56 LIFE SKETCHES OF A JAYHAWKER 



as Felton and from there to Santa Cruz to build a railroad and wharf, al- 

 together costing a half million dollars. The company issued stock to go 

 ahead with the enterprise, and I, like a good many others, took stock in it, 

 thinking it a good thing and as a good many of my friends were taking 

 stock in it, I thought it must be good. At this time I had my two hundred 

 acres and free of debt, and had a good position superintending a mine at a 

 good salary, which I let go and moved there where the work was going on. 

 Soon the assessments began to be levied and my share ran from two hun- 

 dred to five hundred per month, which was coming pretty thick and fast and 

 it wasn't long until I had to mortgage my place to keep up assessments. I 

 found I couldn't stand that, so sold my shares for what I could get. They 

 finished the flume and the wharf, about this time the bottom dropped out, 

 and every man that was interested in it was either broke up or lost heav- 

 ily, but it broke the most of them. Eventually the mortgagee took my 

 place and I had to commence new again. Luckily, my position in the mines 

 was ready for me with the same company and I stayed with them for five 

 more years, making almost ten years I had been with the Hydraulic Mining 

 Co., and always had charge of a claim somewhere. I thought I had the 

 business to perfection and was working under salary all the time, and 

 sometimes would have a crew of thirty to fifty men working day and night. 

 Mining is very interesting work if a person gets into it once, it is hard to 

 break off. There is no hard work I ever did that I liked so well. 



CHAPTER X. 



After leaving the mines, I first settled in Santa Clara and then in San 

 Jose, where I still reside, and looked around for something to do. I started 

 in to manufacturing windmills and carried on that business for a number 

 of years, also made a trip back East and took in the World's Fair at St. 

 Louis. From there I went up into Illinois visiting relatives in the neigh- 

 borhood of Galesburgh, for the first time since leaving there in 1849, an 

 absence of fifty-five years. It is needless to say, I knew but very few people 

 there, many had died and others had moved away. We remained there 

 about a month and then started on the homeward trip via the State of 

 Washington, where we had a son living. Dr. Stephens of Monroe, but now 

 of Seattle. Spent another month there and then returned home to San Jose 

 and resumed my windmill business, which I followed for some time, until I 

 had an offer to go to Alaska. A company had been formed to go up there 

 and put in a hydraulic plant, and in looking around for a superintendent 

 they came to see me, if I would go and take charge. We finally made satis- 

 factory arrangements and proceeded to San Francisco and laid in the sup- 

 plies and machinery that were necessary. We sailed on the Steamer EIx- 

 celsior on February 22nd, 1898, for Seattle. We took on board in addition 

 to our outfit four horses. There were seventeen of us in the company, and 

 all went well barring sea sickness, that was somewhat troublesome to some 

 of the boys. It is usually the case on ship, but arrived in Seattle where we 

 laid In some more supplies, such as hand sleds, etc. At Seattle there was a 

 lot more passengers came aboard and about a hundred and fifty dogs. By 

 this time we were pretty well crowded, but altogether had a pretty jolly 

 good time. We went up the inside passage to Juneau, a distance of about a 



