James Williamson, Bonus Ravine, Nevada Co., near Auburn, Placer Co., California, to his brother, Robert Williamson, Ahory, Richhill, County Armagh, 2 January 1853
James Williamson, Bonus Ravine, Nevada Co., near Auburn, Placer Co., California, to his brother, Robert Williamson, Ahory, Richhill, County Armagh, 2 January 1853
Description
Fantastic letter concerning his journey from Belvidere, Illinois to New York to San Francisco via Panama, at the invitation of his brother, William. In fall 1852, William sent James $300 to pay for his travels, and he started on 16 September, and arrived in San Francisco on 10 November; from there, he took a small sheamboat for Sacramento, then a stagecoach to Auburn, where he discovered that William had moved to a town called Paradise, 16 miles further on., where he was keeping store and a boarding house, and doing well. James is now mining for gold, making $4-$8 per day, and living with two other men from home in a log cabin merely 10' by 12' in size. Peebles kin are also there mining. After working all day, they play their fiddles at night for entertainment. Plans to return to blacksmithing, at which he can get $100-$125 per month and not have to work in water all the time, as in gold mining. Describes the methods and conditions of mining, the gold camps, etc.