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    Tales of the Wild West: Miners
    Tales of the Wild West: Miners
    Tales of the Wild West: Miners
    Ebook60 pages39 minutes

    Tales of the Wild West: Miners

    By Rick Steber

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    About this ebook

    "The discovery of gold in Califonia launched the nation's first gold rush.

    It began January 23, 1848. James Marshall, who was building a sawmill for John Sutter on the American River in the Sierra Nevada foothills, turned water from the millpond into the tailrace. A glimmer in the clear water caught his eye and he picked up a yellow rock about the size of a dime and weighing one-quarter ounce. He saw more and picked those up, too.

    John Sutter wrote in his diary that Marshall, 'soaked to the skin and dripping water,' came bursting into his office 'informing me he had something of utmost importance to tell me in private....'

    Word leaked out and the following year 80,000 miners rushed to Califonia hoping to claim a share of the big strike. They scratched and clawed gold from the hills and stream beds of Califomia and when the easy-pickings were gone they moved onto the eastem slopes of the Sierra Nevada and into the Rocky Mountains. Other disgruntled miners moved to the Northwest, and finally the lust for gold drove prospectors to the Alaskan frontier.

    The typical miner was a bearded young man, dressed in a slouch hat, red long johns, trousers tucked into hlgh-topped boots - he packed a shovel, pick and gold pan. When his dream of easy riches eventually died he often stayed in the West and became a farmer, stockman, tradesman or professional. If mar-ried, he sent for his family - if single, he married a daughter of pioneers and started a new family.

    The lasting effect of the gold rush was not so much in the individual accumulation of wealth, but in the simple fact that thousands of miners stayed rather than returning home and they helped win the West.
    "

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRick Steber
    Release dateDec 12, 2012
    ISBN9781301047246
    Tales of the Wild West: Miners

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      Book preview

      Tales of the Wild West - Rick Steber

      Introduction

      James Marshall, who was building a sawmill for John Sutter on the American River in the Sierra Nevada foothills, turned water from the millpond into the tailrace and saw a glimmer in the clear water. He bent and picked up a yellow rock about the size of a dime. He saw more shiny stones and gathered these, too.

      On January 23, 1848 John Sutter wrote in his diary that Marshall, soaked to the skin and dripping water, came bursting into his office informing me he had something of utmost importance to tell me in private.

      Word of the gold discovery at Sutter’s mill soon leaked out and 80,000 miners rushed to California hoping to claim a share of the big strike. They dug gold from the hills and streambeds and when the easy-pickings played out they moved on to the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and into the Rocky Mountains. Other disgruntled miners moved to the Northwest, and finally the lure of gold drove prospectors to the Alaskan frontier.

      The typical miner was a young man who dressed in a slouch hat, red long johns and trousers tucked into high-topped boots. He packed a shovel, pick and gold pan. When his dream of easy riches eventually died, as it almost always did, the young man stayed in the West and became a farmer, stockman, tradesman or professional. If married, he sent for his wife and children and if single, he married a daughter of a pioneer family.

      The lasting effect of the gold rush was not so much measured in the individual accumulation of wealth, but in the simple fact that thousands of miners came west, and rather than returning home, stayed and helped to settle the West.

      The Medicine Man

      Word of the big gold strike at Sutter’s mill proved to be a temptation for a man to leave his homestead and family and give prospecting a try, stated Drew Hodges, an Oregon pioneer. "It was too big of a temptation for me. In the company of 10 other homesteaders, including my brother Cal and a Calapooia Indian we hired to serve as guide, we started south the summer of 18 and 49.

      "Our journey was uneventful until we reached the Rogue River. The Indians here were on the warpath and a large band of renegades were congregated on the south bank. They made it very evident, if we were to attempt a crossing, they would kill us.

      "Some of my companions tried to loft a few potshots across the water but the Indians made sure they remained beyond rifle range. Each time a shot was fired, the medicine man ran to the water’s edge and acted like he was catching the bullet in his teeth.

      "My brother Cal was in possession of a Kentucky long rifle which had belonged to our father. In fact, it was named in his honor, ‘Old Jim’. I told Cal, ‘Let’s see what ‘Old Jim’ can do.’ He handed me the rifle.

      "I drew a bead on the medicine man, who was still taunting us, gathered a deep breath, held it and pulled the trigger. A full three counts later the medicine man grabbed at his chest and fell over backwards. I turned to Cal, told him, ‘He didn’t catch it with his teeth but, by God, he caught her.’

      The Indians scattered. We drove our horses into the water and continued on toward California and the gold.

      The Dream

      Jim McGarvey was an Easterner who was attracted to California by the fantastic stories he heard about gold nuggets lying around for the taking. Upon his arrival in the West he discovered the stories had been true, but only for the first lucky few.

      For Jim the dreams of instant wealth died hard.

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