The journey delayed
A walk to the camp
A list of wants
Captain Sutter’s account of his
first settlement in California
How he served the Indians, and how he
civilised them
Breakfast
Captain Sutter’s wife and daughter
Ridiculous stories about the discovery
of the goldmines
Joe Smith’s prophecy
An Indian ghost
Something about a ship-load of rifles.
May 30th.—To my great disappointment,
our journey was not resumed to-day. As I had
expected, Malcolm had found there was no chance of
getting the farrier’s assistance yesterday, and
he came to me in the evening to inform me that he
and the rest were going into camp for the night.
Bradley and myself found an ample supper prepared for
us; and, after doing due justice to the eatables,
and dressing Bradley’s arm, I shortened the
night a couple of hours by jotting down the events
of the day.
This morning I rose early and walked to the camp,
which I found, about half a mile off, under some oaks
in a piece of pasture land on the Captain’s
farm. I had some difficulty in finding it out,
for there were at least fifteen or twenty tents of
one kind or another in the “bottom.”
The party were all roused, and breakfast was preparing
under Don Luis’s superintendence. It was
the general opinion that we must buy two extra horses
to carry our breadstuffs, etc. Malcolm reported
that there were a variety of articles we were still
in want of; namely, tin drinking-cups, some buckets
for water, with forks, and other small articles.
He recommended that a couple more axes and a strong
saw be bought at Brannan’s, together with hammers,
nails, etc., and some of the Indian baskets which
seem to be so common about here.
On my return to the Fort, I fell in with the Captain,
rigged out in a military undress uniform. I chatted
with him for half an hour about his farm, etc.
He told me that he was the first white man who settled
in this part of the country; that some ten years ago,
when the Mexican government was full of colonization
schemes, the object of which was to break up the Missions,
and to introduce a population antagonistic to the
Californians, he received a grant of land, sixty miles
one way and twelve another, about sixteen or seventeen
hundred acres of which he had now brought under cultivation.
“When I came here,” said the Captain,
“I knew the country and the Indians well.
Eight years ago these fields were overgrown with long
rank grass, with here and there an oak or pine sprouting
out from the midst. You can see what they are
now. As to the Indians, they gave me a little
more trouble. I can boast of fourteen pieces
of cannon, though one has little occasion for them
now, except to fire a few salutes on days of rejoicing.
Well! most of these guns came from Ross within the
last four years; but when I first arrived here, I
