An edition of Notes of a voyage to California via Cape Horn
(1878)
Notes of a voyage to California via Cape Horn
together with scenes in El Dorado, in the years of 1849-'50. With an appendix containing reminiscences ... together with the articles of association and roll of members of "The associated pioneers of the territorial days of California."
by Samuel Curtis Upham
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Samuel Curtis Upham (1819-1885) was a clerk in a Philadelphia merchant house when he decided to try his luck in California in January, 1849. Sailing round the Horn, he visited Rio de Janeiro and Talcahuana before landing in San Francisco. After a brief career as a gold miner at the Calaveras diggings, Upham moved to Sacramento, where he published the Sacramento Transcript, May-August 1850. Notes of a voyage to California (1878) includes Upham's memoirs of his early years in California, with special attention to Sacramento's colorful history in 1850. He closes his narrative with a brief description of his return to Philadelphia that same year via Panama. The book's lengthy appendix contains chapters on California journalism, the California exhibition at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, and various reunion dinners and other events sponsored by the California "Pioneers" association.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER I.
The departure — Scramble to get on board — Last night on terra firma — Names of passengers — Departure from the Breakwater — Discharge the pilot — Paying tribute to old Neptune — Storm at sea— Deck-load thrown overboard — Humorous incident — Brandy vs Pilot-bread — Dissatisfaction among the steerage passengers — Captain Fairfowl shows his teeth — One of the sailors flogged — Mother Cary's chickens
Page 23
CHAPTER II.
Cruising in the tropics — Cabin passengers have a jollification — Cross the equator — Visit the bark Croton — Dissecting a shark — Passengers present a petition to Captain Fairfowl — A duel in embryo — Celebration of Washington's Birthday — Steerage passengers on short allowance — Gambling on board — Welcome visitors — Land, ho! — Enter the harbor of Rio de Janeiro — Impressions on beholding it — First hour on shore
Page 40
CHAPTER III.
City of Rio de Janeiro — Visit to the market — Mode of nursing children in Rio — The Passeio Publico — Rare plants and flowers — Butchery of Santa Lucia — View of the city from Telegraph Hill — The Theatre San Januaria — Trick of the manager — A night on a dilapidated sofa — Emperor's church — Interior decorations — Yankee mercantile house in Rio — Visit to Praya Grande — The Frenchman and his orange grove — Visit to the Navy Yard — Scene at the guardhouse — Convent of St Benedict — Funeral ceremony — Mode of interment
Page 61
CHAPTER IV.
Visit to the museum — Precious stones, medals, etc — Observance of the Sabbath in Rio — Washerwomen of the Campo Santa Anna — Visit to the Academy of Fine Arts — Paintings and sculpture — The Strangers' Burial-ground — Hot-corn women — American ladies bound for California — The Emperor's palace and garden — Visit to the latter — The Emperor's juvenile sports — Second night at the theatre — Dom Pedro II and Donna Therese — Slaves in Rio — Arrival of gold-dust from California — Arrival of the steamship Panama — News from home — California-bound vessels in Rio
Page 76
CHAPTER V.
Departure from Rio — Vessels bound for El Dorado — Auction sale at sea — A pampero — Its consequences — Putting a little whisky where it would do the most good — Hail-storm — Raffle for a monkey — Melee between a passenger and the steward — School of porpoises — Sudden change in the atmosphere — Its effects — All hands on an allowance of water — Horrors of a passage around Cape Horn subsiding — All- Fools' Day — "The Perseverance Mining Company" — Articles of agreement
Page 92
CHAPTER VI.
Another gale — Salt-water coffee — Cabin stove broken — Another hail-storm — Terra del Fuego — Staten Land by moon-light — Double Staten Land — Death of Jocko, the sailors' pet — Furious gale off Cape Horn — The cook's galley capsized — Cabin passengers on a jamboree — Another gale — Drifting about in the region of icebergs — Raw pork and hard-tack — Fresh provisions all gone — Novel method of obtaining fresh grub at sea — Double Cape Horn — Boxing the compass — Passengers volunteer to stand watch — Capture of an albatross
Page 107
CHAPTER VII.
Another severe gale — Swollen limbs — Is it scurvy? — Captain and mate have a growl — Fight between two passengers — One of the passengers celebrates his birthday — Gambling on board, and the Captain's mode of suppressing it — Fair wind once more — Passengers again on deck — Punishing a ship's boy — Passengers object to putting into Talcahuana — Anchors gotten over the bow — Passengers watching for land — Make the coast of Chili — Head-wind — Driven out to sea
Page 123
CHAPTER VIII.
Put into the wrong harbor — Passengers go ashore — Reception by the natives of De Chatta — Deserters — Dine with the Alcalde — Ascertain our whereabouts, and start for Talcahuana — Scenery en route — Chilian peasantry — Their respect for the dead — Primitive wine-press and threshing-machine — Quarter of a century later — Henry Meiggs — His arrival in Chili — Brief sketch of his eventful life — Peace to his ashes
Page 139
CHAPTER IX.
Arrive at Tome — Dog-meat vs. mutton — Embark in a whale-boat for Talcahuana — The Red Lion and its landlord — The Senorita — A night on a dining-table — The market — Coal mines — Feast on muscles — Funeral of a whaleman — Chilian fandango — Chilians, male and female — Females making their toilet — Passengers arrive from De Chatta — Arrival of the Osceola in the harbor of Talcahuana — Breach of the Marine Laws of Chili — Threatened confiscation of the brig — Visit to the city of Concepcion — California-bound vessels in Talcahuana — Funeral procession — Visit to the Paps
Page 153
CHAPTER X.
Description of Talcahuana — Theft of a water-cask — Punishment of the culprit — Our indebtedness to Captain Finch — The American consul — Departure from Talcahuana — Scene: in the harbor — Gambling on board — Salt-water dumplings — Becalmed — Increase in the price of mining implements — General washday — Magnificent scene — Passengers on an exploring expedition — Set-to between the Captain and cook — First knockdown for the cook — Sugar served out pro rata
Page 167
CHAPTER XI.
Sunday at sea — Light and baffling winds — Man-of-war birds shot — Fresh pork — Canchalagua pills — Passengers on their muscle — Crossing the equator — Old Neptune initiates one of the sailors — Bed-bugs and fleas — Our old skipper under the weather — Fourth of July at sea — Jolly time and no whisky — Ship ahoy ! — Visit from the passengers of the ship Pacific — We treat them to salt pork and hard-tack — Later news from the land of gold — Captain Fairfowl has the dumps
Page 183
CHAPTER XII.
Our last porker slaughtered — Cold weather in the tropics — Off Lower California — The Captain predicts a fair wind — Will wine vinegar inebriate ? — Provisions and water scarce — Head-winds — First mate ordered below — Encounter a squall — The cook and cabin steward have a free fight — Fog and Scotch mist — Drift-wood — Brig ahoy ! — Visit from the mate of the brig Spencer — Land ho ! — Farallone Islands — Come to anchor outside the Golden Gate
Page 199
CHAPTER XIII.
Pass through the Golden Gate and come to anchor in the harbor of San Francisco — Visit the town — The Bank-Street dry-goods dealer — Recapitulation of the voyage — Scene at the post-office — Happy Valley — Leave the Osceola — Intelligence from the mines — San Francisco as it was — Crime and its punishment — The Parker House and its gambling- tables — Climate of San Francisco — Start for the mines — Mosquitoes and tides — Arrival at Stockton — Stockton in '49 — En route to the mines
Page 214
CHAPTER XIV.
First day and night on the road — Digger Indians — The surprise — Badly frightened — "Song of the Gold-Digger" — The wrong road — Arrival at the "diggins" — Commence operations — The result — Rich "diggins" reported — Start on a prospecting tour — Return disgusted — Discovery of a rich bar — Commence operations — Sickness of the Author — Return to Stockton — Leave Stockton for San Francisco — Changes wrought in two months — Canvass for a newspaper route — The Pacific News — Its early history
Page 239
CHAPTER XV.
First State election — The winning candidates — "Fire! fire! fire!" — A million dollars' worth of property destroyed— "Big Ames's" report of the conflagration — An eccentric judge — Muddy streets — First vocal entertainment in San Francisco — Early theatricals — "Them literary fellers" — Terrence McVerdant — "A rallying song for the gold- diggers."
Page 262
CHAPTER XVI.
Locate in Sacramento City — The Sacramento Transcript— First election in Sacramento — Three tickets in the field — Names of the city and county officers elected — Meeting of the Council-elect — Demas Strong chosen President— He makes a speech — Adjourned meeting of Council — Mayor Bigelow's message read and accepted — First message of the first Mayor of Sacramento City
Page 275
CHAPTER XVII.
First conflagration in Sacramento City — Amount of property destroyed — Collation given to the fire department by Mayor Bigelow — Henri Herz, the French composer and pianist — His concerts in Sacramento City — First negro minstrel performance in Sacramento — Rowe's Olympic Circus — Grand soiree — Rival politicians — First meeting of the I. O. of O. F. in Sacramento City — The Masons and Odd Fellows establish a hospital — Sutter Lodge of Ancient York Masons — Private hospitals — First public marriage in Sacramento — The Placer Times — Colonel Joseph E Lawrence
Page 289
CHAPTER XVIII.
Commercial advantages of Sacramento City — New buildings — First daily issue of the Transcript— The Placer Times follows suit — Sell my interest in the Transcript to Mr. G. C. Weld— Death of Mr. Weld — Tribute to his memory— Captain John A Sutter— Sutter's Fort— Attack on the Fort by the Indians — They are repulsed — Hock Farm
Page 307
CHAPTER XIX.
Grand entertainment given at Hock Farm by Captain Sutter — Full report of the affair — Letter from Thomas O. Larkin — Mr Francis D Clark and others resolve that one man is as good as another, provided he behaves himself — The glorious Fourth — Its first celebration in Sacramento City — "The Ancient Order of Bricks" and the Sons of Temperance publish their programmes of exercises — A jolly Fourth of July
Page 323
CHAPTER XX.
Land-titles in Sacramento City — The squatters organize and mean business — Buildings erected by the squatters demolished — The squatters hold incendiary meetings and declare war to the knife — Assessor Woodland and Sheriff McKinney killed and Mayor Bigelow dangerously wounded — Burial of Assessor Woodland and Sheriff McKinney — The citizens organize military companies — Relief for the overland emigrants — Farewell to Sacramento City
Page 833
CHAPTER XXI.
Down the Sacramento on the steamer Senator — San Francisco in the fall of 1850 — Farewell, San Francisco — Homeward bound — The steamer Columbus — Captain Peck — Incidents on board — Arrival at Acapulco — Scenes on shore — Conflict of authority — Overland emigrants via City of Mexico — Arrival at Panama — Go ashore pig-a-back — Immersion without the benefit of clergy — Panama in 1850 — Two of the Columbus's passengers die of cholera
Page 354
CHAPTER XXII.
Leave Panama — To Cruces on mule back — Down the Chagres River in a bungo — Deaths by cholera en route — Mr. and Mrs. Gillingham — Go on board the steamship Falcon — Deaths by cholera — Burial at sea — Arrival at Havana — An afternoon and night on shore — Take passage on the steamship Ohio for New York — Arrival at New York — Departure for Philadelphia — Home again
Page 370
APPENDIX.
Page 385
PIONEER JOURNALISM IN CALIFORNIA The Pacific News — Its editors and proprietors — "Boston," alias "Big Ames" — First newspaper published in California — The Alta California — Sacramento Transcript and Placer Times— The Golden Era— Bret Harte, Mark Twain and Prentice Mulford — San Francisco Picayune, Courier and Herald — Marysville Herald — Stockton Times — Sonora Herald
Page 385
"CALIFORNIA DAY" AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION Preliminary meeting in New York — Committee appointed — Rev. Albert Williams addresses the meeting — Programme of exercises — 'Forty-niners and other Californians present — Distinguished guests — Addresses by Hon. Rodman M. Price, Generals H. G. Gibson and Joe Hooker, Governor Curtin, General Sutter, Governor Hartranft and Colin M. Boyd — "Song of the Argonauts" — The banquet — Fire! fire! — Telegrams sent to San Francisco
Page 398
SECOND ANNUAL RE-UNION AND BANQUET OF "THE ASSOCIATED PIONEERS OF THE TERRITORIAL DAYS OF CALIFORNIA." Committee of Arrangements — Report of Secretary and Treasurer Clark — Election of officers — The banquet — President Gibson's address — Addresses by General Thomas D. Johns, Joseph S. Spinney, Clark Bell, Colonel James M. Turner, Samuel C. Upham and Colonel John A. Godfrey
Page 424
CELEBRATION OF "ADMISSION DAY" AT LONG BRANCH, N. J. Programme of exercises — Pioneers present — The banquet — General Gibson's address of welcome — Introduction of General Sutter— Letters of regret— Mayor McKune's address — General Sutter's response— Poem— " The Land We Adore" — Bayard Taylor speaks a piece — "Song of the Argonauts" — Hop in the evening in honor of General Sutter — Telegram sent to California— The reply
Page 438
THIRD ANNUAL RE-UNION AND BANQUET OF "THE ASSOCIATED PIONEERS OF THE TERRITORIAL DAYS OE CALIFORNIA." Secretary and Treasurer Clark's report — President Gibson's annual address — Election of officers for the current year — The banquet — Programme of exercises — General H. G. Gibson's address of welcome — Letters of regret — Prentice Mulford's address — Speeches by Judge Pratt, Colonel T. B. Thorpe, Colonel Edward F. Burton, Clark Bell, J. J. McCloskey, Colonel Joe Lawrence, Hon Demas Strong, Joseph S. Spinney, Francis D. Clark and General Thomas D. Johns — "Ye Ancient Yuba Miner" — Notables present — "Song of the Argonauts" — Good-night
Page 456
RECEPTION TO GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT Formal reception by General Fremont — Notables present — Decorations of the hall — The banquet — Vice-President Gibson's address of welcome — General Fremont's response — Letters of regret read by the Secretary — Speeches, etc.
Page 482
RECEPTION TO HON. PHILIP A. ROACH The banquet — General H. Gates Gibson's address of welcome — Senator Roach's response — Letters of regret — Notables present — Speeches, etc
Page 497
DEDICATION OF THE LICK MONUMENT AT FREDERICKSBURG, PA En route to Fredericksburg — Reminiscences of the town — Genealogy of the Lick family — The house in which James Lick was born — The old graveyard — Cedar Hill Cemetery — Unveiling and dedication of the monument — Addresses by Colonel J. P. S., Gobin, of Lebanon, and Sanuiel C. Upham, of Philadelphia — Knights Templar inauguration ceremonies
Page 504
Making and raising the "Bear Flag."
Page 503
Pioneer Organizations
Page 566
" Truckee," the Indian Guide
Page 568
" The Land We Adore," — Song and chorus
Page 570
A tribute to Gen. Juo. A. Sutter, and a touching reply
Page 573
History of the inauguration and organization of the Associated Pioneers of the Territorial Days of California
Page 575
Edition Notes
No known restrictions on publication.
On cover: Scenes in El Dorado in the years 1849-'50.
Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.
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