Newspaper Notes - 1850s (NN-18.5)(1850s) (336 pages)

y re ~ Nl > Woo one morning and -eRakne ~* PAGE FOUR __ —_ = LE IN 1851 OONTRIBUTED BY ED O. UREN }. One of the earliest and most interesting accounts of Nevada City’s , bustling activity in 1851 is given . by Charles D. Ferguson in EVADA CITY . beans but which today would cause cries of anguish from anyone asked to do the same thing. Wood’s Ravine. it appears, was mamed from’ an individual by that; name who was an alcalde, or magistrate, and was one of the first to locate there,’There were many eabins along this_ravine which is over ————— oe a mile in length extending from 4eq7) J } aa aoe towed s the cuss (Mine. The ravine was rich and two, elds,” published by Garson in CAihotels were built at what was eallso, 1923, at which time Mr. Fergu-. eq Quartzville, where Ferguson for gon had reached the ripe old age of ninety. . The 17 year old Ferguson crossed the plains from Ohio in the ana of 1850, after experiencing all the . trials and tribulations of the ~over-' ed wagon caravans that ventured west during those days, passing through Salt Lake City and the present site of Odgen, then following down the rambling course of the, Humboldt for 2550 miles to the } "Humboldt Sink, which lies about 20) . ' of from 12 to 15 thousand, says Mr.'. miles sath of where Lovelock now stands. _ ple would attend the Shortly atter leaving the Sink they . Jost the trail. which they had intended following southwest toward ‘Truckee, and got: diverted rie ward into Lassen County, traveling. west of Pyramid Lake and east of Beckwith Paes, ~Wheir first contact with placer miners was on Butte Creek, ‘about . length in wet ground whieh had to] 30 miles above Chico, A peculfar circumstance of the westward trek of Ferguson’s party was that al_ though they were in contact with the Cows, the Pawnees and.the Sioux tribes of Indians. they were generally friendly but the party had no sooner entered California than fif_teen out of their party of 24 men mere killed by members. of what: were probably the Modoc tribe who were finally subdued in 1873 by U. §. troons who hanged Captain Jack and a couple of his chiefs. In the_spri 51 Ferguson, then a lad of 18,, wandered into) Marysville, which had a _ popula. it, at. the head of Coyote Street. He]; a time was cook at one of them. Board was nominally $21 a week and miner’s wages were $16 a me The first woman in Nevada City, according to Ferguson, was a Mes. Phelps who did a thriving businh «5 baking dried apple pies in a stove . -she had brought across the plains. . These pies were sold at $1 each with}. a cup of coffee at 10 cents, and miners would stand in line waiting for the pies to come out of the oven, Nevada in 1851 had a population . Ferguson, and as many as 3000 peobull fights . which were held in an arena as al. Sunday attraction. It would be interesting to know just where this . ) arena stood. Ferguson worked for some time, at Coyoteville, or Kiota, as he called}, drove a tunnel some 1300 feet in be timbered throughout. but aband> oned it on account of quicksand only to find out later that it had drained the area and another party had sunk a shaft immediately in front of his{ face and struck it unusually rich. . ) In one instance he mentions some $3700.00 taken out in one day from}. the Coyote diggings. i Gold Run, he said, was also yo-} markably rich, but awfully wet? They sank shafts to bedrozk ther ran drifts along the bottom in grounc that had to be closely timbéred. Later on, after the ditches were built.) these ravines were all sround-sluiced for the full width of the pay . tion of about 2500. There he siw his first fresh vegetables, payine “$2 for an onion, which he ate raw and said he found it the most satisfying delicacy he had eaten in a year. . (Learning that friends from Ohio were in Nevada City, he struck out landed at, Woods Ravine, north of the Buffins. ton place, late in the afternoon. a! mere hike of 40 miles which the old . timers accepted with as much nonchalance as they did their pork and ebannel and at a great saving in lab-! oY. 2 Charles Marsh built the first five. mile ditch from Rock Creek and, as there was not much water he conserved the overnight flow in a res. ervoir, This water he sold to the first user for an ouce of gold per, day: to the second user a half ounce, © ‘and so on in proportion to the num-~\ ‘yer of users until the water reached ‘Deer Creek. The yavine claims were R ' 30 feet sauare,— } Deer his Greek to a point above the Spanish ya we Iook arcrind us today, where ever we may go in this area, we note, that every ravine still bears evi-, dence of the work of these lads 96 years avo. We see little piles of rock} stavked along the sides, embank, ‘ments of raw earth which nature. ‘has not yet healed and the scars of ,the hudraulic monitor which even in. 1852 waa being used throush flex. . ible hoses. The source of all this gold was cf course the quartz ledges. These rav-) ines are the visible-evidence of the gold bearing nature of this entire basin, just the tov skimming, so to speak, of the values which are still ! available to those who have the coureee and the capital to develon them vin depth. . [> ovate Ferguson's narrative brings to . mind one other thing, and that is that something’s entirely out of Liohas with the present cost of living ‘and ages which so nearly, in many . instances, compares with that period ! of gold and of food scarcity. Freight teams, Mr. Ferguson tells ms—and he should know, a5 he made many an eight day round trip to Sa¢ramento were the: only means of ob-1 taining supplies. Board was nominally $21 a week, the staple food be-. ing bread, beef, pork and beans and dried apple sauce or pies. . Potatoes were $30 a sack, ‘but they were considered too expensive (0 eook and so were eaten raw with vinegar as a preventive of seruvy. Beef, he says; was plentiful. le peter.

y re ~ Nl > Woo one morning and -eRakne ~* PAGE FOUR __ —_ = LE IN 1851 OONTRIBUTED BY ED O. UREN }. One of the earliest and most interesting accounts of Nevada City’s , bustling activity in 1851 is given . by Charles D. Ferguson in EVADA CITY . beans but which today would cause cries of anguish from anyone asked to do the same thing. Wood’s Ravine. it appears, was mamed from’ an individual by that; name who was an alcalde, or magistrate, and was one of the first to locate there,’There were many eabins along this_ravine which is over ————— oe a mile in length extending from 4eq7) J } aa aoe towed s the cuss (Mine. The ravine was rich and two, elds,” published by Garson in CAihotels were built at what was eallso, 1923, at which time Mr. Fergu-. eq Quartzville, where Ferguson for gon had reached the ripe old age of ninety. . The 17 year old Ferguson crossed the plains from Ohio in the ana of 1850, after experiencing all the . trials and tribulations of the ~over-' ed wagon caravans that ventured west during those days, passing through Salt Lake City and the present site of Odgen, then following down the rambling course of the, Humboldt for 2550 miles to the } "Humboldt Sink, which lies about 20) . ' of from 12 to 15 thousand, says Mr.'. miles sath of where Lovelock now stands. _ ple would attend the Shortly atter leaving the Sink they . Jost the trail. which they had intended following southwest toward ‘Truckee, and got: diverted rie ward into Lassen County, traveling. west of Pyramid Lake and east of Beckwith Paes, ~Wheir first contact with placer miners was on Butte Creek, ‘about . length in wet ground whieh had to] 30 miles above Chico, A peculfar circumstance of the westward trek of Ferguson’s party was that al_ though they were in contact with the Cows, the Pawnees and.the Sioux tribes of Indians. they were generally friendly but the party had no sooner entered California than fif_teen out of their party of 24 men mere killed by members. of what: were probably the Modoc tribe who were finally subdued in 1873 by U. §. troons who hanged Captain Jack and a couple of his chiefs. In the_spri 51 Ferguson, then a lad of 18,, wandered into) Marysville, which had a _ popula. it, at. the head of Coyote Street. He]; a time was cook at one of them. Board was nominally $21 a week and miner’s wages were $16 a me The first woman in Nevada City, according to Ferguson, was a Mes. Phelps who did a thriving businh «5 baking dried apple pies in a stove . -she had brought across the plains. . These pies were sold at $1 each with}. a cup of coffee at 10 cents, and miners would stand in line waiting for the pies to come out of the oven, Nevada in 1851 had a population . Ferguson, and as many as 3000 peobull fights . which were held in an arena as al. Sunday attraction. It would be interesting to know just where this . ) arena stood. Ferguson worked for some time, at Coyoteville, or Kiota, as he called}, drove a tunnel some 1300 feet in

be timbered throughout. but aband> oned it on account of quicksand only to find out later that it had drained the area and another party had sunk a shaft immediately in front of his{ face and struck it unusually rich. . ) In one instance he mentions some $3700.00 taken out in one day from}. the Coyote diggings. i Gold Run, he said, was also yo-} markably rich, but awfully wet? They sank shafts to bedrozk ther ran drifts along the bottom in grounc that had to be closely timbéred. Later on, after the ditches were built.) these ravines were all sround-sluiced for the full width of the pay . tion of about 2500. There he siw his first fresh vegetables, payine “$2 for an onion, which he ate raw and said he found it the most satisfying delicacy he had eaten in a year. . (Learning that friends from Ohio were in Nevada City, he struck out landed at, Woods Ravine, north of the Buffins. ton place, late in the afternoon. a! mere hike of 40 miles which the old . timers accepted with as much nonchalance as they did their pork and ebannel and at a great saving in lab-! oY. 2 Charles Marsh built the first five. mile ditch from Rock Creek and, as there was not much water he conserved the overnight flow in a res. ervoir, This water he sold to the first user for an ouce of gold per, day: to the second user a half ounce, © ‘and so on in proportion to the num-~\ ‘yer of users until the water reached ‘Deer Creek. The yavine claims were R ' 30 feet sauare,— } Deer his Greek to a point above the Spanish ya we Iook arcrind us today, where ever we may go in this area, we note, that every ravine still bears evi-, dence of the work of these lads 96 years avo. We see little piles of rock} stavked along the sides, embank, ‘ments of raw earth which nature. ‘has not yet healed and the scars of ,the hudraulic monitor which even in. 1852 waa being used throush flex. . ible hoses. The source of all this gold was cf course the quartz ledges. These rav-) ines are the visible-evidence of the gold bearing nature of this entire basin, just the tov skimming, so to speak, of the values which are still ! available to those who have the coureee and the capital to develon them vin depth. . [> ovate Ferguson's narrative brings to . mind one other thing, and that is that something’s entirely out of Liohas with the present cost of living ‘and ages which so nearly, in many . instances, compares with that period ! of gold and of food scarcity. Freight teams, Mr. Ferguson tells ms—and he should know, a5 he made many an eight day round trip to Sa¢ramento were the: only means of ob-1 taining supplies. Board was nominally $21 a week, the staple food be-. ing bread, beef, pork and beans and dried apple sauce or pies. . Potatoes were $30 a sack, ‘but they were considered too expensive (0 eook and so were eaten raw with vinegar as a preventive of seruvy. Beef, he says; was plentiful. le peter.