THE MISFORTUNES OF (A GOm De binge 
Fred and I made up our minds some- 
thing must be done, and that very soon. 
Business had not recovered from the de- 
pression—this was in 1896—and matters 
seemed to be growing worse and worse. 
Fred had a week or 2 of employment, 
but we were discouraged with business 
prospects. The times looked as if they 
had come to Stay. 
Now the 3 great newspapers of San 
Francisco were daily filled with glowing 
accounts of the mining interests of the 
State; telling of men who were striking 
it rich in prospecting for quartz ledges, 
while one could make a living on almost 
any creek, at placer mining. “The country 
had only been scratched over by the men 
Ol “ZO.” tea, GUC 
There was not much to lose, and every- 
thing to gain. We decided to go pros- 
pecting. The extreme Northern counties, 
we learned, had been the least worked; 
while a miner could easily replenish his 
larder, if out of luck, for game was plenti- 
ful. Finally enough money was scraped up 
to land us in Redding, with 2 pack ani- 
mals. 
This was in May, and the mountains 
were still covered with snow 6 to 60 feet 
deep in places. Grand old Shasta rose 
above countless billows of inferior peaks, 
while there seemed no break nor clear- 
ing in the primeval forest of giant firs and 
pines. Here had been the home of Cap- 
tain Jack and his Modoc warriors, who 
made their last stand in the lava beds. 
To the North of Mount Shasta, we pros- 
pected along the trail, into Trinity county, 
making our first permanent camp in a 
gulch there. Some lumber was found with 
which sluice-boxes were built. Then 
work with pick and shovel was begun with 
a will. After working a week, as the 
gravel prospected fairly well, a clean-up 
was made. Imagine our disgust, when, 
panning all the dirt from the box, we had 
exactly $3. 
However, this paid for enough flour and 
bacon to carry wus 2 weeks. Off we 
went for a new place. Finding a spot 
that prospected several colors to the pan, 
we Started in again; but with no better 
SUCCESS. 
To add to our misfortunes, a stone fall- 
ing from the bank broke my right arm, 
above the wrist. Here was a predicament 
for 2 men so ill prepared for it! Fred 
428 
bandaged the broken arm with old rags 
and a piece of pine; doing it so well that 
in a month I was able to use it again. My 
companion worked harder than before, 
while I was disabled, and cleaned up about 
$4. It was then decided to emigrate again, 
so packing our animals we started for a 
new El Dorado. 
Traveling up Trinity river, we had good 
fishing, sometimes catching 20 big trout 
in an hour or so. Our course took us 
across the Scott mountains, to the Klamath 
river country, where we heard there were 
plenty of deer and few white people. We 
were told we should meet a funny char- 
acter in these mountains: an old woman, 
who for many years kept the toll gate on 
the Oregon trail. It was said she would 
surely greet us with a few “swear words.” 
One of our animals was a young mule, and 
we were breaking him with an almost 
empty pack saddle, loading ourselves with 
all we could conveniently carry. When 
passing the old woman’s house, she came 
out, looked at the empty saddle, then at 
us. 
“Why in h— don’t you byes put your 
pack on that d— mule?” was her cheer- 
ful greeting. 
I should like to transport the reader to 
the Scott mountains, and through the 
Klamath canyon. From the trail winding 
about through the mountain passes, some- 
times going around precipices where a 
slip of the foot meant death, the river 
thundering down a steep declivity, hun- 
dreds of feet below, was a’scene to fasci- 
nate any man, and to drive an artist wild 
with enthusiasm. 
After several weeks of traveling and 
prospecting, we arrived at the last mining 
camp in California, “Happy camp,” Siski- 
you county. It is inhabited by about Io 
whites, 50 Chinese and as many Klamath 
half-breed Indians. 
Prospecting in this neighborhood, we 
found there was gold in larger quantities 
in the old channels of the river, high above 
its present course, where it had cut its 
way centuries ago. To develop property 
of that kind would cost more than we 
could afford, for ditches would have to 
be dug and water brought from a dis- 
tance. All mining claims having access to 
water rights have long since been taken 
up. Hydraulic mining is controlled in 
California by the Chinese, who send most 

