Nevada County

History

BEAN'S HISTORY & DIRECTORY OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. 1867.

INTRODUCTORY.

        The size and importance of Nevada among the mining counties of California; its mines of gold of enormous product, eclipsing all others in the world; its extensive gravel ranges, in which lies imbedded wealth to enrich the nation; its thousand ledges of gold-bearing rock that stripe its territory, inviting the capital of other lands, and which are destined at no distant day to cause its valleys and mountains to resound with the din and clatter of machinery; its fertile soil on which can be grown all the productions of the temperate zone; its perfect adaptability to the production of the generous wines that are to rival those of France and Hungary; its vast extent of surface that entices the agriculturist to come and clothe its hill sides with orchards and vineyards; its nearness to the great Pacific railway, rendering it accessible to the commerce and travel of the world, and the attention it is attracting among the scientific and moneyed circles of the globe—all these would seem to call for some compendious exhibit of its boundless resources, its products and its prospects. Accordingly, the task has been undertaken, and the result may be found in the following pages. Therein are contained a concise history of the county, as full as the limits of the volume would allow; an account of all the notable mines, their location, yield, etc., as far as can be ascertained; of the canals of the county, cost of construction, capacity, etc.; statistics of every branch of industry; besides a complete directory of the county. To the citizens of Nevada county the following pages will be of interest, presenting as they do in preservable shape, the evidence of the wealth and material resources of a portion of the earth's surface, which they call "home," and which is unexcelled by any other portion of like extent on the habitable globe; and as a work of reference for business men generally, I flatter ourself, it must prove to be of far greater value than its cost.

        To E. G. Waite I am indebted for the history of the county and other valuable contributions for the work. Much valuable information has been obtained from two historical sketches of the county written by Hon. A. A. Sargent, one published in a Directory of the county by Brown & Dallison in 1856, the other in a Directory of Nevada, published by H. B. Thompson in 1861; also, from W. S. Byrne, Esq., and his Directory of Grass Valley, published in 1865. To Judge Frank Tilford I am indebted for the sketch of Meadow Lake township, and to Captain R W. Roberts for the sketch of Rough and Ready. Other gentlemen have contributed new facts, whose names will appear in the history as it comes from the pen of the writer.

EDWIN F. BEAN.

NEVADA, 1867.

STATE EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS.

STATE OFFICERS.

[Terms expire first Monday in December, 1867.]

                                                                                    RESIDENCE.              SALARY.

FREDERICK F. LOW            Governor                      Yuba                            $7,000

T. N. MACHIN                       Lieutenant Governor     Mono                             4,000

B. B. REDDING                      Secretary of State         Sacramento                    4,000

GEORGE OULTON               Controller                     Siskiyou                          4,000

R. R. PACHECO                    Treasurer                      San Luis Obispo             4,000

J. G. McCULLOUGH             Attorney General          Mariposa                        4,000

J. F. HOUGHTON                  Surveyor General         Sacramento                     3,000

JOHN SWETT                        Supt. Public Instruction San Francisco                 3,000

GEO. S. EVANS                     Adjutant General          Sacramento                    3,000

O. M. CLAYES                       State Printer                 San Joaquin                    Fees.

W. D. HARRIMAN                 Clerk Supreme Court   Placer                             Fees.

W. C. STRATTON                  State Librarian             Sacramento                    2,500

JUSTICES SUPREME COURT.

                                                RESIDENCE              SALARY

JOHN CURREY                     Solano                         $6,000

LORENZO SAWYER            San Francisco                6,000

A. L. RHODES                       Santa Clara                    6,000

O. L. SHAFTER                     San Francisco                6,000

S. W. SANDERSON             El Dorado                      6,000

Regular terms held at Sacramento on first Monday in January, April, July and October.

JUDICIAL DISTRICTS

1st. Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa. Barbara. Pablo de la Guerra, Judge.

2d. Tehama, Butte, Plumas and Lassen. Warren T. Sexton, Judge.

3d. Alameda, Monterey, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. Sam'l B. McKee, Judge.

4th. Northern part of San Francisco. E. D. Sawyer, Judge.

5th. San Joaquin and Tuolumne. Jos. M. Cavis, Judge.

6th. Sacramento and Yolo. John H, McKune, Judge.

7th. Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Lake. J. B. Southard, Judge.

8th. Klamath, Del Norte and Humboldt. Walter S. Brock, Judge.

9th. Shasta, Siskiyou and Trinity. E. Garter, Judge.

10th. Sutter, Yuba, Colusa and Sierra. Isaac S. Belcher, Judge.

11th. El Dorado, Amador and Calaveras. S. W. Brockway, Judge.

12th. Southern part of San Francisco and San Mateo. Orville C. Pratt, Judge.

13th. Fresno, Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus and Tulare. J. M. Bondurant, Judge.

14th. Nevada and Placer. Thomas B. McFarland, Judge.

15th. San Francisco and Contra Costa. S. H. Dwinelle, Judge.

16th. Mono, Alpine, Inyo and Kern. Theron Reed, Judge.

NEVADA COUNTY.

COUNTY OFFICERS.

THOMAS B. McFARLAND                                                   DISTRICT JUDGE.

A. C. NILES                                                                            COUNTY JUDGE.

JOHN CALDWELL                                                                DISTRICT ATTORNEY.

JOHN I. CALDWELL                                                             DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY.

R. H. FARQUHAR                                                                  CLERK, ex officio AUDITOR.

G. K. FARQUHAR                                                                 DEPUTY CLERK.

E. F. SPENCE.                                                                        TREASURER.

E. F. BEAN                                                                             ASSESSOR.

C. E. MULLED, A. F. MASON                                              DEPUTY- ASSESSORS.

CHARLES BARKER                                                              COLLECTOR.
W. J. ORGAN, J. M. DAYS, H. A. ASHBURN,

E. F. BEAN, A. F. MASON, C. E. MULLOY,                       DEP. COLLECTORS

J. C. GARBER                                                                         RECORDER.
IRA STANLEY, W. H. H. COFFMAN, G. H. FEBRE            DEP. RECS.

R. B. GENTRY                                                                        SHERIFF.

R. B. PATTEN                                                                        UNDER SHERIFF.

A. W. POTTER, STEVE VENARD                                        DEPUTY SHERIFFS.

H. S. BRADLEY                                                                     SURVEYOR.

WM. C. STILES                                                                     CORONER.

W. W. COZZENS                                                                  PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR.

G. K. FARQUHAR                                                                DEPUTY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR.

M. S. DEAL                                                                           SUPT. COMMON SCHOOLS.

R. M. HUNT                                                                          COUNTY PHYSICIAN.

The terms of the elected officers will expire on the first Wednesday in March, 1868.

SUPERVISORS.

JONATHAN CLARK, President                             First District.

 J. J. DORSEY                                                        Second District.

J. B. JOHNSON.                                                    Third District.

COURTS.

District Court. 14th Judicial District.—Regular terms held at Court House, Nevada City, first Monday in March, June, September and December. Hon. T. B. McFarland, Judge ; John Caldwell, Attorney ; R. H. Farquhar, Clerk ; G. K. Farquhar, Deputy ; R. B. Gentry, Sheriff; A. W. Potter, Deputy.

County Court.—Regular terms held at Court House, Nevada City, first Monday in February, May, August and November. Hon. A. C. Niles, Judge; Caldwell, Attorney : R. H. Farquar, Clerk ; R. B. Gentry, Sheriff.

Probate Court.—Terms on first Monday in each month, at Court House, Nevada City. Hon. A. C. Niles, Judge ; R. H. Farquhar, Clerk.

TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.

Nevada Township.—Justices—John C. Palmer, John Kendall. Constables—Jos. B. Gray, John H. Gray.

Grass Valley.—Justices—W. S. Byrne, M. P. O'Connor. Constables—J. Allison, John D. Meek.

Rough and Ready.—Justices—William Curran, E. L. Melbourne. Constables—Lucius Pomeroy, John Perkenpine.

Bridgeport.— Justices—Moses F. Hoit, George B. Newell. Constables—Robert Huckins, J. A. Ross.

Bloomfield.—Justices—Levi Ayres, W. C. Carter. Constables—G. F. Hutchinson, E. H. Henry.

Eureka.—Justices—John H. Young, J. W. C. Coleman. Constables—O. A. Pierce, J, C. Eastman.

Washington.―Justices—Geo. Roberts, ― ―. Constables—A. G. Henderson, E. J. Markhand.

Meadow Lake.—Justices—J. E. Jones, D. E. Sykes. Constables—Steve Venard, ― ―.

Little York.—Justices—R. McGoun, A. P. Schutt. Constables—Milt. Combs, John Fuller.

U. S. REVENUE OFFICERS.

S. B. Davenport, Deputy United States Collector. Office in Masonic Building, Commercial street, Nevada City.

J. B. Richmond, Deputy United States Assessor. Office in Masonic Building, Commercial street, Nevada City.

W. H. Davidson, Deputy United States Marshal. Office at National Exchange Hotel, Nevada City,370

POST OFFICES.

Following is a list of the Postoffices of the county, with the name of the Postmasters, and the salaries of those we have been able to obtain. Nevada and Grass Valley are rated as second class offices; North San Juan and Moore's Flat as fourth class, and the others belong to the fifth class:

Nevada City                 F. G. Guild                  $3,200

Grass Valley                 D B. Nye                      2,200

North San Juan             R. Loughead                   370

Moore's Flat                 S  Caldwell                     190

French Corral               S B. Caswell                   100

Little York                    N Dodge                          71

Rough and Ready         S. H. Sheffield                   68

Washington                  A F. Mason                       64

Sweetland                    Wm. Menner                     57

North Columbia            Levi Ayres                        52

Omega                         A.C. Henniken                  48

Patterson                      M. W. Martin.                  33

Painsville                      J. M. Quine                       16

Meadow Lake             W. Wilson.                        --

Red Dog.                     W.F. Heydlauf                  --

Indian Springs               H. L. Hatch                      --

North Bloomfield          Caleb Nash                      --

NOTARIES PUBLIC.

Nevada county is entitled by law to sixteen Notaries Public. The following are the names of those officers, with their places of residence, on the 1st of January, 1867:

John I. Caldwell                Nevada City

John Caldwell                   Nevada City

Thomas P. Hawley           Nevada City

A. A. Sargent                   Nevada City

L. W. Williams                 Nevada City

John C. Deuel                  Grass Valley

E. W. Roberts                 Grass Valley

W. K. Spencer                Grass Valley

John M. Abbott               Meadow Lake

Edwin Fowler                  Meadow Lake

H. G. Rollins                    Meadow Lake

D. E. Sykes                     Meadow Lake

J. E. Squire                      Meadow Lake

Wm. M. Eddy                 French Corral

J. B. Johnson                   North San Juan

O. P. Stidger                   North San Juan

MILITARY ORGANIZATION.

Nevada City is the headquarters of the Fifth Infantry Regiment, Fourth Brigade of the National Guard of California. The Regiment was organized on the 25th of August, 1866, under the law passed that year, with the following officers:

COMPANIES.

GRASS VALLEY UNION GUARD—Company A.   E. W. Roberts, Captain; John D. Meek, First Lieutenant; William Rule, Second Lieutenant.

NEVADA LIGHT GUARD—Company B.   J. A. Lancaster, Captain; M. S. Deal, First Lieutenant; Joseph R. English, Second Lieutenant.

LITTLE YORK UNION GUARD—Company C—You Bet.   Wm. Cuvillie, Captain; Arthur Keeler, First Lieutenant; F. A. King, Second Lieutenant.

AUBURN GRAYS—Company D—Auburn, Placer county.   S. B. Woodin, Captain; W. H. Hubbard, First Lieutenant; E. L. Craig; Second Lieutenant.

HOWELL ZOUAVES—Company E—Grass Valley.   J. H. Stebbins, Captain; Robert Flanders, First Lieutenant; Charles S. Wells, Second Lieutenant.

PACIFIC GUARD—Company F—Dutch Flat, Placer county.   S. Wardner, Captain; J. T. Staples, First Lieutenant; Thomas Teaff, Second Lieutenant.

YANKEE JIMS RIFLES—Company G—at Yankee Jims, Placer county.   John Keiser, Captain; J. C. Parsons, First Lieutenant; S. M. Jamison, Second Lieutenant.

YUBA LIGHT INFANTRY—Company H—at Camptonville, Yuba county.   J. P. Brown, Captain; J. G. McLellan, First Lieutenant; J. R. Rideout, Second Lieutenant.

QUARTZ MINING LAWS.

        The quartz miners of Nevada county were the first to perceive the necessity of some general regulations to govern the location and holding of ledges, differing from those that had been adopted by the placer and river miners. For this purpose, a convention of the quartz miners of the county was called, which met at Nevada early in the fall of 1852, and was attended by parties interested from all parts of the county. At this meeting, a full discussion and interchange of opinion was had, as to the character of regulations needed, and a committee was appointed to draft the laws, with instructions as to the size of the claims, the amount of work to be done to hold them, etc. The convention then adjourned to meet on the 20th of December following, and invited all the quartz miners of the county to attend. At the adjourned meeting the committee presented their report, and the appended laws were adopted. These have proved eminently satisfactory, never having been changed or abrogated, and have been respected and enforced by the courts of the State. It was the first attempt, so far as we are aware, to lay the foundation of a code of quartz mining laws; and although they do not, and were never intended to, provide for every case that may arise in practice, they are the basis of the quartz mining customs that have obtained the force of law on this coast:

ARTICLE 1. The jurisdiction of the following laws shall extend over all quartz mines and quartz mining property within the county of Nevada.

ART. 2. Each proprietor of a quartz claim shall hereafter be entitled to one hundred feet on a quartz ledge or vein; and the discoverer shall be allowed one hundred feet additional. Each claim shall include all the dips, angles and variations of the vein.

ART. 3. On the discovery of a vein of quartz, three days shall be allowed to mark and stake off the same, in such manner, by name of the owner and number of the claim, or otherwise, as shall properly and fully identify such claims. Parties having claims may cause a map or plan to be made, and a copy filed with the Recorder, if deemed requisite, to more particularly fix the locality.

ART. 4. Work to the extent of one hundred dollars in value, or twenty days faithful labor, shall be performed by each company holding claims, within thirty days from the date of recording the same, as provided for in Article sixth of these laws; and the duly authorized representative of a company making oath that such money has been expended, or that such labor has been performed, shall be entitled to a certificate from a County Recorder or Deputy, guaranteeing undisputed possession of said claim for the term of one year; and for a like sum of money or amount of labor expended or performed within the first twenty days of each succeeding year, duly acknowledged as herein named, shall entitle the claimants or company, from year to year, to further certificates of undisputed proprietorship and possession; and a company having a mill contracted for in good faith, to the amount of five thousand dollars, for the working of its claim or claims, the proper representative of the company making oath of the same shall be entitled to receive from said County Recorder a title deed to said claim or claims, guaranteeing to the claimants or company, their successors and assigns, undisputed possession and proprietorship forever under these laws; provided, that nothing in this Article shall be, at any time, inconsistent with the laws of the United States.

ART. 5. Whenever the requisite amount of money or labor, as provided for in Article fourth, has not been expended within thirty days from the adoption of these laws, the claim or claims thus neglected shall be considered abandoned, and subject to be relocated by any other party or parties.

ART. 6. Any person, a citizen of the United States, or any person having taken the necessary steps to become a citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to hold one quartz claim as provided for in Article first, and as many more as may be purchased in good faith, for a valuable consideration, for which certificates of proprietorship shall be issued by the County Recorder.

ART. 7. The regularly elected County Recorder of Nevada county shall serve as Recorder for this county in quartz claims, authenticating his acts by the county seal; he shall appoint as his Deputy such person for Grass Valley as may be elected by the district of Grass Valley; and he shall pass his records to his successor.

ART. 8. The fees of the Recorder and Deputy shall be the same as the statute fees for recording per folio.

ART. 9. No title to a claim hereafter taken up, or purchased, shall be valid unless recorded in the books of the aforesaid County Recorder or Deputy within ten days of its location or purchase.

Passed December 20th, 1852, at Nevada, California.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF

NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

BY E. G. WAITE.

DECLARATORY,

        The part I am to contribute to the sketch of Nevada county makes no pretension to the dignity of a history. The limited space and time by which I am circumscribed, beside the scope and object of the work of which the sketch is to form a part, would preclude the possibility of a complete history of Nevada county, did no other obstacle prevent. Indeed, to write a full history of our county would involve, in a great degree, the history of the State of California. I am not called to so broad a field of enterprise. Yet I hope, in a humble way, to aid the future historian by gathering up the scattered fragments of history and placing them in a concise and presentable shape for his use.

        Although I see the moving events of a grand drama, which tells how a mountainous wilderness was conquered in spite of its manifold obstacles, and made to become, in a few brief years, the abode of civilization and refinement, and to contribute more wealth to the nation than any like portion of its territory; although the theme is inspiring and tempting to the pen, be mine the lot to tell in the briefest way, the order of the most prominent events as they have occurred; give some account of the appearance of the country that man has subdued from nature; collect such memorials as I may of the autochthons of the soil; and, in short, present such facts bearing upon various subjects as may be of interest to the general reader.

DESCRIPTION.

        Nevada county, California, extends from near the eastern edge of the Sacramento valley to the top of the Sierra Nevada, and, in general terms, has for its northern boundary the Middle Yuba, and its southern Bear river. Its area is about 1,200 square miles, or about the size of the State of Rhode Island; and few parts of the United States can compare with it for variety of scenery or climate. Its highest elevation reaches to over 8,000 feet, while its lowest is but a few feet above the level of the ocean. The upper region is covered with snow more than half the year, and at the foot hills snow or frost is comparatively unknown. Several deep channels cut the county longitudinally, in which flow the rivers and streams from the high Sierra. These, with their tributary canons and gorges, are intervened by high and ofttimes precipitous ridges, the main ones running at right-angles with the mountain chain. As is natural, sheltered, sunny spots occur frequently among these ridges and deep depressions where the productions of a warm climate are grown to perfection, and the grape and. the fig are cultivated generally on all exposures to an altitude of two thousand five hundred feet.

        No large valleys of arable land are found in Nevada county. The largest do not comprise above a few hundred acres, and even these are rare. The entire soil is of a reddish ferruginous, ochre, or gray color, and consists of side-hill or table land. It is, under favorable circumstances, however, highly productive, and is yet to develop agricultural wealth equal to any other portion of the world.

        When first seen by Americans, Nevada county presented the appearance of a rough mountain region, clothed in the upper part with forests of pine, oak, spruce, fir, and other trees, intermixed with manzanita, chamiso, privet, and several other varieties of shrubs in places. The timbered region extended from the summit down to about an elevation of fifteen hundred feet, when the trees became stunted, and new varieties of pine began to appear, while scrubby shrubs became mare prevalent. Occasionally a small valley of grass was seen among the hills, and near the summit were many small lakes, clear and cold. It was a wild, romantic region, the lowermost half inhabited by a few hundred Diggers, a subsequent acquaintance with whom has shown to be a harmless and inoffensive people in the lowest stage of development.

        Such was the general aspect of the country now comprised within the limits of Nevada county, when the hordes of adventurous Americans, excited by the reports of discoveries of gold in California, came pouring over the Sierra Nevada, and swarmed along the rich streams and over the undeveloped hills of this region.

HISTORICAL.

        Probably the first settlement ever made within the boundaries of Nevada county was between the Anthony House and Bridgeport, and called Rose's Corral, from the trader who built an adobe building there in the Summer of 1848. But, it is probable mining was done to a limited extent shortly before that time low down on the Yubas, and during the same Summer a few whites had penetrated as far as the middle region of the county. In 1849, with the great influx of population, came crowds of miners, who spread rapidly over the territory of Nevada county, as far up as Washington, even as early as in the Spring. A few men worked on the Middle Yuba, and on the South Yuba during the early part of the Summer of 1849, and some with good success.

        A store was established in August, of the same year, on a point of land that overlooks Bear river, near the mouth of Greenhorn, on the old Truckee trail, by an Oregonian named Findley. The object of establishing the post was to trade with the emigrants, and for a time it was the only store between Bear river and Salt Lake at which emigrants could obtain supplies. Here bacon was sold for two dollars a pound, and shoe tacks at ten cents apiece. Brooks & Peasley became successors to Findley, keeping up the store, and it may as well be observed, the prices also.

        In September of 1849, David Bovyer established himself in Rough and Ready township, at White Oak Springs, where he traded with the Indians, who dwelt there in considerable numbers. They had learned to collect gold, which they spent with an abandon scarcely excelled by the whites.

        During the same Summer, a party of Oregonians creviced for gold along the South Yuba, or Juba, as it was called, as far up as Washington. The success of this party, and of others who followed in their wake, was the means of bringing, the next Spring, a large crowd to the river from Jefferson, then called Greenwood's Camp, from the leader of the Oregon party, up to Washington, then named Indiana Camp, from a company of Indianans who pitched their tents there first.

        It is not certain who first prospected the rich ravines about Nevada. A gentleman who grazed his stock in the valley in which Grass Valley now stands, and who came to the site of Nevada in August, 1849, saw three men at work on Gold Run, near where the stone bridge now crosses it. There may have been others working in the vicinity. About that time a few men were at work on Deer Creek, somewhere in the neighborhood of Pleasant Flat. Dr. Caldwell had a store in that vicinity, as early as September, and this fact goes to show there must have been more parties at work in the region round about than at this time we can obtain any information of.

        In the same month, or a little later, Captain John Pennington and party built a cabin on Gold Run, and in October Dr. Caldwell built a store near the site of the present High School building, in Nevada. The place was known for a time, from this circumstance, as "Caldwell's Upper Store;" " Deer Creek Dry Diggings" was another name by which the locality was called.

        A settlement was also effected in 1849 in Boston Ravine, and also on Badger Hill, at Grass Valley, and in several of the ravines round about. A trading post was started in the Fall of that year in Boston Ravine, by a Frenchman, Jules Rosiere. The same year, in November, Judge Walsh and two brothers (Holt) commenced building sawmills four miles below Grass Valley, from which it is clear that there were a great many miners in the vicinity, creating a demand for lumber, which up to that time had been obtained by whip-saws, and at extravagant prices.

        A Captain Townsend and party built a cabin at Rough and Ready in September, 1849, and mined there successfully. Other parties followed, and quite a number of miners passed the Winter of 1849-50 there. With the addition of French Corral, the places before mentioned are the only ones that we can find which date their settlement back to a period as early as the year 1849.

        The year following was one of uncommon discovery and activity. Towns were built up at Nevada, Grass Valley, Rough and Ready, and Newtown, all of which yet remain except the last, which has fallen to decay. Permanent camps were established at Sweetlands, Cherokee, Kentucky Flat, and on several bars of the Yubas. Hotels were opened at Nevada, Grass Valley and Rough and Ready. Sawmills were put in operation in these places. A hall was opened in Nevada for dramatic and other entertainments. A church was organized in the same place. The town took a permanent name. The first discovery of gold in the old river beds of the pliocene era was made in the hills above the town. The first ditches were projected and constructed. The long-tom was brought into use and soon after the sluice, superseding the rocker. Gold was discovered in quartz at Grass Valley and a crushing mill erected there.

        The people of the region organized politically and put themselves within the control of law by their own option, electing officers and providing for their support. Gambling saloons arose in splendor and numbers, and were thronged. Liquors were sold and fights were common. Claims were jumped; pistols and knives were worn and drawn; murder was committed; lawyers came into use, and, in brief, the whole paraphernalia of civilized life gradually came to be adopted. It was not necessity alone that prompted the early settlers of California to place themselves within the dominion of law. Self-government may be counted as one of the instincts of the American people. Wherever a few of our countrymen come together organization and order are sure to follow. Every American is a lawgiver and a statesman, and must put his knowledge and theories into practice. Hence new ideas, conflicts of opinion, new States, the growth and progress of our great country.

        The year 1851 was marked by great changes. Nevada county was organized out of Yuba, by an act of the Legislature of May 18th, of that year. A great fire destroyed the town of Nevada on March 11th. More ditches were surveyed and dug. Several quartz mills were erected in Grass Valley and about Nevada, and a career of prosperity in that branch of industry begun at the former place. General laws were better executed because the Courts were nearer at hand and the expense of obtaining justice had been cheapened by a county organization. Local regulations concerning quartz claims began to take shape, and a great impulse was given to that branch of mining. A newspaper was started in Nevada. More churches were organized and edifices erected. Families were added to the few who had taken up their residence before. Children made their appearance in numbers sufficient to justify employing teachers. Schools were opened. Comfortable residences began to appear on the hills. The people had commenced to see the truth of the aphorism: "a rolling stone gathers no moss," and began to cease "to fold up their tents, like the Arabs, and as quietly steal away"—and to settle down into the habits of fatherland. Up to this time as in the French there was no word in the California vernacular with the exact meaning of "home," except as applied to the dear old spot the miner had left behind him in the country far away.

        During the few succeeding years there were rapid strides made in social progress, in improvements in mining, and in discoveries in various parts of the county. Excitements, inseparable from the ruling occupation, were frequent; hopes were often elevated and as often depressed. Brick buildings arose, gardens were planted, orchards began, families gathered around them the comforts and elegancies of life, and a character of permanence became more and more apparent. The failure of several adventures in quartz mining about Nevada in 1852 had a disheartening influence for a time, many predicting that flush times had forever passed away; but confidence was soon restored, and the county increased steadily in population and wealth, although millions of dollars were shipped away annually, or went to adjoining counties to develop new localities.

        In October 1853, Nevada county had for the first time telegraphic communication with the cities below, and two years after with Downieville. Grass Valley about this time took the lead of all the other quartz districts in the State and has maintained her superiority to this day.

        As an evidence of the increase of population of the county, we may mention, the vote at the first election in 1851 was twenty-nine hundred, while in 1856 it was seven thousand three hundred, the city of Nevada alone casting of the number two thousand and eighty-one.

        It was in the latter year that a terrible tragedy occurred at Nevada, in which the Sheriff of the county and his deputy were killed by mistake. Sheriff W. W. Wright, and Special Deputy David Johnson, went to Gold Flat on the night of the 3d of November to watch for some prisoners who broke jail the night previous. Other parties were on the watch at the same place unknown to the Sheriff's party. They came in contact, and each supposing the other to be the scoundrels for whom they were lying in wait, resorted to their arms. Wright and Johnson were shot.

        The Fraser River excitement in 1857-58 had a telling effect upon the population of our county as well as upon the valuation of property. Hundreds sold out their possessions for what they could get and hurried off to British Columbia, to a cold and inhospitable region, not one of whom can we recall to recollection who was gainer by the step. Many returned to their old haunts, sadder if not wiser men many are yet buffeting the waves of fortune in those northern climes, and many are beyond the reach of excitements forevermore.

        Nevada has had her share of all the many excitements that have so often stirred the people of the coast to abnormal action. But, that which carried away more people and capital than any other was the Washoe or silver mania of 1859. The first notice of the silver discovery near Virginia City was in the Nevada Journal of July 1st of that year. That article announced the fact to the world, and the first specimens of silver ore from the mines ever distributed in California were by the editor of that paper.

        On the 24th of June, Mr. J. F. Stone, who had been living for a time beyond the Sierra Nevada, brought a bag of specimens to the Journal office and related the facts in connection with their discovery. About the same time pieces of the ore had been left for assay with J. J. Ott of Nevada, and Mr. Attwood of Grass Valley. The result of the assay created a sudden excitement. The specimens brought by Stone, distributed about, served to highten the interest in the discovery. Mr. Arthur Hagadorn, of the firm of Mulford & Hagadorn, bankers in Nevada, without a moment's delay, proceeded to dispatch some one to the new mines, and A. E. Head was selected for the enterprise. Judge Walsh and others from Grass Valley made a simultaneous start, and the Nevada and Grass Valley parties came together before crossing the Sierra. In a few days others were on the route; more soon followed, and within two years, it is probable one-third of the male adults of Nevada county had gone to the silver region, either to try their fortunes or visit the scenes that had created so intense an excitement. It is proper to add, that of the fortunate adventurers our county contributed a very generous proportion.  In the rovings of the Americans over the country in quest of more silver lodes, they came in collision with the natives. A party, among whom was Henry Meredith of Nevada, was ambushed by the Pi Uutes, routed and Meredith and many others were slain. An alarm was created at Virginia City, which extended over California, and nowhere was the excitement more intense than in Nevada county, whose citizens by hundreds were supposed to be in peril on the other side of the mountains. A large subscription was raised—larger than in any other county of the State—and a company of men volunteered and were on their way over the mountains to the relief of their friends with promptness and dispatch. The company took part in the defeat of the Indians. Not many days after the departure of the company, the citizens of the county were urged to do more. A meeting was called and another body of men volunteered. It is related that an ex-official, not being pleased with the smallness of the number of volunteers, made a short speech in which he declared it was a disgrace to send such a miserable squad. "Let us make up a company consistent with the pride of the county and the danger to be encountered. Yes, gentlemen," said he, "let us at least raise enough to make a respectable corpse!" It is said many of the company did not like the ghastly allusion and abandoned the expedition.

        The silver developments on the eastern slope of the Sierra induced a tremendous emigration to the new region, and called for large and long continued supplies. Our county, occupying a central position, and almost on a line between the Bay of San Francisco and Virginia City, and having one of the best natural passes across the mountains, received a generous share of the travel to and from the land of silver.

        I should not forget to mention that the silver discoveries gave an impulse to the Pacific Railroad movement. The project of constructing a trans­continental railway had long been a favorite theme among politicians of all parties. Sooner or later the enterprise must have been undertaken. But, the enormous prices paid for freight to the silver mines, and the grand prospect that seemed to be opening for rich and extensive mines of silver all over a wide extended region on the eastern border of California, held out a prize for railroad men quite as tempting as the visionary carrying trade of the Indies. A railroad was deemed a necessity to the people of Washoe, and a rich investment to the builders. To obtain the trade of a region rich in silver, but poor in all other resources, therefore, became an object, and hightened the zeal of men anxious to associate their names with one of the greatest enterprises of modern times. A feasible route for a railroad was discovered by Theodore D. Judah, in October, 1860, which runs up the divide between Bear river and the American, through Placer and entering Nevada county near the high Sierra. On this route a first-class railroad has been built, at this time as far as Cisco, along the southern border of the county, and thus rendering our mines and productions of easy access has brought us into intimate connection with the men and the capital of the older countries of the globe. The importance of the road to Nevada county, in this regard, can scarcely be over estimated.

        I am now to approach one of those extraordinary events that live in the annals of a community while time endures. The fitful fever after fortunes in silver being over with the disappointed multitude, and reports being circulated of many recent and rich discoveries of quartz in our county, hundreds of desperate men came among us and highway and other robberies became common. On the 15th of May, 1866, the stage from North San Juan to Nevada was stopped at 4½ o'clock in the morning, near the top of the hill on the south side of the South Yuba, above Black's Crossing, by three men in disguise, and $7,900 taken from Wells, Fargo & Co.'s coin chest which is a fixture in all the stages wherever the company have a route.  The passengers, seven in number, were ordered to get out, and the driver commanded to take the horses from the wagon without delay. As the robbers were armed with revolvers, there was no alternative but to obey. The robbers then proceeded to blow open the chest with powder, with which they came prepared. Their object was accomplished at the second attempt. The coin was taken and the driver was ordered to drive on.

        The stage drove quickly into Nevada, a distance of five miles. The news was made public. Sheriff R. B. Gentry rallied a posse and repaired in all haste to the scene of the robbery. This posse consisted of Steve Venard, James H. Lee, Albert Gentry, and A. W. Potter.

        An examination of the spot showed that the robbers had turned out of the road and gone down the river on a line parallel with it. Venard and Lee got on the trail of the robbers and followed it over the roughest of all imaginable ground for the distance of a mile and a half. It was evident which way the robbers went. Lee went back to take the horses around to the road of the crossing below, the rest of the Sheriff's party having previously gone in that direction. Venard, left alone, followed the trail. He came to Myers' Ravine, at its debouchure into the Yuba. He saw that the pursued had gone up the ravine to a crossing. He was alone in one of the wildest, and roughest of spots in that wild and rugged region. The hills hung steep above. Rocks, trees, brush and logs there were in profusion on every hand. Venard was armed with a Henry rifle. The waters of the ravine came tumbling down its steep bed of bowlders, with a rush and a noise which rendered no other sounds audible. The hero of the hour proceeded with caution. A huge rock rose twenty feet in hight in the midst of the muddy water; other smaller rocks surrounded it, altogether forming an island. A tree or two grew upon the lower end of the island in the midst of the rocks, their branches and foliage partially covering the rocky rampart above. Below the island, at a few feet distance, was a precipice of fifteen feet or more over which the waters of the ravine tumbled. Venard attempted to cross the stream at the head of this fall. He walked on a short log to a rock. Above him rose the huge mass of granite, buttressed in front by two smaller rocks. Between these latter was an alley which led up to the base of the Titan. His position was such as to look up this alley. At the base of the great rock Venard discovered the object of his search. The leader of the gang was sitting on the ground and in the act of drawing his revolver. Venard instantly leveled his rifle upon the robber, who was not more than twenty feet distant. At the same moment he saw another of the gang pointing a pistol at him over the edge of a rock. There was no time to change his aim. He fired; the leader fell back shot through the heart. The other robber attempted to shield himself farther behind a rock, leaving the point of his pistol exposed over the top The exposure was fatal; Venard covered the spot with his unerring Henry.  No sooner did the head of the robber peer above the rock to take aim than his brain was pierced with a bullet. There was yet another, but he was not to be seen. His pistol might at that moment be pointing at Venard. The latter, quick as thought, clambered up to the lair to beard him in his den. He found the treasure, took the pistols from the dead, covered quickly the former with earth and leaves, and proceeded to hunt up the missing robber. Crossing the stream and ascending the steep mountain beyond, he discovered the robber running up the acclivity sixty yards or more ahead. Venard fired and the robber fell. Another bullet, and the last robber rolled down the hill—dead.

        Venard now sought his companions. They all proceeded to the scene of the tragedy, recovered the money, and by two o'clock of the same day the Sheriff's party deposited the cash with Wells, Fargo & Co., in Nevada. If this be not an example of summary justice and remarkable heroism I know not where one may be found. After the Sheriff's party had left Nevada, Wells, Fargo & Co. offered a reward of three thousand dollars, which was paid. The Company also presented Steve Venard with a magnificent Henry rifle, gold mounted and beautifully inscribed, and Governor Low appointed him on his staff with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, "for meritorious services in the field."

        The bodies of the robbers were brought to town, washed and fully identified. Upon them was found property they had taken from the passengers in stages they had stopped before. The names of the robbers were George Shanks, alias Jack Williams, the leader, Bob Finn, alias Caton, and George W. Moore.

        I have thus far abstained from mentioning the various homicides that have occurred in the county, from a feeling that too much prominence has been already given to such events in the newspapers of the day. Such tragedies are inseparable from life in California; or in any other country of great excitements and disappointments. But, a murder of such atrocity as characterized the butchery of Cooper and Kile, at the upper crossing of the South Yuba; deserves special mention. On the evening of the 26th of November, 1866, J. L. Cooper and Joseph Kile, the former a part owner of the bridge known as Cooper's, were attacked by some person or persons unknown, with an ax, and both slain and most horribly mangled. A safe was opened and a few hundred dollars taken. Trunks were burst in with the bloody ax, but money and specimens in one were left untouched. Kile was found the next morning inside the house, and Cooper was lying on the bridge where he had been chopped down in his attempt at flight. Governor Low offered a reward of one thousand dollars for the apprehension of the murderers; the Board of Supervisors of the county added two thousand more, and T. J. Manchester and James Patten, the former an owner in the bridge, and the latter a relative of Cooper, also increased the amount to three thousand five hundred dollars. The whole affair is shrouded in mystery.

        On the evening of the 27th December, 1866, a hurricane of great fury passed Nevada, which broke down the strongest trees, unroofed buildings, blew down chimneys, and left other proofs of its violence. Its course was from the southwest to the northeast, and left its traces through Rough and Ready township, and on to the summit of the mountains. Its track was not more than five hundred feet wide, and luckily it passed where but little damage to property could be done. Hailstones of great size fell along the track and for a few miles on each side, alternating with torrents of rain. A gentleman who was on the edge of the hurricane says it was impossible to keep his feet, and that while lying flat on the ground the current of air against the top of his head was strong enough to push him lengthwise upon the ground.

        I have thus given a brief compilation of the historical events and their dates—pertaining to the county at large—so far as the design of the work for which this is written, will allow. Many other circumstances of interest will appear in the sketches of towns; but many incidents of secondary importance will have to go unnoticed, as beyond the limits and scope of the present sketch. Other facts in connection with the history of Nevada county are related in directories heretofore published, and still others may be found in other parts of this work.

        Let it suffice, in closing this division of my subject, to remark, that a wild and rugged region has, in less than two decades, been subjugated from nature; that it has been made to yield more gold than any other spot of like extent on the globe; that from a handful of people, without law, has grown a population of probably more than twenty thousand souls, where the rights of the citizen are maintained by as incorruptible a judiciary as can bless a people; that from a roving, restless population, intent on filching the gold from the soil and abandoning the country, we have settled down content in the belief that the region is incomparable as a home, and have surrounded ourselves with the comforts of a high civilization; that schools are established and a rising generation are garnering up the pleasant incidents of youth, which, associated with the scenes around us, will attach them to Nevada forever.

        Furthermore, that late developments are opening to us and the world the truth, that the career of prosperity of Nevada county has but just begun. At this writing new lodes of quartz are being worked in all parts of the county; capital and enterprise are enlisted in earnest; and the year 1867 promises to be extraordinary in happy results.

        In another branch of industry there are strong incentives to enterprise. Experiments so far conducted show that a large share of the soil of the county and the climate, are specially adapted to the production of the finest kinds of table wines. Articles of the kind have been produced that sold to good judges at from $2.50 to $3.00 per gallon. An interest has been awakened in this branch of culture, and ere long the sides of these mountains will flourish with the vine, whose juice will rival the most generous productions of a foreign soil. There is room for indefinite expansion.

METEOROLOGY.

        The subject of my sketch, having every altitude from a few feet to eight thousand above the ocean level, must necessarily have a variety of climate.  Near the plains frost is rare, while at Meadow Lake scarcely a night passes without leaving traces of frost in the morning.

        In the upper part of the county snow; if not Winter, reigns one-half the year, while a snow fall at Rough and Ready and below is an uncommon occurrence. The fall of snow is light over that portion of the surface of the county having an altitude of 2,500 feet or less. At Nevada City, which has an elevation of about 2,350 feet, it rarely falls to the depth of two feet, and it seldom lies on the ground more than two or three days. Sleighing about Nevada and Grass Valley is not persisted in beyond a few hours, the ground never freezing so as to give a sound base for the snow to rest on for that purpose. At Bear Valley, snow fell during the Winter of 1858-59, twenty-four feet, by actual measurement, falling on April 19th of that season eighteen feet deep. Further up, in the region of Meadow Lake, the fall is heavier and the Winters more severe. But, the Winter in any part of Nevada county is not so cold by far as in the same latitude on the eastern side of the continent. This is due, to a large extent to the latent heat set free by the condensation of the vapors on our mountains which come from the South Pacific ocean. The sun, during our rainy season, pours down his ferved rays upon the Southern hemisphere, which is largely of ocean, and an immense amount of moisture is taken to the clouds which, borne along by the southeast trade-winds till transferred to the south­west trades, are driven against the Sierra Nevada chain of mountains. The cold of the elevated region condenses the moisture into rain or snow, and the heat borrowed in a latent state in the South Pacific is set free to ameliorate our Winter climate.

        From a few observations it would seem that some parts of the county are subject to heavier falls of rain, than other parts, and the rain fall of the county is much heavier than in the valley regions of the State.

        I am indebted to James Whartenby, Esq., who has kept a rain-guage [sic] at the office of the South Yuba Canal Company, in Nevada City, and, also, a thermometrical register, during many years, for interesting facts. The destructive fires that have so frequently visited Nevada, have consumed some of the journals of Mr. Whartenby, but what have been spared will serve to give some idea of the climatic changes experienced in the county, particularly in the central part, that portion having an altitude of from two thousand to three thousand feet. From these journals it appears that during the rainy season of 1861-62 the fall of water was 109 inches; 1862-63, 27.87 inches; 1863-64, 17.26 inches; 1864-65, 54.49 inches; 1865-66, 59.26 inches. That part of the rainy season of 1866-67, ending on the 1st of January, 1867, was extraordinary, for the amount of water fallen; 42.39 inches are reported at the office of the Canal Company.  Mr. Whartenby estimates the average rain fall since the settlement of the county by Americans, at from fifty to fifty-five inches. The above figures have been called in question heretofore as being too large, and it has been supposed that the rain-guage [sic] kept at Nevada could not be correct. To settle the question, Mr. Whartenby has had a new guage [sic] made by Tennent, of San Francisco, and the tests show the new guage [sic] to give rather more water than the old one, both standing side by side. The figures above are, therefore, too small.

        It is proper to remark that the rain fall here is not unusual, the mean annual fall on the globe being estimated at sixty inches, and in the northern hemisphere at about ninety inches. In the tropics of the eastern continent it is computed at seventy-seven, and in the western tropics at one hundred and fifteen inches. The latter is about the fall at Nevada City during the rainy season of 1861-62.

        But there are other places on the globe subject to still greater deluges from the clouds. According to Maury, rain fell at Parimaribo, in South America, in one season, to the depth of two hundred and twenty-nine inches, or nineteen feet. Brazil has had a rain fall in a season of twenty-three feet, and twenty-five feet have fallen in a year at South Bombay. In forty-one days a hundred and fifty-three inches, or thirteen feet of water fell on the west coast of Patagonia. From the facts before us, it is safe to say that the fall of rain annually in Nevada county is not above the average on the surface of the globe.

        A late fall of snow occurred at Nevada and Grass Valley May 21,1861, which broke down and damaged fruit trees. It was very moist and heavy and in a few hours was dissolved in water and gone.

        It has been observed by those in the employ of the South Yuba Canal Company, that when the thermometer at Nevada is at 37° to 38° Fahrenheit, snow falls instead of rain. If the thermometer shows 43° to 44° it rains further on about twenty miles above Nevada, and snows beyond. At 50° to 51° it rains to the summit. These observations apply, of course, to times when vapors of the clouds are condensing in the form of rain or snow.

        We can give only some general idea of the changes in the thermometer as observed at the office of the South Yuba Canal Company.. The coldest day was January 20, 1854, when at seven in the morning the mercury stood at 1° above zero, while the hottest day ever known at the same point was 142½° in the sun.

For extraordinary changes of weather, the fact may be cited that on April 12, 1859, the thermometer indicated at 2½ o'clock P. M., 94°; seven and a half hours later, at 10 o'clock; the mercury had fallen to 27°. The temperature in the Winter season, in the morning, ranges from 12° to 40°, and in Summer, the hottest weather in the sun is usually from 110° to 130°. These remarks are only intended to show the extraordinary extremes of heat and cold. Generally Nevada county has a pleasant and equable climate; in fact, all who have enjoyed it for a time are captivated, and if away, long to return to it again. The Summers are all sunshine and are quite warm, but the nights are cool and refreshing inducing sound and invigorating sleep, while the Winters are not severe except at the highest altitudes, and even there the degrees of cold are not to be estimated by the depth of the snow. A large number of persons and some families passed the Winter of 1865-66, very pleasantly at Meadow Lake, and while this volume is going through the press, a great many more are following the example of their predecessors.

GEOLOGICAL.

        Nevada county is entirely mountainous, lying wholly on the western water-shed of the Sierra Nevada, and extending almost from the Sacramento valley to the summit. The average descent of the surface from the top of the mountain range to the valley is about one hundred feet to the mile.

        The strata, which strike north and south, corresponding with the direction of the range, are generally of granite alternating with slate. Of the latter there seems to be three distinct ranges at least. Besides rock of the slate and granite order, syenite, serpentine, trap, limestone, talc and quartz, occur frequently, as an examination of the banks of the rivers that cut these rocks at right angles, and the various mines that have been opened, will show. Gold is found in a talcose slate in the extreme lower part of the county. In Grass Valley it occurs in quartz, sandwiched in greenstone or trap generally. About Nevada the cab or country rock is granitic, and in the upper quartz belt, in the vicinity of Meadow Lake, it is syenite.

        Lying upon the primitive strata, and extending over a good share of the central portion of the county, are immense gravel ranges, the beds of ancient streams, the date of whose formation is referred to the pliocene age. Out of the gravel of these old river beds, up to this time, a large share of the gold of the county has been extracted. Immense basins still exist untouched for want of adequate drainage, and long reaches of the ancient streams are supposed to be yet unexplored.

        The big blue lead of Sierra county is known to cross the Middle Yuba, the northern boundary of the county, at or about Snow Point. From there it is thought by some to run southwardly, and to connect with the blue cement diggings at Quaker and Hunt's hills. Others suppose the lead to follow down the ridge between the South and Middle Yubas, and to show itself in the gravel ranges at Humbug, North San Juan and on to French Corral, terminating finally in the very rich deposits worked by Pierce & Co., at Smartsville, in Yuba county. It is more probable, however, that the grand range of North San Juan is a continuation of another river bed formerly coming down through Sierra county, at Camptonville. The gravel range above the town of Nevada, and but a half mile distant, is thought to have some connection with the San Juan range by way of Round Mountain and Montezuma Hill; but it is not impossible that it may continue beneath the ridge between the South Yuba and Deer Creek, as that ridge is demonstrated to rest on a bed of gravel, overlaid on the surface with lava to the depth of from eighty to one hundred feet. But it is not possible to reconstruct the ancient map of the county with the data thus far obtained. Undoubtedly when the region has been thoroughly examined by Professor Whitney and his corps, much light will be thrown upon this interesting subject. It is understood that Nevada county will be thoroughly explored the coming season by the Professor and his scientific coadjutors.

        Unlike the counties of Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne, farther south, whose gravel ranges are ascribed to the same era, Nevada furnishes no fossil shells, or any organic remains whatever. In the former counties have been discovered bones of the mastodon, elephant, rhinoceros and horse, and the scientific world has been startled with the report of the discovery of even the remains of a man who is supposed to have walked the earth anterior to or coeval with the filling of these ancient river beds. Not a bone of an animal has been so far found in the gravel drifts of Nevada county of which any report has been made. Why not here as well as in other parts of the State? The most ready answer would be, its more northern latitude. But this is not satisfactory, when it is known that teeth of the mastodon have been discovered in the auriferous gravel of Idaho, hundreds of miles still farther north, and the deposits in which these remains were found are supposed to date their origin in the same era as the gravel ranges of California.

        It seems to me that more untenable positions have been taken by geologists than that which would ascribe the gravel ranges of California to causes now in force. Why may not the present rivers running down the western declivity of the Sierra Nevada, before their present deep channels were formed, have coursed along those old channels now filled up with gravel? There are some reasons for believing that no great climatic changes have occurred since these old deposits were made. The existence of petrified wood undoubtedly of the coniferae family, oak and manzanita, and of wood either lignite or in almost its natural state, in these auriferous gravel drifts, would seem to indicate that our mountains were, at the time these ancient river beds were filled, covered with pine and oak as at the present day. And if so, why were they not inhabited ? Indeed, the discovery of the fossil remains of man further south, coupled with the fact which seems to be well authenticated, of the washing out of a stone arrowhead, sixty feet from the surface, and on the bed rock, in the claims of Major Lewis, at Buckeye hill, near Sweetland, would seem to prove that a race inhabited our mountains at a period before the present river chasms were channeled, and before the last run of lava from the upper Sierra. And if the climate of this region has undergone no radical change, why may not the existence of the mastodon further south be attributed to local attractions, which did not and do not present themselves in this county ? The productions of the county at present are not calculated to give sustenance to large numbers of such animals, and it may be that their scarcity, from like causes, precludes the possibility of their remains being found here, and in but limited quantities, in places most congenial to their habits. But these, are questions we leave for geologists.

        High up in the Sierra granite or syenite mountains rise to an altitude of a little more than 8,000 feet above the sea level, leaving gorges between of fearful depth, the walls of which are often of ragged and bare rock. Sometimes the declivities of the mountains, and the valleys present extensive beds of detritus that may have been deposited when the mighty glaciers of the Sierra were melted—abundant evidence of glacial action being frequent at that altitude. The detrital deposits are of sedimentary lava, pebbles and bowlders of the material of the primitive rocks, and sand. In some cases large beds of sand appear, and sometimes deposits of angular gravel, which have the look of ancient moraines.

        The geological character of Nevada county is yet to be studied by competent men. The time will come when the ancient map of the county will be made for the benefit of students, and fortified with such evidences of truth as to leave little if any doubt of its correctness.

NATURAL HISTORY.

        My remarks under this head will be brief. I propose to give a list of the animals found in the county, by the names known among hunters and people generally, without any attempt at scientific classification. When specimens shall have been collected and examined by the State Geological corps the proper scientific name will be given to each.

        Quadrupeds.—Grizzly bear, cinnamon bear, panther, or California lion, large yellow wolf, coyote, Indian dog, lynx, or catamount, wild cat, mountain or civit cat, gray, black, silver and cross fox, fisher, badger, marten, weasel, mink, large striped skunk, small, spotted skunk, large gray, ground, pine and flying squirrel, chipmuck, otter, raccoon, woodchuck, gopher, mole, wood-mouse, and rat like a kangaroo in its motions. Besides these the black-tailed deer is found, and a small fur animal of the size of the muskrat. A porcupine was shot last Fall near Nevada.

        Birds.—The list of birds is somewhat large. I have probably not obtained the names of many. The following are the common names of all that can be called to recollection: Condor, or king vulture, bald eagle, golden eagle, turkey buzzard, raven, crow, several kinds of hawk, road runner, several varieties of woodpecker, grouse, mountain and valley quail, pigeon, meadow lark, magpie, blackbird, flicker, robin, snipe, sand snipe, plover, curlew, red-winged blackbird, bluebird, oriole, gray sparrow, small sparrow, cherrybird, crossbill, cheewink, California canary, martin, swallow, blue crane, or heron, sand-hill crane, wild goose, small Canadian goose, wood duck, mallard, teal, dipper duck and mud-hen, pelican, and two varieties of humming bird.

        Fish.—Salmon, salmon trout, brook trout, lake trout, perch, whitefish, sucker, chub, and two varieties of eels.

        Reptiles.—Two kinds of rattlesnake, long striped, brown, pilot, green, purple, small garter, milk and water snakes. Four kinds of lizzard, horned toad, common toad, frogs.

        Of insect life there is too great a variety to be specified in the limit allowed us.

        The botany of the county is yet to be classified. Very many plants are here not known to the botanists of the East, and until examined and properly described the flora of the region can not well be studied by the young student.

INDIANOLOGY.

        It was my intention to make rather an extended notice of this subject, but on investigation I find the material much more scanty than I at first was led to suppose.

        The Indians of Nevada county are but a handful. The whole tribe speaking the same language, and having the same habits, extends from Rabbit Creek on the north, to Yankee Jim's on the south, and from Empire Ranch to Nevada, inclusive of all these places, and probably does not number to exceed five hundred persons. Their numbers were formerly much larger, but the old tale of contact with civilization destroying the Indian is to be told. Whisky, the great leveller, has laid them low; besides diseases unknown until the advent of Americans, have taken fearful hold upon the aborigines here as well as in the more eastern regions of the United States.

        The habits of the Indians here are filthy. They usually resided in Summer in the open air or under temporary shelter of bushes. In Winter they erected conical frames of wood, and covered them with earth, leaving a hole in the top for the smoke to escape. The whole presented the appearance of a smoking coal pit. Very lately, some Indians have constructed small cabins of boards with roofs of shakes, and having doors and chimneys, which are but little inferior to the cabins of miners. The food of the Indians was formerly acorns, the nut of the pine, seeds, grasshoppers, and whatever they could command by the chase. At the present time they purchase of the whites, flour, sugar and potatoes, and some few other articles of food.

        Like the Eastern Indian, the Digger is a polygamist. There is no restriction upon him in Digger law which prevents him from having as many wives as he wants, though it is rare to see a man with more than one; but it is probably owing more to his want of means than want of inclination. When marriage is contemplated the parents are propitiated with presents. The union is understood to be for life, or good behavior. The Indian takes his bride for better, but not for worse.

        He has no tradition about coming to this country; but says most decidedly that he grew here as well as his ancestors before him. When asked who made the movable stone mortars that have been dug up from the soil, he says they were not made by his tribe, but were given them by the one who made the acorns, and since then the Indians have learned to make their own mortars in the solid and immovable rock.

        The Nevada Indians burn their dead like the ancient Romans, and bury the ashes. The only exception to this custom is with the dead bodies of their dreamers. These are buried for one year, when the bones are dug up and burnt. The women put on mourning for relatives, by covering their heads and smearing their faces, shoulders and breasts with a black pitch, which is suffered to remain many months. The corpse is dressed in the best it possessed while living; beads, bows and arrows, blankets, and every thing belonging to the deceased, are laid upon the pyre. The relatives and friends dance, howling around the flames till the body is consumed.

        The Indian here has a very correct notion of right and wrong, and can give a list with precision of what he deems wrongs, such as to stamp the perpetrator as a bad Indian. He says the Indian always had such ideas, and did not obtain them from the whites.

        Their religious rites are very few, and their ideas of a future life rather confused. Like all undeveloped minds, they easily imbibe the mystic notions of others, and it is impossible to say what the former belief of the Indian was. If they ever had a general belief, it seems to be clouded by what they have learned from the whites.

        The Indian of this region has many points of resemblance with his Eastern brother. The same arrow-head, the same council house, where the chief receives his friends, the same taciturnity and gravity, the same medicine man, the same respect for dreamers or prophets, and the same improvidence belong to the race. But he differs widely in other respects. The Nevada Indian is not migratory; he practices no torture on his enemies; the rite of adoption of wives and children of enemies is not known, but all are killed indiscriminately; chiefs are not hereditary or selected for prowess, but are chosen for other qualities, principally, it would seem, for ability to entertain or reward their friends. There is no regular chief to the tribe at present. Like all barbarous races, the Indian is addicted to games of chance.

        The mechanical skill of the tribe was not great. The women wove baskets so compactly as to hold water, and the men made their arrows and a very superior bow, having a covering of sinew along its back, which retained the elasticity of the instrument.

        The Indian doctor has but few and simple remedies. He applies poultices of plants to bruised flesh; but for fever and other pains the disease is pretended to be sucked out.

        I have been able to gain but little information respecting the language of the "Oustomah Midah," as the Nevada Indians call themselves. Philologists count the frequent recurrence of vowel sounds as indicative of the long influence of a warm climate on the language of a people. The language of the Indians here has its full share of vowels, and beyond this fact I am unable, at this writing, to say much concerning the tongue spoken by the Indians.

        They have their story-tellers, who entertain their hearers the whole night long with weird and fanciful tales, like the Arabs of the desert. As a specimen of the kind of stories pleasing to the Indian ear, I give one that was related me by an Indian, in broken English. He received it from an old man who dreamed it, he said. Here it is:

        It was a long time ago. A California lion and his younger brother, the wild cat, lived in a big wigwam together. The lion was strong and fleet of foot. He was

more than a match for most of the animals he wanted to eat. But he could not cope with the grizzly, or the serpent that crawled on the earth. His young brother was wise. He had a wonderful power. From a magical ball of great beauty, he derived an influence potent to destroy all the animals his older brother was afraid of. They hunted together, the cat going before. One day–it was a long time ago—the two went out to hunt. " There is a bear," said the lion. The cat, pointing to the bear said, "die," and the bear fell dead. They next met a serpent, and he was killed in like manner. They skinned the snake and took along his skin for its magical power. A little farther on two large and very beautiful deer were found feeding together. "Kill one of these for yourself," said the boy brother to his man brother, " but catch me the other alive." The lion gave chase, and at night he returned to his wigwam. "Did you bring me back one of the beautiful deer?" said the cat. "No," said the lion, " it was too much work. I killed them both." Then the cat was sorry, and did not love his brother. They were estranged. The cat would not go out to slay the bear and the snake any more, and the lion would not go out for fear of the bear and the snake. He thought he would use the medicine ball of his brother, the cat, and learn to kill the bear and the snake himself. One day—it was a long time ago—the lion was playing with the ball, and tossing it up, he saw it go up and up, and out of sight. It never came down. Then the deer scattered all over the earth and the hunting has been poor ever since. The cat was disconsolate for the loss of the magical ball. He left the wigwam to wander alone. He sorrowed for his loss and looked to find the ball again. It was a long time ago. Big water run all round from "Lankee" Jims to Humbug, and away up to the high mountains. The wild cat went north. He climbed a tree by the water. He wished for the lost ball. By and by he saw a beautiful ball hanging, like a buckeye, on a limb. He picked it off. It was very pretty. He put it in the snake-skin to keep it so it would not get. away. He went along the shore of the big water till he could see across it. Two girls were on the other side cooking. The ball jumped out of the snake-skin and rolled over in the water. It went across the river. One of the girls came down to the stream to get some water in her basket, and saw the beautiful ball rolling and shining in the water. She tried to dip it up in her basket. But it would roll away. She said. "sister, come and help me catch this beautiful ball." The sister came. They tried a long time, but finally caught it in the basket. It was bright and very pretty. They were afraid it would get away. One held it for a time, and then the other, They were very glad. At night they put it between them in the bed. They kept awake a long time and talked about their prize. But, at last they fell asleep. They woke in the morning—the ball was gone—there was lying between them a full grown young man. And that was the first man that ever came on the earth. This was a long time ago.

NOTE.—Since writing the above, my friend, J. E. Squire, informs me that a strange inscription is found on the rocks a short distance below Meadow Lake. The rocks appear to have been covered with a black coating, and the hieroglyphics or characters cut through the layer and into the rock. This inscription was probably, not made by the present tribe inhabiting the lower part of Nevada county. It may have been done by Indians from the other side of the mountains, who came to the lake region near the summit to fish; or it may have a still stranger origin.

PATRIOTIC.

        Besides giving a heavy majority at the polls for the maintenance of the integrity of the Union, Nevada county contributed liberally of men and money in the war of rebellion. Four companies were enlisted, and did service in the field. Captains Greene, Thayer, Atchisson and Kendall raised and commanded these companies, which altogether numbered about two hundred and fifty men. They all served in Arizona, or on the southern borders of the United States and Mexico. All these companies were assisted by the citizens of the county to enter the service of their country. The distance to the scenes of heaviest conflict was so great as to prevent extensive enlistments in California, though the people of no portion of the Union had more fervid desires for the fray.

        In the way of contributions to the Sanitary Fund, Nevada county has left a noble record. The California Branch of the Sanitary Commission, in a published pamphlet, gives statements of the amounts contributed by each town and county of the State, which passed through the hands of the Commission, and also the amounts sent through Dr. Bellows. The following is a compilation of the amounts raised by the various places in Nevada county :

        To this amount is to be added $6,500 raised in Nevada City and sent by Hon. A. A. Sargent, while a member of Congress, direct to New York. Of the amount contributed by the county at large, $355.00 was taken at the polls in Nevada City. All of the above amounts were in coin. There was also contributed $58 in currency. The total amount given by Nevada county to the Sanitary Fund during the war, for which receipts can be shown was, therefore, $29,387 83 in coin, and the above named sum in greenbacks.

THE MINES AND THEIR PRODUCT.

        It is an easy matter, comparatively, to obtain the statistics of mines at present worked in the county. The curious will find much valuable information in this respect in other parts of this volume. But, to go back and gather up the facts in relation to the product of the mines now exhausted; to obtain even the names of the ravines, river-bars, gulches, hills, etc., from which thousands have been enriched; to approximate the amounts of gold that have been extracted in all the various localities of the county, is too laborious a work for a volume of this character, if it were practicable.

        The mines of Nevada were, when first discovered, exceedingly rich and easy of development. The first claims were on river-bars or in ravines, where men with a common rocker, without more than from a few hours to a day or two of preparation could proceed to collect from a half ounce to two ounces per day, and in frequent cases hundreds of dollars per day to the man were extracted. Men in a few weeks were known to return to the Eastern States carrying from ten to fifty, and as high as a hundred and sixty pounds of gold dust each, as a reward for their enterprise. Gold Run, near Nevada City, and Gold Flat, were extraordinarily rich. They must have been so, for the claims allowed by the early mining laws were small, fifteen feet in length, and yet some of the reported results of single claims are scarcely credible. The ravines falling into Deer Creek on the site of the present City of Nevada, were also rich beyond precedent. Deer Creek, below the town, afforded splendid claims. Selby Flat was another magnificent locality for miners, and Brush and Rock creeks also. Wood's Ravine yielded immensely. The mines about Newtown, for a time, were extremely profitable. The region about Grass Valley was one of enormous product. The ravines of Rough and Ready could scarcely be excelled, yielding gold, it is said, by the pound daily. The bars of the South and Middle Yubas were splendid ground for the early miners. The ravines about French Corral yielded magnificently. Shady Creek and other localities in Bridgeport Township, were excellent, and good mines were worked at Humbug and Eureka. Some fine claims were worked on Greenhorn Creek, by emigrants in 1849.

        But the discovery of the ancient river bed near Nevada opened a new class of mines, that required a large outlay and more risk to work than the river or ravine claims that engaged the attention of the pioneer miners. These ancient gravel drifts were soon found in many parts of the county, and from these the bulk of the gold has been extracted. We have no means of knowing the amount taken from the "Coyote diggings," above Nevada., but from the fact that all the gravel hills were rich, and the Live Oak and Nebraska claims, the last ones worked on the northern end of the range, yielded, probably, a million and a quarter dollars, it is presumed that not less than eight or ten millions were extracted, in half a mile on the lead. The sums taken from the gravel range extending from North San Juan down to French Corral must have been immense. At Grass Valley a very large amount was obtained from the same class of mines. Randolph Flat, in Rough and Ready, yielded handsomely. Orleans, Moore's and Woolsey's Flats, in Eureka township, have been nearly washed away, and immense sums taken. Alpha and Omega, Quaker Hill, Hunt's Bill, Little York, and many other places, have yielded their share to reward the miners.

        It is variously estimated that the basin in which Nevada is situated, has produced from fifteen to thirty millions in gold, and by some the whole gold product of the county is placed at not less than seventy-five millions of dollars. I am disposed to believe that a higher figure is warranted; but at this time the facts cannot be obtained and statements in regard to the question must be based on conjecture only. One assertion we may safely venture, that no part of California, or the world, has produced a richer auriferous section than Nevada county.

        The ancient river beds of the section are not yet exhausted. Indeed, the gravel deposits are as yet comparatively unworked. Gold is still obtained in ravines and on river bars that have been worked over repeatedly, the decrease in wages and improved modes of mining enabling miners to obtain compensation for their labor. But, the reliance of the miners is on the old drifts of gravel and quartz for gold. The latter source is almost unlimited, gold-bearing rock being found in several distinct districts in the county. Formerly Grass Valley came near reckoning quartz mining as an industrial interest peculiarly her own. Now, Nevada has a few quartz mills, Eureka is fast developing into an excellent locality for rock mining, and Meadow Lake promises, from its large and numerous ledges, to become the chief quartz-crushing district in the county, if not the State. The spirit of enterprise and discovery is so active, that no danger is apprehended that Nevada county will lose any of its character as the first gold producing section on the coast. 

        The mines of our county yield, in combination with gold, a small quantity of silver. Some excitement was manifested in the Summer of 1866 by the discovery of copper mines on the Greenhorn creek, near Bear river. Some very rich specimens were exhibited, taken from the cupriferous ledges, and strong hopes are entertained that mines of copper will be opened in that section which will prove valuable.

        A belt of copper bearing rock crosses the county through Rough and Ready township, in which various efforts have been made to open remunerative mines, but, since the active year for prospecting for copper, 1863, the hopes of those who had an interest in the enterprise have been depressed. The "Well Mine" developed a solid mass of sulphurets full fifty feet thick, inclosed in metamorphic slate. A portion of the ore was shipped to Swansea and yielded, it is said, from nine to ten per cent. It is the opinion of many that this mine will yet prove a valuable one, though work upon it at present is suspended. The "Last Chance," and "Green" ledges, in the same general district, as well as the "Distillery Mine," are by many thought to show indications of value. It is predicted, from the results of the prospecting after copper, that Nevada county will in the future possess copper mines of great importance.

        Manganese is found near Sweetland in considerable quantities. Ledges of galena have been discovered near Meadow Lake. Nickel, arsenic and antimony exist in combination with gold in the quartz of that section rendering the ores, in some cases, refractory by the ordinary processes. Limestone, in a metamorphic state, is found on Wolf Creek, on the South Yuba, six miles from Nevada, on the same stream above Bear Valley, and in several other parts of the county.

IMPROVEMENTS IN MINING.

        Nevada county is entitled to the credit of introducing or inventing most of the improvements in mining. Here the long-tom was first introduced in 1850. The sluice came next, and was first used in the ravine near the African Church in Nevada City. E. E. Mattison soon after adopted a mode of washing down high banks, which gave a great impet