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Volume 053-4 - October 1999 (6 pages)
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Page: of 6
The Magenta Flume. (Photo courtesty of Searls Library)
Browne arrives in San Francisco on the morning of May
7. That evening he sails up to Sacramento, where he arrives
about 3:00 a.m. Later that same morning he attends Presbyterian preaching. As for the city, he is shocked to find all
the stores, shops, saloons and billiard rooms open just as on
other days:
One does not know what wickedness is until he takes
a trip to California. Sacramento City is built on low
swampy ground, many houses being surrounded by water
so deep that the residents have to keep a canoe to go out
with.
The next day he pays $15 fare for the stage to Grass
Valley. He is ill again and about the only thing that comforts him is that there are two Methodist churches and a
Presbyterian church in town. His first two nights are spent
at Beatty House and then he becomes a boarder in the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Goldsmith, who are Presbyterians.
His diary for the next five months deals with the hard
work, the sore hands, the aching backs connected with mining and the small amount of gold they were able to find.
Many days there would be none, or small amounts that
totaled $1.00 or $1.25 a day. He always gives full accounts
of the church services he attends every Sabbath, and the
exact number of pages or chapters of the Bible that he
reads. In addition he mentions books of philosophy and
novels by Sir Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper. His
last entry in the diary is for August 31, 1853.
There is a final note, added by an Alice Brown, which
says: “This man later found some gold and wrote his
© mother he would be home before many months. Some of
the others found his body in his tent, money all stolen.
Buried him there and sent a few trinkets to his mother. This
book (diary) is one of the things sent home.”
NCHS Bulletin October 1999
ANNE ADAMS McDONNEL
SHAND QUINN
ANN ADAMS WAS BORN IN BATH, England on
December 13, 1832. She married Richard William McDonnel in February, 1850 and sailed
from Liverpool to California on February 5,
1850. She arrived in San Francisco in early
August, 1850.
In 1851, after one of San Francisco’s early
fires, they decided to move to the Sierra foothills. They went to Nevada City, where another
fire drove them to higher ground. They settled
on Poorman’s Creek where Richard successfully
mined a large quantity of gold nuggets and gold
dust.
On January 21, 1853, their daughter Emily,
was born. The following spring Richard started
from home to go to Marysville for provisions.
The trail he took came to the Yuba River where a
tree was felled and shaved off with a broad axe
to provide a river crossing.
The river was a roaring current at spring flood. Several
days later his donkey was found on the home side of the
river minus his saddle bags and other paraphernalia, but
there was no sign of Richard and he was never seen again.
Anne, who was known as a splendid cook, opened a
boarding house to support herself and her young daughter
while she waited for news of Richard or for his return. Finally, in 1856 she married a young Canadian named John
Shand. They were the parents of three children.
John raised garden produce which he sold to the miners.
He also established a sawmill partnership with a man
named Jerry. One day when Jerry was going to Nevada City
John Shand gave him the money to pay for the sawmill
equipment that he had purchased. Jerry never came back,
and shortly thereafter a representative of the company came
to collect and John was powerless to prevent foreclosure on
their property. They lost not only the sawmill, but also their
home site.
His search for a new location ended with the acquisition
of an acreage and a home site near Graniteville. It was located in the valley between Cherry Hill and Graniteville
that had been surveyed by the Eureka Lake and Water Company for a flume. Here in 1859 the French engineer Benoit
Faucherie erected “one of the finest engineering features”
in California, the Magenta Flume. The flume was seven feet
wide, 16 inches deep, 165 feet in height and 1,400 feet
long.
During the construction process, Anne Shand cooked and
served meals to the many workmen. When the flume was
completed, a huge celebration was held. People from all
over northern California gathered, the French and American
flags were raised simultaneously, a band played and cannon