goldfields

Saturday, 6th. Fifteen of the Company started for a Spanish town, called the Pueblo of St. Joseph (which is situated about 40 miles from Marsh’s) to seek employment.

Members of the Bidwell-Bartleson Party didn’t waste any time sitting around at Marsh’s rancho, relaxing and recovering from their long and strenuous journey. They were made of tougher stuff than we are.

They arrived on November 4th, and on the 6th half the men set out for San Jose to look for work. The other half of the men went back to the San Joaquin Valley to hunt for game. John Bidwell decided to stay at Marsh’s for the time being, keeping an eye on the Company’s effects, and doing some local exploring.

The men who left for San Jose soon ran into trouble. They were arrested two miles from the pueblo and spent six days in the “calaboose” before they were released. Because of the “Graham Affair” of 1840, in which a few Americans fomented a rebellion against the Mexican governor, the authorities were understandably suspicious of any uninvited Americans coming into the territory.

The November 6th entry concludes John Bidwell’s overland day-by-day diary. It is not, however, the end of the journal. Bidwell added several pages of “Observations about the Country” detailing the vegetation, climate, and resources of California, including wages and prices. He gives his opinion about the Mexican government and outline the route to California. In conclusion he writes:

To all my acquaintances and friends who may be in bad health I would recommend a trip to California. All whom I have heard speak of the climate as regarded their health say its effects have been salutary.

And now it’s time for me to take a little salutary break from blogging, but I will be back soon with some book reviews and more explorations of life in Northern California.

Wednesday, 3d. We waited till Capt. B. came up, and all started for Marsh’s about noon; arrived at the St. Joaquin and crossed it — distance 13 miles — found an abundance of grass here. The timber was white oak, several kinds of evergreen oaks, and willow — the river about 100 yds. in width.

Now it is just a matter of continuing across the valley and the Coast Range for a few more miles. “Cheyenne” Dawson recalled:

The next morning, under the guidance of Jones and the Indian, we left the river we had been following [the Stanislaus], struck northwest, crossed the San Joaquin river, and camped on the further side.

They probably crossed the river about five miles west of Tracy. Then the next day they can continue northwest towards Mt. Diablo until they reach March’s rancho.

Saturday, 30th. We had gone about 3 miles this morning, when lo! to our great delight, we beheld a wide valley! This we had entirely overlooked between us and the high mountains which terminated our view yesterday. Rivers evidently meandered through it, for timber was seen in long extended lines as far as the eye could reach. But we were unable to reach it today, and encamped in the plains. Here grew a few white oaks. Traveled today about 20 miles. Saw many tracks of elks. The valley was wonderfully parched with heat, and had been stripped of its vegetation by fire. Wild geese, fowls, etc. , were flying in multitudes.

With what jubilation they must have beheld the sight! Although they could not reach it that day, the Company could see a wide and extensive valley. The sight gave them great hope: hope of good food and easy traveling.

When did Bidwell and his companions enter the promised land of California? By present day borders they had already been in California since mid-October. They had been in Mexican territory even longer than that, but the land they traversed was more like the Great Empty Quarter of North America than part of a foreign nation. Although claimed by Mexico, the territory that later became the states of Utah and Nevada was inhabited solely by Native Americans.

For the Mexicans, Alta California was a narrow strip of land along the Pacific coast. There had been little exploration and no settlement in the Central Valley. All the missions and ranchos lay between the Pacific Ocean and the Coastal Range.

Most of the Company thought that they would not reach California until they crossed another mountain range. How far they still had to travel to get to California was hotly debated in the group, with some insisting that they could not get there before winter set in.

But whether or not they knew it, they were in California. California was spread out before them, and it would prove to be everything they had been promised: a fertile land teeming with wild game, with a healthy climate and plenty of room for all. California at last!

Friday, 29th. Last night, the Indians stole a couple of our horses. About noon we passed along by several huts, but they were deserted as soon as we came in sight, the Indians running in great consternation into the woods. At one place the bones of a horse were roasting in a fire; they were undoubtedly the bones of the horses we had lost. Travelled no less than 9 miles today; the night was very cool and had a heavy frost. Although our road was tolerably level today, yet we could see no termination to the mountains–and one much higher than the others terminated our view. Mr. Hopper, our best and most experienced hunter, observed that, “If California lies beyond those mountains we shall never be able to reach it.”

Most of the Company were on foot, in consequence of the horses giving out, and being stolen by Indians, but many were much fatigued and weak for the want of sufficient provision; others, however stood it very well. Some had appetites so craving that they eat the meat of most of the mule raw, as soon as it was killed; some eat it half roasted, dripping with blood.

Weary and worn to the bone, barely living on the meat of their own pack animals, struggling down rocky canyons, the Company was in a desperate situation. With no map and no guide, they had not a clue where they were, and they could see no end to their journey.

Nancy Kelsey, who had started up into the Sierras riding a horse, with Baby Ann on her lap, was now walking. In her own recollection, taken down by a friend in 1893, she says, “I walked barefoot until my feet were blistered.”

Bidwell recalled in his 1877 Dictation:

As we approached the San Joaquin Valley, the Coast Range Mountains or that portion of which Mt. Diablo is the northern terminus, rose to view in the blue distance, but we had no knowledge of any intervening valley. Our traveling had been so circuitous, so irregular and indirect, that it was impossible for any one to say where we were or how far we had yet to travel.

It was the opinion of most if not all that we were not yet within five hundred miles of the Pacific Ocean. That the blue range bounding the western horizon was simply the beginning of other and perhaps great ranges beyond. Then came a time of great discouragement, some saying if California lay beyond other ranges of mountains, that we could never live to get there.

And yet they are almost there. Their location was not far from the present-day historic gold-rush town of Sonora, the “Queen of the Southern Mines.” They are in gold country, and soon they will be in the fruitful San Joaquin Valley.