California Gold rush

Tales of a Swiss Prospector

J. Christoph Brodbeck

Copyright 2009 by Tom Brodbeck All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Printed and bound in Canada

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E m p o w e r i n g Wr i t e r s t o S e l f - P u b l i s h T M

ISBN 978-0-9811936-0-1

Contents
Introduction Forward Mayors letter The Journal The Wedding 5 7 11 13 101

introduction
ike many who traveled the vast hills of California during the Gold Rush in the mid-1800s, Jacob Christoph Brodbeck recorded many of his thoughts and experiences in a diary he brought back to Switzerland to share with his family and eventually with his descendents. The leather-bound journal was passed down through generations and was deposited at the University of Basel library in the 1980s for safe keeping. However, decades before that, Brodbecks son Otto Brodbeck copied the journal which was written in pen and pencil in old German lettering word-for-word into modern-day lettering. It was from that version that Ottos grandson, Christoph J. Brodbeck who immigrated to Canada in 1955 translated the diary into English in the 1990s. Together with his son Tom Brodbeck, the journal was translated, edited and eventually published in 2009 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Every step was taken during translation from German to English to preserve, as much as possible, the original journal entries. It was not an easy task, given the fundamental differences in sentence structure, terminology and vocabulary between the two languages. In an effort to stay as true to the original entries as possible, some unorthodox language was used in translation. Nothing was added in parenthesis or otherwise to the journal entries. However, footnotes are included where necessary for clarification and explanation. California Gold Rush Tales of a Swiss Prospector includes a forward written by Tom Brodbeck, a letter Jacob Christoph Brodbeck wrote to the mayor of his home town prior to his departure to the United States, the body of the diary and finally, an excerpt of a letter written by Lisette Staehelin, the cousin of Marie Hohl, who Brodbeck married in 1864. That narrative describes parts of the couples spectacular wedding in Benken. We hope family, friends, historians and anyone interested in the California Gold Rush enjoy the story of one mans journey through one of the most fascinating events of modern history.

forward
he easy gold was long gone by the time Jacob Christoph Brodbeck washed his first share of yellow metal near San Antonio, California April 4, 1850. The days of plucking rich nuggets effortlessly from riverbanks and other fertile ground in the early months of the California Gold Rush was a luxury Brodbeck could only dream of when he sailed into the Bay of San Francisco two months earlier. Like most prospectors drawn to the promise of great fortune in California in the 1850s, Brodbeck discovered quickly that the get-rich-quick period of the Gold Rush had sadly expired. His first successful dig was a modest one about $8 worth of gold shared between him and his Prussian partner Henry Katker. It fell well short of the jackpots his gold-digging predecessors stumbled upon in the first year of the Gold Rush. But it was a promising start for the ambitious 27-year-old native of Switzerland who had little to lose and everything to gain by joining the pilgrimage of hundreds of thousands from around the world in one of the most historic events of the century. Ironically, Brodbeck had no intention of panning for gold, knee-deep in rivers and creeks, hauling pick axes, small tents and pots and pans by mule over the vast hills of California when he set sail from Europe to New York City in 1847. The fact he was in the United States when the Gold Rush broke was pure coincidence. Gold had not been discovered in California until 1848. And it was only after a short stint in New York City that the future judge and politician embarked on what may have been the most life-altering and influential adventure of his life. Brodbecks chief objective in the U.S. was to earn money to help save the familys struggling farm and flour mill back home in the small Swiss village of Benken. When the Gold Rush hit, it seemed an obvious opportunity to realize that goal. And so, like mobs of others world-wide, Brodbeck packed his bags, tucked his hopes and dreams into a suitcase and headed for the hills of California. He made the trek from New York City to San Francisco by sea, around Cape Horn the southern tip of South America and north to San Francisco.
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It was the only direct route by water in those days. Others sailed to Panama, traveled overland to the Pacific and resumed travel by sea to California. Others, still, braved the long, treacherous and unpredictable wagon-andcart trip by land from New York to California. The journey by sea was anything but a luxurious excursion. It was tedious, seemingly endless about five months long and largely uneventful. It had few, if any, of the comforts the young flour miller from small-town Switzerland was accustomed to. The food was bland, the wine and schnapps short-lived and the quarters sparse. Other than a six-day stop in Valparaiso to replenish supplies and renew spirits, the entire trip was at sea, often with no land in sight for weeks at a time. The odd pirate vessel or occasional whale sighting were among the few sources of excitement for passengers. Brodbeck found comfort in the written word, though, both through journal entries he began when he boarded the ship Mr. Spragne on Sept. 24, 1849 and through his voracious book-reading appetite. He recorded in detail the ships coordinates and near-daily events undoubtedly for a lack of anything else to do including what food he ate, what books he read and what philosophical conundrum dominated his mind on any given day. The salted beef I could not stand and I have not eaten any of it so far and perhaps I will never learn to eat it, Brodbeck complained. It is the same case with the ships rusk, so that my nourishment did not amount to much. If there was excitement on the ship, Brodbeck was there like an eager reporter to record it, including when the ships captain had to discipline a lippy cook. The cook (a Negro), his hands bound above the head on the tackle, was being whipped by the captain himself with 24 blows on the behind with a piece of rope, Brodbeck observed. But you know I believe he was protected quite well by his wool shirt and pants because 10 minutes later the darky was again whistling in the kitchen looking at his hands which the first helmsman had bound very tightly. The punishment he received was for using coarse language towards the captains wife. Brodbeck was a deep thinker, surprisingly philosophical for his age and a great observer of people and cultures. He described in colourful detail the sites, sounds and smells around him during his journey, including the day he stepped off the ship in San Francisco and settled in Happy Valley. It is a place I would call a big city of tents outside San Francisco in the woods, he wrote. Tents on tents, where blacksmiths, bakers, butchers and mostly ship builders have their shops.
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Life in the mines of California was a rugged affair, though cold, wet, often lonely and sometimes extremely dangerous. It was an arduous and spiritually challenging existence, something Brodbeck complained about frequently in his journal entries. The word pleasure with reference to life in the mines should be removed from our vocabulary, Brodbeck lamented. My only pleasure is to shoot my rifle on Sundays and to think that different times may come. Like most who experienced the Gold Rush, it wasnt long before Brodbeck came to the disappointing realization that attaining great wealth from washing small amounts of gold nuggets from creeks and hand-shoveled pits was an elusive and unrealistic goal. Since I have been here, I have learned to realize that wealth is not acquired very quickly as so many overheated heads in the States and in Europe falsely imagine, he wrote July 7, 1850. I was certainly not one of those who expected to see everything to be gold, but I expected better than what I encountered. It was a sentiment he confirmed over a year later. The business of becoming rich is still looking poor, he wrote. There is no question of becoming wealthy, but to acquire something is still my hope. Nevertheless, Brodbeck was resilient in his quest, picking himself up off the ground after bouts of melancholy and loneliness and hurling headlong towards his chief objective in California to make money. For all his struggles in California, the young Swiss was resolute in his mission to raise capital, which he later did through a variety of ambitious enterprises, including running a general store and operating a cereal and flour trading business. If there was money to be made in California, Brodbeck found a way to earn it. But material wealth wasnt the only object of Brodbecks fascination during his American journey. He had a keen interest in the cultures he encountered throughout his travels, particularly his intrigue with North American Indians. Yesterday about five men and 10 squaws passed by here, he wrote. The men carried nothing but bows and arrows and the women were loaded to the gills with acorns, which they carry in cone shaped baskets on their backs, with belts fixed around their foreheadsthe squaw is nothing but the slave and the beast of burden to the male Indian. Brodbecks account of how he and his colleagues witnessed a cremation ceremony of a young Indian chief who died of alcoholism is a riveting and historically valuable narrative.
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As we approached, we saw eight men and three squaws sitting in a circle around a big fire, he wrote. With outreached arms they wailed and moanedWe got closer to the fire and saw leftovers of human bones in it which the old Indian from time to time scraped into a small round hole, which they had dug for that purpose close to the fire. Brodbeck had his share of dangerous encounters with Indians, too. He described how he and his partners once feared for their lives when confronted by a band of knife-brandishing natives during a long, grueling day of travel. An attractively built Indian with bow and arrows approached us, followed by several dozen others, he described. We did not know what they really wanted from us, but we did not like in the least the long, shiny, curved knives, and I would not have been surprised if one of them had split in two my head or Krattigers, or both of ours. He couldnt have known it then, but Brodbeck experienced one of the most historically significant periods of U.S. history. The Gold Rush drew hundreds of thousands of people from around the world to a place that was barely inhabited prior to 1848. California became the 31st state in 1850 and San Francisco grew from a tiny hamlet to a bustling city of 25,000 during the early years of the Gold Rush. Its unknown how much money Brodbeck raised before he returned to Switzerland in 1859 to begin a new life. But the California Gold Rush was an experience that no doubt made a profound impact on his life. He went on to marry Marie Hohl in 1864, had three children and ran the family flour mill and farm with his brother Niklaus. A respected and influential man in his community, Brodbeck was later elected to Parliament for his canton and became a district judge. Jacob Christoph Brodbeck eventually did enjoy the better life of family and prosperity he dreamed of during quiet nights of reflection in the hills of California. But he probably always had a special place in his heart for the friends, experiences and wisdom he gained while working the mines of California. Its doubtful the young flour miller regretted a day he spent on the Pacific coast, searching not only for the wealth of money but for the wealth of spirit, too. Tom Brodbeck Great great grandson of Jacob Christoph Brodbeck Winnipeg, MB 2009

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Mayors letter

he following is a letter Jacob Christoph Brodbeck sent to the mayor of Benken prior to his departure to the United States:

Mr. Mayor Grass Benken Dear Mr. Mayor, Money rules the world. It is an old saying and I too am sensing the truth of same at this moment. I was destined to go to officers school, but I have had in mind to emigrate to America for some time now. I sold my military equipment a long time ago and had my military overcoat altered into a regular coat. If I wanted to enter officers school now I would have to re-buy everything, which would cost me a good part of the money earmarked for my voyage, and then I would have difficulty replacing same. This is why I consider it more sensible to leave for my trip to America now. During my absence, I name Jakob Kleiber, your son-in-law, as my trustee and he is herewith authorized to handle my affairs in my name in case of inheritance or other matters of substance. At the beginning of this letter I have clearly outlined three reasons for my departure to avoid any possible misinterpretation of same. With my compliments, I remain, Yours faithfully, J. Christoph Brodbeck Benken, October 18th, 1847

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12

The Journal
New York, Sept. 24, 1849
n the 24th, in the morning, I boarded the ship Mr. Spragne where I found my friends already assembled. Very slowly, our ship was pulled from among the surrounding vessels. Once this was finally done, it was hooked onto a steamboat which pulled it to the middle of the North River, opposite the Castle Gardens, where we anchored. There, in shooting distance from the city, we had to stay the night once more. It was a marvelous starlit night and the silvery moon sickle stood in the west. I did not quite know if I should return to the city to be with my friends one more evening and return on board the next day, but I decided to spend the night on the ship. That evening I had a chance to think about my past experiences and also about my future and it was really worth the reflection. It has not been quite two years since I left my dear mother, brothers and sisters at home in order to go to America. I dare say that reality did not turn out short of my expectations. I always thought that I had to spend a few years of an apprenticeship in New York and it really turned out that way. I have the satisfaction of believing that Mr. Gagnebin was satisfied with my services during my employment with him. Although I do not leave behind any relatives in New York, I do have very good friends, i.e. when I think of S.M.1 who very kindly loaned me the money for my voyage, or when I think of Bd.th2, how he provided me with arms and how K3 and his dear wife looked after me like parents by providing me with all kinds of necessities for the trip, I have to say to myself: Yes, there are indeed some good human beings on this Earth. It is really a sweet feeling to know that someone loves you, to know that someone cares when one suffers from hardships, to know that someone exists who will shed a tear remembering us when we suffer an accident. Mankind could be so happy if it wanted to.
1 2 3 Samuel Mrillat (a Swiss), a close friend of Brodbecks from New York. Unknown name. Krattiger.

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Of course, suffering will always happen but some people happen to create bitterness among themselves. What have I done that the people of the Schweizerhalle4 took a liking to me? Nothing special really, except that I acted like any decent human being. This is why Fanny liked me and for the same reason Katharine crocheted a watchband for me. One might hope that all humans would soon follow the words of our great founder of our faith: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The first night on the ship was very quiet. I slept like a king in the bed that Mrs. Krattiger made up for me, but strangely enough, I dreamt about back home. Even though I have not thought about the vacillating B.S.5 all day yesterday, I dreamt about her all night, which is the reason I have to think about her this morning! What might she be doing now? However she acted in the past, I wish her no ill fortune. It is a great morning and the view from the middle of the bay is magnificent.

Oct. 3, 1849
Thank God my seasickness is just about over it is a horrible sickness. For three days already I have been completely kaput and I am very, very weak. The quality of food certainly does not help to strengthen me, either. Besides, I have no appetite whatsoever, which adds to the fact that I hate the lousy food. During our trip of 8 days so far, nothing special has occurred; always westwind and we are sailing happily in a south-eastern direction. If only the food would be better I could stand it all, but this way I have to rough it! We are not yet in the tropics. It is not very warm, as we have a steady breeze.

Oct. 14, 1849

We passed the Tropic of Cancer on the 30th degree western longitude (Greenwich).

Oct. 17, 1849

20 northern latitude, 29 western longitude.

4 A Swiss restaurant in New York. 5 It is believed that these are the initials of a woman the exact name remains unknown in Switzerland with whom Brodbeck had a heartbreaking and departing relationship.

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Oct. 29, 1849

3 northern latitude, 27 western longitude. Mr. Benz opened a package of basil rusk, about 1/3 of it spoiled.

Nov. 1, 1849
Passed the equator between 25 - 26 western longitude (Greenwich).

Nov. 3, 1849
Since we have passed the equator we have had a good steady wind. 4 southern latitude. Since we have been in the tropics, I cannot complain about the heat not at all. Only one day it was you could call it very warm. From Oct. 23-31 we had almost constant calm, here and there interrupted by a shower. Gradually, I am beginning to get used to life on the ship, but I cannot brag about the food and this way of life is really very, very boring. When the ship bounces a little bit, I get dizzy and I am then not able to read. Since Ive been on board I have read several novels among them Zwei Diara by Alexander Dumas and Martin der Findling by Eugen Sue. I must say that I prefer Sues work a lot more than Dumas because there is a purpose, by describing the low classes of people, whereas I do not find the historical novel of Dumas very useful.

Nov. 5, 1849.
9 southern latitude.

Nov. 7, 1849.
13 southern latitude.

Nov. 9, 1849.
18 southern latitude. In the morning we saw a ship in the south-west (we steered south-southwest) which had been sighted already by the captain the previous evening. After a while it steered toward us. We recognized it as a brig6 and the way it bounced, we judged it would not be very heavily loaded. It steered in a
6 Two-masted vessel with square sails.

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right-angle direction to our ship. Perhaps it looked as though, once arrived on our right side, that it would then turn towards the south west in order to sail parallel to us. But our captain turned our ship a bit more to the west so that the brig came to our left side by sailing in front of us before it had time to turn. It passed about 100 steps in front of us. We hoisted the American flag and on the brig the Portuguese flag went up. After it turned, we sailed about a shooting distance from each other. They wrote in chalk on the side of the ship: G 23, 40, the western longitude of Greenwich, and Captain Chase responded with the southern latitude. Then he asked via megaphone: Where bound? Rio Janeiro! Where from? Liverpool and we answered the same questions with New York and California. Afterwards the brig stayed back some, turned behind us and sailed away from us in a westerly direction. As the captain said, he did not have the best impression of this visit. He suspected it might have been a pirate vessel because of the following circumstances: The ship changed its course to come near us, no name on the ships aster, not loaded, and also that we were at the latitude of Bahia, where such birds live. All these facts made the captains suspicions not unbelievable.

Nov. 10, 1849

20 southern latitude.

Nov. 13, 1849.

Passed the Tropic of Capricorn at 35 western longitude therefore in line with Rio Janeiro.

Nov. 14, 1849.

26 southern latitude. A raw wind from the south east. Cloudy and severe bouncing of the ship. Almost all passengers do not feel well.

Nov. 16, 1849.

32 southern latitude. Calm weather.

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Nov. 18, 1849.

35 southern latitude. Yesterday we experienced one of the most disagreeable days since weve been on board. Unbelievably stormy and very cold, which we felt more so because we had been used to warm weather for quite some time. Today the weather is again quite nice and the sea quiet. This afternoon a nice breeze starts up again and towards the evening we move happily onward again. If the cold weather should proportionately intensify as we move south it should be very cold around the Horn.

Nov. 19, 1849.

36 14 southern latitude, 48 20 western longitude. Just before dark we encountered a brig close enough to be able to communicate with. It was the brig Almeda: from New London to Talcahvano, Chile, 53 days out. Later on in the evening a second brig caught up with us. These light ships move with a light wind faster than our heavy laden ship. But the next morning this brig was a distance behind us.

Nov. 20, 1849.

During our voyage from New York we have sighted ships often and have exchanged signals, which I have not always noticed. At the beginning we saw mostly English around the tropics, two Portuguese and around here South American vessels. From New York to the Tropic of Cancer we had changing winds with almost always nice weather. From there to the equator quite often a lack of wind interrupted by bouts of strong winds combined with rain showers. From the equator an excellent breeze to 7 southern latitude where we were able to take advantage of the trade winds which carried us swiftly down to 26, where they left us again. From there to todays date, wind and weather have been variable; sometimes during a 24-hour period we had no wind, nice wind and storm. Before we arrived between the tropic, we saw very few or no birds, nor fish. Between the tropics we were followed by swallows and flying fish, sometimes only the odd ones and sometimes in flocks. One day we saw a ?7 mammal of the family of whales. South of the Tropic of Capricorn we saw porpoises, a fish that looked like a whale, which I had the occasion to see often on my trip over from Europe. They appeared in hoards and usually we experienced a storm afterwards.
7 Brodbeck writes ?

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Nov. 21, 1849.

Heavy bouncing of the ship interrupted my writing effort. The wind which was blowing very hard all morning, intensified to a storm in the afternoon. The ship swayed fiercely and the leeside took water. The old man did not allow the wind to turn the ship until he was really forced to. Sails were taken in and the ship was driven in a northeasterly direction because the storm wind blew from a southwesterly direction. As soon as the storm let up some we sailed again in the best possible direction in order not to lose time. All night it swayed tremendously. Towards morning the wind diminished some and we were able to sail west-south west. Towards evening the sky cleared and at this time (7 p.m.) we have nice but cold weather. Wind south east. 38 72 southern latitude; 50 24 western longitude.

Nov. 23, 1849.

40 22 southern latitude. Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving. In the morning, like any Sunday, one of the passengers read a sermon. The rest of the day was spent merrymaking (that is to say in cabin #1). During the evening one of the sailors fell about 30 from the middle mast down to the deck. He was wounded on his back, one arm and the head, but he will probably be back in good shape before long. As far as Thanksgiving is concerned, the Americans do not celebrate it the same way as we Swiss. For them, Thanksgiving is a day, as mentioned above, for merrymaking; i.e. to have a good time, so that on this day, more wine and brandy was consumed than usual. As I was about to close my book, I was drawn by a noise from the forward house and I saw something that I had never seen before. The cook (a Negro), his hands bound above the head on the tackle, was being whipped by the captain himself with 24 blows on the behind with a piece of rope. But you know I believe he was protected quite well by his wool shirt and pants because 10 minutes later the darky was again whistling in the kitchen looking at his hands which the first helmsman had bound very tightly. The punishment he received was for using coarse language towards the captains wife.

Nov. 25, 1849.

44 6 southern latitude. Nice weather in the morning and lasting until close to 4 p.m. This morning we sighted several whales. Some were noticed in the distance by their spray, exhaling water into the air, two of them came very
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close to the ship so that we could see them very well when they surfaced to breathe in air. Too bad one could not see them whole. First you see the head with the hole on top, then the wide back and afterwards the tail end looking like a set of horns. Some of the people were catching the odd bird of the flocks which have been accompanying the ship for weeks. They attached red bands and leather bands on them and let them loose again. The ones they caught were (I believe) a sort of seagull. The one kind is the size of a pigeon with white and black spots with a hump on its black beak. The other kind is grey white, the size of a duck with a sharp hook at the end of its beak and like the other kind, with black webbed feet. Also accompanying us are big flocks of a kind of swallow but not with a fork-like tail, looking for food on the water surface. Also, we saw albatrosses.

Nov. 30, 1849.

47 48 southern latitude, 61 westerly longitude. Since the 25th we have experienced steady, stormy weather and always head wind, which explains the slow progress we are making. Yesterday the weather was a bit better and the wind direction a little more favourable. In general it is cold, which we are more sensitive to, particularly after the long period of time we were used to warm weather. In the cabin and the forecastle they set up stoves; not for us as yet, although I dont see where they could put them. The day before yesterday I had the good fortune of buying 6 lbs of sugar from a fellow passenger which will serve me well as I had to drink coffee and tea without sugar because I could not drink it sweetened with molasses. I still do not like salted beef and pork, nor the ships rusk.

Dec. 1, 1849
49 southern latitude, 61 25 western longitude. Rather nice but cold weather. The colour of the sea is not dark blue which it was until now, but already bright green. When the plumb line was thrown around 3 p.m. the water depth was found to be 70 fathoms (420 feet). In the afternoon, several whales were sighted in the distance. At 6 p.m. there was a ship ahead, which the captain judged to be a whaler.

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Dec. 3, 1849.
50 16 southern latitude. Yesterday and today are rather pleasant days. Although not very warm, it is bearably mild. The sea is calm and a light breeze makes us drift ahead imperceptibly. Yesterday and today we are seeing a lot of whales, which, as the sailors say, were not caught by the whalers because they would not produce enough train oil. Most of the ones seen would measure 20-40 feet, the biggest about 60 feet. From a distance one can identify a whale by the burst of spray up in the air, approximately ? feet. On the horizon it looks almost like a sail, then one hears a noise like the falling of a large mass of water and then one sees the back and the tail fin. If the whale is very close, one hears the noise and sees the body at the same time. Also up close it does not seem that the exhaling spray is as high, because the highest bubbles are very small and are invisible. This is why the sailors say that it is not water that sprays upwards but the breathing, which you will see from far but not from nearby, just like breathing of humans in the winter.

Dec. 4, 1849.
53 14 southern latitude. Yesterday we accomplished a fair distance due to favourable wind and sailed between the continent and the Falkland Islands without seeing anything of substance. This afternoon the wind is deteriorating without being unfavourable. All passengers, or better said, all on board, wish longingly to finally get around the Horn.

Dec. 5, 1849.
54 27 southern latitude. Nice weather. (Last evening we had such a thick fog, like we have never seen on this trip so far). Around half past twelve one of the first class cabin passengers said we were about 35 miles from Staten Island8 (the ship was pointing south and we had a good breeze from the north west). As we were still talking about it, the captain yelled from the quarterdeck from where he had looked for a while towards the south west: Land ho! And before long we could distinctly see land as well. The view was just like our mountains, where the upper part is snow covered. It is something
8 Isla de los Estados

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new for us to see land again and even though it is snow covered, it is still a comfortable feeling.

Dec. 6, 1849
55 13 S., 61 35 W. Very strong southern wind and very cold so that we had to stay in all day. Evening a little more pleasant.

Dec. 8, 1849
56 10 S., 61 30 W. For a few days we have been accompanied by a barge skiff. In the evening, the day before yesterday (the 6th), the latter was so close we were able to exchange signals. It showed the English flag. Yesterday was a stormy cold day. Today the sun shines but it is rather cold due to a raw westerly wind. Today I am 27 years old!!! Surely they think of me today back home. May they all be well and in good health and may I be allowed the pleasure to see them again well and in good health after a few more such birthdays. Five years ago on my birthday, I did not have the faintest idea that I would begin my 28th at the southern tip of America and who knows where I will celebrate it five years from now? Todays celebration is not at all splendid and boiled potatoes9 and salt beef is not a high class fare. But this evening I will drink a glass, or in the absence of same, a tin cup of port wine and eat some dried rusk to the good health of my mother. Also, I will not miss to thankfully think of the well meaning givers (of port wine and rusk), Mr. Gagnebin and Mr. Otto. Really, I would have been badly off without these goodies. My wine and cognac will last me to San Francisco, but the rusks will be gone before we reach Valparaiso. I wonder how things are going in New York. I would like very much to get news from S.K.10at my arrival in San Francisco as this would decide my future plans of action. May I expect that he will come to California next summer? Did the circumstances develop in a way that he prefers to stay in New York? Or, rather, was it Gods will that he returned to Switzerland? But the latter question will be answered by the news from Switzerland at our arrival in Valparaiso. What will be all the news? Was my fatherland forced to give into the Reaction? I hope not. But if so, I will have to honour the bet I made with my friend Samuel. What is my
9 Pommes de terre en robes de chambres, he writes. 10 Krattiger.

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friend Badruth doing? How is my friend Roth? What about friend Krattiger and his wife and household? And Thuerkauf and his little woman? And Nemming? Greetings to all of them.

Dec. 9, 1849
Last evening a ship came close enough to exchange signals. It showed the American flag. This morning it was close enough to exchange words. It is the barge Uncas from New London, destined for San Francisco and also wants to stop off in Valparaiso. The barge has been out 117 days as it sailed on Aug. 14th, and has no passengers aboard. The captains invited each other for breakfast. The question as to how long ago we left New York was answered by captain Chase, with a small deduction: 65 days! The people from the Uncas sent us three hurrahs which we returned heartily. Then we parted. We shall see who will be in Valparaiso first. According to the calculations of the Uncas, we are positioned today at noon 64 30W. (Correct). 11 a.m.: at home it must be 5 0clock. I dont knowdo you think about me?

Dec. 10, 1849

57 S., 65 3 W. Nice weather, but cold, head wind and current against us.

Dec. 11, 1849

57 22 S., 66 15 W.

Dec. 12, 1849

57 43 S., 71 2 W. The Benziger family, Mr. Henry, A. Hovey and I celebrated the passing around Cape Horn with a drink of warm brandy and the wish that after three years of success, we would be able to get together for a repeat celebration.

Dec. 13, 1849

57 53 S. 73 W
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Pretty nice weather, but not warm. At 5 oclock a trickle of snow, called riesel11 in the Baselbiet12.

Dec. 14, 1849

58 S. 74 18 W. A cold day. Everyone wishes to get to the North pretty soon, to a warmer climate again.

Dec. 15, 1849

58 S. 75 36 W. Foggy and cool. Clearing some during the evening, but still northwest wind.

Dec. 16 (Sunday), 1849.

57 32 S. 77 11 W.

Dec. 18, 1849.

55 14 S. 76 14 W. Yesterday the wind blew strongly from the south west, but this morning it grew into a storm, the likes of which we have not seen on our trip so far. The waves blew over and washed the sundeck better than the sailors were ever able to accomplish.

Dec. 20, 1849

51 30 S., 79 W. Rainy and cold. However, with a pretty strong west wind. We move at a good clip in a northerly direction and hopefully we should reach a warmer climate soon. Days are getting shorter due to foggy weather and also because we are getting further away from the South Pole. South of Cape Horn we experienced daylight from 2 a.m. to 10 p.m. This evening they put up two side sails on the foremast. But later a gust of wind broke the rope and the timber which held it broke with a big crack in two.
11 12 Sleet Greater Basel area.

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Dec. 21, 1849

47 53 S. First rate. Over the past 24 hours we traveled the longest distance so far on our trip. Hurrah for Valparaiso! Today is Christmas market in Basel. Perhaps some of my people are in Basel and are stopping for a drink Uf Im Platz at Mr. Loews.

Dec. 22, 1849

44 50S. The favourable wind held on until 2 a.m. but then it weakened and by 8 a.m. it was completely calm and there was warm sunshine. In the afternoon it became cloudy and cool and the wind returned to some extent. This morning everybody was busy on board the ship. Some did laundry, others fished for albatrosses with fishing rods and pieces of meat on the hooks. Others were busy pulling the skins off the caught birds. Everyone wanted to have either a foot, a beak, a wing or at least a few feathers. The albatross is about the size of a swan, but its neck is by far not as long. The head, however, is bigger. Most of them measure 10 to 11 with wings spread, and from beak to tail 3. The beak, about 7 long ends in a sharp hook. The wings are black, chest and belly are white sprinkled with black, strong web feet without spurs. The most peculiar thing I noticed was the way it folded its wings. It has a joint more than a goose and therefore folds its wings three times. First backwards, then forwards then the wings swing again backwards, covered by the feathers of the second wing lengths. The tail feathers are very short. The shades are very different. Some are almost white, others nearly black; others again show a star-like spot on their wings and a red ring around the neck. Towards evening a white painted ship caught up with us and came very close. However, neither us, nor the white one, hoisted the flag. The wind increased and we ended up ahead again. At midnight it was way behind us. Another happening of the day was the quarrel between a sailor and the captain regarding salted beef contained in a newly opened barrel which really stinks.

Dec. 23 (Sunday), 1849

43 20 S. Rain and light breeze until 8 a.m. After 8 a.m. the wind increased a lot, the weather cleared, we forged ahead square the yards, northward.
24

Unfortunately, I ran out of rusks. Many thanks, Mr. Otto, without them I would have been badly off.

Dec. 24, 1849

40 20 S. Nice weather all day and light southerly wind. Everyone on board is busy doing laundry the ship looks like a big laundry establishment; the deck and tackle show the colors of all nations on Gods Earth.

Dec. 25, 1849.

38 10 S. Christmas A nice warm morning. Everyone in a good mood and wishing each other a Merry Christmas.

Dec. 26, 1849

36 13 S. Nice weather but steady break over the waves. First I thought the wind had turned, but as soon as I checked the compass, I realized that the ship changed direction, not the wind, as we steered east-north-east, towards the coast. At noon I was on the quarterdeck as the captain was about to calculate our location, basing himself on the sun. He then went into his cabin and in a few minutes he returned on deck and called north east ho, land hoy! There it is! And really one could see the outline of land in the distance through a hazy mist. The water has a black, green dirty colour. In the afternoon the coastline showed itself very clearly and it was really a special, comfortable feeling to be able to see land once again from close up. However, what went on at the coast, whether it was inhabited, one could not see. We saw cliffs and mountains, valleys and plains which looked like wheat fields mixed with what looked like forests. The place was Spitzecarana or Fuchsbay.13

Dec. 27, 1849.

35 S.
13 This might be Fox Bay.

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Warm and foggy in the morning, no land in sight anymore, calm and bright, nice weather all day. Towards evening a light breeze starts. Everyone prepares to go on land. Washing, haircutting, readying the anchor chains, getting the captains boat in shape. As for myself, I wrote home and to friend Mrillat.

Dec. 28, 1849

33 28 S. Again calm. In the afternoon we saw the coast up close and 10 ships right around us. To go on land is not possible today but we hope to be able to spend Sunday in Valparaiso. From afar, the coast looked ragged, infertile. But of course, one cannot judge the fertility of the soil from a distance. In the background, the snow covered Andes. It reminded me of the Alps, rising far above the foothills.

Dec. 29, 1849

Near Valparaiso. There it is, the lighthouse, which shows the way to the harbour, but we cannot get there because of headwind. About 14 different ships are around us and we cannot get in. One of them is the U.S. ship Vandalia, another a French warship, another showed the English flag and quite a few more are American. It looks as though we will not be able to land today, either. But we landed after all; it is night time; we are in the harbour and the anchor was lowered. A customs officer came on board and a doctor to check the manifest and to see if there are any sick people on board. The doctor is a Frenchman. We swamp him with questions about Valparaiso, which he answers willingly. Finally, an employee of the post office came with the notice that the postal bag for the Panama steamer would be closed tomorrow at 8 a.m.

Dec. 30 (Sunday) 1849.

Never before, since we have been on board, have we risen as early as we did today. Everybody got ready to go ashore. The first to go were the captain with the 1st class passengers and B&H. Since I was unsure of getting ashore before 8 a.m., I gave my letter to Mr. Hovey to look after. One of the passengers owned a boat which some of us used to go ashore. We landed on the only dock in Valparaiso where we pushed ourselves through a mass of neck-andneck crowd on to the firm land. Soon we found our co-travelers at the post
26

office. A letter from Valparaiso to Panama costs 56 cents, which one has to pay in advance. Then we looked the city over some. Valparaiso is situated along a pretty horseshoe-shaped bay. Only a narrow strip is flat and two streets run along its length. High hills, here and there scattered with little houses rise behind this narrow plain. A stranger wonders why children would not roll down the steep slopes, onto which the small houses seem glued. All the surrounding hills and mountains have a naked appearance; one should think that this red clay earth would not be able to nourish plants. But we were told that during the rainy season everything would have a very friendly green appearance. Proof of heavy rain can be seen by the washed out and therefore erosion covered hills and mountains. Close to the pier the newly-built customs building catches the eye. It is the biggest building in the city and looks quite nice with its tower and clock. Among other noteworthy buildings are two churches, a new theatre14 and several very attractive private homes. The houses in general are low, built with unfired bricks and the roofs are covered with hollow clay tiles. The lighthouse stands on top of a hill near the entrance of the harbour. We received permission for a thorough visit of the fort, which is located on another hill overlooking the harbour. The rooms in the barracks have high ceilings (like most buildings here in general) without wood floors and are kept pretty clean. On top of a hill, close behind the customs building, are two rows of pretty apartment buildings with little gardens in front of them, occupied by foreigners. On another hill is the cemetery containing several excellent, attractive monuments. Nearby is a protestant cemetery where I found a marble gravestone with the name Scheitlin from St. Gallen. On another hill behind it is the jail where we found shoemakers and tailors working in the same room. In front a few carpenters were at work. The institution is guarded by about 15 soldiers who wear, besides a long sword, a small chain, the use of which is easily guessed. I already learned from the doctor on the ship of a patissier Suisse in the city. I looked him up in order to see if more Swiss people are located here. As I suspected, I found a Graubuendner15 associated with an Orell from Zurich, who at one time lived in Basel and in Buenos Aires, before coming here. At his house I met a Henry Gimbert, a bookbinder from Zurich, a nice young man who accompanied Mr. Benzinger and his wife, my copassengers, to the botanical gardens. I learnt from him that another Swiss from the canton Thurgau is living here and established as a trading agent.
14 15 Playhouse no movie theatres then. Someone from the canton of Graubuenden.

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Two brothers from Locle16, watchmakers, arrived here a month ago and set up shop. Since I needed a watch repaired, I visited them the following day. They are pleased with the way the business is going. Since the four or five other watchmakers left for California, they found lots of work and good pay. The trade in Valparaiso is mostly in the hands of foreigners. During our stay in Valparaiso I visited the city every day stayed there all day and returned back on board in the evening, except on New Years Eve, when I stayed the night at Mr. Orells. But I was so tired that I went to bed at 10 p.m. New Years Day was a beautiful warm summer day which I spent in the company of Henry A. Hovey and D. Chambers, my co-passengers, in whose company I remained more closely (than with others) during our stay here. We started the New Year in a rather pleasant way, under good auspices. On Wednesday, we second-class cabin passengers made our joint purchases and my few Spanish words, which I learnt during our voyage, really helped out. We bought cheeses at 12 cents per lb, sugar at 10 cents, dried figs at six cents, chocolate at 18 cents, pepper at dollar, nuts at six cents, flour at $2.75 per 100lb, wine at dollar per gallon, butter at 37 cents per lb. The wine is a light red and tastes not bad at all. The captain and Messrs Dana, two 1st class passengers, bought about 120 bags of flour at $5 per 100 kilogram on speculation because the latest news from California indicated a price of 30 to 35 dollars per 50 kg bag there.

Jan. 4, 1850
This was the designated day of departure. The anchor was being lifted, we passengers all gave a hardy hand. It was so hot though that I had to have a drink twice during the up-winding procedure. By midday we left the harbour and a good breeze brought us quickly out to the high sea.

Jan. 5, 1850
Back to the life at sea but we are not seasick and we have some of our own groceries to counteract the ships rugged food a little. Nowhere do we see land now and all that is left of it is a memory. Oops, I almost forgot to mention, Mr. and Mrs. Benzinger visited a school in Valparaiso where a New Yorker is the principal. An offer was made to Madame Benzinger: $500

16

The city of Le Locle, Switzerland.

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per year salary plus room and board to teach English. It came by letter sent on board. Mr. Benzinger went to the city the third afternoon, helped set everything up, accompanied Madame the fourth morning to her new destination, came back on board and off we went towards Northwest. Since the Benzinger family stays in our section, we now have more room.

Jan. 6, 1850
28 S. 76 W. Nice weather, favourable good wind. Wine, bread and cheese happy faces.

Jan. 7, 1850
26 S, 77 44 W.

Jan. 8, 1850
24 18 S. 79 23 W. Since our visit in Valparaiso, I enjoy better food and new wine! This produces better blood and my nose bleeding does not want to stop.

Jan. 9, 1850
22 S. Since my nose bleeding did not want to stop, I took out my Raspail17and found under the heading hemorragie, para. 309 against epistaxis or nose bleeding a medicine to inject or snuff: Eau de Goudron 500 grammes, alcool camphr 3 grammes, vinaigres rectifi 3 grammes. I have now prepared this mixture and will see if it works. The weather and wind continue to be nice and favourable and since we passed the Tropic of Capricorn yesterday, we are now in the tropics.

Jan. 14, 1850

15 22S, 93 47 W.

17

A French medical book.

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Continued favourable wind and nice weather. It is so nice on deck that I cannot but take my diary there and scribble something in it. I will try to copy the weekly menu: Each morning coffee and each evening tea, if we wished sweetened with molasses. Salted beef and pork with ships rusk, if we wished. Some of the other dishes were: Monday mornings: mash with molasses (mash is a gruel made of cornmeal but salted and with lard). At midday: pommes de terre en robe de chambre = boiled potatoes with skins on, in Benken18 called Geschwellte Erdaepfel. Tuesday mornings: potato scows (a mixture of mashed potatoes with salted minced meat); at midday: beans (cooked like peas); Wednesday mornings: Breadscows (mixture of crushed ships rusk and minced meat); at midday: rice. Thursdays mornings: dough (flour dough, either baked or boiled as a pudding with molasses). Fridays mornings: breadscows; midday: beans like Tuesdays. Saturday mornings: potato scows; midday: potatoes, sometimes with fish (unsalted). Sunday mornings: breadscows; midday: in most cases dough, but as long as available, i.e. about 12 Sundays, fresh pork, sometimes cooked with flour as a pot pie, often fried with boiled potatoes. We had to pick up these dishes in the kitchen, unsalted without gravy. We then had to fix these meals with molasses and salt, the latter we had to get from the steward in the first class section. In the beginning, I was unable to eat this stuff. The salted beef I could not stand and I have not eaten any of it so far and perhaps I will never learn to eat it. It is the same case with the ships rusk, so that my nourishment did not amount to much. The potato scows tasted so much like the salted beef that I was unable to eat it either. The breadscows I was able to eat after about two months on board I sweetened it with molasses. After our stop in Valparaiso I had wine, cheese, bread (which is all gone and got a bit mouldy), nuts, chocolate, and pepper and cinnamon, so that my food intake has increased from before. Since Madame Benziger is no longer with us, I usually share the meals with Mr. Benziger, who does not get his meals from the ships kitchen, but cooks it himself. So now, I have almost every morning fried potatoes (in Benken called gebregelte erdaepfel). Also, he shares his coffee with me, much better than what is supplied by the ship, because I can now sweeten it quite a bit.

Jan. 20 (Sunday), 1850

8 56 S., 104 W
18 Benken,Canton Baselland, Brodbecks home village.

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We still have nice weather and very favourable wind. It is beautiful here (the weather) and if the sea would always be like it is now, slightly ruffled by the southeast wind, this oceans name Pacific would be well deserved. Yesterday, I read a novel Memories of a Preacher by P. Lippard and I cannot but copy a section of it: 19 Let us say a word in relation to the wonderful fact of the universe, which in the olden times was called witchcraft, but which in the nineteenth century is called magnetism. What is magnetism. Is it good or evil? Is it from God or the devil? Is it indeed a fact, as tangible as our existence, or only a dream, as idle as a hypocrites religion? It would require volumes to answer questions such as these. It may be that magnetism is the great tie which binds the great family of humanity to its God. It may be the invisible ocean of being which is evermore breaking upon the shores of our lower world its low murmurs repeated in the songs of poet and prophet, through all times. Like everything, it may be perverted. Quacks have peddled the gospel is the gospel therefore a lie? Quacks and mountebanks have exhibited the mysteries of magnetism, to gaping audiences at a quarter of a dollar per head is magnetism therefore a delusion? Magnetism is God. It is of God. It will, without a doubt, at some future day, be made the direct agent of incalculable blessing from God to the human race. It seems to us to be divided into three forms. The first, called simple the magnetic slumber the body is perfectly paralyzed, while the mind is unutterably calm. No words can depict the complete quiet of the soul, while in this state. The second is known as the clairvoyant state. The mind of the magnetized roams wherever the will of the magnetizer commands. It is thoroughly subject to his will. To speak in plain words the soul of the magnetized seems for a while to have lost itself in the soul of the magnetizer. The third state may be called trance, although the word does not altogether convey our meaning. Here, the soul seems to be altogether freed from the body. It soars where it will and beyond the power of the magnetizer. We all have read well-orated stories of persons who have been entranced whose bodies have reposed for days and weeks in a state resembling death, while their souls journeyed to the world of spirits, and communed with angels. Trance has various outward manifestations. The body sometimes lies in corpse like immovability. The lips do not open, no word passes the sealed
19 This is a book written in English that Brodbeck transcribes in part.

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portals of speech. Again, the body stirs with a strange life; the eyes flash; the cheeks glow; the lips mutter words which, according to the character of the listener are the ravings of incoherent frenzy; or the revelations of prophetic inspiration.

Jan. 26, 1850

Equator 116 W. Yesterday we saw the first vehicle since we left Valparaiso. It was a brig, but too far away to see any details of it. So now we are passing the equator for the second time and we are closer to our destination.

Jan. 28, 1850

4 N. 117 W. The wind, which has been favourable since we have been sailing the Pacific, is getting gradually weaker.

Jan. 30, 1850

4 N. Since yesterday we experience a lack of wind and rain, the same as on the Atlantic at the same latitude. Hopefully, we will not be held up here as was the case there. Many sharks approached the ship up close and the helmsman tried to harpoon one of them, but was not lucky enough to do so.

Feb. 1, 1850
8 8 N. Yesterday we experienced a light northwest wind and then picked up the northwest trade winds shortly thereafter so here we go towards California. True, we lean toward the leeboard side and get a little more shook up than south of the equator, where we sailed the southwest trade winds which did not sway the ship.

Feb. 2, 1850
10 32 N., 120 W. Always moving ahead towards California. The weather is nice but we are rocking pretty hard and from time to time water hits the deck. 27 more
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and we will be at our destination. Everyone seems to sense it and often I hear people say that in 2 or 3 weeks, we will have to fend again for our food. What will we do first, after we land? Although I do not worry about succeeding in looking after myself, one cannot overlook the fact that the rainy season will not be over when we arrive and that San Francisco will be overcrowded and living quarters and jobs will be harder to find than in the summer when the gold hunters are in the mines. What I will do, I really do not know. As a foreigner and non-citizen, I will not be allowed to go into the mines because I heard here on board, as well as in Valparaiso, that foreigners will not be permitted in the mines. But, we shall see.

Feb. 4, 1850
14 41N., 123 W.

Feb. 5, 1850
16 51 N Steady north-east wind and nice weather.

Feb. 6, 1850
18 45 N., 125 W.

Feb. 7, 1850
20 10 N. The days are beginning to get shorter and the weather is foggy and cool, like autumn, so that one recognizes that the sun is summering the southern half of the globe and that we are again in the northern half.

Feb. 8, 1850
23 31 N., 128 W. Thanks to the north-east wind, which continues on and on, we have today passed the Tropic of Cancer. A nice day, although cool wind.

Feb. 9, 1850
26 N.
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Nice weather, good wind.

Feb. 11, 1850

28 15 N, 131 W. Sunday. Yesterday the old black moor was butchered, so that today we ate fresh pork, a good and scarce dish on board a ship, especially for a person who cannot stand to eat salt meat. The wind is changing a little more to the north and we are therefore forced to move more towards the west, even though we have already passed San Francisco, which is situated on 12 northern latitude.

Feb. 12, 1850

30 15 N. A nice day. The wind is diminishing and turning towards the east a little.

Feb. 15, 1850

33 8 N, 260 W. For two days we have had calm and although the weather is nice, it is not very warm, particularly at night it is cool. We see a kind of black albatross around here and we try with our rifles to shoot at them and I hit at the first shot (perhaps it was a bit of luck). I also had occasion these days to show my ability as a painter. Messrs Dana, two first class passengers, who are planning to establish themselves in business in San Francisco, noticed me drawing names on the luggage of some of our passengers. They asked me if I would be able to paint the sign for their house, which I answered in the affirmative. They brought out the boards immediately and I, like a real painter, painted BOUGHTON=DANA+CO., Stoves, Pipe, Iron & Tin Ware. It looked better than I dared to expect.

Feb. 16, 1850

This morning we hear the welcome clanging of the anchor chains, which are now ready on deck to be thrown overboard. Since we now have favourable wind, this should not be delayed for too long.

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Feb. 18, 1850.

36 10 N. The favourable wind is receding. This afternoon, a dark mass of clouds appear in the northwest, announcing a storm. The sailors are taking in the sails in a hurry. The storm approaches and wild waves surround us. A rough night is anticipated.

Feb 19, 1850

Same longitude as yesterday. The storm has not died down yet. During the night it was so rough that we could only sail with doubly knotted topsails. Since the north wind prevails, it is very cold, reminding us of the Cape Horn. Yesterday we sailed in an easterly direction so that we did not gain any distance. Towards evening the wind changed a bit to the west, so that we can now sail towards the north-east. But the wind is so strong and the sea so wild that we do not advance much.

Feb. 20, 1850

The storm died down during the night and this morning the sea was relatively calm. The wind is coming from the west, so that we can follow our course with considerable speed.

Feb. 21, 1850

This morning the weather changed from nice to dark clouds and then rain. At 9 a.m. we see land to our right. Sail ho, is commanded in frequent intervals. We are nearing our destination. Immediately in front of us, we see a number of rocky islands. The water is green, like everywhere close to the shore. We are approaching the coast which appears to be green. On the mountains one can see trees, probably pine and spruce. In the afternoon, we find ourselves near numerous ships. We see the entrance to the Bay of San Francisco. A pilot boat approaches. By means of a little boat, the pilot, a sailor with a face tanned by the elements climbs aboard our ship. The captain then asks him: What are the regulations here? Regulations, Sir? Pilot law established, Sir? Whats the pay? $8 a foot. He climbs to the quarterdeck . Down the helm! and he is now the commander of the ship. So here we are at the entrance to the harbour. In front of us the land, where we all hope to improve our temporal conditions. A strange feeling, an almost oppressing feeling, overtakes us unwillingly. Will our hopes and expectations
35

be fulfilled? That is the question which probably each of us asks himself, but only time will tell. We land at a big sand bar where big waves break on the shore. The anchor is rolled down! In front of us, San Francisco; in the bay an armada of ships. The city spreads up the hill. The entrance to the bay is very narrow, but the bay itself is large with the odd green island here and there. The surrounding mountains look quite friendly, now green, after the rainy season. The setting of San Francisco is not unlike Valparaiso, but the houses look more inviting, as they are mostly newly built and painted white. The harbourmaster, Captain King, came on board before we dropped anchor and he gave us the impression that everything seemed well organized in San Francisco. The captain, Dana, the elder, Laund and Andrew Jackson went to town in the captains boat. When they return we will learn more about how things are in California. Until now we have learnt that room and board is generally expensive; all other things inexpensive and labour very well paid. This sounds good to most of us passengers. On the other hand, Mr. Dana is very sad, as his shipment of stoves he has on the ship seems to be a bad speculation; in any case not very profitable.

Feb. 26, 1850.

When the captain and the passengers, who went to shore on the 21st, came back, they were stormed by everyone with all kinds of questions. The quintessence of their report was: nothing doing; knee-deep mud in the streets; room and board 12 to 16 dollars a week; gambling in all the taverns in short they were discouraged. But most of us were not, hoping to find some kind of occupation. The steamer to Sacramento was full of passengers destined for the mines. On February 22nd in the morning, we prepared to go ashore. The captain supplied us with a boat, which we had to return in the evening. Before long I was able to find a Mr. Woodruf for whom I had to deliver a letter from Messrs Wallis and Mathey of New York. I was half hoping to find a letter there for me, because the steamer from Panama arrived yesterday, but I was disappointed in my expectation. In the evening, all passengers returned on board. One of the passengers, Regevlos, a German, found a job as a cabinet maker. He receives 4 dollars a day plus room and board. On the 23rd we loaded our belongings on a boat and steered towards shore; but not to the dock where we would have had to pay half a dollar
36

for each bag, but we landed at Happy Valley. It is a place I would call a big city of tents outside San Francisco in the woods. Tents on tents, where blacksmiths, bakers, butchers and mostly ship builders have their shops. Five of us passengers had decided to live together. While two of us went to the city to buy a tent, the others searched for a location to set it up. The tent was put up on a hill from where we had a full view of all the ships in the harbour. Our trunks were put in the tent, our mattresses on top. We did not feel too comfortable the first night, but got used to the camping life before long.

March 4, 1850.
We are beginning to like our life in the woods. In the morning, we prepare our breakfast, thereafter we usually go to the city to either look up acquaintances, or to sell merchandise we brought along. Quickly, I sold ten musical clocks, which Mr. Cucodet of New York had given to me for $4 a piece. A set of drawing instruments, which I had also brought along, I was not able to get rid of too quickly, as hoped. Perhaps I will not obtain any more than I would have in New York for same. But I will have to sell it in order to gather enough money to go to the mines, which, as I hear, generally costs about $100. Mr. Benzinger, whose name I mentioned earlier, got so discouraged by the situation here that he decided to return to Valparaiso. Since he did not have the means, $150, he made an arrangement with the captain to pay for the trip in Valparaiso, which he will be able to do at any rate since his wife will have saved up this amount by now. In case he cannot pay, Mr. Dana will back him. Among the established, I got to know a Mr. Bischoff from Thun, associated with a Swiss named Fatton. When I told him, by the way, that I had a letter for Captain Sutter, he told me this would not help me because such a mass of arriving people had letters of recommendation for him. This made sense, but still, I would like to get to know the man personally whose name is known practically the world over. Naturally, my thinking is far from wanting to inconvenience and or burden the man in any way. But since my travelling companions probably want to go to the southern mines, I will probably not see Sacramento City this summer. Since the steamer Oregon sailed for Panama March 1st and since I want to inform my dear mother of my arrival here as soon as possible, I also wrote to my friend S.M. at the same time. Before I go to the mines, I also want to write to my friend Krattiger. Yesterday I tried to learn about the whereabouts of Mr. Kruger, a German, to whom I had to deliver a letter from New York.
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At Mr. Russs, a German also, I learnt that the latter had left for the northern mines about 14 days ago. Russ is operating a boarding house and has been here 4 years. He told me he owns several city lots and is therefore very comfortable. A certain Rosenmund, a hatter, from Liestal, supposedly went to Sacramento a few days ago and it could be that he might have a letter from my uncle Hagler for me. I am almost tempted to write to Captain Sutter to ask if he might be in possession of a letter for me. Here on top of our hill, we are living in rather pleasant fashion. Of course, when it rains, we have to move into the tent and even then we are not entirely sure of not getting wet. We consider this a good training school for life in the mines. Also, we live here a lot cheaper than we would in the city. To pay 14 dollars a week for room and board per head is monstrous compared to our expenses here, which were only 7 dollars last week for all of us. True, we still had flour bought in Valparaiso and some other things which we could not have used in the city, but are serving us very well here. Sunday, a week ago, I went to attend services at the Baptist church with three of my friends the church was jam packed. It was a typically colonial type of congregation, i.e. only about 13 females in the audience and half a dozen children, which shows the proportion of female and male population in San Francisco. Last Sunday (yesterday) friend Chambers and I climbed a hill on the other side of the city where we enjoyed a wonderful view of the bay. In front of us vineyards, cities and villages along the bay. How better to compare it all than to the Lake of Geneva region. Now a word about my 4 companions: 1) The oldest one, I believe, is K. K. Lee from Brooklyn. He operated a hat store on Chatam Street in New York and since the business was perhaps not too lucrative, he came to California. He is very undecided and slow to move and if he comes along with us to the mines, we will have more trouble with him than with any of the others. Admittedly, this is hard to judge in advance, because illness can strike the strongest as well as the weakest. As he told us, he has a young wife at home. 2) Henry A. Hovey, a coach maker from Boston, is a man in his forties. He limps, due to an injury years ago on his left leg. He is what they call in the States a Shrewd Yankee. Besides that, he is a straight, honest and religious man. He belongs to the Baptist church; he has a wife, two sons and two daughters. One of his sons works in a trading company in New York, the others are in Boston. Hovey is more or less considered our president.
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3) Henry Katker is a Prussian, already 10 years in the U.S. He is in his thirties, has not much education and is used to life in the fast lane. In Patterson, where he worked in a foundry for a few years, he seems to have gone to Sunday school and he is now very religious. Every second sentence he says is: If it is the will of the Lord and he reads the Bible all the time. But on the other hand, his lust for the yellow metal is also strong. Despite his broken English, he is very easy to get along with. 4) David Chambers from Albany, a carriage maker, is about 30 years old and one of the strongest fellows we have on board. Whether he is married or not I could not find out as yet, because he never answers the question seriously. He is a straight man, the way I know him. He is close to Hovey. With Lee, Hovey and Chambers we have three old fellows and it is true, they hold together a bit. But I think I will soon be considered as one of them, although I have not yet had the honour to pass my initiation. We shall see when we return from the mines.

Mar. 8, 1850
We have been here more than two weeks and I have not been bored yet. We have been spending our days partly in the city, partly here on top of the little hill at our tent. Last Sunday, Chambers and I and Hovey went on board Mr. Spragne to get a wagon belonging to Hovey. Because of the strong tide and the strong wind, the ship drifted further out into the bay and so the captain kept us on board for two days, where we worked hard and stayed in the first class cabins. When we left, the captain gave us each $5.00. At the same time, he told us that it would be agreeable to him if we would stay on board the ship to help him work. He would pay us $2 per day plus first class accommodation. But because we wanted to leave for the mines soon and Chambers having to make two machines for gold washing, I dont know if we would leave or not. At any rate, I would have to go back to the ship to change the lettering on the sign that I painted to read Dana Brothers because the associate Boughton is thinking of going back to the U.S. The Dana brothers are still living on the ship. Also last week I had to paint the name on a sailboat for which I received one dollar. Thursday evening, during dinner, the elder Dana said that he saw Captain Sutter that day in the city. So I thought I might see him, too, and I went on shore Friday. When I asked at Bischoffs where I might perhaps find him, he gave me a strange reply. He said that he did not know and that Sutter did not bother with new arrivals. Therefore, I gave up the search, as
39

I thought a better chance might present itself later. However, I would have liked to know if there was a letter there for me.

Mar. 16, 1850

When we arrived here, we were told that the rainy season was over, but we had to learn otherwise. It is true, no day goes by without sunshine for a few hours, but the nice weather seems interrupted by lots of rain showers then two or three days follow without rain. We are now getting ready for our departure to the mines. Right now Hovey and Katker are in town to find out the possibilities on how to get to Stockton. Chambers is very busy making cradles.20 These are sold here for $14-$25 a piece, but we get them at less cost. Two of our trunks supply the necessary boards and the sheet metal for two machines costs $4, so that even by having to give Chambers something, we pay much less. If possible we will leave next Tuesday, even though people generally are saying its rather early. Everybody says it is too early, but everyone is leaving. Yesterday I wrote friend Krattiger, but Ill bring the letter to the post office only Monday. Lee wishes very much to stay here longer because he is afraid his health would be affected by the rainy weather.

March 18, 1850.

The new moon seems to have changed the weather somewhat because since the change of the moon, we have rather steady nice weather. Yesterday, Sunday, I was at a place about four miles from San Francisco, called the Mission. The settlement is composed of a number of low houses, built of clay, covered with hollow clay roofs, the same type as in Valparaiso. The Jesuites, who were here as missionaries, built a church here.

March 21, 1850.

Finally, we have decided to leave San Francisco to go to the southern mines. The steamship to Stockton costs $25 and the sailing boats usually ask $12. But Mr. Hovey found a man who has a sailboat and wants to take us for $10. Mind you, it is only an open boat, but we can sleep under a canvas just as well as in a tent. Here we are now on board in the bay and enjoy the panorama
20 These are used to wash gold.

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in natura of San Francisco, hearing the knocking and hammering of the house builders and the monotonous singing of sailors unloading ships. San Francisco, also called Buena Herba, was two years ago, as eyewitnesses assured me, nothing but a poor hamlet of a few houses. Now it is an important city, although the wooden houses and tents are witness to the fact that everything is done in a hurry. There is busy activity everywhere: streets leveled, docks built, etc. After one year in the mines, coming back here, we will certainly see the place much changed. It is easily possible that a house will stand where we broke camp this morning and that Happy Valley will no longer be a camp area, but will look like a city. Yesterday I visited with Messrs Bischoff and Fatton (Washington St. between Montgomery and Kaarny St.) and handed them the drawing instruments set with the instruction to sell it on commission for $25, if possible. Our group has changed somewhat. Mr. Lee, who found life on board of a small boat too uncomfortable, decided to travel to Stockton by steamer. Whether he will actually do it, I dont know, since, as he mentioned, he was offered a position as head waiter at the Bryants Hotel with a monthly salary of $150. In his place we took on another member, or more or less an associate member by the name of Frank Winslow, a passenger of the first class and relative of the captain. He wanted to go into the mines with us. Since we ended up not having enough space in our tent, he bought himself his own tent and wants to put it up alongside ours. On board of this small boat are four other passengers, Mexicans from Mazatlan, two men and two women. At 4 p.m. we left San Francisco and moved with a good breeze across the bay into the Bay of Pueblo, where we anchored for the night. It was disagreeable, it rained and in the morning my wool blanket was wet and therefore, so was I, and I got a cold which I got rid of the next day by smoking camphor cigarettes.

March 25, 1850.

The second day it rained almost continuously and it was quite cold. We passed the newly built city of Benicia during the evening and we passengers then retired to sleep. When we awoke in the morning, the boat was anchored; several ships were around us. On a nearby picturesque plateau, we see a few houses. It is New York-on-the Pacific. Our captain set us ashore so that we could move our legs a little to help our blood circulation. We found a place for breakfast, which we needed, which cost $1.00 per person. Between San Francisco and New York-on-the-Pacific we enjoyed the sight of green, pretty hills and mountains. Outside New York, the area is
41

flat and swampy. At this town, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Rivers join. We had to follow the latter, but we could not make much headway because of lack of wind. Towards evening on the 23rd, we rammed into a sandbank and got stuck. The low tide had been moving the water down, so that we could do nothing but wait patiently for nine hours until the high tide got us re-floated. Chambers, Hovey, the captains helper and I went ashore in a rowboat and set a fire in order to cook supper. The captains helper, Lorenzo, returned back to the sailboat with the rowboat when he saw that the prairie, which extends for miles and miles to the Sacramento River, was on fire and was moving in a crooked line towards us. Happily for us, the grass along the river, about a 20-foot strip, had already been burnt. In this situation, we did not have to fear that the fire would bother us. The dark sky descended on us and the fire moved closer. It was a beautiful view. The crackling and crashing contributed to make what we saw as a romantic experience. On the other side of the river, there was fire also, it was nice. We stayed on shore until 11 p.m. We drank our tea and ate our fried pork and then returned to the sailboat, which re-floated at around midnight. In the early morning, we sailed again. Before long, we felt the current of the river away from the influence of the tide. In all my life I have never seen a river that meanders like the San Joaquin. We saw several schooners stuck. We were lucky to be sailing in a small boat, being able to maneuver around the bends very well. At eight oclock in the evening we arrived in Stockton. We stayed the night on board. We had breakfast for $1 (another place charged $1.50) and set up our tent about a mile from the landing. Stockton is situated on a branch of the river looking almost like a lake, in a big plain, which extends almost 60 miles towards the mountains. Behind Stockton, in the plain, grow lots of oak trees. Mules and cattle are grassing everywhere in this flatland. The streets in Stockton are very, very muddy. Whereas the soil is sandy in San Francisco, here it is clay, with half a foot of humus on top. In only a few years, Stockton will be an important town. Among the signs, I found the name Mathey familiar to me from New York. Mr. Mathey, located a story above Chas. Gagnebin, was established as a watch importer. He then moved to California and now, as I could see, operates a general store by the name of French & Mathey. I think I will go and see him.

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March 26, 1850.

Last night it was rainy. Towards midday it cleared and no clouds around Mount Diablo, the highest mountain in the area, south-west of here, a sign of nice weather, the captain said. For lunch we will cook salt pork and beans. The pork costs 30 cents and beans 12 cents a pound.

March 29, 1850.

Calaveros River. Life in Stockton comes to an end. Yesterday at 1 p.m. we left Stockton. We loaded our belongings on a cart and had to pay $20 per 100 lbs to the mines (San Antonio). The baggage of our group (5) amounted to 238 lbs, my own 48 lbs, so that the trip from Stockton to the mines cost me about $20. It is now 6 p.m.; we arrived three hours ago here at the Calaveros River. One has to cross it by a small ferry. So many passengers are waiting that it looks like one or two days of waiting in order to cross. However, it so happens that a veteran of the Mexican War has his bags on our cart and since he knows the ferryman, we will be able to cross tonight at around 9 p.m. when the moon shines. The river is only about 20 feet wide and during the summer, one can drive through with carts, but now the water is too deep. The carts are being unloaded, taken apart and ferried across. The mules and oxen are chased across the river. The ferry costs dollar per person. The stretch of road about 6 miles from Stockton was extremely bad, bottomless. It reminded me of the road from Benken to Neuweiler, particularly when the cart got stuck. From that point on, the road was very good. We now pass through a beautiful valley between hills, through meadows with healthy grass growth, and if fruit trees would replace the oak trees, life could be very pleasant here. Too bad one cannot see any fruit trees at all.

March 31, 1850, Easter.

Yesterday at 8 a.m., we left Calaverus River which we crossed, not without getting wet the night before. The road led us through pretty, flowery, grassy hills and in the distance one could see mountains covered with forest and in the background the snow-capped Sierra Nevada. Since we left Stockton, I have not seen one female person. But travelers belonging to another cart drew our attention to one such creature. Without their pointing out the person to us, we would never have recognized that someone from the opposite sex was travelling among us.
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Everyone would have thought to be looking at a 16-year-old, slightlybuilt boy. Our co-travelling lady was in company of two Frenchman from New Orleans and was either French or Creole. A red shirt, white jacket, blue slacks, an old powder horn on the belt, a pretty face covered with a widebrimmed felt hat, made her look like a handsome young boy. Last evening we crossed the Calaverus the second time and now we are camping along its shore, between mountains sparsely forested with oak and pine trees.

April 1, 1850.
Easter did not pass without the odd rain shower, not heavy enough to get wet to the skin, though. We hiked over mountains and through valleys, forded cold mountain streams and arrived finally in a narrow valley only about a mile from San Antonio and since there is no road to the place, we had to set up our tent here. This morning our carter headed back and two of my companions and I took off to have a look at San Antonio. A footpath along a brook led us, after a short climb to the place, which is composed of a number of tents located on a level spot along the river. Gold diggers are very busy digging big holes into the ground and sifting and washing the earth by means of cradles. If and when any heavy, yellow metal is left they put it into a leather bag. I watched for a while and saw how two men each found about $10 worth of gold in a short time. Today is voting day in San Antonio for the Calaverus district. This is probably the reason why we noticed so many idle people. The inhabitants are all male with the exception of four or five squaws. At the entrance of the official town tent, I found the regulations of the company of San Antonio. One paragraph specifies that gold diggers who are U.S. citizens have the right to an area sixteen square feet of ground. We returned to our encampment and Chambers, Winslow and Katker went up to try a pit to see if they could find anything. I would be sorry if they would suffer a first of April joke.

April 2, 1850.
I also went digging a hole yesterday and washed the red earth without finding even a particle of gold, so it was a real April Fools day for me. Chambers went for a second time to San Antonio this afternoon and met a friend of Hoveys who used to be in business in San Francisco and is now digging for gold here (named Godman). The latter came down in the evening and gave us bad news about the yield of the local mines during this time of the year,
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because the water level of the river is still too high to be able to work in. He intends to leave here and go to the mines on the Macalamne Hill.

April 4, 1850.
Today Katker and I were busy digging and found gold for about $8.

April 6, 1850.
The day before yesterday Winslow, homesick from life in the mines, went back to San Francisco. He sold a few of his things and obtained a good price for them, i.e. two Brateither picks $7, and axe $2. etc. Yesterday afternoon Hovey and Chambers also returned to Stockton so that Katker and I are now alone. We bought from our returning friends their portion of the tent and provisions. Hovey did not feel well and the profitability in the mines is so insignificant at this time of year that he prefers to perhaps work as a house painter in Stockton.

April 7, 1850 (Sunday).

Yesterday Katker and I transported all of our belongings from our encampment up to San Antonio. We set up our tent on the left side of the river, opposite San Antonio, right beside Godmans tent; therefore we did not get any work done yesterday. Life is expensive here when one realizes that a pound of bread costs dollar. More reasonable is fresh beef, which can be bought at dollar, but is not always available. Vegetables are not available, except potatoes at dollar per pound. Katker and I do not have much gold yet; tomorrow we will check just how much our work has brought in. It is a real mountain life here and the area can easily be compared with the stretch between Laufen and Saugeren along the Birs River.21 This afternoon I plan to take a hike with my rifle to the surrounding mountains, but by myself. White Sunday in Benken, I would spend so much differently if I was there. Not that I wished to be there now, but it is my dearest wish to be there one day again and to see the places where I picked flowers as a child, played ball as a boy and loved as a young man but hold it this is too sentimental for the mountains of California. Strange, how it goes in life. As a boy I always thought perhaps not to become an important man, but at least to somehow distinguish myself and now I am in the second half of my twenties and what have I accomplished? Instinctively, the
21 About 20 km. from Benken, as the crow flies.

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question arises: Could I have done something else? It is very possible that I could have done something else, but how does one have the same experience at age 15 than at 27?

April 14, 1850

Katker and I worked all week and we now have washed gold for approximately $35. Until now, we always paid our groceries with coins, but yesterday we paid for the first time with gold nuggets. The gold digging and washing in the hot sun and always standing in the water is hard work. But when one looks at the little pile of gold nuggets in the evening and realizes that one received good pay for the labour, one forgets the tiredness and the hard work. Then, happily one goes back to the camping place, cooks supper then lies down on a bed of pine branches wrapped in a wool blanket. Before long, one forgets the hard day in a sweet sleep. Of course, it is very disagreeable to wake up at night or towards morning with cold feet. During the day it is tremendously hot, however, the second half of the night is very cold. Spring is in an advanced stage, the hills are full of flowers, the hardwood trees clothed in fresh green. It is conspicuous that one cannot find any fruit trees at all. Our daily menu is very uniform. In the beginning we bought bread from a Frenchman, who had established a bakery, but we found out soon that it was less expensive for us to buy flour at 40 cents a pound than dollar for a pound of bread. This way in the mornings we make coffee, fry bacon and then fry our flower in its fat to produce something like a pancake, mind you, without eggs. At noon, ditto, and in the evening tea and ditto. From time to time we alternate a little. Usually on Saturdays cattle traders come along with herds of oxen. On Sundays a few are butchered and we can cook our beans with fresh beef. The oxen traders and their workers are mostly Mexicans. They are on horseback and it is curious to see how quickly they ride up and down steep mountains, swinging their lasso, driving the oxen in the right direction.

May 2, 1850.
Tomorrow we will probably leave San Antonio to go to San Angelo camp. Since we have been here, we have dug and washed about 13 ounces of gold which at $16 per ounce equals $208, or $104 for each of us, or $4 per day. The cost of living is about $1 per day, resulting in a net of $3 per day. Many days we produced $20, other days only $2. The riverbank, where we worked,
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is now totally dug through and we now have no choice but to try our luck elsewhere. Godman and another company went to San Angelo and we want to follow them to see if there is anything to be done there. The mule, which will carry our things, will cost us $6 per day. I wish my mother could have my 5 ounces of gold; she could probably use it, as April 15th has just passed.22

May 7, 1850
Hidden Diggins. We did not move to Angels camp, but along the northern arm of the Calaverus near the Macalamie. The rumour went around that the mines are very rich here, but in possession of the Mexicans and that the Yankees wanted to take over. We left San Antonio on the 3rd at 4 p.m. with another group comprised of four Americans and Godmans young apprentice. We had 2 mules and one horse and we hiked that evening about 8 miles deep into the night. We set up, or better, hung our tent on a tree. Early in the morning we got up and followed ONeils River for 4 miles in a westerly direction, then changed towards north. We passed pretty, flowery hills and arrived at the northern branch of the Calaverus River at a place where about 70 Chinese camped and were busy washing gold. From there our road led us along a small brook uphill, between mountains, then sometimes very steep, sometimes more flat. Many times the path was so steep on side hills, that the mules had to tread very carefully in order not to slip. It is curious to see how they sure-footedly pass the dangerous spots with a load of 300 to 350 pounds. Finally we reached the top of the mountain. At our feet, deep down at the Calaverus was the Spanish camp. Downhill we went. It was steep, very steep. Mexicans, Indians, Chinese, Americans and Frenchmen had set up their tents and huts made from branches on both shores of the river. We waded across it for the third time, then climbed up the hill on the other side and set up camp under a tree. Never before since I have been in the mines have I seen as many mules and horses together as here. Almost every Spaniard owns a mule or a horse. Deep into the night (it was Saturday) lasted music, song and the donkey braying all night long. Early Sunday morning we saddled the animals again. Little me mounted the better mule and drove the other two back to San Antonio where I arrived in the evening. I rode the whole distance. At the dangerous spot, I left the bridle completely loose.

22

Mortgage payment due date.

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Since I left Benken, I never rode a horse, but in spite of it this ride did not tire me in the least, because one sits very comfortably in the Californian saddles, almost like in an arm chair. Monday morning, the same way back to Hidden Diggins in the evening.

May 19, 1850 (Pentecost).

We found the yield in the mines here better than in San Antonio. Katker and I divided our gold yesterday. Each of us is now in possession of 10 ounces. Our companions, however, are not all very satisfied and wish to go elsewhere. There is talk that a Mexican dug up 50 lbs in a canyon near an Indian camp, but was chased away by the Indians, ending up with three arrow wounds. The place is about ten miles up river. Whether this story is true or not, I do not know. But I am tempted to make an excursion to the place. Last Sunday I was with two of my companions at a location called The Rich Gulch, where there was very profitable mining activity since last summer and where very rich deposits were found recently. This caused the diggers there to dig very deep about thirty foot ditches to divert the water. The place is about 6 to 8 miles from here, but mountainous, therefore difficult to move to. Tomorrow is Pentecost Monday! Oh boy. I will now take out my little Spanish grammar book and study it a little.

May 26, 1850 (North Branch Calaverus)

Last Monday, we, i.e. a group of about 15 men, took off for the Indian camp to find the rich placeras. We were all armed, had food for two days, shovels and pick axes for digging, as well as our wool blankets. In the afternoon, we reached the spot where the Indians had camped but had left that morning. The fires were still burning, the huts intact, but the Indians were gone. We spent the afternoon partly looking for the Indians, partly digging for gold, both without success. The next morning, most of the group returned to Hidden Diggings, or how the Spaniards called it Jesus Maria. Five of us wanted to do more research. We followed the river upstream right up to its spring. There, the terrain was more flat and I found the most beautiful pines and cedar trees that I had ever seen. We continued our hike. Finally, the forest opened up and before us was a relatively large flat area, in the background the Sierra Nevada, where the Macalami23, situated more to the north, has its source. We turned to the north and ended up, after passing
23 Mokelumne River

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through a narrow winding canyon, to the North Branch of the Calaverus, where there was only a little brook. It was impossible to follow it too winding. We were therefore forced to climb a nearby mountain situated across from the brook, by returning and following its crest westward. Then, down it went, very steeply back to two branches of brooks joining. We then tried to follow the river, but we had to climb across cliffs several times. Finally, we found a footpath which led us to a mountain and from its summit we saw smoke rising from the depth of the valley. Thinking that gold hunters had set up camp here, we descended to the place, but recognized by the sound of barking dogs that we had arrived at an Indian camp. An old Indian, completely nude, approached us and received us at the entrance of his hut with the Indian greeting Wale! Wale! (friend, friend). The squaws and children ran into their huts, wrapped themselves into their wool blankets from where they stared at us and we, I think, probably did the same. An Indian boy spoke Spanish, as did one of our group. We learnt about a path snaking along the brook, which we took, exchanging goodbyes. Wale and Adios. After about two hours, we arrived at the first mines on the North Branch of the Calaverus. From there, we followed a comfortable footpath and reached without any incident, but very tired, our tents at Jesus Maria in the evening. Friday the 24th we moved our belongings to the North Branch of the Calaverus, about an hour from Jesus Maria, to try our luck here. However, until today, we have found nothing. All we produced last week was $10 worth, which is not sufficient to cover our expenses. Today is probably the first Sunday dance at Flueh and I sense I can hear Eggseppli24 saying Herrschaft Chnabe!25

June 2, 1850
Not much produced last week, but hoping to do better next week. All in all, we do not hear any good news from the mines. Some of the gulches are waterless and the water levels are too high in the rivers to be able to dig with any success. Many diggers are preparing to cross the Sierra Nevada next month, because it is generally believed that the mines across the mountains are supposed to be very good.

24 25

Local farmer outside the village of Flueh (Switzerland) Wow boys!

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June 9, 1850
Perseverance is a big word. Last week we had to fight many obstacles in order to be able to work. The water bothered us, big rocks bothered us, but untiring industriousness helped us to overcome our difficulties. Yesterday, when we divided, each of us received over 6 ounces of the yellow metal. Five of us worked together and it takes all day to ladle out the water. The three men working with us are Ezra Randolph Evie from Maryland, John Dowell from Virginia and William Booth from Canada (Godmans apprentice). A nice joke was played on us last week when one evening we came back to our camp and found that the mules had eaten all our salt, bread, flour, etc. Instead of grazing they decided to go through our tents. Last week we bought flour at the cheapest price since we have been in the mines, at $15 per 100 lbs. Today I wrote to Bischoff and Fatton in San Francisco.

June 16, 1850

Once more I received my share yesterday $70 for last week, so that I am now in possession of about $370, of which I owe friend Samuel and Cuendet about $300 for the trip down to San Francisco and back to the mines, I have to figure $70. What I gain from now on I will be able to send to my mother when I go to San Francisco in about August if God keeps me in good health. Here one realizes very well how much good health is worth. If a man is sick here, not only can he not earn anything, but the doctor charges one ounce per visit, i.e. 4 Doubloons. Medication is enormously expensive and the simplest lifestyle costs $1 per day. I had in mind to go to Macalami Hill today with Evie and W. Booth, but since I started reading the Memoirs de la jeunesse by Lamartine last week, I prefer to stay here today and read; in spirit to go to Italy, to visit the island of Ischia and to see Graziella. It is comforting to read something about the world. Even though the people I am in company with are mostly well brought up and educated, one misses the stimulus of life, the female sex. Of course, we do have a number of squaws in the vicinity, but in their features one cannot find the magnetism and the attraction that I believe we find only in the face of a female of the Caucasian race. In Lamartines memories of youth we find two sentences about: 1) Fortunate is the person, to whom God has given the blessing to have been born in a good and devout family. It is the greatest blessing of his lot. And 2) If time has wings, then the interest on capital borrowed has the speed
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and the weight of a locomotive. The two statements are in my opinion as two times two equals four.

June 23, 1850

A hundred dollars more in the pouch; last week hard work has paid off well. As we were digging last week we found proof that the water level here in the mountains must have been much higher in the distant past as it is now. Where there are valleys and gulches now, there were lakes before. In the canyon, or better the gulch where we work, we found, when digging a deep hole, parts of fish fins, fish bones and even leftovers of fish meat. The soil in this hole was black from all of these decomposed animal parts. Either there must have been a whole mass of fish in this hole, or one extremely big one. The rather big leftover fish bones point to the latter. We did not, however, bother very much with historical nature research, because our business has more to do with metallurgy than zoology. One gets the impression that we have several Indian camps around us, because every day we have Indians around our tents. Yesterday about five men and 10 squaws passed by here. The men carried nothing but bows and arrows and the women were loaded to the gills with acorns, which they carry in cone shaped baskets on their backs, with belts fixed around their foreheads. They dry the acorns, then put them into round holes in the cliffs. They cook some kind of mush with it. But I believe only the acorn of the white oak is eatable. The squaw is nothing but the slave and the beast of burden to the male Indian.

July 7, 1850
Two weeks have passed since I have written anything. Unfortunately, this time I cannot say like 14 days ago: A hundred dollars more. No, this time we were not so lucky in finding gold. We did not earn much more than our board money. Courage! Perhaps it will get better. Today, John T. Dowell received 4 letters from home and I none! The express brought none for me, how come? Did my letters perhaps get burnt in San Francisco? How much would I have liked to get news from home and New York; how much would I have liked to pay the postal charge from San Francisco to the mines, $2 per letter. The word pleasure with reference to life in the mines should be removed from our vocabulary. My only pleasure is to shoot my rifle on Sundays and to think that different times may come. Also, I believe it worthwhile to have to miss a few things while trying to work to gain something. How much different I see the situation of
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things now, compared to the time of my departure from New York. At that time, I had hoped to earn as much as to be able to perhaps help my family during hard times. But since I have been here, I have learnt to realize that wealth is not acquired very quickly as so many overheated heads in the States and in Europe falsely imagine. I was certainly not one of those who expected to see everything to be gold, but I expected better than what I encountered. However, patience, perhaps things will get better. Even if I earn only a little, so what? I will make out wherever I go and when I return to Switzerland even without a few thousand dollars, I will have the satisfaction to have seen something of the world. To be sure, to return to Switzerland right now is out of the question. To stay the course wrote my friend Jakob Kleiber and I must and will stay the course.

July 14, 1850

And again another week has passed, during which I have produced little. A (bad) consolation, that others have not done much better. Last Monday night, until Tuesday morning, we heard a noise and screaming from a nearby Indian camp. Not knowing the meaning of it, four of us went over to the camp. As we approached, we saw eight men and three squaws sitting in a circle around a big fire. With outstretched arms they wailed and moaned. An old Indian, who visits us often, and to whom we give bread and meat once in a while, stoked and looked after the fire. He approached us and explained to us, as well as possible, in a few Spanish words, mixed with Indian ones, but best explained with his gestures, that a young chief died yesterday, due to excessive drinking of whiskey and that they are burning the deceased and therefore the lamentation. We got closer to the fire and saw leftovers of human bones in it which the old Indian from time to time scraped into a small round hole, which they had dug for the purpose close to the fire. All the moaners, presumably the friends and relatives of the young chief, had strong smelling leaves stuck in their nostrils to keep out the nauseous odour. Among them was the old man, whom we met during our excursion to the source of the North Calaverus. We stood there for awhile, observing the sad drama, then went down the hill to the Indian camp itself. It was abandoned. As I have learnt since, the Indians leave their camps after every death occurrence.

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July 25, 1850 (North Calaverus).

(Jamb Christ) Tuesday, the 16th, once again, we loaded our belongings on our backs and hiked about a mile down to the North Calaverus where we set up our tents. On the 17th, we started to work and yesterday we were able to divide enough that everyone received five ounces. Here I met a Swiss from Kuettigen, Canton Aargau, by the name of Sam Bolliger. He arrived here as a soldier with the engineers of the American army and is, as easily suspected, a rather wild and carefree fellow. Yesterday, he left with a group to cross the Sierra Nevada. For two days I have suffered from a cold. I suffer from an earache and a cough, too. I got rid of it by keeping warm and by smoking a campher cigarette.

Sept. 5, 1850
Today is my name day. More than a month has passed since I have written anything. Carelessness must be one reason, absence another for not writing. I had planned to go to San Francisco towards the end of the year. Since I received no news neither from New York, nor from home, and since I had gathered quite an amount, at least enough to be able to pay back the money Samuel lent me, I decided to go down to San Francisco to pay my debt and possibly to receive news. I had thought about all kinds of possibilities, why I did not receive any letters, also perhaps S. Mrillat might be in San Francisco, awaiting my arrival there and holding all my letters for me which was an important consideration. August 15th I left my companions on the Calaverus and hiked over to the Makolumne, in a north-easterly direction. This river is bigger and the valley it flows through much wider than the Calaverus. After crossing the river, which I was able to do across a dam, I asked about the direction to Sacramento City, where I had never been and wanted to see. Someone showed me the way and up the mountain I hiked in a good mood. At the summit, I found a trail leading to Sacramento. Not long after, a wagon with two horses rattled behind me; this was something I had not seen in months. How much do I have to pay to ride with you to Sacramento? Ten dollars! Dont you think eight might be enough? No, I always ask the same price! OK and I hopped on the wagon. Down it went through Jackson Creek, I noticed the last of the mines. Further down in the plain, as the evening approached, we stopped near a tent, where a man with his wife from Illinois lived. He wants to build a house and operate a tavern and raise cattle. We ate supper and were served sweet, fresh milk.
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At night I laid down under the wagon, on the dry grass and slept marvelously. The next day our road led us by Hicks Ranch and we saw his herds of cattle and horses. He is supposed to own four thousand. Further down, we forded through the Cosumnes River after travelling through an area of rolling hills for about twenty miles, where there were no trees to be seen and the dry grass was burnt. Sad, it looked like a desert and if we had not carried water with us, our throats would have suffered considerably. At five oclock we arrived in Brighton, a town about five miles from Sacramento. The flag on the hotel was at half mast because of the deaths caused by the riot the day before. Among them was the sheriff of Sacramento. The riot was started by the behaviour of the so-called squatters who claimed that all the documents of law in connection with sales of real estate in the area of Sacramento were null and void and that only the right of free settlement (squatting) was legal. Two miles further down on the American River, we reached Sutters Fort, which is now converted into two hospitals and a hotel. The fort is built with unfired bricks. It could have withheld an attack by savages, but not by real white mens onslaughts. A great big piece of land surrounds the fort, giving it a friendly look with its greenery, which contrasts with the red and dry land in the greater area. Before long, we reached the city. We encountered lively goings on and the tree stumps in the streets proved that the city has not been in existence very long. At the dock I met a Swiss by the name of Eugne Mroz from Souvillier, Canton Bern and being countrymen, we decided to travel together, as he wanted to go to San Francisco also. He was 14 days in the northern mines and wanted to return to San Francisco to start another business. Because of the less expensive fare, we boarded a small sailboat again and it took 3 days to do the trip, and disagreeably enough. Day and night we were tormented by mosquitoes it was pitiful. Towards the end of the trip, we had nothing to eat and we shivered from the cold. Finally, we sailed across the choppy bay into San Francisco. I was surprised to find the city so much bigger and beautified. I went with Mroz to see some of his friends who came with him from Marseilles. He told them: My friend is your friend! So I stayed with them during my whole time in San Francisco. Bischoff & Fatton were burnt down. The first is now in Elisaville in the northern mines and the latter in Mazatlan. No letter for me at the post office either. After landing I met Luedin from Muellheim and he told me that other Swiss had arrived and that one of them had a letter for me.
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I met Pfirter and a Glor from Birsfelden and a Pfirter and an Allinger from Basel, as well as a brother of a Rosenmund from Liestal, who had come to California earlier. Glor had a letter from Krattiger that told me that he was most probably on his way to California. Luedin also brought me a few lines from Thuerkauf. S. Mrrilat communicated that everything with him was as before. This is why I sold my gold and had a draft made out by Adams & Co. here drawn on their firm in New York for 350 dollars to pay back Mrillat to include an amount for the music boxes I sold for Eugne Cuendet. At the same time I decided to have some merchandise sent here. Since Mroz is a watchmaker, we thought to be able to sell some items relating to his business. The balance of my money I would have liked to send to my mother, but because Mroz did not have enough money to start the business and because I hoped to partner with him later in the enterprise, I gave him 80 dollars. This way he will start something and if it succeeds, he will write me. After having looked after everything, I prepared myself to go to the mines. I went with two other Swiss men on board the steamer Capitaine Sutter, John Wittenwiler of Werdenberg, Canton St. Galln and Joseph Rampini from Roveredo, Canton Graubuenden. Wittenwilers family is in Philadelphia and Rampini came with Mroz from Marseilles. The Capitaine Sutter brought us to Saison Bay and because the boiler could not hold the steam pressure anymore, we had no choice but to return to San Francisco. The fare money was returned to us and we ended up boarding a new steamer Maryposa which delivered us to Stockton, where we arrived at noon on August 31st. Mr. Mathey was still there and I met Hovey and Chambers who had found very good work. Hovey suffered from dysentery and was feeling very weak. Sunday we left on foot to the mines. Nights we slept under trees, of course. On the way, I got to know a man from Geneva named Eugne Gourcier. On the third day of our trip we got lost and were unable to find our camp and had not eaten since breakfast. On the fourth morning, I met with one of my old comrades, who ended up a bit downstream from where we camped earlier. Today, I am accompanying John T. Dowell, who is on his way to San Francisco, as far as Rich Gulch. Tomorrow I will start to work with Wittenwiler and Rampini.

Sept. 22, 1850 (Swiss federal Thanksgiving)

Since we have been working here, we have not been very lucky. We have produced little more than our expenses. But, courage, perhaps it will get
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better. Since we have been here, we have already had two rain showers, which for us was unusual, having not seen a drop of rain all summer. This kind of prepares us for the coming rainy season. Last week Evie and William Booth left us to move down river along the Calaverus. They bought a mule, but such a wild one that it was almost impossible to put on the bridle, never mind trying to catch the animal when loose. When I tried to put the bridle on it, it took off and threw me on the ground with the lasso, which William had let loose. The ground was full of pointy rocks and I ended up with a wounded hand, which prevented me from doing much work with it today. In the morning Katker left to go to the grocery stores. When he came back he told me that there was a letter for me at Rich Gulch. Since I also injured my right foot and therefore could hardly walk, Wittenwiler and Rampini went to fetch it for me. By looking at the address on the envelope I could see it was Samuels writing and by the thickness I presumed there would be a letter in it from home. And there it was, as I have guessed. Samuel is the agent for the firm F.U.L. & F., Bravo! I expected something like this. At home they are making money and are taking the mill back again into their own hands. Bravo! Again. I dont know where the letter got stuck for such a long time. It is marked New York 28 May. Now I am thinking to confirm receipt and to send my letter to San Francisco in order to catch the steamer, which will leave on October 15th. How happy I am to have had news again from home and New York, how happy I am that things are going well at both places. If I could only expect to receive a second letter soon.

Oct. 5, 1850
Today, Evie and William came back and together we moved again up river to our old camp location. Thats why we did not work today. Evie and William had the idea of opening up a store in the mines, which is the reason they went to Stockton. They changed their mind, however. Sunday, I had hoped to find a letter from Mroz at Rich Gulch, but I was disappointed in my expectation. The yield in the last two weeks was insignificant and of all the things I wrote home recently, I only regret the sentence where I told my mother: 8 dollars a day are better than 4 Batzen.26 Since I have been back from San Francisco, I made 8 dollars on only one particular day. But perhaps better times will come again.

26

One Batzen = 20 centimes.

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Oct. 9, 1850
Today I took a letter for S.M. dated and written the 6th to Rich Gulch, hopefully, it will arrive in San Francisco in time to leave there the 15th.

Oct. 20, 1850

Expecting to find a letter from Mroz at Rich Gulch. I went there today but was disappointed in my expectation. At the same time, we bought groceries there, but had to pay 22 cents per pound for flour. After returning home, we sat down to calculate everything. Since we have been in the mines, we had expenses amounting to 39 dollars per head. At the same time we divided our gold. Each of us received $120 worth, but we still had $50 total in the cash box. Compared to William and Evie, we did not have much to divide. They made as much just last week and this week they made $80. Thats the way it goes when one strikes a good hole. Last Friday, the collector came out since a few Mexicans working here did not have a licence and did not want to pay the tax, the translator for the collector took their tools from them and gave them to some Americans there, shovels, picks, pole irons etc. When he was about to make a move to take their horses and mules and to drive them away, the owners started to come forward with gold dust and paid the tax so that they could keep their animals. Rampini, who instead of disappearing, stuck his nose up front, with a crow bar in his hand that he had just taken, and without being able to speak five words of English, was identified easily by the translator to be a foreigner. He was asked: Vous tes Franais? No reply. When asked in English, he did not understand, but guessed he was asked where he came from, so he replied Americanos and New York. When he was asked to show his papers, he said yes and went to fetch them, but did not return until the tax collectors had left. It is beginning to get cool at night.

Oct. 28, 1850

Continued bad pay in the mines and no letters at Rich Gulch. Last Saturday I bought Katkers portion of tent, machines, pail, cook pot etc. for $12. He is joining a group of Americans who have a large tent and reserve of food for the winter. In case there will be no letters for me, after the arrival of the express at Rich Gulch, I will have to plan to stay in the mines for the winter and to buy provisions. Flour increased from $18 to $25 per 100 lbs last week.
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Hopefully, prices will weaken again a little. My letter, which I sent early in September, should have arrived at home just in time for the fair; because today is Simon and Juda day, the first Monday of the fair.27 Have fun, little people. And how might things look at the mill in Benken? I will have a reply in perhaps three months.

Nov. 18, 1850

Two weeks ago and yesterday, as well, I was down at Mokolumne Hill, the center of this mining district. It looks like a city. Most of the tents are stores or restaurants and all around on the hills are the tents of the gold diggers. There I found numerous Swiss from the cantons Neuchtel and Vaud. Also I met Pilieux, a friend and co-passenger of Mroz and Rampini. Pilieux has been in the mines about three weeks and with another Frenchman, he built a log house to winter. He brought bad news about Mroz. Shortly after I left San Francisco he became seriously ill and lost his mind. When Pilieux was about to leave San Francisco, he brought Mroz, who was in the same condition, to the hospital; he did not think that the latter would still be alive at this time. The illness was typhus fever. Perhaps he got ill following a cold he caught on the trip on the open boat between Sacramento and San Francisco and the fast change of temperature, etc. No letter arrived by the express. It looks now that my prospects to get into business in San Francisco this winter have come to nothing. To handle pick and shovel will become my winter activity. As Pilieux told me, Mrozs suitcases are still at Ravinch! It is questionable if the Swiss consul would take them over. I do not know what I should do, if Mroz really has died, to get back my $80 which I loaned to him since the amount is not large enough to go to San Francisco to get. The best thing would probably be to write to the consul. Our work here during the last month paid off very poorly. Last week was the first week in the mines during which I worked all week, without earning one cent.

Nov. 30, 1850 (Chilenien Gulch)

Last Saturday we left the Calaverus and carried our belongings to Rich Gulch in order to have them transported here. We stayed overnight there and Monday evening mules carried our things down to the Buckeye store. Evie, Booth and Wittenwiler went down to Evies tent at Chilenien Gulch and I stayed with the mules at Buckeyes. On the 26th I also arrived here with
27 Autumn fair in Basel

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our belongings. The mule transport only cost us $3. Evie has a big tent here. We set up our two small tents inside Evies. In front of the big one, we set up a log chimney. This way we are now ready for the rainy season. It took us all week to get set up. Therefore we were unable to look for gold. It rains almost every day and at night also. Not hard enough not to be able to work, though. The day before yesterday, I shot three rounds at a deer without success, but I believe with one shot at least I must have hit it. Rampini left us and went to Macalumne Hill to work with one of his travel companions. The place where we are now located is on the road between the Double Springs and Rich Gulch, about 8 to 10 miles away from both points and about 3 miles from Macalumne Hill.

Dec. 8, 1850
Last week, my wish to kill a deer came true. It is really true, the meat does not taste too bad. The business of finding gold, however, has not turned out to be the best and we cannot have great expectations at all for the winter. The nights are rather cold and bright. All last week it did not rain, or at least only a little. Tomorrow morning I shall send a letter to Mr. Glor in San Francisco to get news from there, because I am really wondering what happened to Mroz and also how my acquaintances in San Francisco are doing. Today is my birthday! Last year at this time I was down at Cape Horn. When I look back at the past year, I realize that although I did not get rich, I have at any rate seen a lot. By seeing a lot, one learns always something and increases ones knowledge. Admittedly, I have not earned much money, but have paid back my debts to M and C and still have about $120 in my pouch. How much more, or less, might I have at my next birthday? At least, I dare say, the year by which I am now as much older, all in all has not been lost for me. What will the next one bring???

Dec. 25, 1850 Christmas

Still no gold, therefore it is normal that we are not satisfied with our present place. Where to go? Is the question. Some of us are thinking of going to the Calaverus again to try our luck there, since we have not had much rain and therefore the water level would not be high. For myself, I have now made the firm decision to go to San Francisco and there to try to get a job. Will I succeed in finding an advantageous position? Granted, it is the question. But I find it is the best I can now do. If I stayed in the mines, I might perhaps gather up a few hundred dollars by spring, but also, since this is not certain, I question what I shall do next
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summer. If I go to San Francisco, I can perhaps earn something during the winter and will have a chance to see if I could get a desired job, i.e. in a trading house.

Dec. 27, 1850

The day before yesterday, Wittenwiler went to Rich Gulch to try to see a certain Klein from Philadelphia. Yesterday he came back and brought a certain letter from friend Mrillat, dated New York October 25th. He received my draft and sent me an invoice for the merchandise I wrote him to send me. No letter was enclosed from home and I am wondering very much what prevented my mother from writing me. Badrutt has not yet decided if he wants to come to California. Krattiger, however, must be on his way here. Business seems to be going pretty good in New York. Now I have decided to go down to San Francisco. I will just wait until the express gets here, as perhaps it will have a letter from Glor and before I begin the busy city life, I would like to enjoy the fresh mountain air until New Years. Today, we visited four Swiss men, who live about a mile from here on the Mocalumme Hill road. On the way back home, I noticed an appeal, which asks people with rifles to attack an Indian camp whose inhabitants have in their possession many mules and horses, which were stolen from their rightful owners, and who refuse to return them. The expedition is supposed to take place next Sunday. Last Sunday when I was at the Hill, I met the son of Leonhard Stoecklin from Benken, formerly a teacher at Arisdorf. He came overland from St. Louis and lives with an Erni from Rothenfluh and two other Swiss near Macolomne Hill.

Dec. 31, 1850

Last Saturday Booth and I went to Rich Gulch to join the Indian expedition. But since we did not notice any preparations anywhere and were told one would only start out on Monday from Macolomne Hill, we decided to go home again, via St. Andr. While we were at Colbergs (a German) store, a drunken Irishman entered the store with a loaded double shotgun and a pistol. He was less than two minutes in the tent, when due to his carelessness, the pistol went off and the bullet struck Colbergs thigh. Since at this moment no one else was around, we offered to go to Macolomne Hill to send for the doctor. At the Hill, I went to see an old man from Neuchtel, as usual, who told me, that a certain Momseron, confiseur from the Canton Vaud, whom
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I got to know in San Francisco, had been missing for two weeks. A colored man was under suspicion to have murdered Momseron, since both went hunting together. The colored man came back but was nowhere to be seen the next morning. Momserons trunk was found forced open and since people knew that he had been in possession of a few hundred dollars, obvious suspicion was raised. Until now, not a trace of the wrongdoer.

Jan. 17, 1851 San Francisco

On the 8th of this month I left the mines in order to try to find an occupation in San Francisco. I loaded my things on a wagon belonging to a Texan, who was heading to Stockton. On the 10th in the afternoon we reached Stockton and I left there the same evening on the steamer Union for $8. I had to pay $7 to the carter. Upon my arrival I went to call on Ravinet. He had no work and decided that as soon as he had saved enough money to leave for Valparaiso, because business was in a terrible slump in San Francisco. At Fetts place, an Alsatian, I learnt that friend Krattiger had arrived and was staying at Sturzeneggers where Glor was also. So, in fact, I found Glor, the Krattiger family and Luedin, the latter just having left his place and had decided to join me at the mines. Since business, as mentioned before, is going so very badly in San Francisco and a big noise is being made about newly-found placers on the gold bluffs and along the Klamath River, we will probably go there. I met numerous Swiss people, among them Meyer, a chemist from Schoenenbuch. The Swiss domiciled here are in the process of establishing a Swiss association and the general meeting is supposed to take place next Saturday to discuss the statutes suggested by a committee. Glor just arrived and were discussing the matter about how people usually have big hopes when they come to California. Usually people think in terms of 25, 50 and $100,000. But after being here sometime, one takes off one zero after another. Many are sometimes glad to make just enough to be able to return home.

Jan. 26, 1851

I have been here a week already, without doing anything. A few more days will pass before I leave from here. We are getting prepared for it. I have been at two meetings of the Swiss who wanted to found an association. Such an

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organization was established indeed under the name Helvetia. Mr. Rutte28, the Swiss consul, is president of the association.

Feb. 19, 1851 Trinidad

Seeing that in San Francisco, with little money, nothing much could be accomplished and having received good news from the mines along the Klamath River, Krattiker, Luedin and I decided to come to Trinidad, also taking some merchandise with us and trying to make a dollar with it while we wait until we can hike over the mountains. January the 30th we boarded the steamer General Warren. Krattiger and his wife, Luedin and I, as well as a small boy named Philipp Rapp, whom the Krattigers took with them from New York (belonging to a maid originating from Baden). Almost all of us got seasick, but not as severely as on my earlier travels on the high seas. February 2nd we arrived in the Bay of Trinidad and ferried our belongings to the shore. Passage from San Francisco to Trinidad was $30 per person, to bring us ashore $1, freight $30 per ton plus $10 to unload and bring it to shore. We passed the night in an unfinished house and the next day we set up our tent, which is about 25 ft. long and 12 ft. wide over an already standing frame. The frame belongs to a man named Fabin, who lives in San Francisco. The next day, we started selling some of our merchandise, a business that became Mrs. Krattigers to do, as we others were busy with preparing and gathering building materials. We started to gather clay, stone and lumber to build a bakers oven and now a fire is burning in it in order to dry it out. Since we have been here two weeks we have sold a considerable amount of our merchandise. That is why Mrs. Krattiger left yesterday, travelling to San Francisco again with the General Warren to buy product. When she returns, and if everything is in good order here, Krattiger and I are thinking of leaving for the mines and letting Luedin and Mrs. Krattiger operate the bakery and the store. Trinidad is situated at 41 N on the foothills that extend several thousand feet to the sea. Landing a boat is rather difficult, as with the slightest wind the waves crash against the projecting cliffs and cause a very strong surf. The land on which the city is located was claimed by three men, Col. Buttler, Bienning, a German, and as people say, a Frenchman. Up to now, Trinidad has not been important, but if the mines in the interior should become productive for an extended period, it will, as the closest port, grow considerably. New houses

28

Rutte established the first Swiss consulate in San Francisco.

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are being erected daily and every day new vessels arrive. An Indian village is located only about a thousand paces from the landing place. These Indians do not seem to be the wandering type I have seen in the past though. Their huts are made of boards with holes as entrances, like the ones in dog houses. Their nourishment is heavy on mussels, probably more so in the past, as high piles of shells surround the shacks. Since the white people arrived, they eat all kinds of other food; they particularly like rusk, sweet potatoes and sugar. One peculiarity I noticed, which I have not seen with other Indians, is that the squaws29 tattoo their chin, but not the men. The Indian greeting is not like the one from the Indians I saw before, Vale, but ei-a-que. Sweet potatoes are lac-a-lac and rusk is called bap-schu.

March 23, 1851

Business is so so. Mrs. Krattiger returned happily with the General Warren and with her came friend Wittenwiler and Leimbacher who left two days after for the mines. Since Krattiger and I also wanted to go to the mines, Mrs. Krattiger brought us a donkey which we promptly sold on arrival at an advantageous price because the mule drivers are asking $1 per pound. So one trip pays for the animal. William Booth and Evie also arrived here and bought themselves a mule and left for the mines everybody was so excited about. From time to time, though, people returned who could not praise the newly discovered mines. From time to time more people returned and finally Leimbacher and Wittenwiler came back. They described the road to be bad and arduous and the productivity of the mines close to nil. All this sounds rather bad for our speculations. A captain Malton, agent for the owner of the land we lived on, came with Mrs. Krattiger. Mr. Febin wants us to either rent the land for $40 per month or to buy it from him for $300. Since we had heard good news from the mines at that time, we figured we would be here for a long time and that the rent would soon grow relative to the capital cost, therefore we found it more practical to buy the land. We have been baking a few times already and the construction of a little coffee shop is in progress but the bad weather is keeping us from building. Krattiger is the building superintendent. Six vessels (2 barges, 1 Brig and 3 Schooners) are anchored in the port. But yesterday the wind blew so strongly that the anchor chains of the 3 Schooners and the brig broke and all the vessels were driven onto the shore. Most likely, none of them will probably be able to be repaired. The mast was taken off one Schooner already and
29 Brodbeck used the English word squaw throughout his diary.

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on another the leeboard side was pushed in badly. The brig is also badly damaged and is stuck and located in a way that the third Schooner, which is the least damaged, is unable to exit. Today the sea is calmer and the two barges will hopefully be able to leave without damage. This is the first time I see vessels stranded like this. Fortunately, the ships were driven gently against the shore, so nobody lost their lives. Gnevekowsky, a Pole by birth, was just here. He was on the barge Chester the day before yesterday, heading for San Francisco. He told us they were also afraid of being driven against the shore and that the rudder was suddenly knocked against the cliff. Only by means of a tow rope attached to another barge out in the bay were they able to pull Chester away from the cliffs. A certain Baron von Loeffelholz from Bavaria arrived with his family in order to settle here. He intends to set up his farm about two to three miles from Trinidad and build a sawmill. Wittenwiler will probably work with him for a while, which I would think is a good idea. Leimbacher and Meyer are planning to set up a garden and also to supply water to Trinidad. Drinking water has to be brought in from quite a distance. Until now, they have not started anything. Last Sunday, Luedin and I went hunting again without bringing anything home, though. Nevertheless,30 I will not forget that day. Why? Because I wonder how everything is going at home. It has been a long time now since I have received any news. It is nice to live among ones own family. Here we also have, or should I say, we form a family, but a good mother and sister who love us does rarely exist among strangers. Its not that I am complaining, we live rather satisfactorily here we always work and business is good enough to survive. However, I would not want to live like this forever and I am looking forward to the day already when I will see the inhabitants of my paternal home again to the day when I would live there again. And my friends? I would like to see them again as well. Not yet I have to try to do something else for a few years yet. There are moments in life when one almost loses ones courage; one has no energy, but that will pass and one throws oneself back into his work. Thats the way it is with me, back to work, courage!

April 18, 1851

Business continues always about the same, slow but steady.
30 Brodbeck wrote this passage in French.

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May 2, 3, 1851
Soon we expect a steamer. I expect letters again from home. I wonder how things look at home? Our business here is rather slow. But the structure of our house is ready to put up and the news from the mines has been pretty good lately. Rich gold deposits were supposedly found in the Chaste planes. About two weeks ago we rented our bakers oven for $50 per month.

May 17, 1851

Yesterday the steamer Sea Gull arrived and again no letters for Krattiger, Wittenwiler or myself. However it brought the news that San Francisco burnt down, about two-thirds of the city in ashes. The damage is estimated at $12,000,000. As well, half of Stockton is burnt down, damage about $1 million. The steamer Preeble travelling between San Francisco and Trinidad was thrown on the shore at Humboldt Bay and broke apart completely. There are accidents after accidents. I have not read the newspaper, but according to what I gathered, the following people were lost to the fire: Ruth and Tissot, Locker and Hohl, Kramer, Kuhner and Dana brothers. This explains why we did not receive any merchandise which we had ordered. The post office burnt down also, and if there were any letters for me there, they must have shared in the general disaster. California is a real school for patience.

May 26, 1851

We have had rain again, but after the rain it is always nice again. I do hope that the nice weather period comes back. Our house will be finished soon. Our baker will quit by the time the next steamer arrives. He cannot earn enough because of the competition. That is why we will have to take the bakery over again. The steamer Sea Gull is expected any day now, back from Oregon and lots of people from here are expected to leave.

June 15, 1851

On the 11th I received a letter dated March 25th from friend Mrillat which included a letter from home dated January 14th. It appears that everything is going satisfactorily at home and I am glad it is the case. Our house here is just about finished, however, the business is just about dead. Last week, a company of volunteers marched against some Indians but came back without having achieved anything.
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The letter from home was received on the anniversary day of Annas31 wedding, perhaps by now they might have a young miller man or lady. My folks received my letter of Aug 26th of last year on October 18th, just as I wrote in my diary on that day, where I thought they might have received it by then.

June 29, 1851

I sent a letter to Mrillat the 26th, enclosed in it was a letter home to mother and Anna. In about three months I might have a reply from Mrillat. For some time now, some movement among the Indians seems to have taken place. Lately, a few times they held dances at night. Foreign Indians came here and some of the local ones were away a lot until very recently; no one was left in their little village. Last evening, as I returned from Baron von Loeffelholzs sawmill, where I helped Wittenwiler saw timbers, I noticed that the flag was flying at halfmast, which indicated that some accident must have occurred. When I reached our house, I learnt that the Indians had murdered six people on the Klamath. Mrs. Blackburn came here today to tell us that her house had been attacked by Indians at night and that she was busy all night loading guns for the men. The next morning, Blackburns father was found murdered close to the house. Today, some went to the Indian village to take away any possible arms from the Indians, who might have been left behind. Unfortunately, I have to say, that a few white people were drunk. It appears that one of the red skins did not want to hand over his arms. He shot an arrow into someones hand and took off, followed by shots against him. The old Indian chief, who had still remained there, was taken prisoner and is now being guarded in Van Wyks house. Everybody is very upset. The old chief said that he was not involved in the war. The Klamath Indians had asked him to work together with them, to wipe out the white men and to burn Trinidad, but that he had refused to cooperate with them. At this moment, a meeting is announced. I will attend in order to see what is being discussed. At the meeting, the following was decided: 1) To send a delegate to San Francisco by boat to request from the governor to send troops and ammunition without delay. 2) To increase the established Indian committee from 3 to 6 members. 3) To empower the committee to retain the chief in custody as long as it is useful, since he

31

Brodbecks sister

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promised to show the way to the Klamath Indians. 4) To organize a night watch, to patrol and to fire a cannon to alarm everyone in case of an attack.

July 1, 1851
Today we received the news that white people had killed seven Indians about 14 miles from here. One Indian was taken prisoner and brought here, where he was shot to death without a lengthy trial and big ceremonies. If only I would be able to receive news from S.M., telling me that he would have a job for me, I would go right away. I hope that in a few months I will receive such, or similar, news. Why? Because I would like to work for him. I do not think that I will stay here much longer. Everything has its cause and its limits, including this one.

July 7, 1851
In the novel The Ghals of New York, I find the following relating to the Jesuits in the States: Here are broached and discussed plans for the promulgation of the principles of an order which has for its leading objects, 1st: the gradual annihilation of freedom of speech and opinion; 2nd by : the gradual removal and ultimate destruction of all our liberal laws and institutions; 3rd by: the gradual control and eventual abolishment of our political ballot voucher; 4th by: the gradual acquisition and ultimate control of political power: 5th by : a gradual preparation of the people for and the gradual dissemination of, the doctrine of church and state; 6th by: the union of church and state; 7th by: the universal establishment of the blind papal creed; 8th by: the gradual mastery and extinction of all the liberal, civil, religious and political institutions of our republic; 9th by: the annihilation of our republic, as such: and 10th by: the erection and establishment of a blind, beknighted papal empire, with a pope for its head, priests for its rulers, a blind, servile people for its subjects, and an inquisition for its rebels.

July 11, 1851

Trinidad is becoming an empty place, business is almost at a standstill. Most people who came here this spring have gone either to the mines or to San Francisco. Even the Indians have moved away. They are building a new little village about three miles from here on the coast. Because the Indians on the Klamath are hostile, one had suspicions about the locals as well. At the nearby village they were sometimes bothered by
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the odd drunken white man, who perhaps threatened them in an obnoxious way, which made them decide to move their village to another location.

July 27, 1851

The departure from here is approaching. Today we have bought a mule and we will leave tomorrow or at the latest the day after tomorrow. Most probably we will go to Chaste, because on the Klamath and the Salmon Creek there are not enough white people to ensure safety against the Indians who are hostile and on the warpath. Their way of warning is done by nightly raids. We will only carry food for the trip, about 12 days, we figure. When I left the mines in January, I did not think at all to ever be going back to mining, and yet, here I go at it again. I do believe, however, that this is very likely the last try of this nature. If we find that we do not earn anything, or very little, I really do not know at this moment what I would do. But I think that fate would hopefully open a little door for me somewhere in this world.

July 31, 1851 (Elkcamp)

Monday the 28th, as the saying goes, we took off from Trinidad. We only got as far as Patricks Ranch, about eight miles from Trinidad. In the morning of the 29th, Mr. Brunner caught up with us and brought us a few things we left behind that we forgot and things Mrs. Krattiger gave him for us. The road from Trinidad to Patricks is an unending, climbing and descending experience, through ravines and often through very tough passages. During the rainy season this road would be pitifully awful. From Patricks, the road leads from the coastal hills down to the sandy shore for about eight miles, again difficult to walk, as one sinks into the loose sand with every step. A lagoon extends about four to six miles between the sand bank,32 which one has to pass along the coast. If one could pass the lagoon with a boat, one could shorten the trip by about six miles. Up on a hill at the entrance of the so-called Redwoods, there is a rest stop where two Frenchmen operate a tavern tent. Here we stayed overnight. Heavy cold fog around here. On the 30th in the morning we entered the Redwoods and arrived at Elk Camp in the evening, weak and tired. The road through the Redwoods would be very pleasant if it would be an even plain, but instead one had to hike over two mountains, not pleasant at all to
32 This beach is now called Agate Beach.

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climb. In the Redwoods (about 2/3 of the way) we had to ford a brook, the so-called Redwoods Creek, which resembles the Wiese River33. A tree was felled across for pedestrians at a point where the river is 57 paces wide. Whereas the tree is very big, it sags, because of its great length. After crossing the creek, the road leads steeply uphill and finally we reached the summit of the mountain, not without sweating, to a wide open, pretty meadow. Shortly thereafter, again into the forest, but only for a short distance until one finally reaches another meadow to another rest stop, the so-called Elk Camps where naturally there is another tavern. Here at Elk Camp we met three Germans who were our neighbours at Trinidad. They had left three days before us and also wanted to go to Chaste because they did not find any, or enough, company to be able to travel safely. They are waiting here for more companions. Up here it is not so cold and foggy like down along the coast. A mild little breeze blows and last night we rested beautifully under a tree, two tents over us, plus the leaf tent of the tree and the tent of the stars in the sky, with a new moon sickle in the west. Here one finds besides spruce and cedar trees, oak and a lot of hazelnut bushes with hazelnuts. Along the coast one finds only fern shrubbery of tremendous size. Here there are ferns also, but of smaller size and mixed with other grass-like plants and pretty species of herbs. Since the mule drivers with whom we traveled wanted to give a rest to their mules, we also stayed laying around today.

Aug. 3, 1851 (Above Bluff Creek)

The 31st of July was used to relax and prepare things. We took off on August 1st, Adderson, mule driver with two helpers, Winsor and Brunner, and the three Germans ten men in all. We had some merchandise transported to Chaste. Our people chose to take the old road, which crosses the Klamath River at the fork of the latter and the Trinity River. The new road crosses the Klamath much further down near Tompkins. No one in our group had ever taken the old road before. It leads first over the summit of the so-called Bald Hills, where the most beautiful pastures with healthy grass growth extends for miles. Afterwards, the road leads down the steep mountain for a long distance through forest to a brook. On the other side, its up a steep hill again. After a few more ups and downs we reached a pasture with woods all around it. Since it was evening and since grass and water was available, we decided to stay here overnight. We surmised that this was Burnt Ranch.
33 The Wiese flows into the Rhine near Basel.

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Three of us stood guard changing places every so often. However, the night passed without any disturbance whatsoever. In the morning of August 2nd, Anderson was unable to find his two animals for a long time. For this reason, the three Germans and the two of us left him and continued the journey. They had three animals to ride and four pack mules. The two of us, Krattiger and I, had our pack mule and went on foot. Up and down mountains, crossing brooks, through forests, until at about 2 p.m., we arrived at the ferry after coming down a mountain. On the other side of the river was a boat and the house of the ferryman. In front of it stood two Indians and a few squaws. One of the Indians made signs with his arms and made us understand that the ferryman was away. After we waved, he brought us and our mules across with the ferryboat to the other side of the river. He made us understand that Luki, the ferryman, had gone up the Klamath. He asked us if we wanted to stay overnight in the house, which we did not want to do. Our road led us up the Klamath, about the size of the Limmat or the Reuss34flowing in a narrow valley between high mountains. The heat was intense, the road along a steep shore side hill it was impossible to get water out of the river. Krattiger and I, exhausted and thirsty from walking in the heat, stayed back to rest so that our companions got ahead of us considerably. After having recovered a little, we continued hiking and after going through some brush down the river, we found ourselves facing a crowd of redskins, who had built a sort of dam across the river for fishing purposes. An attractively built Indian with bow and arrows approached us, followed by several dozen others. We did not know what they really wanted from us, but we did not like in the least the long, shiny, curved knives, and I would not have been surprised if one of them had split in two my head or Krattigers, or both of ours. I did not feel good at all about the situation, but the exhaustion and the thirst made us look so indifferent that we gave the impression always holding our firearms firmly of looking rather relaxed. Also, we led them to believe that many wakis (white people) were following behinds us and were soon to arrive. However, we did not like the conversation very much and aimed at getting away from them, shouting tschoho. At a cabin we again had to pass by a few of them before catching up with our companions, who were terribly worried about us and were waiting for us. Krattiger and I were so exhausted that it was impossible for us to continue any further without getting some rest.
34 Swiss rivers.

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That is why our companions offered their animals to us, to be able to get further ahead. Everywhere along the river we encountered Indians in great numbers, either in canoes or standing on the shore. We kept going at a good clip to get out of their area. Finally, the road led uphill and we were looking forward to reaching the road which was known to two of our companions. All of a sudden it went steep, steep downhill, on the bottom across a brook, across a plain to the Klamath and again redskins. Finally, we could not go ahead anymore because we were at a dead end. To our right was the river, to our left a terribly steep mountain. To turn around was the only thing left for us to do. Four Indians came swimming across the river (one man and three boys). We promised them wakizie (white mans money) if they would show us the right way out. They led us back the way we came, up the steep mountain. One of our companions mules was unable to make it back up with its load, which forced us to leave some of it behind. The sun set as we all reached the top and the Indians showed us the way. One of them was taken by Krattigers gold plated watch chain. So, to get rid of them, we gave it to them, in addition to some money (tismae waki). Off we went and after about an hour of moving along we arrived at the new road near the bridge over Bluff Creek. Because there was no house down there, and because we thought it would be safer up on the mountain from any possible attack we moved uphill about a mile, even though we were darn tired and it was starting to get dark as well. Up on the mountain, we unsaddled and lied down on our blankets, trusting the heavens for our safety, too tired to do guard duty. The night passed quietly and today we will stay here to let the animals and humans rest. We are wondering where Anderson and his group are located and how they managed to pass the copperskins. Until now, yesterday was by far the most difficult day of our trip and none of us will forget it soon. Moreover, one of our companions is sick. From the ferry to the point where we left the Klamath, there must live at least 1,000 Indians.

Aug. 7, 1851 (South fork of Salmon Creek)

We did not stay at Bluff Creek on August 3rd after all. During the afternoon, many groups came down the mountain on the new road. They told us it would be better if we followed them to Red Caps Bar, because they encountered trouble at the ferry and most probably were followed by Indians. We packed and loaded and traveled down the mountain, passing Bluff Creek up a narrow mountain ridge located between this creek and the Klamath. After 1 to 2 hours travelling, we arrived at a flat place along the
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Klamath where more than twenty white people were camped. Here we met Turkey (named Luki by the Indians) with his two associates, also Brunner, Anderson & Co., who all passed by the Indians unharmed. They also had chosen to camp on top of the mountain on the way here. Turkey asked us how we made out. We asked him why he left the ferry operation. He told us he had sent two of his Indians and two white men as guards and guides to Tompkins Ferry. When they arrived there, some of the camping white men started shooting at the Indians and as one of them tried to swim to safety, he was killed. As the others reported this incident at Turkeys ferry, a bunch of Indians gathered around his house and made such threatening gestures and noise that he did not feel safe there anymore. He would go back, he thinks, if a sufficient number of white men would go with him. At the lower ferry, the Indians shot and killed several mules belonging to the group camping there. On the 4th, in the morning, all packed, we traveled to Red Caps Bar, crossed the Klamath and then about 8 miles (at least) up the mountain to a camping place. A fairly strong Indian band lives at Red Cap Bar, who are, however, friendly. The name is derived from an Indian who always wore a red cap. All the Indians here at the Klamath are better built and more attractive looking compared to the ones living along the coast. On the 5th, another six miles uphill until we arrived on the top of the mountain which is situated between the Salmon and the Klamath rivers. I do not know how high this mountain is, but one hears that last spring this trail was covered with 6 feet of snow. The hardwood is only shrub wood and the half-dead pines and spruce with their branches hanging down are proof that the snow cover is usually high. Here again is a tavern. We had to pay $2 for a bottle of wine. Nowhere have I drank colder water than from a spring here. Blueberries grow in abundance. In the distance, one sees snow-capped mountains, presumably Mount Chaste. Our companions wanted to rest for a day. We and Calihan, however, took off down the mountain (the 6th) to Salmon Creek where we stayed overnight at the forks of the south and north branch. Gold is being washed along the river, but most miners are leaving. At the forks, there are several tent stores and because there was no grass for our mules, we had to buy barley at 37 cents per pound. In the morning, on the 7th, along the mound, dividing the two branches of the river, we traveled (no water) for about 7 miles until noon where we found grass and water. We decided to stay overnight here and wait for our friends, who did arrive in the evening with the exception of Andersons train. The further inland we got, the balder the mountains
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appeared. Pine and spruce are the main species of trees and the mountains are basically granite.

Aug. 9, 1851 (South fork of Salmon Creek)

Yesterday, the 8th, most of our companions were unable to find their mules and were unable to leave. The three Germans and us took off along the river, which was located about 4 miles from our camp, forded it, and traveled over mountains and through canyons. After about two hours we forded it again and after we climbed up a fairly good mountain, we arrived at a camping place with two wells, but not much grass growth. We tied up the mules for the night. This morning we drove them about 1 miles further where there was grass and we let them rest for the day. The rest will not harm us, either, as we will have 5 more days of travel ahead of us until we reach Chasta. Nights are rather cool up here and the wind sweeps across ones face when laying in bed, a bit more than just refreshing. The mountains all around look rather bald. I dont know the name of the geological composition. The crushed rocks are greenish and feel greasy.

Aug. 15, 1851 (Chasta City)

On the 10th, rather early, we set out and hiked for a time along the summit of the mountain range and descended again down the river which we had to ford through once more. Finally, in the evening, about two miles up the mountain, we caught up with our companions who got ahead of us while we had rested for a day or two. At the river, I saw for the first time a water35 used to wash gold. At the camping place, we met several people from Trinidad who had left there several days before us. On the 11th we climbed up the mountain, which is located between Salmon Creek and the Scotch River, and arrived on top at the watershed in the afternoon. We found the most beautiful, fresh green grass here because the snow had melted only a short time ago. Less than half a mile away from us we noticed snow. It was very cold at night and I suffered terribly from a toothache and an earache. On the 12th, down the mountain we went to the south branch of the Scotch River where we met an acquaintance from Trinidad who worked there, by the name of Alexander. Thereafter, the valley widened and we had a rather flat road ahead. In the evening, we camped along the river.
35 Written as such in diary.

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On the 13th, we went along a flat area the whole day. There was nice grass growth through the long Scotch Valley. In the evening, we arrived near Browns Ranch. On his ranch, he keeps several hundred horses and mules, some of which are running free. Some he keeps and looks after for others for $1 per week. On the 14th, we climbed across the not-so-high watershed of the Scotch and Chasta rivers. And after we reached the bottom of the Chasta Valley, we could see the new houses in Chasta City. A thunderstorm with tremendous rainfall made for a wet entrance into Chasta for us at about 4 p.m. Krattiger and I set up our small tent and left our mules at a ranch. A large number of new houses have already been built and everybody hopes to do business during the rainy season, which means the winter season here. Lots of mules, horses and oxen are available. From the surrounding area earth is transported by carts to the water to be washed. Our trip on foot from Trinidad to here took 19 days across the mountains.

Aug. 17, 1851

Our first try in the mines here was lucky beyond our expectation, because yesterday we produced $54 worth of gold just with the pan. But we cannot expect that it will continue at this rate forever. Tomorrow, Krattiger will probably leave for Trinidad again to fetch Mrs. Krattiger. I will stay here to see if further good fortune will favour me.

Aug. 20, 1851

Today, Krattiger and Calihan left. Both intend to get their wives to come here. Calihan has in addition a 3-month-old child, which will make the trip considerably more difficult for him. Here I am now by myself in my little tent; the small barrel of kirsch, which we took along from Trinidad, is already completely empty. My cash inventory is 5 dollars because I have given Krattiger all my gold as they will probably have to buy 2 mules in Trinidad. On the 18th, I found again $10 worth. Krattiger has with him about $64 which was produced here in the mines after only a short time.

Aug. 24, 1851

Since the beginning of this trip, I have been tortured terribly by a toothache and earache. Especially at night, I have to suffer immensely. Such continuous pain takes away all courage and strength to work and all zest for life, but nevertheless, I will and must strive to produce something. Because when
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Krattiger returns in about 40 days, we will have to pay some freight charges, at least 30 cents per pound. Flour here costs 30 cents per pound; meat 25, sugar 40-50 cents, coffee 50, salted bacon and ham 75, butter 1.50, which makes life rather expensive. I have worked every day since Krattigers departure and I have been compensated for it, because I am in possession of 2 ounces of gold. Xaver Dreyer from Kleinlutzel36 and Lorenz Anaheim arrived here also, but have not been very lucky finding gold here as yet. Bad news about the Indians at the Klamath has been received recently again. If everything one hears is true, i.e. that Turkey left his ferry and that the government is doing nothing to ensure the safety of travelers, it could turn out that Krattiger and Calihan would not be able to return here. Since I have always lived in company of a group for some time until now, I now feel rather lonely. This feeling is increased even more by my being unwell. My letter dated June 26th might have arrived at home by now. They will now be doing the second haying I imagine.

Aug. 28, 1851

My tooth, ear, mouth and headache last night was intolerable. Not a minute was I able to sleep and today the pain continues. I was so weary and weak that I could hardly get up and was even less able to work. The days are generally very hot and the nights tremendously cold. I did not feel like cooking anything and had no appetite to eat. My face, nose, lips, gums and tongue were swollen and the latter was raw. As the sun started to shine, I started to sweat (before I was too cold to do that) and then the pain decreased a little, so that I was able to go to the city where I bought and drank a bottle of milk for 75 cents. But I was so tired that I had to retreat soon to my tent again. This is discouraging. If I was certain that Krattiger would not return, I would, had I enough gold, go to Sacramento to find another activity, where I would not be so exposed to these cold winds. But under the present circumstances, to go away would not be the right thing to do. I will wait 50 days and if then he has not arrived, I think I will say farewell to Chasta. The day before yesterday someone stole about 7 dollars worth of gold dust out of my tent, which I had forgotten to take with me to work, but had hidden under a little barrel. The thief left about one dollars worth in change. However, yesterday lady luck made me rather forget again my loss. It is more than disagreeable here to be sick and alone.

36

Near Hofstetten, Canton Solothurn.

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Aug. 29, 1851

I am still ill. The rheumatism has subsided somewhat, but I have a head and belly ache and my limbs and joints feel like theyve been beaten up. I was unable to get up at all, thats why I asked a German who walked by to tell Xaver Dreyer to bring me some soup, which the latter did without delay and he also brought me other necessities. In the evening, he made some tea for me and stayed with me. Without him, I would have been in bad shape today.

Aug. 31, 1851

Oh, how boring it is to be sick. Anaheim and Dreyer cook for me whatever I wish, but I have no appetite whatsoever. Oh, Chasta!

Sept. 1, 1851
Today it is going rather well and I am thinking of getting up tomorrow. I am weak from not eating, but nevertheless, I feel well.

Sept. 2, 1851
Last evening, the butcher from Trinidad, who just arrived from there, brought me a letter from Mrs. Krattiger and told me that a second letter was at the office of the Express, which Xaver Dreyer fetched for me without delay. It looks as if business is still going a little, but they all want to come for sure.

Sept. 16, 1851

Again I have been laying in bed for two days tortured with tooth and earache. The night before last I had a terrible night. Last night was better. Nose, lips, tongue and gums are swollen again. Today at noon, I went out a short while and how I have paid for it again. Last week, I made bricks for building an oven and if Krattiger doesnt come, I can sell them for $5 per 100. Water is already starting to become scarce everywhere and not much gold is being washed in this particular area at this time. But instead, people are concentrating more on building houses.
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Sept. 19, 1851

I am still laying in bed; my ribs hurt. The last three days I have taken steam baths and put camphor in the water. I let the steam penetrate into the ears and head. I feel considerable relief, but the ears are still not happy, so I will have to steam again tomorrow. The beginning of a cold wind this afternoon prevents me again from getting up.

Sept. 21, 1851

All week I have been sick in bed again. Yesterday I got up but was, and I still am, so weak that I can hardly walk or feel like walking. The sweating while steaming has probably weakened me also. Thank god that tooth and earache have passed, but nevertheless, I still have my head bandaged because of the violent winds. A tremendous amount of construction is going on, as well as preparations for the winter are being made. I dont know if the mines are, or will be, productive enough to support and keep boarding houses, storekeepers, gamblers, etc. busy. A week ago a Wohlleb from Basel arrived here he came from Scotch Bar. Out of despair he left San Francisco in July. Because of the fire, all his belongings went to the devil.

Sept. 26, 1851

The day before yesterday I received via Marn a letter from Trinidad. Krattiger arrived there on the 1st of September, but he caught the fever on the trip because of freezing temperatures and bad food. But they think, if he improves quickly, they will hit the road soon. I had thought the trip would be hard on him. Since people here are in need of name plates and since I have no paint, I have produced several with the needle, i.e., by cutting out letters and sewing them on. I am still too weak for hard work. My whole mouth right down to the throat is sore and hurts me. Yesterday, Major Sails of Trinidad came here; he told me he saw Krattiger who he said is feeling better.

Oct. 8, 1851
This evening, as Dreyer, who helps me prepare wood to build a house, and I came back from the woods, we found Krattiger and his wife and Wittenwiler at home. Krattiger is still rather weak but it looks like the trip here has not
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hurt him too much. They brought 6 mules with them. Their trip took 17 days.

Oct. 13, 1851

The nice weather is still keeping up, but its rather cold at night. Since every field of work has more than enough workers and since during the winter the mines may not be worked on, and because next summer it may be hard to sell out a half-established business, we have almost decided to move to the Springs. Another nice little trip coming up. It is highly probable that from the months of February to June money can be made here in Chasta Buthe City, but it is to be feared that from now until then, not very much can be done because there is no water here now and in the winter the cold will be too great. Springs, or I think it is also called Chasta City, is located not far from the springs of the Sacramento River. Wagons can go as far as there, then on to the surrounding mines. Goods have to be carried by pack mules or horses. It is an important camping point for that reason, even though the area mines may not be the best. My health is much better, so that I can take off my muzzle during the day when it is warm. As soon as it gets cold again, on go the bandages on my head again. Krattiger is also doing not too badly. He is rid of the fever completely and he will soon be restored to health again. The will among the members of our association is to dissolve it. The circumstances at this time, however, make it impossible to split up, so we will have to remain intact until spring. Luedin stayed in Trinidad and will continue the baking operation because no other baker remains there anymore. It is highly possible that he now has a German maid who previously worked for von Loeffelholz, which makes it possible for him to continue the boarding activity. Little Philipp can stay with von Loeffelholz and is certainly in good hands there.

Oct. 19, 1851

Went for a leisurely horseback ride.

Nov. 2, 1851
The changing of the moon has not caused rain yet, which suits us so far because while constructing, it is entirely useless. Our house construction has advanced to the stage where the timbers are stacked on top of each other,
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i.e., forming the four walls. As the business people say, business is not going too well and many of us wish for rain after all, hoping that (mining) activity would liven things up here. Miners are arriving here gradually from many directions to set up winter quarters here or in the vicinity. Three of our mules belonging to Wittenwiler have disappeared for more than a week. No success finding them after several days of searching. We suspect they went down to Delaplaines Ranch in Scotts Valley, where we had boarded them for a while before. Thats why Wittenwiler wants to ride down there to see if they are there. I am not disposed to write a lot because I have been irritated.37 Two or three times I have had arguments of a more or less expletive nature lately with our associate of the opposite sex, who had the reputation back in New York of being a bit nasty. Until recently, I did not have anything to complain about. But last week I saw her at her true character. More of this later.

Nov. 24, 1851

Last Saturday, the 15th, Wittenwiler accompanied by J. Rutishauser (from Thurgau) went to the Springs because the local mines did not seem to pay off enough for them. At this occasion, I became a little richer in experience again, although this becoming richer cost me money. When Wittenwiler helped us build back in Trinidad and I asked him how much pay he was asking, he said that he would not ask too much, and if I were the only one left in the group, he would ask for nothing at all. Later I asked him again about it, moreover requested to do it by my associates. I received the same answer. When my partners (R&K) reminded me again and again to negotiate Wittenwilers pay arrangement, I replied that I would take the responsibility of settling this. In this way, we did not settle even when the house was finished and even when I went to Shasta. When Wittenwiler, after staying here, decided to go to the Springs, a settlement would have to be done anyway. Since Wittenwiler, during my absence from Trinidad, received various things from us, for which Mrs. Krattiger naturally debited his account, I thought I was telling her that being a friend of Wittenwiler, I would settle with him in a way that would not satisfy my associates. Her reply was that I had said back in Trinidad that I would take responsibility to settle. So reminded, I knew what to do. She made out the bill to Wittenwiler without him being present. Then I asked her how much she thinks the association would pay at the most to
37 The balance of this days entry was written in French, likely to ensure the person hes talking about would not understand what he wrote, should his diary fall into the wrong hands.

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be satisfied, and I received the reply that after all figuring, $50 would be the most one should pay him. So now I knew the story from one side. When I asked Wittenwiler how much he thought should be due after calculating, he said $100. To pay $50 out of my own pocket was a bit much. So I asked him again, just how much his work was worth. Negotiated and calculated, the result was that I had to pay $24 out of my own pocket and the association paying $50 added up to the sum calculated. Without keeping this secret, I told him and my associates that $24 came out of my own pocket, as promised in Trinidad at the time that I took the responsibility to settle. This way, I could be satisfied that I could not be reproached from either side, be it from the friend, who took my money, nor from my associates, who paid company dollars from the common till. (I dont know what Luedin will say though). That much I have learned, that by doing any trade or accord in order to avoid trouble, one must finalize agreements beforehand. For me, this year in California, $24 is rather a lot, but what I have learned did not cost me much. I would not have written all this down in such a long drawn out manner if it was not for making sure that what I have learned would really sink in. Also, I think if these sheets get into the hands of one of my siblings one day it could serve as a lesson to a descendant of the one that did not finalize an agreement beforehand. The nights are beginning to get cold and in the mornings everything is frozen. A few days ago, snow covered the nearby mountains, but ice has since melted. All sorts of merchandise has risen in price considerably when rain and snow started to fall. Our house construction is advancing very slowly. It will take another 14 days until full completion. However, we have baked three times already in our oven; we have a kitchen stove and the chimney in the tavern; part of it is in the making. Wolleb received a letter and wants to go to Sacramento. I will have him take a letter for me to Allinger. Wolleb first wanted to work here in the mines, then he went hunting and lately was employed as a waiter, which it seems did not suit him entirely. We have found our mules again and sold them all, therefore the leisure riding has come to an end. Anaheim and Hinderer (a German) have left for Oregon to do farming. Lately I had news from Luedin. He wants to leave our association and has asked me to look after the settlement for him. However, children who have been burnt are afraid of the fire. So, I wrote him to come here himself to help sort things out because I dont want to be blamed afterwards, not at all.

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Dec. 18, 1851

I let my birthday (8 Dec.) go by without registering it herein, but I have celebrated it like last year by going hunting. Last year I asked myself, how much better off would I be this year, but I have a hard time answering that question. It is certainly not a matter of having money in the pouch. But I am an associate of four in a house in Trinidad and another in Shasta Buthe City, which does not mean much. However, according to a recent rumour, the Klamath mines are paying off well and this may increase the value of our Trinidad asset. The business of becoming rich is still looking poor and I dont know which way I should move in order to improve my business. There is no question of becoming wealthy, but to acquire something is still my hope. Well see next spring what can be tackled. One year to go to reach the number 30. At 30 years old, one should have had a look around where and with whom one has the intention to live the rest of ones days. If one has not done this, one has started the bachelor life. Will I end up with the latter? Usually one appreciates things best after having had to miss them. I have experienced this already many times. Sometimes the thought arises of going somewhere else, to settle permanently and to live in a comfortable family environment. Would that not be much more agreeable than this nomadic way of life? On the other hand I think: Bah, now that I am out in the world, let me try this a little longer. Life appears curious to me and if I were not fully convinced that life on Earth is only a period of time of the whole life, which must serve to refine and improve the spiritual being, then virtue and all that we call good, would appear ridiculous to me. Why do what is nice, noble and good when it has to be done with renunciation of pleasure and enjoyment when death would dismiss everything? Only because it is nice and good? Admittedly, to do it for that reason is pleasure, a superior pleasure than the physical, because it is spiritual. So, anyway, since spiritual pleasure is superior than sinful pleasure, it is proof to me that something within the human being can enjoy something, which is not of material nature and therefore when the physical terminates, not everything ends.

Feb. 2, 1852
New Years passed without anything important happening. Many a drink led to intoxication. Enough noise was heard during Christmas and New Years days. Much work is being done in the local mines because water was led to this location from many directions. Dreier was away several days with
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the purpose of going to the Springs but was unable to pass the mountains because of deep snow. Thats why he came back to fetch tools. Tomorrow he will go to the south branch of Scotts River to work. Via Goldsmith, a Trinidad Jew, we received news from Luedin. I received the authority via and with the help of Goldsmith, to liquidate and divide the inventory and assets of the association in Trinidad; a statement of the general ledger issued by Mr. Gunkler was also at hand. Since Van Dyke, the county attorney, was just in the process of going to Trinidad, we transferred the execution of the distribution, which we were able to achieve here rather peacefully. The Trinidad inventory we did not find exactly, this is why we had to add many items until the inventory in Trinidad amounted to: $660.67 The one at Shasta Buthe City: $460.97 So that the total assets amounted to: $1,121.64 Deducting total debts of the four members: $686.95 Leaving a profit of: $434.69 Which results per member: $108.67 Which is the amount each member of the association made over 11 months. The value of the house in Trinidad was based on the amount we paid for the lot upon which the home was built. In a private letter from Mr. Grubber, Luedin lets me know that he would be willing to go into partnership with me again at any time. My response regarding the inventory, or more so my remarks about it, might have caused him some bad blood. The extra $24 I paid to Wittenwiler was calculated as a company item, so I dont lose. Luedin takes over things in Trinidad and the Krattiger family and I take over those of Shasta Buthe City. Since Luedins demand is only $286.94, but the assets in Trinidad amount to $660.67, so that he has an excess balance of $373.73 in hand, $98.85 owing to Glor and a balance of $166.21 due J.K. and me, leaving a balance of $265.06 plus his part of the profit of $108.67 equals $373.73. In this way the association is divided, so that business in Shasta Buthe City only concerns us three associates. We are not quite debt-free, but we hope we will be soon. Our house here costs us, without counting our own labour and food, about $300 - $400. Up to now, business has been rather slow but in time may improve; although the proverb says Hoffen und Harren haelt Manchem zum Narren meaning to hope and to wait has fooled many a fellow. Groceries have become rather cheap; now one can buy 100 lbs of flour for $20 and meat at 15 cents @ lb.

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March 22, 1852

Winter is gone, spring has arrived. The planes around Shasta are covered with lush green, colourful little flowers, among them heavily represented is the pansy. Mornings and evenings we hear a feathered singer which I have not had the pleasure of hearing for a long time. This songbird is a bit bigger than a lark, belonging as it appears to me to the same specie. As it sings and sings, however, it sounds like a robin. Coloured grey, chest and belly reddish. Many people are moving away to Rogue River, north of here in Oregon, about 3 days travel from here, where one hears and believes that very rich mines have been discovered. It is thought that soon a city will be established there. The land in the Rogue River Valley is believed to be extremely suitable for farming. Already many farms have been established and combined with mining it promises to support a flourishing city. Many of our friends are in the process of moving there. We, ourselves, are close to being tired of moving around. Evie and Booth, my two acquaintances of the southern mines, are working about 2 miles from here and are thinking, for the time being anyway, of not moving away from here. I received a letter from Wittenwiler; he is in Indian Creek, tributary of the Trinity River, in company with Rutishauser, Rudolf Schnorf, etc. The day before yesterday I received a letter from Wolleb with payment of $16 for which I was his guarantor here. He is in Sacramento and writes that Meyer from Schoenenbuch had returned to Switzerland. Another countryman of mine has arrived here and is established as a butcher: Julius Neuschwander from Echallens, Canton Vaud. He and two associates brought livestock here from southern California, but many heads got stolen on the trip. A few days ago an important Indian battle took place on the Klamath; about 20 Indians got killed. Many white men, who want to settle permanently in this country, have bought squaws from the chiefs. Among them I noticed a few rather nice looking ones. Usually the price for a squaw is a horse. Almost all Indian bands keep prisoners; they are not tatooed but the squaws who are free, however, have tatooed their chins as an ornament. We have heard nothing from Trinidad since Van Dyke departed, but he and Young, who is supposed to bring little Philipp, should at this time be here soon. From New York I have not received a letter yet, although, judging by the time, I could have received and answer from home. Our business is going reasonably well so that our debts have already been paid off. We hustle all kinds of things to earn money. We bake, keep boarders, sell butter and schnaps. Mrs. Krattiger does laundry (one white shirt @ dollar, a woolen shirt dollar). Krattiger
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makes leather shorts, $10 weekly salary. We make clothing for squaws who were acquired by white men. We paint signs wherever such is needed, sometimes work in the mines, in short, we do whatever is possible to earn money.

April 18, 1852

The all invigorating springtime has arrived and the sun already shines quite warmly. All around, everything is green. The returning spring has a mighty influence on everything and I, too, feel its impact. A yearning for something, a feeling of apprehension occupies my mind very often. It is a yearning I can compare with nothing but home sickness. But why this yearning? Is it the memory of my native valley and the pleasures enjoyed there, which stirs in me the wish to be able to enjoy them a second time? And could this really happen again? Is this yearning caused by an emptiness, i.e., by an unfulfilled place in my heart? Is the yearning there because I have to admit that I was wrong about something? Perhaps I could answer these questions more honestly if I did not think that these sheets could end up in the hands of people for whom they are not intended. How I would like to keep a diary in which I could enter my most secret thoughts and feelings.

April 19, 1852

Last evening I got disturbed during my writing and I will try to continue this evening. Admittedly, one is not always in the same mood, sometimes deeply moved and depressed, sometimes cheerful and happy. External circumstances contribute a lot to our frame of mind. Even the weather and temperatures have a big influence. When I reflect about myself sometimes, I dont hardly know what to think about myself. Very often I am melancholy, I am missing something. When I still lived in my family circle, I knew that all the members not only loved me very much, but also cared, as was the case with my friends. In New York, I had my friend Mrillat, whom I honoured almost like a father, or at least like an older brother, and he treated me accordingly. Since my youth, I was used to having an intimate friend, someone who shared my feelings, who could empathize with me. This I miss here. A male friend, a girlfriend maybe, who thinks like I, whose character corresponds with mine. Everybody here in California is most eager to do only one thing: to amass gold, gold, gold. This is fine and I also share this
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general mania. But on the other hand, one could be more relaxed and easy going. I have no friend with whom I can discuss interesting and informative subjects. When in our domestic circles, I try to talk about something which is not exactly in line with our everyday prosaic way of life and it is construed as high brow, which makes me close my mouth automatically. Not even singing is considered to make work more enjoyable. But enough of my complaining, which may be caused by my cold and my irritated nervous system. After all, one is in California for the purpose of digging gold and so I have written a little about some of its ins and outs. I received a letter from Mr. Grubler from Trinidad and another one from Mr. Van Dyke. They advise that Luedin had accepted the figures of the division of assets after a few discussions, but that he was not in a condition to pay the balance due to us at this moment. As Van Dyke wrote, the delay in payment is caused by Von Loeffelholz hoping to receive room and board money for Philipp. Our business here is generally going not badly; nevertheless my associates (who are really a man and his wife) think that a business in the lower part of the city could be operated to better advantage, which I will not and cannot disagree with. And since Cohen & Co., proprietors of the French Restaurant have liquidated their company and their house was for sale, we bought same for $280. (Cohen & Co. had paid $1,200 for it a few months ago, but with furniture, dishes etc.) and intend to renovate it and try our luck in the house where previously two associations had to liquidate. Qui vivra verra.38 Young and little Philipp have not arrived yet.

June 11, 1852

This morning as I went downtown to work in the garden we had planted, I was told that our house which we had bought recently was up in flames and when I got there, I found that about 8-10 houses were burnt down. With great difficulty the fire was prevented from spreading further. The house next to ours had to be demolished. Much merchandise was burnt and among other things, a keg of powder. During all the noise, we kept right on sleeping. Our house will be ready soon, so that we will be able to move in next week, unless some wrongdoer sets fire to it.

38

We will see.

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June 22, 1852

Today our friend Evey left for the States. I gave him letters for New York for home; he intends to visit Samuel Mrillat in New York. He is planning a nice trip. I will not be able to do the same yet, if I want to wait until I earn as much as I planned before my departure from New York to California. However, circumstances will perhaps develop in a way that I do not have to wait so long. W. Booth now works together with Lefield and likes digging for gold; hes also thinking about going home in late autumn, but is not absolutely sure when yet.

June 24, 1852 (St. Johns Day)

Today we moved into our house at the lower part of the city.

June 26, 1852

This evening we had an open house and early tomorrow we shall put up our sign Siskiyon House. I have not made an estimate yet as to how much the house is costing, but it would not be far from one thousand dollars. From the outside it looks old, but inside it is fairly well equipped. It is located just above the Wyreka House, the biggest hotel in the city. We shall see how it will go. The garden looks pretty green, but for many things its too dry. Potatoes, beans and radishes grow the best. We have bought 6 tons of hay @ $50 and if everything goes well, we should be able to make something on that.

Sept. 18, 1852

About a week ago I received a letter from home dated in April of this year with rather unfavourable news about the condition of things at home. Johannes wishes to come to California and wishes that I send him some money. Five hundred dollars is all we can spare now. Therefore, I will send 38 oz of gold via Mr. Thomas to Mr. Grubler in San Francisco so that he can change it into a draft and send it home. Fifty five Franc pieces my people should send to Krattigers brother. I have written my letters home and to Mr. Grubler and Mr. Thomas will probably leave the day after tomorrow. Mr. Meyer of Schoenenbuch, it seems, wants again to come here with his sister.

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Oct. 14, 1852

On October 8th, I received a letter from Mr. Grubler with a copy of a draft drawn on Overend, Gurney & Co. in London by F. Argenti in San Francisco for 120.7.2, 60 days sight. By mid-November our people might be in receipt of the draft and it might be possible that Johannes might be here early next spring. We shall see what he writes to me next. Around New Years I could be in possession of a letter from him. Late this year a great many emigrants arrived here via the Prairies and among them many females, which makes this area look more like it has been inhabited for a longer time. The Indians have murdered quite a few of the emigrants, among them a whole family. That is why a number of volunteers have been sent to the other side of Shasta Buthe in order to protect the emigrants. A few from this company have already lost their lives. However, it sounds like the hostile band will soon be wiped out. There is a plan to redirect the Shasta River across the local mines because during the summer there is no water. The planning is done and the cost of the undertaking is calculated at $110,000.

Oct. 24, 1852

From the emigrants that came here, we have bought 51 oxen and one cow with the intention of wintering them in Scotts River or Rogue River valleys and then to double our money on them next summer. However, a few days ago, men from Humboldt Bay came here to buy up cattle and we, too, let them have ours with a considerable profit. Due to the heat, which was very oppressive and because of my lack of living in the open, I caught the fever.39From August 14th until almost the end of September, I was bedridden almost constantly. I have been receiving medicine from Dr. Gatliff and probably have accumulated a nice doctors account. I did not feel very well until nature gave a hand and caused relief by making me throw up bile, which helped. To honour the truth I have to say that Mrs. Krattiger served me well as an orderly during the time of my illness. In order to improve my recuperation and at the same time to see if I could find a place in the Rogue River Valley, which we could use for farming and where we could winter our cattle, I took a trip there. It took me three days to reach Jacksonville, or now called Table Rock City, the most important, or better said, the only town in the Rogue River Valley. I saw several pieces of land, which would have been very suitable for
39 Likely malaria.

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us, but found that the area was too far from Yreka and passing the Siskiyon mountains between California and Oregon would have made the way there too difficult. Thereafter, I made another two-day excursion to the Scotts Valley and found another suitable piece of land for us. But now the oxen have been sold and because of happenings to be reported later, it makes it unnecessary for me to be claiming land.

Dec. 24, 1852 (Christmas Eve)

Deep snow is covering the surrounding countryside. Particularly on the mountains, the snow must be tremendously deep, because for quite a while no pack trains have been coming here. That is why all sorts of provisions are very high priced. Flour, if available, sells for 1 dollar, sugar, coffee @ $1, etc. Many people have left here because of the high prices and perhaps many more would leave if the deep snow would not hinder them. Contrary to my earlier thinking, we have taken up a claim in Scotts Valley and have built a house on it and again we have bought oxen and this time cows as well. My partners, male and female, went there about two weeks ago to look at the place. While there, so much snow had fallen and after waiting there a few days, they decided to bring the cattle here, as we have hay here but none there. On their way, however, they learned that no snow lay in the upper Scotts Valley and enough feed was available there, so they left the herd there. Right after their arrival here, we decided to rent out everything we did not need for farming and to move over there. For more than one reason, I agreed to all this. Since business is not going too briskly, we have rented out our house for $50 per month to a Frenchman, Peter Le Guevel. The house we built first is rented to a Swiss from St. Gallen named Egli. He came here from St. Louis via the plains with his wife and child. If the severe winter conditions continue much longer, the skinny cattle would suffer considerably by it. The winter is much harder than last years and snow has fallen in such quantity that several perhaps less solidly built houses broke down. Today is Christmas Eve. How much differently it is celebrated in the old, dear homeland compared to here. On such occasions and celebrations one can see and feel the difference the most. How much different is such a holiday celebrated among family back home, where no eager striving for material gain of chance have made hearts cold and without feeling, like the icy winter has done to nature, but where comfortable informality makes the domestic life cheerful and happy, where hearts beat warmly for each other, where cheerful
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songs ring out and where a severe look by mother punishes more than severe words. I cannot help but remember the long gone Christmas Eves and Christmas mornings as a child. How I looked forward and at the same time feared the Christ Child, clothed in white (made white with flour) who brought me gingerbread and a switch40 and made me say out loud my prayers. How early we got up in the morning to rummage through everywhere to search where the Christ Child had hidden our Christmas gifts. How enraptured we were as we listened when mother, or the kind Neier Anneli, told us the story of Jesus in the crib, of the shepherds at Bethlehem. What impression of holiness of the evening did it make on all of us when our father who now has been resting in a cool tomb, opened up the hymnbook on Christmas Eve and he, who otherwise seldom or never sang, sang Christmas carols with us. How well I remember how I, as a boy, found my Christmas gifts on Christmas morning and among them a story of the New Testament and on the first page the inscription: Christoph Brodbeck Christmas Day 1829. How I still remember the way the booklet was bound. And as an adult, when we went on a pilgrimage to Mariastein, what an impression the festive ringing of the bells, the music and the songs had on us. But enough of the reminiscing! Otherwise they might influence me so much that Ill be considered a dreamer or an intellectual. But anyway, should these lines be seen by you dear mother, or by you my siblings, you will know that on Christmas Eve 1852, I thought of you, knowing well that you did the same of me. I am writing this in spite of all mocking and perhaps scornful smiles by people in whose hearts such feelings for their families never existed.

Jan. 1, 1853 (1 a.m.)

All around me things are lively. Tonight we have transferred the business over to Peter Le Guevel and probably because of it, several Germans came here singing into the New Year. Since they are singing only songs mostly unknown to me and since I have a catarrh, I am unable to join the singers, especially because I prefer to concentrate my thoughts in another direction. How often, when I was still at home, did I sing the Schweizers Sehnen and the Schweizers Heiweh.41 I sang it then and thought I could understand the expressed feelings contained in these songs but only now do I know the
40 41 Rute, bunched birch twigs for spanking. The Swiss mans yearning and homesickness.

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full meaning of those songs. Only now do I feel the truth of Keiner hat uns lieb da aussen, keiner drueckt so hart die Hand und kein Kindlein will mir laecheln, wie daheim im Schweizerland. 42 I do not want to say that there are no sensitive human beings in California, but almost everyone is busy with himself and thinks only about making money, so that the nobler feelings, which give value to human life are thereby suppressed. It is even more disappointing when one thinks to have found someone in a faraway land, far away from ones loved ones at home, whom one thought highly of and liked, and after a certain time and some experiences to find out that he did not have the quality of character for which one appreciated him and therefore is bitterly disappointed. In a case like that I dont know if by being in a mood that I am in right now I would not, if the circumstances were right, go and visit the showplaces of the pleasure of my youth, if I did not expect the arrival of Johannes in a few months. But as the older brother, it is my duty to at least await his arrival and do for him what is possible. He is possibly on his way at this time and is perhaps celebrating the start of the New Year on swaying planks. Wherever he might be, my sincere good wishes for the New Year. And also to you all my family! If the past years have perhaps caused you many worries, may the new one make everything well again and compensate for past hardship. It is curious that during holidays when others enjoy themselves, I find it much more pleasurable to think of the homeland and the ones living there and to communicate with them in spirit. Is there no connection possible between related but separated souls? What is sympathy? In another life perhaps our eyes will be opened so that we might be able to reveal the secrets we cannot now unveil. But enough of this, here one does not philosophize. California is too materialistic of a land for that. I wish I could be at home right now as it is about New Years morning and to be able to say, and I say it nevertheless: May God give you a happy New Year!

Jan. 23, 1853

On January 15th the whole company proceeded to the ranch in Scotts Valley. It took us three days to arrive at the place. Because of the high water level we were unable to ford next to our ranch, but had to go up about 10 miles up river and on the other side down again and with an oxen team the haulage is slow going. Until now not much has been happening because we were still busy herding cattle.
42 No one loves us out here, no one shakes your hand so firmly, and no little child smiles at me like they do in Switzerland.

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Our ranch is situated on the left side of Scotts River, leaning against a hill, enjoying morning and noon sun and allowing for a view of a considerably large part of the valley. About seven miles from us is a quartzmill and another one not far from it, so that when by way of a bridge, a connection can be created with the other shore. A large part of the traffic on both sides of the valley would pass by here, which might later be of significance, once the valley is more populated.

Jan. 30, 1853

Letter from E.R. Evey.

Feb. 20, 1853

Letter to Weber, San Francisco with regard to Johannes. We have not done any plowing yet, but will get at it before long. Until now we have been cutting wood for fencing and hauling it to the open land. Today Mrs. Krattiger went to Yreka and took to market our first production of butter. (It has been just two years since she went to San Francisco from Trinidad to make purchases). Frankly, the quantity of butter is not yet considerable, but we hope that with better grass the cows will give more milk. The nights are rather cold, therefore the grass does not grow much. During the days we have nice, warm weather. The road over the mountains to Shasta City has been open for some time, so that pack trains can come over from there. This has brought down the price of provisions a little. Flour has fallen from $1.50 to 60 cents and sugar and coffee from $2 per lb to 40 cents. Should the good weather remain for sometime, it is hoped that prices will fall some more.

May 10, 1853

Wrote home asking for news; short but clearly. Now we produce butter and cheese; barley and oats have grown rather nicely; the dark green potato plants are starting to peak out of the earth and if everything goes well, Autumn should compensate with excess revenue what spring costs we had to put up with.

June 9, 1853
Wrote to S. Mrillat, c/o Mess. Robert & Co., Fontaine Melon, Neuchtel.
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July 7, 1853
R. davoir reu une l de 2.6.43

Aug. 12, 1853

For some time now I have not been feeling well and I feared constantly that I would get the fever.44Last Saturday the 6th, I drove to Yreka but got sick on the way so that I had to lay down upon arrival and then returned home ill. And as expected, it is the fever and this time the cold variety, as it shook me violently a few times. I get this every day, but I hope by taking quinine it will stop it.

Sept. 4, 1853
I got rid of the cold fever but I have to fear relapses. Only today I again had an attack and I had to take more quinine. For some time now, war has been going on between whites and Indians at Rogue River. More than 200 men from Yreka and surroundings went there. Even though the war has not ended, many of them have come back. It appears the Indians are well armed. As during past battles a number of whites were killed. The local Indians remained passive, but were asked to hand over their rifles, which they did only to an extent. About two weeks ago, the Indians brought the news that a squad of Rogue River and Klamath Indians had invaded Scotts Valley and intended to come and murder, set fires and loot here, beginning with Johnsons Ranch. Naturally, our shooting irons were put into readiness and a number of volunteers from Yreka came during the night. However, no Indians appeared because the chief of the local band and the whites together awaited the arrival of the Indians from other parts. I will get back to writing about this chief later, as he is one of the most intelligent Indians I ever got to know. With a patched eye, like I have at present, it is not easy to write. It is easy to understand that whites and Indians looked at each other with mistrust here, too, since the outbreak of the war. But now the good relations have returned. We have an Indian camp only a mile from our house who have visitors from Klamath and area. Like we have back home, the Indians here have their fair and get together to play. However, I hear that there are many sick among them. Almost all Indians speak some of this Oregon jargon, so that one can communicate with them.
43 44 Exact entry, meaning unknown. Likely malaria.

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Oct. 22, 1853

Received a letter from home with the news of the death of Jean, my brotherin-law. Also a letter from Eduard, containing news of his plan to establish himself in La Chaux-de-Fonds.45 Hansel46 is not coming because the money (I sent him) was used for other purposes. It appears that weddings are taking place in high numbers, so that no maidens will be left for me once I get back home as an old bachelor.

Oct. 29, 1853

Last night August shot a bear. Oct.21 wrote home and to Edouard.

Jan. 12, 1854

Already for about a month we have been back in Yreka again. Nichols & Dorris, who have been renting our house, gave up as of December 1st, so that we have taken over again. We had to furnish it and it took until January 7th for the opening. It cost us rather a lot of money ($2,000). At this moment, business is slow, not much money to be made at all. However, we must continue also to try to sell our products of Scotts Valley. How things will go later is hard to predict. Early December I received a letter from Samuel Mrillat. He is still a partner of the firm Robert & Co. in Fontaine Melon, is married and has a daughter as of May. Our cattle is still over in Scotts Valley and August Brand, one of our men, is over there looking after them. So now we are again in the old nest. In one year, Yreka has grown considerably. Several brick houses have been built, a printing business is operating and a weekly newspaper, the Mountain Herald, is being published. A German brewery has been built and ladies are no rarity, not like a year ago. Il faut aimer, cest ce qui nous soutient et sans aimer il est triste dtre homme. (Voltaire). (One has to love, it is what supports us and without love it is hard to be a human being Voltaire.) Quand il tarrive un infortune, cherche bien, et tu verras quil y a toujours un peu de ta faute. (Saint Gregoire). (When you experience a misfortune, look for the reason and you will see it is always a little bit your fault Saint Gregoire).

45 46

The watch capital of Switzerland. Johannes.

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Jan. 16 &18, 1854

At this time a regular postal service with Shasta City has been set up. I wrote Evey because the letter I wrote him recently was left behind in Yreka. Winter is not over yet. It is snowing right now the way Hebel47 once described it. Indian quarrels have broken out again. The miners of Cottonwood wanted to get back stolen cattle which the Indians held about 15 miles above the Klamath ferry. About 30 men from Cottonwood took off, but instead of finding only a few Indians, they found about a hundred and were beaten back with the loss of four dead. They got back to Cottonwood without blankets, without weapons and ammunition, without horses and without shoes. Now the troops (30 men!) stationed at Fort Jones in Scotts Valley have departed for the theatre of war. Not too much fun in the snow. A company of volunteers is reported to have departed from here under the command of Ben Wright, the famous Indian fighter. Business is very slow and at this time receipts do not cover expenses. If this keeps up for a longer period of time, our holdings will increase at a snails pace.

Jan. 26, 1854

Since the 21st we have reduced the price of a meal to dollar and since then much more is going on, except the profit is smaller. Last Sunday night a gambler bit me because I wanted to throw him out of the house due to his swearing. My lower lip had to be sewn by the doctor and I am suffering considerable pain. It will take more than a week to digest this. This man wanted to draw his pistol, which left me no choice but to draw him as hard as possible towards me, which gave him the opportunity to bite me.

Feb. 13, 1854

Received a letter from Eduard which contained a repeat message of letters received twice before. He promises to send another one soon to follow.

May 12, 1854

Today at 1 p.m. fire broke out in the center of the city. In less than three hours, half of Yreka laid in ashes. Since we had sold our house a few weeks
47 A German writer from across the line from Basel, Switzerland.

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ago, we did not have to worry about losing it to the fire, but if Siskiyon House had burnt, we would not have gotten away with any loss, however. We have sold almost all of its content, which allows me to go work in the mines. A few weeks ago I received a letter from Eduard, to which I replied a few days ago. That reply has not been mailed. A few days ago 56 Chute River Indians arrived here. Their home base is on the other side of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon, about 400 miles from here. They are on horseback, rather well armed and decorated in war paint. They came here to fight the Shasta Indians and to sell horses, of which they reportedly brought along about two hundred. The day before yesterday they performed a war dance and today they were a great help at assisting in putting out the fire.

Aug. 16, 1854

In May the Krattiger family and I settled up permanently. The next day I left for Indian Creek, a mountain brook about 15 miles from Yreka, which joins the Scotts River below the Lone Star Ranch in Scotts Valley, to pick up and shovel again after several years of not working. Mr. Ball and August, who used to work for us, were there so we went to work together. I developed a blister from working; my hand started to swell and pus so badly that I could not work for about six weeks and the hand is still weak and tender, so that I have to wear a bandage to work. Besides that, I like the life in the mines pretty well, particularly in the evenings, when after washing out, a nice amount of the yellow material is left in the pan. So far, fortune has not favoured us very much and if it does not get better, we will have to try to sell out, if an occasion presents itself. My share of the farm I have sold already to Krattiger who will move there in the next few days to really operate the farm in a big way. When we divided, we found that our holdings were smaller than we had thought. Instead of four, I have to be satisfied with gathering up two thousand dollars. Therefore I cannot see going home, either. In the Scotts Valley, construction of a grist mill is just about finished and another one will be ready in a few weeks, so that one may hope not to have to starve of hunger next winter.

Nov. 3, 1854
Yesterday, I received a letter from Eduard dated August 21st, which I answered right away. Sometime ago I sold out at Indian Creek and took a
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trip to San Francisco and brought back some merchandise. Until I have sold same, August and I in partnership will sow some wheat on Krattigers farm. Thereafter we will see what best is to be done. I met Dreyer in Sacramento. He lived for a time in southern California then brought vine shoot and wine to Sacramento and the mines. This was the first time I traveled down the Sacramento Valley. Very nice farms everywhere along the way.

Dec. 29, 1854

Sown some wheat, but really not much and soon it will be New Years. The ground is frozen solid, unable to plow. It so happened we broke our plow yesterday and we settled up today already.

Jan. 30, 1855

Wrote home and sent $500 to Rogers & Co. Express to buy a draft from Adams & Co. on London.

Feb. 2, 1855
Started to plow.

March 13, 1855

It is snowing as much as it can from the sky, thats why we cannot plow. Therefore I have time to copy the following:48 The division of time in segments of 7 days is certainly almost as old as humankind. As soon as people started observing the sky and stars, they noticed on the faithful companion of the Earth, the moon, the changing shapes of light and called them early on: New moon, full moon, etc. From one change of light shape to another, it always took seven days; the first six of these days, the moons size increased or decreased recognizably on the seventh it seemed to the trained eye to almost stand still six working days and a day of rest! Moses charter of creation teaches that God had created the world during the first six days on the seventh he rested from his work and declared it a holy resting day. The names of these seven days were founded on an astrological superstition. Namely, one believed that each
48 Written in German. Source unknown.

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of the seven planets known to the ancient peoples, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, ruled every hour of the day alternatively. Since every day has 24 hours, each planet has three turns to rule and three of them a fourth time. I.e., if Saturn starts the round the first day, the Sun starts the second, the Moon the third, Mars the fourth, Mercury the fifth, Jupiter the sixth and Venus the seventh. This is how the old names of the weekdays originated. The Roman names are as follows: Saturn Day (Saturni dies), Sun Day (Solis dies), Moon Day (Lunae dies), Mars Day (Martis dies) Mercury Day (Mercurii dies), Jupiter Day (Jovis dies), Venus Day (Veneris dies). The French derived the names of the weekdays from the Latin, but for Sunday they changed the name to a Christian sense, i.e., Dimanche (Dominica, the day of the Lord) and also Samedi (Sabbathi dies, Day of the Sabbath). The French weekdays are as follows: Dimanche, Lundi, Mardi, Mercredi, Jeudi, Vendredi, Samedi. Now we come to the German names of the weekdays. The word Woche49 originates from the Gothic language Wico, meaning change, order. In the old high German Wehsal, in Anglo saxon Vuce (or verse), in alemanic wehha, in Swedish wik, wek and in Dutch weke. Ideler believes in his chronology, the names of the weekdays were introduced to the Germans at the same time as Christianity only that the Germans replaced the names of Gods with those of their own. This is how our own week day names originated. We will discuss each name as follows: 1. Sonntag (old nordic; sonndagr, anglosaxon: sunnandag, English: Sunday). Christians worshipped by prayers on Sunday as early as during the times of the apostles, because Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday. But one did not abstain then from all work because the Christian Jews at least celebrated the Jewish Sabbath at the same time. Only Constantine The Great introduced a strict Sunday celebration. The fifty-two Sundays of the Christian church year have special names, partly from the celebrations which pre- or anti- date them, partly from the starting words of songs (mostly psalms), which were sung in the churches on such Sundays.

May 6, 1855
For two weeks I have been busy prospecting. I have been passing through the surrounding area accompanied by J. Vonarx and J. Bieler, without finding enough anywhere to make it worthwhile for us to work. The camping in the open air at this time of year at this high elevation is a cool business.

49

Week.

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Today we plan to leave here (Krattigers Ranch) for Scotts Bar and to try our luck there. I find myself financially in a rather critical situation. The draft by Adams & Co. I sent home was perhaps not honoured because of the failing of the above company. Thats why my people are now in an embarrassed situation and as much as I would like to help them by sending another remittance, it is impossible for me to get a hold of the necessary money.

May 20, 1855

Yesterday evening I arrived at Krattigers Ranch from Scotts and will return early tomorrow morning. Until now we have just been prospecting and have started to dig a tunnel into a hill. We will have to continue this testing for several weeks.

May 31, 1855

Left Scotts Bar and visited Krattigers Farm.

June 3, 1855
Our tunneling has not produced anything for us and we have given up the prospecting. I have in mind finishing building my grain store house and then ?? Joseph Bueler, who is also fed up mining at Scotts River, works here at Krattigers.

June 11, 1855

Received a letter from home advising receipt of my draft. At any rate it arrived too late in London to be honoured, as it laid over 8 days at home before being forwarded. During this time the news of the failing of Adams & Co. of San Francisco had arrived.

July 17, 1855

Letter from Eduard, dated May 2nd with protested draft. Suffering from malignant hand.

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Aug. 17, 1855

Settlement with L. & J.

Nov. 14, 1855

Left Krattigers Farm for Shores Mill.

Nov. 25, 1855

After I spent a few days in the mill50 I was given the task of going to Salmon River with a load of flour. Last night I came back from there and I am now going to the mill.

May 12, 1856

As of November of last year I am working at the mill. My salary was $75 per month for the first two months and $100 per month thereafter. I keep the books and help in the mill. Sometimes I have lots of work and other times it is not too busy. One problem this business has, there are too many bosses and one of them, the old Calvin, is an especially peculiar human being. Last week (April 28) I received a letter from Mr. Berri of San Francisco (April 14) with the enclosure of a letter from my mother (February 11th). Yesterday I replied to them. Today is Pentecost Monday and Eggseppli will probably be calling out: Herzhaft Chnabe.51

Nov. 20, 1856

Yesterday I left the mill and rode to Klamath and Scotts River to look after my flour business. Yesterday I came back as far as Krattigers Ranch and I am planning to go to Yreka today. On the eighth day of June, went and had a walk with the sewing girl, on the ninth day brought to her sister the umbrella I had two days previous &..52

Brodbeck returned to Switzerland in 1859.

50 51 52 Grist mill. Lets go boys. This last sentence was written in English. Brodbecks journal ends here.

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The Wedding

t wasnt long after Jacob Christoph Brodbeck returned to Switzerland in 1859 that he found the love and romance he yearned for during the lonely days of washing gold in the hills of California. Despite fears that all eligible women back home may be spoken for upon return from California an anxiety he expressed in his journal Brodbeck won the hand of Marie Hohl, described by her cousin as the prettiest flower in the valley. The couple married in spectacular fashion, marked by a vivacious and wellattended ceremony that lasted two days. The sights and sounds of the celebration were captured by Lisette Staehelin, cousin of Marie Hohl, who traveled to Benken for the ceremony and later described her experience in an 80-page letter to her cousin. The following is an excerpt of that letter, which begins when Brodbeck arrives at the train station in Basel to pick up his future cousin and her sister on May 12, 1864: Horse and buggy met us at the Steinen Street. It turns out the coachman is none other than our future cousin Christoph. Here he stood before me, whose wedding guest I will be, who wants to lead my beloved Marie through storm and danger, through a lifetime and above all to love her deeply and faithfully. He looked at me with his big brown eyes. No long speeches were exchanged but by means of a nice glass of wine he offered me, the cousin of his bride the DU. Our new friend loaded us into the buggy and there we rolled out the Steinentor53 to the countryside amid cheerful conversation. The new cousin was friendly, told jokes and explained things along the way, while dusk was falling in the Leimental54 and the hill of the Landskron55 disappeared in the darkness. The trip to Benken took 1 hours. I was received in a very friendly manner by the uncle, Dr. Hohl, the aunt and the cousin and bride Marie. After a few days of zealous preparations, like ironing of the dowry, viewing of the newly furnished future apartment in the mill house, the baking and

53 54 55

One of the city gates. Name of the valley. A castle.

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the decorating of the large living room at the Doktorhaus, life around the wedding commenced Monday evening in the house of the bride: It was really getting dark. We sat down for the evening meal. The groom to be also appeared, the last time in this capacity. Suddenly a flash of lightning appeared outside the window, a clap of thunder crashed and another and another one again. The young men of the village let off a volley of shots by means of a little canon and pistols in honour of the bride. The house strongly vibrated; it felt like war around us. To go with it, Hektor howled and children shrieked. When we were under fire, the mill house (home of the groom to be) had already survived the bombardment. The cannon took off and we went to bed. We had to endure the banging a few more times before the morning of the festive day. At midnight it got going again. Each stroke of the church bell was accompanied by a shot outside the window, announcing the 17th of May, a day of jubilation. Thereafter, one was able to sleep a little, but at 4 a.m. the banging of the canon started up once more. This is what I call a Polterabend 56and I understand why the evening before the wedding is called so. The shooting in the village occurred all night and filled the grooms nostrils with a heavy dose of powder smell. And why should the young men of the village not have the joy to see their king and leader take home the valleys prettiest flower in the person of this young lady? They would not have liked to see her follow a man from elsewhere. After the thunder had subsided, we got up, washed, cleaned and tidied up. No one wanted to look less than perfect. The bride was not allowed to cry. She had to control herself as it was hard for her to leave her fathers house. But her conduct was exemplary. She picked and put up one piece of embellishment after another, until she stood there in veil and garland with blushing cheeks, just like a bride. At nine thirty the guests arrived. The gentlemen came to the mill house for a mid-morning light lunch and the ladies to our place for a cup of coffee. About twenty crinolines just about filled the large room; it took great skill to move among them and to do the serving. The women congratulated the bride and already during the snack showered her with gifts. We introduced each other, drank coffee and ate gugelhopf and looked at each others embellishments. Most of the ladies were dressed in black or coloured silk. The women wore hats, the children and young ladies ribbons with flowers. At eleven a.m. the gentlemen moved in and assembled in the lower living room where the single gentlemen were given a tiny bouquet of flowers and the married ones a white rose in their buttonholes. The ladies were called down to the lower hallway. The best man, the troubled fellow, placed
56 Polter (banging), abend (evening).

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himself under the doorway with a sheet of paper, a list, and started to call out ladies names one after the other. As soon as one of them presented herself in the doorway, the gentleman assigned to her was called, who then gently offered his arm to her and led her into the parlour. The best man was ordered to the side of the groom to take over the duties of the day. He had to check that everything went according to schedule, i.e. to arrive on time at the church, at the meal, to supervise the carriages, to order the getting in and getting out of them and generally to look after the wellbeing of the guests. Similarly, the maid of honour had the duty of serving the bride whenever the need arose. The best man then ordered the procession to the church. The church bells started to ring. Two small children walked ahead of the procession, followed by two teenaged godchildren of the bride. Next, the happy, beaming groom led his beautiful bride towards the church, the wedding celebration and the dance. The best man with the maid of honour, the minister and I, single women, married women in that order, etc. It was a long line-up. I would have liked to be an onlooker myself. All people of Benken stood along the side of the road, nobody worked, everyone celebrated and was pleased. At the cemetery (surrounding the church) an unknown person had decorated the grave of Maries mother. Inside the church, the minister of the village spoke deeply felt words as soon as the singing had subsided. The bridal couple walked to the altar and received the full blessing of the union that they had already committed to. After the wedding ceremony, the village mixed-choir sang, receiving general applause. After the service, the wedding party proceeded back to the house of the bride in the same order as they came. An unusual compulsory tradition here is the handing out of the cookies in the churchyard to the children and sometimes to some older persons. After a short break, the party was loaded into carriages and a coach. Up front on a Bernerwaegelchen57went the Benken Music Corps, which sounded off its tunes from time to time during the trip, which went to Muenchenstein, via Therwil, Reinach, Dornach and Arlesheim. In Reinach, about a ten-minute stop was made because here was the house where the bride was born. Wine was served on the carriages. The weather was beautiful, clear sky, not too hot and no dust; the wishes of the bride were all fulfilled. At about three oclock in the afternoon, we arrived in Muenchenstein, a dirty, old little village. The inn, on the other hand, was set up the very best for the occasion, dining and dance halls side-by-side, one roomier than the other. Everything was ready for us, tables tastefully decorated with various
57 Bernese buggie.

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flowers. Fillet mignon and trout and pigeon and ham and vol-au-vent etc., and loads of prepared dishes were served and with it a little wine of excellent quality. Invited teachers presented songs, music boxes played their tunes. Dr. Hagler58gave a toast to the newlyweds and Mr. Wirz, the minister, recited a funny poem he had written himself. Finally a cup of tea was served which was making us feel the very best indeed. At five thirty the lunch was finished and one had a chance to give our stomachs a break. The best man and the minister suggested a walk to the ruins of Muenchenstein (castle), which was thought to be a good idea and before long people started to move. The music corps also went along and generally got us to sing. One song followed another. When the music band started to play Rufst Du, Mein Vaterland,59everyone joined in. After this enjoyable hour, we returned to the empty hall. The young people immediately started to dance. The older ones joined in a little later also, but moving a bit slower. However, they beat the young ones in their ability to do the waltz. Various groups were formed, some for singing, some for talking, some for various ways of entertainment, here and there happily toasting each other. At midnight a colossal dinner was served. The seating was changed, so that the bridal group could get together with other couples, also for planning the return trip home. The following dishes were served: cauliflower, salmon, roast beef, ragout, vol-aux-vent, suckling pig, poultry, haunch of venison, puddings and other dishes. Desserts in quantities one could not possibly all eat, i.e. mountains of different cakes etc. Moreover, I received sweets from the bride to take home besides the usual dessert doggy bag, in the form of a Mandelherz.60 The coffee was the magic to reverse our slowly developing tiredness. More songs were presented again. Mr. Schaffner, a teacher, read a humorous story about a bishop of Basels journey to the cloister of Mariastein. The cakes disappeared from the tables, as did the coffee pots and milk jugs. Daylight appeared through the windows, the lights were extinguished and nice morning fresh air entered into the hall through the windows. After nearly an hour and a half ride, we arrived in Benken. I went straight into my room and slid into bed. I had slept hardly two hours when I heard from the street trumpet sounds and shouts of joy. The bride and groom had returned with the rest of the guests. The next afternoon, the newlyweds came for a visit with the invitation to come to the Ochsen61 for a dance. The

58 59 60 61

The grooms uncle. The national anthem. Almond heart. The Ochsen was an inn/restaurant/dance hall.

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singers and shooters were the guests of the groom. The groom and the bride were expected to appear also. The day before Lisette returned home, a good-bye dinner was held at Dr. Hohls The last dinner together was very much fun because Christoph rarely came back from Arlesheim (town where court was held) depressed. The next day, Christoph and Marie drove us to Basel a different way a rougher road, but more romantic to the rail station in Basel. We arrived a bit too early there, but just in time to eat breakfast once more, which we did and so were able to enjoy Christoph and Marie a little bit more.

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