Personal Reminiscences of Early Days in California with Other Sketches | Page 6

name is pleasantly associated with the
payment of the note, and the timely assistance which he thus gave me.
His career as commander of the well-known regiment of New York
volunteers which arrived in California in March, 1847, and

subsequently in the State, are matters of public history.
As soon as I found myself in funds I hired a room as an office at the
corner of Montgomery and Clay streets for one month for $300,
payable in advance. It was a small room, about fifteen feet by twenty. I
then put out my shingle as attorney and counsellor-at-law, and waited
for clients; but none came. One day a fellow-passenger requested me to
draw a deed, for which I charged him an ounce. He thought that too
much, so I compromised and took half an ounce. For two weeks this
was the only call I had upon my professional abilities. But I was in no
way discouraged. To tell the truth I was hardly fit for business. I was
too much excited by the stirring life around me. There was so much to
hear and see that I spent half my time in the streets and saloons talking
with people from the mines, in which I was greatly interested. I felt
sure that there would soon be occasion in that quarter for my services.
Whilst I was excited over the news which was daily brought from the
mines in the interior of the State, and particularly from the northern
part, an incident occurred which determined my future career in
California. I had brought from New York several letters of introduction
to persons who had preceded me to the new country, and among them
one to the mercantile firm of Simmons, Hutchinson & Co., of San
Francisco, upon whom I called. They received me cordially, and
inquired particularly of my intentions as to residence and business.
They stated that there was a town at the head of river navigation, at the
junction of Sacramento and Feather Rivers, which offered inducements
to a young lawyer. They called it Vernon, and said they owned some
lots in it which they would sell to me. I replied that I had no money.
That made no difference, they said; they would let me have them on
credit; they desired to build up the town and would let the lots go cheap
to encourage its settlement. They added that they owned the steamer
"McKim," going the next day to Sacramento, and they offered me a
ticket in her for that place, which they represented to be not far from
Vernon. Accordingly I took the ticket, and on January 12th, 1850, left
for Sacramento, where I arrived the next morning. It was the time of the
great flood of that year, and the entire upper country seemed to be
under water. Upon reaching the landing place at Sacramento, we took a
small boat and rowed to the hotel. There I found a great crowd of
earnest and enthusiastic people, all talking about California, and in the

highest spirits. In fact I did not meet with any one who did not speak in
glowing terms of the country and anticipate a sudden acquisition of
fortune. I had already caught the infection myself, and these new
crowds and their enthusiasm increased my excitement. The exuberance
of my spirits was marvelous. The next day I took the little steamer
"Lawrence," for Vernon, which was so heavily laden as to be only
eighteen inches out of water; and the passengers, who amounted to a
large number, were requested not to move about the deck, but to keep
as quiet as possible. In three or four hours after leaving Sacramento, the
Captain suddenly cried out with great energy, "Stop her! stop her!"; and
with some difficulty the boat escaped running into what seemed to be a
solitary house standing in a vast lake of water. I asked what place that
was, and was answered, "Vernon,"--the town where I had been advised
to settle as affording a good opening for a young lawyer. I turned to the
Captain and said, I believed I would not put out my shingle at Vernon
just yet, but would go further on. The next place we stopped at was
Nicolaus, and the following day we arrived at a place called Nye's
Ranch, near the junction of Feather and Yuba Rivers.
No sooner had the vessel struck the landing at Nye's Ranch than all the
passengers, some forty or fifty in number, as if moved by a common
impulse, started for an old adobe building, which stood upon the bank
of the river, and near which were numerous tents. Judging by the
number of the tents, there must have been from five hundred to a
thousand people there. When we