Volume 034-4 - October 1980 (8 pages)

through light snow or transfering to a sleigh when the snow was too heavy for the wheeled stage, the vehicle passed Five Mile House. Usually, a “meal stop” was made around noon at the Central House. The -horses were changed and the male passengers could obtain liquid refreshments. Passing White Cloud, now a U.S. Forest Department Station, so named for the clouds of white dust kicked up by the hoofs of teams passing on the road, the stage turned to the left to drop off any passengers on board for the small town of Gold Hill. Thereafter the stage turned back and continued on the road, passed Skillman’s saw mill and descended the steep grade into Alpha. The time required for the trip was usually about five hours in summer and in winter up to several days. The fare was one dollar. Five Mile House, Central House, White Cloud and Skillman Flat are still shown on the standard topographical maps and on many ordinary road maps. Jones described such a trip in his diary: “About 8 a.m. the stage came along. It had six passengers when we started and it took on eight more on the road. Our last occasion was Mrs. Lloyd, a very large woman, weighing about 200 pounds. She was placed on the same seat as myself and another gentleman, and wishing to accomodate her, we gave her as much room as necessary, which left me only about six inches to sit. This way we had to ride six miles over a rough and very dusty road which * was no pleasant task. We got to Nevada at about half past eleven and I was glad to be relieved from the perilous situation in which I had been riding for the last six miles.” (JD, August 29, 1862). Winter brought on the usual battle between the Alpha stage and the snow. Having the contract to carry the mail, the stage line operator really lived up to the slogan: “ the U.S. Mail must go through”. In early winter, sleighs were used from Central House to Alpha and, as the snow piled higher, from Five Mile House to Alpha. Snowshoes on horses were given a try. When the snow became too deep and the horse snow shoes failed, a man on snowshoes took over, the mail bags strapped to his back. And often he could not make it either. Jones who, with his friends, often tried to clear the road of snow, recorded in his diary: “We went to White Cloud, about five miles from here, and found the snow on the road 8 to 12 feet deep. We did nothing but break a foot trail.” (JD, March 2, 1859). And two days later: “The Atlantic Mail got here today, the first mail that has come for three weeks on account of the snow.” (JD, March 4, 1859). This mail must have been hand carried for, about two weeks later, Jones commented: “Ten or fifteen men went from here today to help the stage come in through the snow. It got in at about 2 o'clock, the first time that it has been here in four months on account of the snow.” (JD, May 1, 1859). Some more comments by Jones: ‘‘The stage came in here and brought the mail for the first time in two weeks on account of the snow.” (JD, April 7, 1860) and : “The stage could not get out today. They went a piece (short distance) and then turned back. It took the stage, coming from Nevada all day.” (JD, November 30, 1864). Alpha was not the usual type of California Gold Rush town, with hastily built log cabins and with canvas clapboard stores and hotels. Lumber mills being close by and an easy haul down hill, board was cheaper then canvas. Jones speaks in his diary of ordering lumber from Skillman’s mill to be used for posts and tunnel lagging: in the mine he, and his partners were running. Usually trees were cut down, sawed into and then split into the desired sizes for this purpose. For years after the Alpha mines were abandoned, due to Judge Sawyer's decision which stopped hydraulic mining in the Sierra Nevada, the buildings of Alpha were used as a source of lumber and firewood by the people of Omega and Washington. Incidents, reported in Nevada City newspapers prove that there were some two story buildings in the town. In 1858 it was reported; “During a ball, held in the second story of a building at Alpha, near the Alpha hotel, Mr. Osgood lost his balance and fell from over the rail of the piazza while holding the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rippinghand. Osgood was severely injured. The baby was picked up insensible and taken to Dr. Wixom. The child’s skull was fractured and a deep wound was made in the head from a nail that had penetrated the brain. The child died four and a half hours later.” It is difficult to state exactly how many hotels there were in Alpha during the town’s hey-days. Jones named three hotels in his diary. One of them, the Alpha Hotel of Mr. Williams is frequently mentioned: “Mr. Williams, the hotelkeeper got up a very good dinner for one dollar each.” (JD, December 25, 1859). The other two, Stull’s hotel and Varsey’s hotel appear in quotations below. In 1861, a telegraph line was run into Alpha. The first message received was about the death of a Colonel Baker in the Civil War battle of Edwards Ferry (JD, October 26, 1861). Jones often mentioned helping with repairs of the telegraph line. There probably was a store in Alpha, but Jones often got his supplies from Nevada City. “Started for Nevada this morning.on foot.and bought a bill of grub.” (JD, October 20, 1864), “My grub came up from Nevada today.” (JD, October 25, 1864). No account has been found of a total destruction of Alpha by fire. There were, of course, some small] fires: “* At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the blacksmith shop of Mr. Williams caught fire and burned up. Also Mr. Bancroft’s house, with everything in it. The house of J. Crocker was saved.” (JD, May 11, 1863). Spending leasure time was a problem. Jones did not drink or gamble, therefore his diary has no information on saloons. He was a member of the Sons of Temperance and attended their weekly meetings punctually. The Sons probably had a social center in Alpha; most evenings Jones went to, what he called the Division. Often, after a days hard work, he hiked down to Washington where he had helped found a “division” of the Sons to attend their meetings. He wrote: “Went to Washington today and went to the Division. Took dinner at Lyon’s hotel and supper at Huff's.” (JD, October 5, 1862). He was a member of the AntiTobacco Society, the Anti-Gambling Society and of the good Templars. He waded through several feet of snow on winter evenings to attend classes at the Singing school or the Spelling School. It does not appear that Jones was a member of any specific church; he attended any church service a wandering minister might hold in Alpha or Omega. Some examples “Father Davenport came to town today, He will lecture tomorrow night on Phrenology and will expose Spiritualism.” (JD, March 31, 1862); “Father Waugh lectured at Temperance Hall on the evils of using liquor and tobacco and organized a society to abstain from both.” (JD, May 5, 1862); Stephen Jones was on of the eight charter members. The town of Alpha was predominantly Republican. In the presidential election of 1860, 60 votes were cast for Lincoln, 25 for Douglas and 19 for Breckinridge. Jones was very much interested in politics; he mentioned all political meetings in his diary, national, state or local. “Attended a Republican meeting in the evening to elect delegates for the county convention.” (JD, August 20, 1860); “In.the evening I attended a primary meeting at Stull’s hoteltoelect . delegates to attend a convention in Washington (Nev. County) to nominate township officers.” (JD, April 30, 1863). Political victories were abundantly celebrated. In 1859, the candidate from Alpha won over the one from Washington in a Justice of the Peace election. “In the evening we fired 30 guns to celebrate the election of G. Wm. Tallman for Justice of the Peace. Then we mounted the anvil (?) on a hand cart and pulled it down to the top of the hill above Washington and fired five guns more. We returned home at half past ten and fired six guns. Then we marched to Williams’ hotel and had an oyster dinner after which we broke up and went home at about 12 o'clock.” (JD, October 24, 1859). Those of Washington did not like this: “The next morning, about nine o'clock, a crowd of about thirty or forty men came up from Washington for the purpose of raising a row. They were mad because the boys went down to the top of the hill and fired guns last night. We received them with about twenty guns and chased them. This took them by surprise and everything went as well as could be expected from a crowd of gamblers and 25.

through light snow or transfering to a sleigh when the snow was too heavy for the wheeled stage, the vehicle passed Five Mile House. Usually, a “meal stop” was made around noon at the Central House. The -horses were changed and the male passengers could obtain liquid refreshments. Passing White Cloud, now a U.S. Forest Department Station, so named for the clouds of white dust kicked up by the hoofs of teams passing on the road, the stage turned to the left to drop off any passengers on board for the small town of Gold Hill. Thereafter the stage turned back and continued on the road, passed Skillman’s saw mill and descended the steep grade into Alpha. The time required for the trip was usually about five hours in summer and in winter up to several days. The fare was one dollar. Five Mile House, Central House, White Cloud and Skillman Flat are still shown on the standard topographical maps and on many ordinary road maps. Jones described such a trip in his diary: “About 8 a.m. the stage came along. It had six passengers when we started and it took on eight more on the road. Our last occasion was Mrs. Lloyd, a very large woman, weighing about 200 pounds. She was placed on the same seat as myself and another gentleman, and wishing to accomodate her, we gave her as much room as necessary, which left me only about six inches to sit. This way we had to ride six miles over a rough and very dusty road which * was no pleasant task. We got to Nevada at about half past eleven and I was glad to be relieved from the perilous situation in which I had been riding for the last six miles.” (JD, August 29, 1862). Winter brought on the usual battle between the Alpha stage and the snow. Having the contract to carry the mail, the stage line operator really lived up to the slogan: “ the U.S. Mail must go through”. In early winter, sleighs were used from Central House to Alpha and, as the snow piled higher, from Five Mile House to Alpha. Snowshoes on horses were given a try. When the snow became too deep and the horse snow shoes failed, a man on snowshoes took over, the mail bags strapped to his back. And often he could not make it either. Jones who, with his friends, often tried to clear the road of snow, recorded in his diary: “We went to White Cloud, about five miles from here, and found the snow on the road 8 to 12 feet deep. We did nothing but break a foot trail.” (JD, March 2, 1859). And two days later: “The Atlantic Mail got here today, the first mail that has come for three weeks on account of the snow.” (JD, March 4, 1859). This mail must have been hand carried for, about two weeks later, Jones commented: “Ten or fifteen men went from here today to help the stage come in through the snow. It got in at about 2 o'clock, the first time that it has been here in four months on account of the snow.” (JD, May 1, 1859). Some more comments by Jones: ‘‘The stage came in here and brought the mail for the first time in two weeks on account of the snow.” (JD, April 7, 1860) and : “The stage could not get out today. They went a piece (short distance) and then turned back. It took the stage, coming from Nevada all day.” (JD, November 30, 1864). Alpha was not the usual type of California Gold Rush town, with hastily built log cabins and with canvas clapboard stores and hotels. Lumber mills being close by and an easy haul down hill, board was cheaper then canvas. Jones speaks in his diary of ordering lumber from Skillman’s mill to be used for posts and tunnel lagging: in the mine he, and his partners were running. Usually trees were cut down, sawed into and then split into the desired sizes for this purpose. For years after the Alpha mines were abandoned, due to Judge Sawyer's decision which stopped hydraulic mining in the Sierra Nevada, the buildings of Alpha were used as a source of lumber and firewood by the people of Omega and Washington. Incidents, reported in Nevada City newspapers prove that there were some two story buildings in the town. In 1858 it was reported; “During a ball, held in the second story of a building at Alpha, near the Alpha hotel, Mr. Osgood lost his balance and fell from over the rail of the piazza while holding the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rippinghand. Osgood was severely injured. The baby was picked up insensible and taken to Dr. Wixom.

The child’s skull was fractured and a deep wound was made in the head from a nail that had penetrated the brain. The child died four and a half hours later.” It is difficult to state exactly how many hotels there were in Alpha during the town’s hey-days. Jones named three hotels in his diary. One of them, the Alpha Hotel of Mr. Williams is frequently mentioned: “Mr. Williams, the hotelkeeper got up a very good dinner for one dollar each.” (JD, December 25, 1859). The other two, Stull’s hotel and Varsey’s hotel appear in quotations below. In 1861, a telegraph line was run into Alpha. The first message received was about the death of a Colonel Baker in the Civil War battle of Edwards Ferry (JD, October 26, 1861). Jones often mentioned helping with repairs of the telegraph line. There probably was a store in Alpha, but Jones often got his supplies from Nevada City. “Started for Nevada this morning.on foot.and bought a bill of grub.” (JD, October 20, 1864), “My grub came up from Nevada today.” (JD, October 25, 1864). No account has been found of a total destruction of Alpha by fire. There were, of course, some small] fires: “* At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the blacksmith shop of Mr. Williams caught fire and burned up. Also Mr. Bancroft’s house, with everything in it. The house of J. Crocker was saved.” (JD, May 11, 1863). Spending leasure time was a problem. Jones did not drink or gamble, therefore his diary has no information on saloons. He was a member of the Sons of Temperance and attended their weekly meetings punctually. The Sons probably had a social center in Alpha; most evenings Jones went to, what he called the Division. Often, after a days hard work, he hiked down to Washington where he had helped found a “division” of the Sons to attend their meetings. He wrote: “Went to Washington today and went to the Division. Took dinner at Lyon’s hotel and supper at Huff's.” (JD, October 5, 1862). He was a member of the AntiTobacco Society, the Anti-Gambling Society and of the good Templars. He waded through several feet of snow on winter evenings to attend classes at the Singing school or the Spelling School. It does not appear that Jones was a member of any specific church; he attended any church service a wandering minister might hold in Alpha or Omega. Some examples “Father Davenport came to town today, He will lecture tomorrow night on Phrenology and will expose Spiritualism.” (JD, March 31, 1862); “Father Waugh lectured at Temperance Hall on the evils of using liquor and tobacco and organized a society to abstain from both.” (JD, May 5, 1862); Stephen Jones was on of the eight charter members. The town of Alpha was predominantly Republican. In the presidential election of 1860, 60 votes were cast for Lincoln, 25 for Douglas and 19 for Breckinridge. Jones was very much interested in politics; he mentioned all political meetings in his diary, national, state or local. “Attended a Republican meeting in the evening to elect delegates for the county convention.” (JD, August 20, 1860); “In.the evening I attended a primary meeting at Stull’s hoteltoelect . delegates to attend a convention in Washington (Nev. County) to nominate township officers.” (JD, April 30, 1863). Political victories were abundantly celebrated. In 1859, the candidate from Alpha won over the one from Washington in a Justice of the Peace election. “In the evening we fired 30 guns to celebrate the election of G. Wm. Tallman for Justice of the Peace. Then we mounted the anvil (?) on a hand cart and pulled it down to the top of the hill above Washington and fired five guns more. We returned home at half past ten and fired six guns. Then we marched to Williams’ hotel and had an oyster dinner after which we broke up and went home at about 12 o'clock.” (JD, October 24, 1859). Those of Washington did not like this: “The next morning, about nine o'clock, a crowd of about thirty or forty men came up from Washington for the purpose of raising a row. They were mad because the boys went down to the top of the hill and fired guns last night. We received them with about twenty guns and chased them. This took them by surprise and everything went as well as could be expected from a crowd of gamblers and 25.