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Its first name originated in the execution of two men, a Spaniard 
and a Frenchman. They were guilty of murder and robbery, tried 
before Judge Lynch, and executed, all within twenty-four hours. 
Soon after this, a man or lad, who was known as Irish Dick, 
had a difficulty with a person at a gaming table, in the Eldorado, 
after which he waylaid and murdered him. This was the second 
murder of which he had been guilty, and for this, his own life 
fell a sacrifice. The miners took him in charge, tied a rope 
round his neck, then giving him the other end, compelled him 
to climb a tree, go out on one of the limbs, fasten the end of the 
rope, and at the drop of a handkerchief, jump off. He complied 
with apparent cheerfulness, and died without a struggle. 
This is now the first stopping-place for the overland emigra¬ 
tion, from which cause, as well as that of the superior richness of 
the surrounding mountain gorges, it has become a place of much 
importance. At the time of which I am writing there were 
several rude houses constituting the town, all under the super¬ 
vision of males—females, like the visits of their illustrious proto¬ 
types, being few and far between. I think the first one had 
not yet made her appearance. 
No nation with less genius than the “ universal Yankee,” could 
have survived the privation, and even of these it required the 
genuine “wooden nutmeg” species, a couple of specimens of 
which are faintly portrayed in the accompanying plate. Their 
garments are of a cut not generally adopted in the Atlantic cities, 
yet I can assure the reader they are eminently fashionable in 
California. The general appearance of these individuals is a 
true index to the order and systematic arrangement that pervade 
the interior of their habitation. Nothing is done for show or 
ornament; everything bearing the impress of practicality 
and economy—one frying-pan, two tin-plates, both slightly 
touched with u ile,” to prevent rust, their knives in their pockets 
and forks in their hair. They are just going in, having finished 
their day’s work. They are practical miners, both having made 
fortunes at the business. Their house is well known by every 
one who has traveled through that region of the country, and 
many will associate with the “ Yankee House” pleasant recollec¬ 
tions, it having been a general resort and nightly scene of a 
sociable soiree, or something more brilliant. 
