February 14, 1850
From letter published in
the Missouri Whig , Palmyra ca ?, 1850
CALIFORNIA LETTER
The
following letter is from Mr. Sprat Ellis, who went with his father and
others overland last spring. They were ten months on the route, and this
is the first tidings of them since they left. The letter is dated 14th February,
1850:
Dear
Brother --I now
take my pen to inform you of our arrival in the gold regions of California, the
great place which we have been toiling for the last ten months. We left home on
the 18th day of April, and arrived here on the 10th day of February. I assure
you that a journey of ten months is not a very pleasant one, although we enjoyed
good health the whole route. The distance from home to this place is estimated
at 3,500 miles; through a country of savage Indians and deserts. After leaving
Susan in the State of Senora, we had no grass for our cattle until we passed the
Cordilleras of California, the distance being 400 miles, a deep sandy road. We
had nothing to feed on except willows and cotton wood. Hundreds of cattle, mules
and horses died on the Gila river for want of food. We lost two cattle
ourselves. We sold our horse for $50, but he gave out on the desert. We traded
one of our cows for a mule on the Rio Grande, and the other died. We reached the
town of Santa Barbora, on the coast of the Pacific, with three yoke of our
cattle, and wagon, and there bartered them away for horses. We got six horses
and $50. We sold our horses here for $675. A wagon and three yoke of cattle here
are worth $800. It would have taken us until April to have reached here with our
wagon. Every thing is very dear here now; but will soon be down. [Here the
prices of provision are given, which are about the same as in other letters.] I
will now tell you all I know about the gold mines. I have been here but four
days, and do not know much about them. I am told that all men who work hard
average from $10 to $50 per day; store-keepers, lawyers and doctors stand a poor
chance. There is plenty of gold here, but it takes hard work to get it. Hundreds
of men come here and do not strike a lick, and return home without getting
any--men who are not accustomed to labor. Some who go to work, make a fortune in
a short time. A few days ago a man dug out a chunk of gold which weighed 22
pounds, and gambled it away at a monte bank during the night. The next day he
went to digging again in his hole.-- Each person is allowed fourteen feet square
of ground at a time to work on. We have not yet worked any in the diggings. We
have entered into partnership with a man from Galena, an old and experienced
miner, and expect to commence operations in a few days. Father has improved in
health very much on the trip, and is healthier than he has been for the last ten
years.
Transcribed courtesy of Kathleen Wilham