Volume 036-2 - April 1982 (8 pages)

timber. A “gad” was also a pointed steel tool, but much shorter, about 5 or 6 inches long and broader. It was used to break up large pieces of ore or rock so that they could be transported in the ore carts. It is interesting to hear what happened to the old miners. Ed Gassaway stated that he had become a “cow man”, Charles Ninnis, the shift boss at the Mayflower Mine, a deputy sheriff. James Snell, who studied law during the little time his duties as a miner allowed him, had become an attorney and lived in Hollister. Old Tom Oliver had retired. Hoover must have remembered this party for a long time; he was even observed taking notes. The next day, July 6th, Mr. and Mrs. Hoover left Grass Valley. They motored leisurely through the Mother Lode Country, the area Hoover had known so well when he worked with Waldemar Lindgren on the maps fo the Geological Survey. After this visit to Grass Valley, Hoover’s path never led through Nevada County again. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the first place, I must thank Mr. Thomas T. Thalken and Ms. Mildred Mather of the Hoover Library at West Branch, Iowa, for valuable information. Secondly, Mra. Earl Covey for lending Earl Covey’s manuscript, Mr. Aubry Commons for bringing in a moil and a gad and Lewis Durkee (8.F.) for lending the last two volumes of Hoover’s Memoirs. Further Mrs. William Kilroy and also Ed Tyson of the Searls Library for provision of illustrations and Dave Comstock for the portrait of the moil and the gad. Finally Mr. F. Mildred, Bob Paine, Downey Clinch and W. Durbrow Jr. for giving various pieces of information. BOOK REVIEW J.S. Holliday, The World rushed in: the California Gold Rush Experience. New York; Simon and Shuster; 1981. The overland migration of 1849 and later years is one of the landmarks of American history. At that time, people still kept diaries and wrote extensive letters. It is mainly due to those manuscripts that the history of the movement is well documented. Many of ‘these diaries are still preserved and a number of them have been published. A single diary however presents only one man’s experience; general histories of the overland trail and the happenings thereupon are rare. An early effort towards a general history of the overland migration is A.B. Hulbert’s book: Forty Niners (1931). This is a fictional diary, put together from several actual diaries with a generous sprinkling of imagination added for good measure. The book is interesting reading but, while doing so one feels quite uneasy, wondering 16 where fact ends and fiction starts. G.R. Stewart’s book: The California Trail (1962) is much better. He discusses the journeys of the various emigrant parties year by year, from 1841 until 1849 and ends with a more general discussion of the crossings from 1850 until 1859. In addition, there are chapters on topics such as “How they traveled” with information on the type and construction of the vehicles used and their management on the road. Most of the crossings discussed are illustrated with maps. Stewart's book may be considered discussing the history of the creation of the trail. Most books, the two mentioned above and most published diaries, take leave of the travelers at the end of the trail. We seldom hear of what happeded to them in California, whether they returned back east and if so, how. Mr. Holliday’s book:The World rushed in: the California Gold Rush Experience discusses the adventures of one single person, William Swain, his overland trip to California, his adventures there and his return trip via the Panama route. The narrative consists of Swain’s own diary, with interpolations from other diaries, written by people who traveled a little ahead or behind Swain and of the letters he wrote to his relatives who had remained behind. To each chapter a section ‘‘Back Home’”’ is added, containing the letters written to Swain by his relatives. This way, the author presents us with a complete story of a Forty Niner, a story such as not been given before. Mr. Holliday’s book stands as a landmark in the history of the overland migration. In 1849, William Swain was 28 years old. He lived on the family farm at Youngstown, near Lake Ontario, with his mother Patience Swain, his wife Sabrina, their little daughter Eliza, not yet one year old and his unmarried brother George. The persistent news in the papers about the golden riches in California enticed William to undertake the trip. His mother and wife did not care much for the idea; his brother was very much in favor. On April 11, 1849, William left Youngstown and traveled by boat through Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan and the Illinois and Missouri Rivers to Independence, Missouri where he arrived on May 2nd. There he . joined a travel company, the Wolverine Rangers; they “rolled” on May 15th. Of the overland journey we will only mention that the Rangers had the misfortune to select Lassen’s cut-off; they arrived at Lassen’s ranch on November 8th, having lost all their wagons and animals and having suffered great hardships. In the fall of 1849, the days that gold could be panned in abundance at almost any river were already over. Swain and his partners staked aclaim on the South Fork of the Feather River and started to build a dam to divert the river and mine its bottom. This enterprise proved to be disappointing. Thereafter, they prospected on the North Fork of the Yuba River and William ended up by taking over a share in a mining group for which he worked for a short tim~ He learned that riches were not waiti-(* ’ for everyone who came to Californ\. On April 15th, he wrote in a letter: “..it is a fact that no energy or industry can secure certain success in the business of mining; and it may perhaps be my lot after a summer of hardship and exposure to be but little better offthan I am now.” In the fall of 1850, William Swain decided to return home. All his exertions had netted him little more than the sum of money which enabled him to undertake the trip. On November 10, 1850, he departed on the Moscone, which ship arrived at Panama on Christmas day. The trip to Chagres took five days, Swain arrived there on New Years Day and about ten days later he sailed on the Falcon for New York. He arrived there on January 30,1851, and soon was home with his beloved ones, after an absence of some 22 months, having little to show for his efforts. Mr. Holliday’s book is divided into chapters, each covering a section of the trip or a time period. And each of these chapters is preceded by an introduction. These introductions, taken together, are an admirable description of the Gold Rush Experience. The chapters on the overland journey are each illustrated by a map. These maps are the best of all I have seen in book, on the overland migration. Unlike i. Mr. Hulbert’s book, allinterpolationsin ~ the diary are documented. The illustrations in this book are very good. Many of those which relate to the overland trip were made by J. Goldsborough Bruff; they have been published before (1944 and 1949). Bruff’s party traveled near the Wolverine Rangers who are frequently mentioned in Bruff’s diary. It appears that far less artists than diarists crossed the plains and drawings apparently had a lesser survival chance than diaries, witness the following quote from the (unpublished) diary of Fleming G. Hearn: “Last night after we ate supper I thought of looking after my bagage. I opened one of our alforguiens (? alforjuelas, saddle bags) to see if anything was damaged. I found everything ruined in it. My drawings were spoiled, also some letters of importance. I have taken great pains in drawing some beautiful scenes, but they are all gone.” Since Bruff’s diary is long out of print, it was a good idea to use these illustrations again. To my knowledge, there is no “California History Book of the Year” award. If this were the case, I would not hesitate nominating Mr. Holliday’s book. Nobody, interested in the history of the overland migration or the earl: . history of the Gold Rush can afford t ignore this book. vdP.

timber. A “gad” was also a pointed steel tool, but much shorter, about 5 or 6 inches long and broader. It was used to break up large pieces of ore or rock so that they could be transported in the ore carts. It is interesting to hear what happened to the old miners. Ed Gassaway stated that he had become a “cow man”, Charles Ninnis, the shift boss at the Mayflower Mine, a deputy sheriff. James Snell, who studied law during the little time his duties as a miner allowed him, had become an attorney and lived in Hollister. Old Tom Oliver had retired. Hoover must have remembered this party for a long time; he was even observed taking notes. The next day, July 6th, Mr. and Mrs. Hoover left Grass Valley. They motored leisurely through the Mother Lode Country, the area Hoover had known so well when he worked with Waldemar Lindgren on the maps fo the Geological Survey. After this visit to Grass Valley, Hoover’s path never led through Nevada County again. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the first place, I must thank Mr. Thomas T. Thalken and Ms. Mildred Mather of the Hoover Library at West Branch, Iowa, for valuable information. Secondly, Mra. Earl Covey for lending Earl Covey’s manuscript, Mr. Aubry Commons for bringing in a moil and a gad and Lewis Durkee (8.F.) for lending the last two volumes of Hoover’s Memoirs. Further Mrs. William Kilroy and also Ed Tyson of the Searls Library for provision of illustrations and Dave Comstock for the portrait of the moil and the gad. Finally Mr. F. Mildred, Bob Paine, Downey Clinch and W. Durbrow Jr. for giving various pieces of information. BOOK REVIEW J.S. Holliday, The World rushed in: the California Gold Rush Experience. New York; Simon and Shuster; 1981. The overland migration of 1849 and later years is one of the landmarks of American history. At that time, people still kept diaries and wrote extensive letters. It is mainly due to those manuscripts that the history of the movement is well documented. Many of ‘these diaries are still preserved and a number of them have been published. A single diary however presents only one man’s experience; general histories of the overland trail and the happenings thereupon are rare. An early effort towards a general history of the overland migration is A.B. Hulbert’s book: Forty Niners (1931). This is a fictional diary, put together from several actual diaries with a generous sprinkling of imagination added for good measure. The book is interesting reading but, while doing so one feels quite uneasy, wondering 16 where fact ends and fiction starts. G.R. Stewart’s book: The California Trail (1962) is much better. He discusses the journeys of the various emigrant parties year by year, from 1841 until 1849 and ends with a more general discussion of the crossings from 1850 until 1859. In addition, there are chapters on topics such as “How they traveled” with information on the type and construction of the vehicles used and their management on the road. Most of the crossings discussed are illustrated with maps. Stewart's book may be considered discussing the history of the creation of the trail. Most books, the two mentioned above and most published diaries, take leave of the travelers at the end of the trail. We seldom hear of what happeded to them in California, whether they returned back east and if so, how. Mr. Holliday’s book:The World rushed in: the California Gold Rush Experience discusses the adventures of one single person, William Swain, his overland trip to California, his adventures there and his return trip via the Panama route. The narrative consists of Swain’s own diary, with interpolations from other diaries, written by people who traveled a little ahead or behind Swain and of the letters he wrote to his relatives who had remained behind. To each chapter a section ‘‘Back Home’”’ is added, containing the letters written to Swain by his relatives. This way, the author presents us with a complete story of a Forty Niner, a story such as not been given before. Mr. Holliday’s book

stands as a landmark in the history of the overland migration. In 1849, William Swain was 28 years old. He lived on the family farm at Youngstown, near Lake Ontario, with his mother Patience Swain, his wife Sabrina, their little daughter Eliza, not yet one year old and his unmarried brother George. The persistent news in the papers about the golden riches in California enticed William to undertake the trip. His mother and wife did not care much for the idea; his brother was very much in favor. On April 11, 1849, William left Youngstown and traveled by boat through Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan and the Illinois and Missouri Rivers to Independence, Missouri where he arrived on May 2nd. There he . joined a travel company, the Wolverine Rangers; they “rolled” on May 15th. Of the overland journey we will only mention that the Rangers had the misfortune to select Lassen’s cut-off; they arrived at Lassen’s ranch on November 8th, having lost all their wagons and animals and having suffered great hardships. In the fall of 1849, the days that gold could be panned in abundance at almost any river were already over. Swain and his partners staked aclaim on the South Fork of the Feather River and started to build a dam to divert the river and mine its bottom. This enterprise proved to be disappointing. Thereafter, they prospected on the North Fork of the Yuba River and William ended up by taking over a share in a mining group for which he worked for a short tim~ He learned that riches were not waiti-(* ’ for everyone who came to Californ\. On April 15th, he wrote in a letter: “...it is a fact that no energy or industry can secure certain success in the business of mining; and it may perhaps be my lot after a summer of hardship and exposure to be but little better offthan I am now.” In the fall of 1850, William Swain decided to return home. All his exertions had netted him little more than the sum of money which enabled him to undertake the trip. On November 10, 1850, he departed on the Moscone, which ship arrived at Panama on Christmas day. The trip to Chagres took five days, Swain arrived there on New Years Day and about ten days later he sailed on the Falcon for New York. He arrived there on January 30,1851, and soon was home with his beloved ones, after an absence of some 22 months, having little to show for his efforts. Mr. Holliday’s book is divided into chapters, each covering a section of the trip or a time period. And each of these chapters is preceded by an introduction. These introductions, taken together, are an admirable description of the Gold Rush Experience. The chapters on the overland journey are each illustrated by a map. These maps are the best of all I have seen in book, on the overland migration. Unlike i. Mr. Hulbert’s book, allinterpolationsin ~ the diary are documented. The illustrations in this book are very good. Many of those which relate to the overland trip were made by J. Goldsborough Bruff; they have been published before (1944 and 1949). Bruff’s party traveled near the Wolverine Rangers who are frequently mentioned in Bruff’s diary. It appears that far less artists than diarists crossed the plains and drawings apparently had a lesser survival chance than diaries, witness the following quote from the (unpublished) diary of Fleming G. Hearn: “Last night after we ate supper I thought of looking after my bagage. I opened one of our alforguiens (? alforjuelas, saddle bags) to see if anything was damaged. I found everything ruined in it. My drawings were spoiled, also some letters of importance. I have taken great pains in drawing some beautiful scenes, but they are all gone.” Since Bruff’s diary is long out of print, it was a good idea to use these illustrations again. To my knowledge, there is no “California History Book of the Year” award. If this were the case, I would not hesitate nominating Mr. Holliday’s book. Nobody, interested in the history of the overland migration or the earl: . history of the Gold Rush can afford t ignore this book. vdP.