mammals: Antelope, 98, 112, 183;

black-tailed deer, 181, 202;

California marmot, 112, 175, 202;

elk, 183, 184, 185;

grizzly bear, 202;

hare, black-tailed, 98, 112;

hare, California, 202, 224;

hare, small, 202;

pocket mouse, 149;

squirrels, 202;

wild horses, 185;

wolves, 185. Mapimi, 16, 96-97. Marcy, Gen. Randolph B. , 168. Maricopa Indians, 156, 161, 213. Marin, 85. Matamoras, 51, 52. Maybury, ——, 108, 109. Maximilian, Prince of Wied, 51. Mazatlan, 88, 142. McCown, Capt. John Porter, 30, 71, 77, 80. McCusker, Peter, 195, 242. McGown, Andrew J. , 195, 199, 242. McLea, ——, 193, 195. Mescal, 89. Mesquite, 54. Meteoric iron, 103. Mexico, 84-154. Mier, 82, 83. Mining at Jesus Maria, 121. Mining camps, 200. Mining, methods of, 221-223. Minniesland, 27. Missions, 17, 170-171, 175, 176, 177, 180. Mississippi River, 46-49. Mitchell, ——, 70, 79, 195. Mokelumne: Hill, 208;

mines, 208;

"rich gulch," 208;

river, 230. Molinear, William D. , 92, 242. Money, stolen, 66-68, 71, 73, 77, 78. Monterey, 16, 86-87, 195, 241. Mormon Gulch, 214. Murray, Lieut.

Edward, 172, 173. Murphy's Diggings, 204, 211. Murphy's New Diggings, 210. Nevin, Andrew M. , 242. New Orleans, 15, 48-49, 241. New York City, 14, 41-43. Number, in company, 241. Ord, Lieut.

E.

O.

C.

, 172. Oregon trail, 13. Osgood, E. W.

, 142, 242. Papago Indians, 147-152. Paragarto, 129. Parral, 16, 102-106. Parras, 16, 91, 93. Paso Chapadaro, 116. Payote, 186, 208, 213. Pennypacker, ——, 106, 108, 152, 195. Peons, 89. Perry, Dr. , 92, 174, 195. Philadelphia, 44, 241. Pima Indians, 16, 143, 155, 156, 161, 213. Pitochi, 118. Pittsburg, 15, 45. Plumb, John H. , 142, 242. Popagallos, 85. Powell, Emmett, 243. Prices, 113, 189. Pulque, 89. "Quadrupeds of North America," 27, 30, 36-37. Ramos, 85. Rattlesnake, 147. Rhoades, ——, 117, 119, 181. Rinconada, 89. Rinconada Pass, 90. Ringgold, Camp, 55, 64, 67, 69, 82. Rio Florida, 101. Rio Grande City, 15, 55, 59, 62. Rio Grande (river), 15, 49-83. Robber's Rancho, 85. Rocky Mountains, 106-110. Rodgers, John Kearney, Jr. , 47, 72, 243. Roma, 15, 61, 72. Routes to California, 13. Sacramento City, 17, 231, 233, 237. Salmon, 185. Saltillo, 16, 88, 90-91. San Antonio de Bexar, 178. San Diego, 16, 171, 174, 206. San Diego Mission, 170. San Felipe, 168. San Fernando, 180. San Francisco, 16, 17, 190, 193, 195. San Joaquin River, 16, 183, 184, 190, 221, 227. San Pedro, 178. Santa Borgia, 118. Santa Cruz, 110. Santa Fé trail, 13. Santa Maria, 170, 206. Santa Rosa, 135. Sherwood, James W. , 243. Sherwood, Richard W. , 243. Shipman, Aaron T. , 61, 66, 70, 243. Sierra Nevada, 175, 176, 225. Simson, Robert, 33, 59, 61, 64, 65, 67, 68, 70, 77, 91, 95, 108, 179, 185, 195, 197, 228. Sloat, Lewis M. , 138, 165, 174, 243. Sonora (Mexico), 16. Sonora Camp, 217. Soyopa, 137. Stampede, 95. Stanislaus River, 186, 199, 204, 212, 214, 227. Steele, George D. , 169, 174, 195, 243. Stevens, John, 33, 61, 63, 64, 70, 163, 169, 174, 195, 197, 243. Stevenson, John, 195. Stevenson, Joseph, 128. Stille, Henry, 243. Stivers, Daniel A. , 243. Stivers, William D. , 243. Stockton, 16, 186, 187, 190, 195, 197, 199, 202, 206, 207, 225, 227-229, 238. Suisun Bay, 190. Sutter, Capt. John A. , 239. Sutter's Fort, 232, 234. Sutter's Mills, 237. Table Mountain, 215. Tallman, Harmon, 61, 70, 243. Tarahumara Indians, 113, 114. Teller, ——, 105, 106. Texas, 11, 29, 41. Thorn, Capt. Herman, 161, 165. Tomochic, 115. Tone, Alice Walsh, 32. Tone, John H. , 32, 33, 110, 195, 205, 243. Tonichi, 137. Trask, John B. , M.

D.

, 58, 60, 61, 62, 74, 85, 108, 112, 119, 158, 174, 195, 243. Trees: Cedars, 239;

cottonwoods, 178, 181;

dogwood, 239;

elm, 239;

hemlocks, 240;

laurel, 206;

maples, 239;

mesquite, 54;

oaks, 178, 185, 206, 227, 230, 233, 238;

oak, live, 200, 230;

oak, post, 200, 201, 218, 223, 224;

oak, swamp, 200;

oak, white, 239;

pines, 201, 206, 210, 238, 239, 240;

redwoods, 196, 206;

sycamores, 178, 206. Trinidad, 133-134. Tulare valley, 16, 179, 182. Tuolumne, 202, 209, 217, 218, 224. Ures, 16, 139-141. Valentine, Charles, 243. Valentine, Matthias B. , 243. Valentine, Thomas B. , 243. Van Buren, George T. , 195, 243. Walnut Springs, 85. Walsh, Nicholas J. , 33, 59, 61, 66, 70, 126-127, 168, 169, 195, 204, 243. Warner, James, 243. Watkinson, Joseph S. , 114, 174, 195, 243. Webb, Edward C. , 243. Webb, Col. Henry L. , 14, 15, 31, 42, 47, 48, 53, 55, 58, 60, 61, 73, 74, 76, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 203, 241. Webb, Watson, 243. Weed, George, 91, 157, 169, 195, 243. West, settlement of, 12. Whipple, Lieut.

Amiel W. , 162, 164. Whittlesey, Edward, 63. Whittlesey, Gilbert B. , 243. Whittlesey, William, 243. Williamson, Isaac H. , 243. Winthrop, Francis B. , 243. Wislizenus, Dr. A.

, 84, 142. Wood's Creek, 214. Wood's Diggings, 210, 215, 216, 217. Yaqui River, 137. Yorktown, 215. Yuma Indians, 161, 162, 213. [Illustration: MAP TO ILLUSTRATE AUDUBON'S WESTERN JOURNAL 1849-1850] FOOTNOTES:

[1] An experiment with camels was tried and proved a failure.

[2] John Porter McCown resigned his commission in 1861 to join the Confederate army, in which he served through the war as a major general.

—F.

H.

H.

[3] Frenchtown was the western terminus of the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad, one of the first railroads built in the United States and a part of the early route between the East and the West.

With the passing of the road, the town entirely disappeared.

It was located at the head of the Elk River branch of Chesapeake Bay, below the present site of Elkton.

[4] Mrs. Alexander Gordon.

—M.

R.

A.

[5] William Warren Chapman was brevetted major for gallant conduct in the battle of Buena Vista, and died in 1859. [6] _Travels in the Interior of North America_, by Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied (London, 1843).

Reprinted in Thwaites's _Early Western Travels_, 1748-1846 (Cleveland, 1905).

[7] Major Benjamin William Brice served through the Civil War in the paymaster's department and became a major general at its close.

[8] The mesquit or mesquite is a tree, resembling the locust, of which there are several species in Mexico and the southwestern part of the United States.

[9] Camp Ringgold was an American military post below Rio Grande City.

Davis's rancho, mentioned later, was half a mile above Camp Ringgold.

[10] Joseph Hatch La Motte, brevetted a major for gallant conduct at Monterey, resigned from the service in 1846 and died in 1888. [11] China is located on the Rio San Juan about fifty miles from the Rio Grande.

[12] Maguey is the Spanish name for the century plant.

[13] Col. John C. Hays, the Texas ranger and Indian fighter, who won a national reputation at the siege of Monterey.

He went to California in 1849, became first sheriff of San Francisco and afterward United States surveyor-general for California.

[14] The route from the Rio Grande to the Rio Florida is described in Wislizenus's "Tour to Northern Mexico," Washington, 1848 (Senate misc.

doc.

26, 1st session, 30th Congress) and in Bartlett's _Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora and Chihuahua_ (New York, 1854).

Wislizenus was physician in Doniphan's expedition, and Bartlett was United States Mexican Boundary Commissioner.

The Mexican Atlas of Garcia y Cubas (Mexico City, 1859) furnishes maps that are nearly contemporary and a list of haciendas.

[15] _Cabalgada_ is properly a troop of mounted men or cavalcade.

The word is here applied to the animals upon which the men are mounted.

[16] Hidalgo del Parral, marked upon the maps both as Hidalgo and as Parral, but more commonly the latter.

[17] The Taraumara or more properly the Tarahumara Indians are described in H. H.

Bancroft's _Native Races_, vol. i, chap.

v.

[18] The Cliff Swallow (_Petrochelidon lunifrons_) is described in Audubon's _Birds of America_, ed.

1840, vol. i, p. 177. Audubon proposed the name _Hirundo republicana_ in 1824, but Say had named the species _Hirundo lunifrons_ the year before.

I am indebted to Dr. F.

H.

Snow for reference to the synonymy and the account of the discovery of this species in Coues's _Birds of the Colorado Valley_, part i, pp. 426-429. [19] _Frejoles_ or _frijoles_, Spanish for beans.

[20] Thomas Cole (1801-1848), an American landscape painter of English birth, was one of the earliest artists to depict the beauties of American scenery; he was noted for his scenes in the Catskills.

His recent death doubtless emphasized his pictures in Audubon's mind.

[21] The Caracara or Brazilian Eagle is described in Audubon's _Birds of America_, ed.

1840, vol. i, p. 21. It was found in Florida by Audubon but so rarely occurs in the United States that it is not included in the "A. O.

U.

Check List of North American Birds."

The name is derived from the hoarse cry that it utters.

[22] _Caramba_ is the commonest of Spanish interjections.

[23] Many scientific reports appeared in the public documents of this period.

Fremont's "Report of an Expedition to Oregon and California" was printed both in Senate and House documents and in a separate edition in 1845. The Senate documents of the 1st session of the 30th Congress, printed in 1848, contain Emory's "Reconnoissance from Fort Leavenworth to San Diego," Abert's "Examination of New Mexico," Wislizenus's "Memoir of a Tour to Northern Mexico," and Fremont's "Geographical Memoir upon Upper California."

Audubon probably had in mind the cylindrical cactus figured by Abert.

[24] The Papago Indians belonged to the Piman family, but had separated from the Pimas at the time of their conversion by the Spanish missionaries.

[25] The _Dipodomys Phillippsii_ is a species of mouse provided with a pouch and is popularly called the pocket or kangaroo mouse.

[26] Philip St. George Cooke (1809-1895) served under Kearny in the conquest of New Mexico, was given command of the "Mormon battalion," which had been recruited at Council Bluffs from among the Nauvoo refugees, and was sent from Santa Fé to reinforce Kearny in California.

The journal of the expedition was printed at the time (Senate ex.

doc.

No. 2, special session, 31st Cong.

) and later in an expanded form as "The Conquest of New Mexico and California" (New York, 1878).

Cooke commanded the federal troops during the territorial troubles in Kansas, served with distinction in the Civil War and was brevetted Major General at its close.

[27] James Duncan Graham was a member of Long's first expedition.

In 1840 he was appointed commissioner for the survey of the Maine boundary and did good service in the settlement of that controversy.

He was for a time principal astronomer of the Mexican Boundary Commission, but was recalled, on account of disagreements with Commissioner Bartlett, and made a separate report (Senate ex.

doc.

No. 121, 1st session, 32d Cong.