ANIMAL INDUSTRIES 229 



and the women often got more gold dust from the 

 cows than the men did from the gravel. In the 

 United States Patent Office report of 1851, Philip 

 Lynch of Ophir, Placer County, reports on December 

 3 of that year : "About October 1, 1851, I bought 

 two American cows, fresh with young calves, for 

 $400. These cows have averaged 12 quarts each per 

 day which I have sold at 50c per quart, totalling $720 

 for the two months. These cows I have fed on hay 

 at $80 per ton, meal at $8 per cwt. and potatoes at 

 $4 per cwt., at a cost of not over $100 for the two 

 months. I would not sell my two cows for $1000." 



How the eastern rim of the State was populated 

 by the offspring of these good cows which had walked 

 across the plains is amply shown by early records. 

 Let a single instance suffice. In 1857, Honey Lake 

 Valley, a few miles from American Valley, in which 

 the pioneer town of Quincy is located, produced over 

 5000 pounds of butter, which sold at 75 cents a 

 pound; and to show "the exceeding richness of the 

 pasture and the high character of the dairy stock" 

 it is recorded that Mrs. Taylor, "who personally 

 superintends the whole work, milks only fifteen cows 

 and makes 250 pounds of butter per week, which 

 sells readily at 75 cents per pound." 



Although some of these American cows and their 

 offspring undoubtedly continued their journeys west- 

 ward until they reached the coast, and some of the 

 Mexican cows were taken to the mountain regions, 

 it is probably true that the dairies along the coast 

 were chiefly equipped with Mexican cattle. These 



