Death Valley in \'49 by William Lewis Manly

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At this time there was no telegraph and the delay was a lucky one for
us. We took passage and went to San Francisco that night, where we put
up at a cheap tavern near where the Custom House now stands.

Here we learned that we would have to wait two days before a ship would
sail for Panama, and during this time we surveyed the town from the
hill-tops and walked all over the principal streets. It was really a
small, poorly built, dirty looking place, with few wharves, poor, cheap
hotels, and very rough inhabitants. There were lots of gambling houses
full of tables holding money, and the rooms filled with pretty rough
looking people, except the card dealers, most of whom wore white shirts,
and a few sported plug hats. There was also a "right smart sprinkling"
of ladies present who were well dressed and adorned with rich jewelry,
and their position seemed to be that of paying teller at the gambling
tables.

The buildings seemed to be rather cheap, although material was very
expensive, as well as labor, mechanics of all sorts getting as much as
ten or twelve dollars per day for work. Coin seemed to be scarce, and a
great deal of the money needed on the gambling tables was represented by
iron washers, each of which represented an ounce of gold.

I noticed some places in the streets where it was muddy and a narrow
walk had been made out of boxes of tobacco, and sometimes even bacon was
used for the same purpose. Transportation from the city to the mines was
very slow and made by schooner. Ship loads of merchandise had arrived
and been unloaded, and the sailors having run away to the mines,
everything except whiskey and cards was neglected. Whiskey sold at this
place for fifty cents a drink.

A man at the tavern where we stopped tried hard to sell me a fifty-vara
lot there in the edge of the mud (near where the Custom House now
stands) for six hundred dollars. I thought this a pretty high price and
besides such a lot was no use to me, for I had never lived in town and
could not so easily see the uses to which such property could be put. It
seemed very doubtful to me that this place would ever be much larger or
amount to much, for it evidently depended on the mines for a support,
and these were so shallow that it looked as if they would be worked out
in a short time and the country and town both be deserted. And I was not
alone in thinking that the country would soon be deserted, for
accustomed as we all had been to a showery summer, these dry seasons
would seem entirely to prevent extensive farming. Some cursed the
country and said they were on their way to "good old Missouri, God's own
country." Hearing so much I concluded it would be wise not to invest,
but to get me back to Wisconsin again.

The steamer we took passage in was the Northerner, advertised to sail on
the twenty-ninth day of November, 1850. The cabin room was all engaged,
and they charged us nine ounces for steerage passage; but I did not care
as much about their good rooms and clean sheets as I would have done at
one time, for I had been a long time without either and did not care to
pay the difference. When we were at the ship's office we had to take our
turns to get tickets. One man weighed out the dust, and another filled
out certificates. When the callers began to get a little scarce I looked
under the counter where I saw a whole panful of dust to which they added
mine to make the pile a little higher. They gave out no berths with
these tickets, but such little things as that did not trouble us in the
least. It was far better fare than we used to have in and about Death
Valley, and we thought we could live through anything that promised
better than the desert.

The passenger list footed up four hundred and forty, and when all got on
board, at about ten o'clock in the morning, there was hardly room for
all to stand up comfortably. It seemed to me to be a very much
over-crowded boat in which to put to sea, but we floated out into the
current, with all the faces toward the shore, and hats and handkerchiefs
waving goodbye to those who had come down to see the home-goers safely
off.

As we passed out through the wonderful Golden Gate and the out going
current met the solid sea, each seemed wrestling for the mastery, and
the waves beat and dashed themselves into foam all around us, while the
spray came over the bows quite lively, frightening some who did not
expect such treatment. When we had passed this scene of watery commotion
and got out into the deeper water, the sea smoothed down a great deal;
but sea-sickness began to claim its victims, at first a few, then more
and more, till the greater part were quite badly affected. I had a touch
of it myself, but managed to keep my feet by bracing out pretty wide,
and hugging everything I could get hold of that seemed to offer a steady
support, and I did not lie down until after I had thrown my breakfast
overboard.

By the time dark came nearly every one was on his back, mostly on deck,
and no one asleep. All were retching and moaning bitterly. Some who had
a few hours before cursed California now cursed the sea, and declared
that if they could induce the Captain to turn about and put them back on
shore again, they would rather creep on their hands and knees clear back
to old Missouri over rocks and sand, than to ride any further on such a
miserable old boat as this one was.

Next morning the decks looked pretty filthy, and about all the food the
passengers had eaten was now spread about the decks in a half digested
condition. Most of the passengers were very sick. With the early
daylight the sailors coupled the hose to the big steam pump, and began
the work of washing and scrubbing off the decks, and though many begged
hard to be left alone as they were, with all the filth, a good flood of
salt water was the only answer they received to their pleading, and they
were compelled to move, for the sailors said they could not change their
orders without the Captain, and he would not be out of bed till ten
o'clock or later. So the cursing and swearing went for naught, and the
decks were clean again. There were no deaths to report, but there were
very few to do duty at the tables in eating the food prepared for them.
After a few days the tables filled up again, and now it took them so
long to eat that there had to be an order for only two meals a day or
there would not have been a chance for all to get something. They were
terribly hungry now, and every one seemed to try his best to take in
provisions enough to last him for at least twelve hours.

As the fellows began to get their sea legs on, they began to talk as if
they were still in California, and could easily manage any little boat
like this, and could run things as they did when they crossed the
plains, where no sheriff, court or judge had anything to say about
matters, and all law was left behind. They began to act as if they were
lords over all they could see, and as many of them were from the
Southern states, they seemed to take an especial pride in boasting of
how they did as they pleased, about like the Helms brothers. They talked
as if they could run the world, or the universe even, themselves without
assistance.

One morning at breakfast, when the table was full and the waiters
scarce, some of these fellows swore and talked pretty rough, and as a
waiter was passing a blue-blood from New Orleans rose in his seat and
called for sugar, holding the empty bowl in his hand, but the waiter
passed on and paid no attention, and when a mulatto waiter came along
behind him the angry man damned him the worst he could, ordering him to
bring a bowl of sugar, quick. This waiter did not stop and the Louisiana
man threw the bowl at the waiter's head, but missed it, and the bowl
went crashing against the side of the ship. I expected surely the
Captain and his men would come and put the unruly fellow in irons, and
there might be a fight or a riot, so I cut my meal short and went on
deck about as soon as I could do so, thinking that would be a safer
place. But the Captain seemed to know about how to manage such fellows,
and never left his stateroom, which I think was a wise move. The darky
did not make his appearance at table afterwards, and the man who threw
the bowl said that colored folks had to mind a gentleman when he spoke
to them, or fare worse.

The Captain now got out his passenger list, and we all had to pass
through a narrow space near the wheel-house and every one answer to his
name and show his ticket. This made work for about one day. Some
stowaways were found and put down into the hole to heave coal. One day
the Captain and mate were out taking an observation on the sun when a
young Missourian stepped up to see what was being done, and said to the
Captain:--"Captain, don't you think I could learn how to do that kind of
business?" The Captain took the young man's hand and looked at his nails
which were very rough and dirty and said:--"No my lad; boys with such
finger nails can't learn navigation." This made a big laugh at the brave
lubber's expense.

Many of the sea-sick ones did not get up so soon, and some died of that,
or something else, and their bodies were sewed up in blankets with a
bushel of coal at their feet to sink them, and thrown overboard. The
bodies were laid out on a plank at the ship's side, the Captain would
read a very brief service, and the sailors would, at the appropriate
time, raise the end of the plank so that the body slid off and went down
out of sight in a moment.

In due time we went into the harbor of Acapulco for water and coal. Here
nearly every one went on shore, and as there was no wharf for the vessel
to lie to, the native canoes had many passengers at a dollar apiece for
passage money. Out back of town there was a small stream of clear water
which was warm and nice to bathe in, and some places three or four feet
deep, so that a great many stripped off for a good wash which was said
to be very healthful in this climate. Many native women were on hand
with soap and towels ready to give any one a good scrubbing for _dos
reales_, (twenty-five cents) and those who employed them said they did a
good, satisfactory job.

As I returned to town the streets seemed to be deserted, and I saw one
man come out on an adjoining street, and after running a few steps, fall
down on his face. Hearing the report of a gun at the same time, I
hurried on to get out of danger, but I afterward learned that the man
was a travelling gambler who had come across the country from Mexico,
and that he was killed as he fell. No one seemed to care for him.

Near the beach were some large trees, and under them dancing was going
on to the music of the guitar. There were plenty of pretty Spanish girls
for partners, and these and our boys made up an interesting party. The
girls did not seem at all bashful or afraid of the boys, and though they
could not talk together very much they got along with the sign language,
and the ladies seemed very fond of the _Americanos_.

There was a fort here, a regular moss-backed old concern, and the
soldiers were bare footed and did not need much clothing.

The cattle that were taken on board here were made to swim out to the
ship, and then, with a rope around their horns, hoisted on deck, a
distance of perhaps forty feet above the water. The maddened brutes were
put into a secure stall ready for the ship's butcher. The small boys
came around the ship in canoes, and begged the passengers to throw them
out a dime, and when the coin struck the water they would dive for it,
never losing a single one. One man dropped a bright bullet and the boy
who dove for it was so enraged that he called him a d----d Gringo
(Englishman.) None of these boys wore any clothes.

This town, like all Spanish towns, was composed of one-story houses,
with dry mud, fire-proof walls. The country around looked very
mountainous and barren, and comfortably warm.

After two days we were called on board, and soon set sail for sea again;
and now, as we approached the equator, it became uncomfortably warm and
an awning was put over the upper deck. All heavy clothing was laid
aside, and anyone who had any amount of money on his person was unable
to conceal it; but no one seemed to have any fear of theft, for a thief
could not conceal anything he should steal, and no one reported anything
lost. There was occasionally a dead body to be consigned to a watery
grave.

A few days out from here and we were again mustered as before to show
our tickets, which were carefully examined.

It seemed strange to me that the water was the poorest fare we had. It
was sickish tasting stuff, and so warm it would do very well for
dish-water.

There were many interesting things to see. Sometimes it would be
spouting whales; sometimes great black masses rolling on the water,
looking like a ship bottom upward, which some said were black-fish. Some
fish seemed to be at play, and would jump ten feet or more out of the
water. The flying fish would skim over the waves as the ship's wheels
seemed to frighten them; and we went through a hundred acres of
porpoises, all going the same way. The ship plowed right through them,
but none seemed to get hurt by the wheels. Perhaps they were emigrants
like ourselves in search of a better place.

It now became terribly hot, and the sun was nearly overhead at noon.
Sometimes a shark could be seen along-side, and though he seemed to make
no effort, easily kept up with the moving ship. Occasionally we saw a
sea snake navigating the ocean all by himself. I did not understand how
these fellows went to sea and lived so far from land. The flying fish
seemed to be more plentiful as we went along, and would leave the water
and scud along before us.

We had evening concerts on the forecastle, managed by the sailors. Their
songs were not sacred songs by any means, and many of them hardly fit to
be heard by delicate ears. We again had to run the gauntlet of the
narrow passage and have our tickets looked over, and this time a new
stowaway was found, and he straightway made application for a job. "Go
below, sir" was all the Captain said. Several died and had their sea
burial, and some who had been so sick all the way as not to get out of
bed, proved tough enough to stand the climate pretty well.

As we were nearing Panama the doctor posted a notice to the mast
cautioning us against eating much fruit while on shore, as it was very
dangerous when eaten to excess. We anchored some little distance from
the shore and had to land in small boats managed by the natives. I went
in one, and when the boat grounded at the beach the boatman took me on
his back and set me on shore, demanding two dollars for the job, which I
paid, and he served the whole crowd in the same way. The water here was
blood warm, and they told me the tide ran very high.

This was a strange old town to me, walled in on all sides, a small plaza
in the center with a Catholic church on one side, and the other houses
were mostly two story. On the side next to the beach was a high, thick
wall which contained cells that were used for a jail, and on top were
some dismounted cannon, long and old fashioned.

The soldiers were poor, lazy fellows, barefooted, and had very poor
looking guns. Going out and in all had to pass through a large gateway,
but they asked no questions. The streets were very narrow and dirty and
the sleeping rooms in the second story of the houses seemed to be
inhabited by cats. For bed clothes was needed only a single sheet. On
the roofs all around sat turkey buzzards, and anything that fell in the
streets that was possible for them to eat, was gobbled up very quickly.
They were as tame as chickens, and walked around as fearless and lordly
as tame turkeys. In consideration of their cleaning up the streets
without pay, they were protected by law. One of the passengers could not
resist the temptation to shoot one, and a small squad of soldiers were
soon after him, and came into a room where there were fifty of us, but
could not find their man. He would have been sent to jail if he had been
caught. We had to pay one dollar a night for beds in these rooms, and
they counted money at the rate of eight dimes to the dollar.

The old town of Panama lies a little south in the edge of the sea, and
was destroyed by an earthquake long ago I was told. To me, raised in the
north, everything was very new and strange in way of living, style of
building and kind of produce. There were donkeys, parrots and all kinds
of monkeys in plenty. Most of the women were of very dark complexion,
and not dressed very stylishly, while the younger population did not
have even a fig leaf, or anything to take its place. The adults dressed
very economically, for the days are summer days all the year round, and
the clothing is scanty and cheap for either sex.

The cattle were small, pale red creatures, and not inclined to be very
fat, and the birds mostly of the parrot kind. The market plaza is
outside the walls, and a small stream runs through it, with the banks
pretty thickly occupied by washerwomen. All the washing was done without
the aid of a fire.

On the plaza there were plenty of donkeys loaded with truck of all
sorts, from wood, green grass, cocoa-nuts and sugar-cane to parrots,
monkeys and all kinds of tropical fruits. Outside the walls the houses
were made of stakes interwoven with palm leaves, and everything was
green as well as the grass and trees. Very little of the ground seemed
to be cultivated, and the people were lazy and idle, for they could live
so easily on the wild products of the country. A white man here would
soon sweat out all his ambition and enterprise, and would be almost
certain to catch the Panama yellow fever. The common class of the people
here, I should say, were Spanish and negro mixed, and they seem to get
along pretty well; but the country is not suitable for white people. It
seems to have been made on purpose for donkeys, parrots and long-heeled
negroes.

The cabin passengers engaged all the horses and mules the country
afforded on which to ride across the Chagres River, so it fell to the
lot of myself and companion to transfer ourselves on foot, which was
pretty hard work in the hot and sultry weather. My gold dust began to
grow pretty heavy as I went along, and though I had only about two
thousand dollars, weighing about ten pounds, it seemed to me that it
weighed fifty pounds by the way that it bore down upon my shoulders and
wore sore places on them. It really was burdensome. I had worn it on my
person night and day ever since leaving the mines, and I had some little
fear of being robbed when off the ship.

Our road had been some day paved with cobble stones. At the outskirts of
the town we met a native coming in with a big green lizard, about two
feet long, which he was hauling and driving along with a string around
its neck. I wondered if this was not a Panama butcher bringing in a
fresh supply of meat.

When we reached the hills on our way from Panama, the paved road ended
and we had only a mule trail to follow. The whole country was so densely
timbered that no man could go very far without a cleared road. In some
places we passed over hills of solid rock, but it was of a soft nature
so that the trail was worn down very deep, and we had to take the same
regular steps that the mules did, for their tracks were worn down a foot
or more. On the road we would occasionally meet a native with a heavy
pack on his back, a long staff in each hand, and a solid half-length
sword by his side. He, like the burro, grunted every step he took. They
seemed to carry unreasonably heavy loads on their backs, such as boxes
and trunks, but there was no other way of getting either freight or
baggage across the isthmus at that time.

It looked to me as if this trail might be just such a one as one would
expect robbers to frequent, for it would of course be expected that
Californians would carry considerable money with them, and we might
reasonably look out for this sort of gentry at any turn of the trail. We
were generally without weapons, and we should have to deliver on demand,
and if any one was killed the body could easily be concealed in the
thick brush on either side of the trail, and no special search for
anyone missing would occur.

About noon one day we came to a native hut, and saw growing on a tree
near by something that looked like oranges, and we made very straight
tracks with the idea of picking some and having a feast, but some of the
people in the shanty called out to us and made motions for us not to
pick them for they were no good; so we missed our treat of oranges and
contented ourselves with a big drink of water and walked on.

After a little more travel we came to another shanty made of poles and
palm leaves, occupied by an American. He was a tall, raw-boned,
cadaverous looking way-side renegade who looked as if the blood had all
been pumped out of his veins, and he claimed to be sick. He said he was
one of the Texas royal sons. We applied for some dinner and he lazily
told us there were flour, tea and bacon and that we could help
ourselves. I wet up some flour and baked some cakes, made some poor tea,
and fried some bacon. We all got a sort of dinner out of his pantry
stuff, and left him a dollar apiece for the accommodation. As we walked
on my companion gave out and could carry his bundle no longer, so I took
it, along with my own, and we got on as fast as we could, but darkness
came on us before we reached the Chagres River and we had to stay all
night at a native hut. We had some supper consisting of some very poor
coffee, crackers, and a couple of eggs apiece, and had to sleep out
under a tree where we knew we might find lizards, snakes, and other
poisonous reptiles, and perhaps a thieving monkey might pick our pockets
while we slept.

Before it was entirely dark many who rode horses came along, many of
them ladies, and following the custom of the country, they all rode
astride. Among this crowd was one middle-aged and somewhat corpulent old
fellow, by profession a sea-captain, who put on many airs. The old
fellow put on his cool white coat--in fact, a white suit throughout--and
in this tropical climate he looked very comfortable, indeed, thus
attired. He filled his breast pocket with fine cigars, and put in the
other pocket a flask with some medicine in it which was good for snake
bites, and also tending to produce courage in case the man, not used to
horse-back riding, should find his natural spirits failing. The rest of
his luggage was placed on pack animals, and in fact the only way luggage
was carried in those days was either on the backs of donkeys or men.

All was ready for a start, and the captain in his snow-white suit was
mounted on a mule so small that his feet nearly touched the ground. The
little animal had a mind of his own, and at first did not seem inclined
to start out readily, but after a bit concluded to follow his fellow
animals, and all went well.

The rider was much amused at what he saw; sometimes a very lively
monkey, sometimes a flock: of paroquets or a high-colored lizard--and so
he rode along with a very happy air, holding his head up, and smoking a
fragrant Havana with much grace. The road was rough and rocky, with a
mud-hole now and then of rather uncertain depth. At every one of these
mud-holes the Captain's mule would stop, put down his head, blow his
nose and look wise, and then carefully sound the miniature sea with his
fore-feet, being altogether too cautious to suit his rider who had never
been accustomed to a craft that was afraid of water.

At one of these performances the mule evidently concluded the sea before
him was not safe, for when the captain tried to persuade him to cross
his persuasions had no effect. Then he coaxed him with voice gentle,
soft and low, with the result that the little animal took a few very
short steps and then came to anchor again. Then the captain began to get
slightly roiled in temper, and the voice was not so gentle, sweet and
low, but it had no greater effect upon his craft. He began to get
anxious, for the others had gone on, and he thought perhaps he might be
left.

Now, this sea-faring man had armed his heels with the large Spanish
spurs so common in the country, and bringing them in contact with the
force due to considerable impatience, Mr. Mule was quite suddenly and
painfully aware of the result. This was harsher treatment than he could
peaceably submit to, and at the second application of the spurs a pair
of small hoofs were very high in the air and the captain very low on his
back in the mud and water, having been blown from the hurricane deck of
his craft in a very sudden and lively style. The philosophical mule
stood very still and looked on while the white coat and pantaloons were
changing to a dirty brown, and watched the captain as he waded out, to
the accompaniment of some very vigorous swear words.

Both the man and beast looked very doubtful of each other's future
actions, but the man shook the water off and bestowed some lively kicks
on his muleship which made him bounce into and through the mud-hole, and
the captain, still holding the bridle, followed after. Once across the
pool the captain set his marine eye on the only craft that had been too
much for his navigation and said "Vengeance should be mine," and in this
doubtful state of mind he cautiously mounted his beast again and fully
resolved to stick to the deck, hereafter, at all hazards, he hurried on
and soon overtook the train again, looking quite like a half drowned
rooster. The others laughed at him and told him they could find better
water a little way ahead, at the river, and they would see him safely
in. The captain was over his pet, and made as much fun as any of them,
declaring that he could not navigate such a bloody craft as that in such
limited sea room, for it was dangerous even when there was no gale to
speak of.

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