Chapter VII: Hints to Miners

The experience of sixteen months in the mines enables me to make a few suggestions which may be of importance to those intending to become miners.

And with regard to the preparations which should be made, a great error has been committed by most California emigrants, in making too much preparation. A change of substantial clothing, with several pairs of well-made water-proof boots, form a good outfit in that line. It is important, where so much work is to be done in the water, to wear flannel, even in the summer. It is attended with great inconvenience and much expense to transport a large chest or trunk from place to place. I have known many, on arriving at San Francisco, who sell off, at a great loss, the greatest part of all their stores, reducing them to one change of clothing. There is great risk, also, of losing one’s effects by fire or by water, or by the breaking up of the establishment in which they are stored. The Amity and Enterprise Association, formed before we left Philadelphia, can speak knowingly upon this subject. Each individual of this association had an outfit which would have lasted three or four years. In addition, they had company property, in provisions, tents, mining utensils, &c., to a considerable amount. Most of this was sent around the Horn by several shipments. The rest we took with us to Tampico. When we reached this place, finding that the transportation across Mexico would be about $50 a hundred, we packed most of our individual property in a large box, and shipped it back to the States to be forwarded to California. This is the last we ever saw of its contents. Our provisions we sold at Tampico, which did not pay the custom-house duties upon them. Of those which were sent around the Horn, the provisions did not pay the freight and commissions on the sale; and most of our clothing, &c., were stored in San Francisco, and burned in the second great fire in that city. I do not know of a company which did not meet with losses in proportion to the extent of their outfits. The losses of those who crossed the plains in this respect were very great. Large quantities of valuable mining implements, hundreds of hams, bags of flour, and other provisions--even wagons, in large numbers--were left upon the road. It is often the case that persons suffer very seriously from their ignorance of the difficulties and expenses to which they will be liable after reaching California. Many find themselves in San Francisco with cramped means, and sometimes none at all, and with a long and expensive journey to the mines before them, besides many necessary articles which should be procured. Every miner should have $150 by him on his arrival in the country. More would not be amiss.

I believe all who are at the mine would agree with me in recommending to the new miner to leave all machinery behind him. If he takes any thing in that line, let it be the best _mining pick_ and _spade_ he can find, with a stout sheath-knife, and a horn for crevassing. The “cradle” is found any where in the settlements or in the mines. If it is intended to engage in the quartz-crushing operations, the most simple machinery is the best. The very complicated and expensive machinery which has, in several instances, been taken to the mines, has been useless. The least breakage will delay the whole work for months, till it is replaced from the States.

By all means avoid companies which are got up at home for mining. Whatever facilities they offer; whatever array of influential names they present; whatever they purpose or promise to accomplish--if they come to you with a charter, or a ship, of which you are to share the advantages--_avoid companies formed at home_! They work badly; they cramp your energies; they entangle all your operations. In the mines, it will always be necessary for you to associate yourself with one or two, and sometimes with twenty, or even fifty mining companions. These associations are formed and terminate with the necessity of the occasion.

Much time is lost in the mines by those who are led, by exaggerated stories of success, from a place where they are working with some advantage, to seek a better location. Leave the work of prospecting, principally, to the more experienced miners. There is an excitement connected with the pursuit of gold which renders one restless and uneasy--ever hoping to do something better. The very uncertainty of the employment increases this tendency. A person may be making his quarter ounce a day, and hears that a person a few miles from him is making an ounce. He is accordingly dissatisfied, and removes to the new diggings, there, probably, to be again disappointed. These exaggerated stories are most generally got up by traders in the place, in order to bring customers to their stores. I have noticed that those who remain most constantly in one place are in the end most successful.

When you have marked off your claim upon a bar--a place which has been proved--_dig down to the rock_! Many have been losers by relinquishing their work before it is finished. The gold is generally scattered upon the primitive rock. All the rich deposits are here. You may dig over the quarter part of your claim and find little gold, while a parcel containing pounds may lie concealed in the last corner. A friend from Philadelphia, who marked off a claim at the Chinese diggings, dug it partly out, came to water, which disheartened him, and gave it up. Three miners went into it at once, and in a few hours had taken out $375. The necessity of perseverance in such an employment must be apparent to all. You can not hope to accomplish any thing without it. Your motto must be, “_Hope on, hope ever!_” The treasure you seek may lie at the bottom of your next claim--it may be beneath the next stone.

_Be careful of your health!_ This once gone, your hopes are at an end. An unfortunate miner at the Marepoosa diggings, who had brought upon himself an attack of scurvy by the neglect of his health, said to me, during a visit made to him, “I would give all the gold of California, if I had it, for the health I had two weeks ago!” Fortunately, the supplies of provisions at the mines are better and more abundant than they were; and there will be yet greater improvement in this respect. Vegetables, of which we had none at first, are now regularly furnished. The great care should be, to guard against the influence of working in the water. To this you are necessarily exposed; and, from my observation on this point, the danger arising from this exposure may, in general, be safely met by the care the miner takes of himself in his hours of rest. It is not his being wet during the time of labor which is most likely to prove injurious, but his remaining so during the reaction which takes place in the system at the close of labor. As you value your health, then, do not enter upon your hour of rest at noon, and especially do not leave work at night, without throwing aside your wet garments and putting on dry ones. You will soon be aware of a great change which takes place in the temperature of the air, among the mountains, during every night of the year. You may lie down, wet and tired, at night, and perhaps not need a blanket, while before morning you will feel the need of two or three. It is not generally the most robust or vigorous who best stand the labor, the privations, or the exposure they are sure to meet. These seem the most liable to the many diseases of the country; and perhaps it is for the very reason that, trusting to their strength and vigor of constitution, they do not take the necessary care of their health.

There are many other points to which I might profitably call your attention, but respecting which experience will be your best teacher.

A few thoughts as to the various kinds of gold and gold-digging. (See the Appendix.) The gold deposits are found in the quartz and slate formations, in decomposed granite, in sand and gravel beds, and in clay. The largest specimens are found between the layers of slate over which the stream flows vertically. The rocks and soil are frequently volcanic, like those of Pompeii. Lumps of gold are often found alone, and are no indication of the existence of a rich deposit. But the scale and dust gold is not found in this detached state; it exists generally in veins, though sometimes much scattered through the soil by the action of the water.

The river diggings are sometimes upon the bars over which the stream has formerly run. These bars are covered with stones, which, with a portion of the soil below, must be removed, to the distance of several feet. When, by experiment, it is found to yield gold, the cradle is placed by the river side, and the dirt is washed through it, while the gold settles at the bottom of the machine. At the close of the work, this is washed down in pans, and then is dried in the sun or by the fire, and is still farther cleaned by blowing, by the magnet, or by quicksilver. The river diggings found in the channels require much more labor in the preparation, and must be worked by companies, sometimes of one hundred persons. A canal and dam must be made, to turn the water from the channel of the river. After that, the process is the same as the bar working. These constitute, generally, the summer diggings, as the rivers are low, and in a better state for being worked. The winter diggings are found among the ravines and gulches, and upon the plains where the streams have formerly run. These are dry in summer, and can only be worked after the rainy season commences. But the Mexicans and Chilinos have a method of “dry washing,” or winnowing the gold-dirt, much as grains are winnowed, the dirt being blown away, and the gold falling into the blanket or skin. The dry diggings are sometimes worked during the dry season, and the dirt thrown up in heaps, to be washed out when there is water. If worked in the rainy season, the water must be turned by small dams and canals, leaving the channel and its banks dry. This kind of labor is very difficult, but often pays well. The other kind of dry digging is the most laborious of all. It is sometimes the case that very rich deposits are found upon the small plains lying between the mountains. The river which formerly ran here has been displaced by the soil, which accumulates to a great depth. The soil must be removed, sometimes to the depth of twenty, thirty, or even forty feet, before the gold is found. When found, it sometimes proves very rich, but more frequently very poor. I have seen a company of nine persons labor for two weeks, keeping down the water with pumps, and, after all their toil, not find a grain of gold to reward their efforts. It is truly one of the most discouraging circumstances in a miner’s life, that, although he may one day make his pounds, the next he may make little or nothing. It is equally disheartening to him to be working all day for the merest trifle, while by his side, and within a few feet of him, another is taking out his pounds. But let him persevere, and success may be his reward.

The actual time favorable for mining during the year is very limited, the greater proportion of which is spent in preparations. Some of the river companies spent five, and one six months’ time, in making their canal, dam, and other preparations for two months’ mining, in September, October, and November. Much time is lost during the excessive heat of the dry and the storms of the rainy season, and more in the profitless, but arduous labor of _prospecting_. Then much time must be spent in removing, in purchasing provisions, in building houses, &c. If all the days of actual _mining_ were set down, they would not, I think, amount to more than seventeen weeks in the year.

Much was anticipated, at the commencement of the last rainy season, from the use of the submarine armor in working the channels of the rivers. Much money was expended, and much time lost in making experiments, but to little advantage. In every instance where they were tried on the Tuolumne, they were soon abandoned as useless. The experiments tried near me were made by an old Georgia gold miner, and one who had been accustomed to the use of the submarine suit, which he had worn in recovering some treasures from a ship sunk in the Mississippi. But he never accomplished any thing with it at the mines. In addition to the cradle, which has been always in use in the mines, the North Carolina rocker and the Long Tom are used to advantage upon the placers where the gold is very fine. These are both, however, made on the same general principle as the simple cradle. The principal difference is, that they are larger and longer.

Before closing this chapter of miscellanies, I will endeavor to guard you against some moral evils--or I might better name them _immoral influences_--to which you will be exposed.

Why it is so, it is not my purpose now to inquire; but such is the fact, that in California there are circumstances which render vice very attractive and alluring, and which, unless resolutely resisted, draw the mind to become familiar with it, and in the end to embrace it. The man esteemed virtuous at home becomes profligate, the honest man dishonest, and the clergyman sometimes a profane gambler; while, on the contrary, the cases are not few of those who were idle or profligate at home, who come here to be reformed. It can not be known what influence such trials and temptations will exert upon the character till they are tried. If they are resisted, the character is strengthened; if they are not resisted, the propensity to vice is proportionally increased. But not only does vice seem more alluring here--it comes, from the very circumstances in which the miner is placed, to be a substitute for common amusement. He has not the society of the home circle to cheer and enliven him. Disheartened, often reduced to the depths of melancholy, he has no longer the friends--the innocent recreations to which he has been accustomed. On the Sabbath morning, no church is open for the sad and dispirited wanderer, self-exiled from his father’s house! No mother, or sisters, or beloved wife can cheer him by their conversation and smiles. Is it to be wondered at, then, that in his gloom he listens to the voice of the Syren, and turns away to seek those broken cisterns which can hold no water? Do you not perceive that he is exposed to peculiar and great danger? But recollect, if the danger is great, so much greater is the virtue of overcoming it. If the trial is severe, so much stronger the energy and resolution which is requisite to vanquish it. And if the temptation is resisted, the moral principles are strengthened just in proportion to the degree of temptation. The young man who returns home from California untainted, and of whom it may be said,

“Among the faithless, faithful he,”

may ever after be trusted. He has been tried as gold is tried, and the trial has but served to exhibit the excellence of his character; and well may his friends esteem and love him more, even if he returns to them without an ounce of gold, than if he came home with his thousands with a ruined character.

As I entered one of the magnificent gambling saloons of San Francisco, and proceeded from one table to another, I saw, to my surprise, a young man, who had come from one of the most religious families in his native city, placing down his money upon the table. I stepped to his side. In a moment the card was turned, and a small amount of silver was added to that already in his hand. He looked anxiously at me, and said, “I would not have my mother know what I am doing for all the money in this room.” “Why then do it?” I asked; “have you thought to what the first step may lead?” “But what can I do,” he said, earnestly; “I came not here to gamble, but to find amusement; and can you tell me what other amusement is within my reach?” I think that was the first, and am sure it was the last time that my friend visited the saloons for the purpose of gambling. But it affords an illustration of the subject--the danger, in the absence of proper subjects of interest and amusement, of seeking these in wrong and sinful ways. Many a person in California becomes a professed gambler in consequence of taking the _first step_ from desire of amusement. It can not be impressed upon your mind too deeply that the gambling table is the place of the greatest danger. It is one of the most ensnaring inventions of the great enemy of souls.

But how shall I speak of a kindred subject, so fraught with danger that numbers of our most gifted citizens have yielded themselves to it. I think _intemperance_ may be named as, next to gambling, the most prevailing vice of California. They generally go hand in hand. In this country, where the common restraints are removed which formerly imposed a salutary check, this vice gains disgusting and dangerous prominence. All that it is in its secluded orgies, all that it becomes in its favorite haunts elsewhere, it is in California in open day. It blushes not to show itself in its most fearful forms even in the public streets. Many a poor miner, who becomes discouraged and sinks down into gloom, flies to strong drink as he would to a friend from whom he expects to receive relief. Occasionally, the Daguerreotype likenesses of dear friends at home, or the sight of the neglected Bible--(for most miners have both of these, almost their only treasures)--or the reception of a letter, the miner’s only luxury, recalls him to his better self, puts new hopes, new resolutions, and new life into him. But gradually he yields the ground again; again he stands on slippery places, and soon he staggers into his grave, for soon does vice of every kind perfect its work here. _Licentiousness_, which is so destructive an evil in large cities in Europe and America, is found also in California, and there produces its bitter fruits. _Profanity_--a kind of its own; a bold, independent, and startling profanity--is far too common in the mines, as it is in the settlements. Several have told me that they have fallen into this habit unconsciously, and, in some instances, have asked, as an act of friendship, that I would aid them in correcting it. In one case, a company of young men from New England mutually pledged themselves to each other and to me to refrain from this habit. For the very reason that it is so insinuating, and creeps so gradually upon one, should it be more sedulously avoided. In my own case, I could perceive that the constant listening to profane language produced a familiarity which continually lessened the sense of repugnance it occasioned. This would have been more and more the case, had I not adopted an expedient, which, while it aimed at the good of others, had the effect to guard my own mind against the moral contagion. The expedient which I adopted was this: when I heard a profane oath, I accompanied it with a petition to Heaven in behalf of him who had uttered it.

No man, young or old, should go to California unless he has firmness of principle enough to resist, and forever hold at bay, all the vices of the country, in whatever disguise they may present themselves, and in however fascinating shapes they may appear.

If I were asked what was the state of religion in the mines, I could only say, it is in _no state_. There are many men there who maintain their integrity and their piety. If there is preaching, it is well and respectfully attended. Many, perhaps most, occasionally read their Bibles or tracts. There is a respect for religion, as there is a respect for every thing which reminds one of home; but society must be in a very different condition--it must be settled, and have some elements of permanence--before a decidedly religious influence can be brought to bear upon it. When I say that the sound of the pick, spade, and rocker are seldom heard on the Sabbath--that the Bible is often and devoutly read--that often, from beneath some cluster of trees, the cheering sound of some hymn and the preacher’s voice are heard, it is as much as can be said.

As to the operation of the laws at the mines, and their effects upon the interests of the community, I can only give the facts in the case, without discussing the subject. When we first reached the gold diggings, life and property were comparatively secure. Without law, except the law of honor; without restraint, except that imposed by the fear of summary punishment, which was sure to follow the only crimes cognizable under the new code--those of _stealing_ and of _murder_--we were comparatively safe. If the “way of the transgressor was hard,” it was also speedily terminated. It was the reign of the rifle and the halter. And yet this was a people who had been accustomed to the laws of civilized countries, and who yet loved order. The principles of a republican government were only adapting themselves to a new and untried emergency. The crime was committed, and proved in the presence of a competent and impartial jury, who were also required to award the punishment. The sentence was pronounced by the alcalde, a grave was dug, the sharp crack of the rifle was heard, the body was buried, and every man proceeded silently to his own work. I have never yet heard of the case in which the verdict given under the first system was an unrighteous one, or the punishment inflicted undeserved.

But a change came; civil laws were enacted in the mines; and what was the result? Why, crimes of every kind were committed, and the very officers of justice were met by the taunt, “Catch me, if you can!” Seldom was the criminal caught; and when caught, more seldom was he brought to punishment. And there is but one opinion among the miners, that the system _without civil law, but with summary justice_, is, _in the state of society which now exists_ in California, incomparably better than the system _with such law, but without justice_.

Ere long, California will have a truly _golden age_, when _law and justice, and every moral and Christian virtue_ shall prevail.