Letters of John Johnson 1850s Gold Rush

JOHNSON, MAUER, DILTZ BLAYLOCK, WILKENSON, RICHMAN, BOILS, MC KREADY

Posted By: Jean Johnson
Date: 10/19/2006 at 08:07:48

Jean Johnston, Lisbon, Iowa, shared the following four letters that John Johnston wrote to his family in Iowa while he journeyed to California to search for gold. Many names he mentioned are in the 1850 Iowa Census (Cedar County).
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Kainsville, Iowa, May 17-1852

My dear wife and children,

We have landed safe in Kainsville the 17th of this month. All in good health. We had good luck on the road our cattle looks as well as when we left home. Grass is plenty, corn is plenty on the road, the highest we paid was .50 per bushel.

Our expenses are just two dollars apiece since we left home. Corn is worth .20 here flour 19 and 20 dollars per barrel. Today the 18th it sells for $14.00.

I have seen David Maurer the Pedler and Peter Diltz and Com Blaylock and Wilkenson, we passed 50 mi. back. they have come up since.

__Moffit is camped some place on the Missouri river, yesterday I saw John Fleming and family.

Ve saw some 6 or 7 dead horses on the road and many oxen.

Kainsville beats any place I ever saw, there are all small houses. Some of them covered with straw and some with dirt.

The country around is hilly and poor everything sells high, but corn and horses, I saw oxen sold yesterday for $78-50.

There are a great many Californians selling but they come here with out their outfits and can't make it things are so high.

We saw no Indians until we came here. Now we see plenty of them. all want money or clothes or some thing to eat.

We camped 3 miles above Kainsville and all we can see are California tents, there are six ferries running day and nite. The ferry we expect to cross on has crossed some where about 3 thousand teams, it is supposed we can't cross before 2 weeks.

There is no sickness here of any kind that I know of. I was vaccinated a week ago for small pox. it is getting very sore, also Wm Boyles.

I think from the appearance there are about one half going to Oregon.

Eliza you need not get ready to move to Calif until I come home, for it is hard enough for man without a family.

I did not get within 50 miles of Roberts today.

The 20th we are 20 miles below Kainsville, we intended to cross the Mis-souri today and start on the plains.

Tell all who inquire they had better be contented where they are for they won't be 200 miles before they will rue the trip.

The Indians say the grass is good, there are a great many Indians here but they are harmless. Some of them can speak good English.

I saw Richman here, he says the route we are going to take is the best. We are going up the south side of the Platte river, we expect to get ahead of a-bout 2000 teams by coming down here and that is considerable of our object.

The ferridge on the Missouri will be two dollars a team, there is a steam boat at Council Bluffs for ten dollars a team, they make $100.00 a trip. We have very heavy frost here the nights are cool and three nights ago we had a very heavy hai.1 storm.

I mast close, two Indians are standing looking on, I can't write Will write the first chance I get

Thomas Slater left I guess it means part of our company on the plains and Bu Dil tz, Blaylock Wilkinson and Walter's, Strombouth the man that bought my grey horse.

Our cattle are doing well No more at present.

I remain your loving husband, John Johnston

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Independence Rock July 4-1852

My Dear wife and Children,

We are spending our 4th of July at Rock Independence all in fine health, we are getting along very well. We are one thousand miles from home and the cattle look very well except a few.

Buck is failing some Tom looks as well as ever. We have one hundred miles thru' the mountains then we expect to find better grass.

Independence Rock is a beautiful Rock 200 ft high 1/4 mile long, Devil's Gate is another curiosity 500 ft high Sweet water passes thru' it.

There has been a great deal of sickness on the road, it is supposed 1000 souls have died between Council Bluffs and Salt Lake. The health is excellent now we see very few graves, some time back we saw 15 and 20 graves a day.

You can tell Wm Walters' his brothers are well like wise my Coon friends.

This trip is five times as hard as I expected. I would not for $500.00 have my family here.

We crossed the river. I saw a man drowned he left a wife and three child-ren on the bank to shift for them selves, there is many a widow left on the plains in distress. I would not advise any man to go to California by land it is an awful trip.

Peter Diltz is two days ahead of us, David Maurer and Pedler are with us some times, I saw both of them today.

David Maurer was well the Pedler sick, they got along well. We expect to get through the first of Sept we have one hundred miles to Salt Lake.

Nothing more at present, hope this finds you in good health.

This letter by the mail carrier to Fort Laramie.

Yours truly John Johnston

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Placerville Calif Sept 20-1852

My dear Wife and Children and Friends,

I take the pleasure to inform you all that we landed in Placerville on the 16th of Sept all well.

My health is very good and was all the way except five days, I was very sick. Started with colic, Phaff was sick about one month with mountain fever, I have just found it here as I expected, men running everyway not knowing what to do.

There is hundreds of men working for their board, today I washed .75 seventy five cents worth of gold and pay one fifty for board and sleep on the floor or ground.

I expect to leave this place and hunt for my pile, but think it will be small, but I will spend $75. before I will work by the month at fifty or seventy five dollars a month.

I have been boarding with Peter Dilts since I have been here he landed here a few days before us, he lost about half his cattle, we lost one cow on the Humbolt river.

Tom and Buck I sold on the big meadow for seventy dollars, Tom gave out and Buck was fat and sound as a dollar.

William Boils found his brother on the desert 200 hundred miles east of Calif keeping a trading post, he stayed with him. I bought their cattle for $70o Seventy dollars and sold them for eighty.

We sold our cattle in Carson Valley $440.00 four hundred and forty dollars, we got $20.00 for the new wagon it was rocked to pieces, the old wagon we burned on the head of the Humbolt river.

We sold our bacon for .371 per pound-flour .25 per pound, rice .15 per pound. We then started to pack across the mountains one hundred miles which was the hardest traveling I ever done, it usually takes an ox team ten to twelve days to drive over We were three and one half days crossing.

We paid fifty cents a pound for bread .75 for pork. $1. per pound for cheese, a stony bill for a bed, big pine trees for shelter. I suffered con-siderable coming across the cut-off for water and provisions.

Provisions are high here, flour .20 per pound. potatoes .7 to .10 per pound beef .20 per pound. beans .12-1 per pound and so forth.

I do not like it here in Hougtown or Placerville, there are four large gambling houses and ever nite there is from one to two thousand dollars won from the miners. Sunday there is the most business done gambling particular. Placerville is about 2 1/2 miles and the streets and every ravine is dug up.

Sept 21-Phaff, Nicholas McKready and my self started to sight rock prospecting - 5 miles from here, we intend to commence tomorrow in Andrew Dwignes had hired with David Buze and Wilkerson.

Wm Johnston has gone to Sacramento if anyone wants to know if this is good farming country tell them there is none within 25 miles of here it is nothing but hills and hollows.

I had $130.00 and now I have $150.00 I will send you in a check in an-other blank letter, when you receive it you can take it to Tipton and sell it to Tuttle he will buy it without discount in course of a month or two will send you fifty more.

I don't want you to fret yourself about me. My health is good everything is quiet here but I would rather be at home for there is no place like it but I will make the best of a bad bargain. I can not tell when I will come home if there is anything here for me I want some of it. I can tell by next spring. I here enclose a sample of gold dust to you as a present and I have a fifty dollar gold slug I would give to see you and the wee ones, but the time will soon come when we will see one another.

When you write direct your letters to Sacramento City.

Thomas Slater left Dilts on the Humbolt 300 miles east of Calif. he has gone north and I haven't seen him since in June. Give my best to Mr. Slater and tell him to be contented where he is for it is a rough old road to tra-vel I will send him a letter.

I sent to Nevada City for your letter by express. for your letter it will cost $1.00 (one dollar) it is sixty miles.

Tell Samuel and Jacob not to break their necks to get here they are bet-ter off at home, if they will come for God Sake come by water, when I get home I can spin you a yarn that will surprise you.

My dear write often and remember me.

Yours Truly J. Johnston

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Placerville Calif Dec 25 1852

My Dear Wife and Children,

Again I take my pen in hand to inform you that I am in good health at present, hoping these few lines find you all in same state of health. This going to be the lowliest Christmas to me. I am going at home Many are going to Placerville to see a Bear and Bull fight. I want to get home as soon as possible so will save my money, more that that it is snowing about as fast as it does in Iowa, and has been for the past week. The snow is about nine inches at present and is melting.

The weather is very bad here one day sunshine, the next rain then it snows, snow is from four to sixteen ft deep within ten miles of me. the winter bids fare for a hard one.

It is very hard on the miners here because of the bad weather and pro-visions are very high. We pay .45 per lb for flour, .30 for beef or pork .20 for beans 20 for potatoes that is $12.00 per bushel, everything in propor-tion, so you may judge we have hard times.

I work Sunday and Monday to get money to pay my board and get money to leave the country

Wm. Johnston: Sam McCredy, H. Walters and my self have bought a claim for 'which we paid $1.50 which Days us about four dollars to the pan per day - then we pay our board so have but a small profit, we ought to make seven dollars to the pan to make wages here,

Mining is very hard on clothes. a good pair of boots costs $12.00, it has cost me $21.00 for clothes since I came here and $1.40 for board, all the mon-ey I have at present is $32.50. But if I keep my health I will get my purchase money bye and bye.

My dear wife if I could hear from you regularly I would be more contented here but all the letters I have received was the one you sent to Fort Laramie which was to late it was forwarded on to Sacramento City, the express brought it to Placerville. I recieved it on the 9th of Dec, it cost me one dollar but if 'I could hear from you the lst of Sept I would not be grudge ten dollars, but I must be contented it is me that made the trouble.

I am afraid this will be a long winter for you, the time goes faster for me as I am anxious to make money.

Tell Robert to be a good boy and learn his book well. I have found a nice four bladed knife I will bring him when I come home and poor little Lucy I will bring her something, there is hardly a night passes but what I dream of being at home, but it is all a dream.

I suppose about now the California fever is beginning to rise but my dear friends if you know half what I do you would quickly check it, for it will cost you triple the amount here to check it than in the states. I do hope that none of my friends will attempt to come here for it is nothing but a God for Saken country.

I will bring this letter to a close dear wife be contented there is a day coming when we will meet again to spend our days together as we should do.

I have written every two weeks since here and will continue to do so un-til I return home.

Nothing more at present I remain your loving husband.

John Johnston