BUCKEYE ARGONAUTS*
by ROBERT
THOMAS
Social Studies Instructor, Pleasant
Township High School,
Marion County, Ohio
On January 24, 1848, James Wilson
Marshall discovered
flakes of gold in the tailrace of a
sawmill he and John Sutter were
erecting about fifty miles northeast of
Sutter's Fort in Upper Cali-
fornia. As news of Marshall's discovery
spread along the Pacific
coast and then to all sections of the
nation, thousands of Ameri-
cans rushed by land and by sea to the
new E1 Dorado in quest of
quick fortune. By September 1848, Ohio
newspapers had con-
firmed reports of rich gold deposits in
California, and an army of
Buckeye citizens, infected by the gold
fever, joined in the mad
rush for material gain in the Far West.
The exact number of Ohioans who went to
California in
search of gold during 1849 and 1850 of
course is not known. The
editor of the Ohio Statesman estimated
that at least twenty thou-
sand Ohioans thronged to Pacific shores
in 1849.1 Cist's Weekly
Advertiser (Cincinnati) of March 14, 1849, believed that
"the
emigration to California from the State
of Ohio, will not average
less than one hundred and twenty
persons from each of the coun-
ties, or ten thousand individuals from
the entire state." In the
light of federal census statistics,
both of these estimates appear
to be excessive. According to the
Seventh Census, which was
taken in 1850, there were 5,500 Ohioans
in California.2 This
figure represents approximately six
percent of the total popula-
tion of California in 1850. Applying
this percentage to the total
California population of 1852 as
derived from a state census and
* This article, slightly revised, is
taken from a chapter in the author's unpub-
lished master's thesis, The Impact of
the California Gold Rush on Ohio and Ohioans
(Ohio State University, 1949).
1 Ohio Statesman (Columbus), April 6, 1849.
2 Seventh Census of the United
States: 1850 (Washington, 1853),
xxxvi.
256
Buckeye Argonauts 257
a state report, it could be estimated
that from 13,000 to 15,000
Ohioans were residing in California by
1852.3 Once again,
though, certain discrepancies must be
admitted. Returns from
Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Contra
Costa counties were lost,
and therefore omitted from the federal
census of 1850, which set
California's aggregate population at
92,597.4 The California
state census of 1852 reported the
state's total population to be
255,122, but a state report compiled in
the same year placed it at
224,435.5 Despite these variations, the
federal census of 1850,
and the more accurate Eighth Census,
taken in 1860, show that
from 1850 through 1860 Ohio was
surpassed only by New York
and Missouri in contributing citizens
to California.6 Therefore,
without subscribing to the folly of a
numerical estimate, it is pos-
sible to state that Ohio was well
represented in the mining areas
of California during 1849 and 1850.
Several routes, either by land or by
sea, were available to
Ohioans wishing to embark for
California in 1849 and 1850.
The quickest was by way of Panama.
Taking a steamer from
New York to Panama, the Forty-Niner
could cross the Isthmus of
Panama, board a Pacific steamer and be
in San Francisco thirty-
three to thirty-five days following his
departure from New York.7
At least three disadvantages attended
the traveler who chose this
route. In the first place the cost of
the journey would range from
$230 to $410, depending on the type of
accommodations re-
quested. Secondly, the passage across
the Isthmus of Panama by
native canoes and by mule back
subjected the Forty-Niner to
climatic conditions which encouraged
tropical fevers. Finally,
on reaching the Pacific side of Panama,
the California emigrant
often faced delays in securing passage
to San Francisco.8 For
less money the California emigrant
could take a ship to the Gulf
3 Statistical View of the United
States . . . Being a Compendium of the Sev-
enth Census (Washington, 1854), 394.
4 Seventh Census, 966 et seq.
5 Compendium of the Seventh Census, 394.
6 Seventh Census, xxxvi; Population of the United States in
1860, Compiled
from the Original Returns of the
Eighth Census (Washington, 1864), 27.
7 Rodman W. Paul, California Gold (Cambridge,
1947), 30.
8 Ibid., 31; Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of California (7
vols., San Fran-
cisco, 1884-90), VI (Works, XXIII),
133-136; Cincinnati Gazette, April 17, 1849.
258
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
of Mexico, then cross Mexico to the
Pacific Ocean, and continue
his journey to San Francisco by water.
However, Mexico was
plagued with diseases and infested with
bandits.9 Perhaps the
safest route to California was by way
of Cape Horn, but the voy-
age was long and boring. Furthermore,
after spending from four
to eight months aboard a sailing
vessel, the Forty-Niner was very
apt to be in poor physical condition by
the time he had reached
the gold mines.10 The most arduous way
to California was the
overland route across the western
plains. Actually, there were
at least four overland routes to
California. The southern trail
crossed Texas to Santa Fe, where the
emigrant could proceed to
California via the Gila-Colorado
junction and the Imperial Val-
ley, and then go on to Los Angeles
either through San Gorgonio
Pass or Warner's Pass. At Santa Fe he
might elect to take the
Spanish Trail to San Bernardino. The
California-Oregon Trail
followed the Platte River, crossed the
Rocky Mountains at the
South Pass, and went on to Fort Hall on
the Snake River. By way
of Salt Lake and the Humboldt and
Truckee rivers, the California
Trail continued to Sacramento. The
Oregon Trail ran from Fort
Hall to the Columbia River, from which
gold seekers could move
southward into California.11
Appealing to the pioneer instincts of
many Americans, the
overland route was the most popular
road to California in 1849,
and it appeared to grow in favor with
the western migrants of
1850.12 The Cincinnati Gazette of
April 5, 1850, pointing to the
most notable advantage of the overland
route, stated: "There is
no doubt that after a man has crossed
the Plains, if he has pre-
served his health, he is more robust,
and every way in better con-
dition to go into the diggings and
labor, than he would have been
had he gone out by water." With
good fortune the California
emigrant could traverse the plains and
ascend the Sierra Nevadas
in a period of ninety days. More often,
the overland journey
9 Paul, California Gold, 32;
Robert Glass Cleland, From Wilderness to Em-
pire, The History of California,
1542-1900 (New York, 1944), 243.
10 Paul, California Gold, 32-33.
11 Cleland, Wilderness to Empire, 243-244.
12 Bancroft,
History of California, VI, 159; Cincinnati Gazette, April 5,
1850.
Buckeye Argonauts 259
required from five to seven months of
travel.13 On other occa-
sions the emigrant, overcome by dust,
drought, and disease, never
reached his destination. The following
examples of grave mark-
ers found along the overland route
attest to the fact that among
the victims claimed by the rigors of the
plains were Ohioans:
M. DE MORST
OF COL: OHIO
DIED SEP. 16TH. 1849,
AGED 50 YEARS,
OF CAMP FEVER.14
HENRY H. ROBINSON
DIED AUG: 13. 1849
AGE 26 YEARS.
OF DYSENTARY, ETC.
UNION CO. OHIO15
IN MEMORY OF ABNER NEEDHAM,
OF MORROW, CO., OHIO
DIED SEP. 27. 184916
The Ohioan of 1849 who desired to go
west in search of
gold occasionally undertook the venture
alone, but more often he
would associate himself with a small
party of migrants or a joint
stock company heading for the gold
fields.
Among the first Ohio companies organized
for California
were groups from Wellsville, Medina, and Cincinnati.17 The
California Club of Cincinnati held its
first meeting on December
19, 1848, at the office of W. B. Norman
on the east side of Main
Street between Fifth and Sixth streets.
R. C. Greene presided at
the meeting, and L. M. Rogers acted as
secretary. Three resolu-
tions were adopted. First, the chairman
was to appoint a com-
mittee of fifty to draft a constitution
for the company. The sec-
ond resolution created a committee of
three to determine the most
suitable routes to the gold regions and
the most appropriate time
13 Paul,
California Gold, 34.
14 Georgia Willis Read and Ruth Gaines, Gold
Rush: The Journals, Drawings
and Other Papers of J. Goldsborough
Bruff, April 2, 1849-July 20, 1851 (2
vols., New
York, 1944), I, 182.
15 Ibid., 170.
16 Ibid., 217.
17 Cleveland Herald, December 22, 1848; Cincinnati Enquirer, December
22,
1848.
260 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
for departure. The final resolution
stated that it would be "in-
expedient" for a large company to
travel together, so a maximum
of only fifteen more members were to be
permitted membership
in the company.18
As the year 1849 began, an increasing
number of California
companies and parties were organized.
The St. Clairsville Ga-
zette of January 19, 1849, reported that "a few
enterprising
gentlemen of this place are preparing
to go to California. They
intend to pay their way by freight,
etc., and come back as well
off, at least, as when they start, gold
or no gold." In January
1849 a company started from Sandusky
for California under the
leadership of John Johnson, who had
spent many years of his life
in the employ of the Hudson Bay Fur
Company.19 The Cleveland
Herald announced the formation of two California companies,
one from Conneaut, and the other an
East Cleveland company. In
addition, the Herald stated that
two men from Cleveland left for
California by way of New York and that
ten or twelve more Cleve-
landers were making preparations to
leave.20 From Cincinnati
came news that a joint stock company to
consist of one hundred
members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church was being organized
for the "diggings."21 Also from
Cincinnati it was announced that
a Mr. Peabody of the Cincinnati
Merchant's Exchange, in com-
pany with a band of adventurers, was
contemplating a trip to
California "to seek his fortune in
that modern Ophir which lies
near the Sierra Nevada."22
One of the largest California companies
to be organized was
under the direction of Lieutenant
Colonel Webb of the 16th U. S.
Infantry and was composed of young men
from several states.
Among the Ohioans in the company was
William Henry Harrison,
grandson of the former president of the
United States.23 The pur-
pose of the company was to trade,
purchase gold dust, and em-
18 Cincinnati
Enquirer, December 22, 1848.
19 Sandusky
Mirror, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, January 8, 1849.
20 Cleveland Herald, January 27,
31, 1849.
21 Ohio Statesman, January 30, 1849.
22 Cincinnati Gazette, January 18, 1849.
23 Cleveland Herald, February 19, 1849.
Buckeye Argonauts 261
ploy Indians to mine gold. A large
amount of capital for this
expedition was subscribed in New York,
with the provision that
the investors, regardless of whether
they went to California or
not, would share equally in the profits
derived from the enter-
prises. The company was entrusted with
government dispatches
to California. In turn, the federal
government agreed to supply
Webb and his men with arms, camp
equipage, and transportation
from New Orleans to the Rio Grande.24
On February 18, 1849,
Colonel Webb's company left Cincinnati
aboard the steamer John
Quincy Adams for Cairo, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana.
From New Orleans the group sailed to
the mouth of the Rio
Grande, whence they were to proceed by
land through Mexico to
California. Before they reached their
destination, misfortune
overtook this company at Clay Davis'
Rancho on the Rio Grande.
A Mr. Audubon, son of the noted
ornithologist, was robbed of
$12,000 worth of gold by a Mexican, and
an epidemic of cholera
claimed the lives of eight of the
company, including young Har-
rison.25
February 1849 was also an organization
month for several
of the important Ohio companies. During
the second week of
February the Columbus and California
Industrial Association
completed a constitution composed of a
preamble and seventeen
articles. This company consisted of
thirty men, described as "in-
dustrious, honest, of the most solid
characters, of full vigor of
life, and well informed on all
subjects."26 Each member of the
company invested $225 in this
organization, which was to remain
intact for a period of eighteen months.
The constitution for the
association frowned on gambling and the
use of intoxicating bev-
erages, except for medicinal purposes.
Members were encour-
aged to "cease from all
unnecessary labor" on the Sabbath and
"to engage in such worship as the judgement shall
dictate, and the
conscience approve."27 John Walton
was named president of the
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid., April 6, 1849; Cincinnati Gazette, April 16,
1849.
26 Ohio
Statesman, February 15, 1849.
27 Ibid.
262 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
association.28 The Columbus
and California Industrial Associa-
tion and another Columbus company being
formed at the same
time, planned on going to California by
the South Pass, the Mor-
mon settlements, and the Great Basin.29
A California company from St.
Clairsville completed its or-
ganization in February 1849 and made
preparations for embark-
ing to the gold fields by way of Cape
Horn. The organization of
this company is especially notable,
inasmuch as one of its leaders
was Wilson Shannon, first Ohio-born
governor of the state.30 In
addition to the former governor, other
members of the company
were Daniel Peck, William Shannon, the
governor's son, Abner
Barton, Joseph W. Mulvany, Daniel
Jones, Daniel Mott, Lyman
Nutting, George W. Wilson, John C.
Johnson, James A. Hutchison,
William A. Booker, John Gilliand, John Castle, Sam Gaskill,
Clement S. Steel, and the Messrs. Gerry
and Wheeler of Harrison
County.31 Before embarking for California, the
membership of
this company was enlarged to sixty men,
with a capital of fifteen
thousand dollars.32
In March 1849 companies from Akron,
Painesville, Cincin-
nati, Steubenville, and Gallipolis left
for California.33 The
Akron Mining Company went from
Wellsville by steamboat to St.
Louis. From St. Louis they planned to
go to Independence, Mis-
souri, and there take the land route by
way of Salt Lake to Cali-
fornia.34 The Painesville
Mining Company was composed of six-
teen "young, able bodied men,
capable of enduring the hardships
and privations attendant upon an
overland trip to California."35
On March 10, 1849, the Cincinnati
California Mining and Trad-
ing Company, formerly called the
California Club of Cincinnati,
embarked for California on the steamer Bay
State. The company
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid.
30 Francis P. Weisenburger, Passing
of the Frontier, 1812-1850 (History of the
State of Ohio, edited by Carl Wittke, 6 vols., Columbus, 1941-44,
III), 348-351, 409-410.
31 St. Clairsville Gazette, February 16, 1849.
32 Ohio Statesman, March 3, 1849.
33 Cleveland Herald, March 10, 22, 30, 1849; Cincinnati Gazette, March
13, 14,
1849.
34 Summit Beacon (Akron), reprinted in Cleveland Herald, March
10, 1849.
35 Painesville Telegraph, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, March 30, 1849.
Buckeye Argonauts 263
had a president, a vice president, a
treasurer, a secretary, a book-
keeper, and a board of finance.36
The rising tide of emigration to
California became even more
pronounced in April 1849. On April 2
the Ohio Statesman re-
ported the departure of two Columbus
companies for the land of
gold. The Franklin California Mining
Company, headed by
Joseph Hunter, consisted of thirty men,
eight new wagons, and
twenty-six yoke of oxen. It was stated
that a Mr. Reed of Co-
lumbus baked two thousand pounds of sea
bread for the group.37
The second Columbus company, mentioned
earlier in this article
as the Columbus and California
Industrial Association, was sup-
plied with ten wagons and forty mules.
This organization had the
usual officers, a board of directors,
and a physician.38 The States-
man reported on April 3 that two gold seekers from
Columbus,
and two men from Lancaster were
"fitting out" an expedition for
California.39
During the same month, the Independent
Dispatch Company
of Cincinnati embarked for California
on the steamship John Han-
cock.40 The
Defiance company left for California with eighteen
members.41 The Trumbull County company,
"armed to the teeth
and fully equipped," listened to a
sermon preached by the local
minister before departing for
California by way of Independence,
Missouri.42 On April 10,
1849, J. E. Armstrong, a young Forty-
Niner from Hebbardsville, Ohio,
recorded in his "Diary of an
Overland Trip to California" that
"we got aboard the Boat Mon
on gahela at Pomeroy."43 The logical presumption is that the
"we" refers to members of a
company from Athens and Meigs
36 Cincinnati Gazette, March 13, 1849.
37 Ohio Statesman, April 3, 1849. E. S. Gaver of the Franklin California
Mining Company was elected to the
California legislature in 1855. Bancroft, History
of California, VI, 692n.
38 Ibid., February 15, April 2, 3, 1849.
39 Ibid., April 3, 1849.
40 Cincinnati Gazette, April 6, 1849.
41 Ohio Statesman, April 20, 1849.
42 Summit Beacon, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, April 26,
1849.
43 From a manuscript diary in the
possession of the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society. The author is
indebted to Mr. John O. Marsh, curator of
history and librarian of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society, for
suggesting Armstrong's diary as source
material for this article.
264
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
counties who were beginning their long
journey to the gold re-
gions.
A later entry in the diary states that as the company
approached California, two men were
sent ahead to examine the
mining districts.44 Also in
April the Summit Beacon stated that
the steamer Enterprise, leaving
Zanesville for Independence, Mis-
souri, carried California passengers
from Hebron, Newark, Evans-
burg, Granville, Zanesville, Cambridge,
and other points in Ohio.45
Later in the month, the Bellevue Mining
Company of San-
dusky County, with four light wagons,
two large tents, and pro-
visions for nine months, arrived at St.
Joseph, Missouri.46 Smaller
companies from Sandusky County and Erie
County were camping
in the same area.47 Other
Ohio companies reaching Missouri by
the end of April 1849, included
organizations from Medina, Lo-
rain, Cuyahoga, Columbiana, Allen,
Wyandot, Hamilton, Seneca,
Jefferson, Trumbull, Huron, Harrison,
Morrow, and Gallia coun-
ties.48 Descriptions of the
equipment and personnel for several
of these companies were given. For
instance, the Western Mining
Company of Cincinnati was equipped with
"seven tents, seven
wagons, 26 yoke of oxen, and a mule for
each man."49 The Mu-
tual Mining Association, also from
Cincinnati, had "three tents,
four wagons, 14 yoke of oxen, and
provisions for six months."50
The Steubenville Company, under
military organization, was di-
vided into eleven messes and had
"eleven tents, eighteen wagons,
54 yoke of oxen, and provisions for
nine months."51 At St.
Joseph, the Medina County company
included eight members.52
The Lorain County company had six;53 the Cuyahoga
County,
44 Ibid., August 6, 1849.
45 Summit Beacon, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, April 26, 1849.
46 St. Louis Republican, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, April 28, 1849.
47 Ibid.
48 St. Louis Republican, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, May 2, 9, 1849; Cin-
cinnati Gazette, April 30, 1849; Upper Sandusky Gazette, reprinted
in Ohio Statesman
July 14, 1849.
49 St. Louis Republican, reprinted in Cincinnati Gazette, April 30, 1849.
50 Ibid.
51 Ibid.
52 St. Louis Republican, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, May 2, 1849.
53 Ibid.
Buckeye Argonauts 265
five;54 the Trumbull County company, four;55 and the Huron
County company, five.56
On April 14, 1849, when there were nine
Ohio companies
at St. Joseph, the next greatest number
from other states was five
each from Michigan, New York, and
Missouri. With these facts
in mind, it would be logical to
conclude that Buckeye companies
not only made up a sizable proportion
of the total overland emi-
gation in 1849, but that they were also
among the first to make
the long journey across the Great
Plains to the gold fields of Cali-
fornia.57
One of the last Ohio companies to leave
for California by
the overland route in 1849 was the
California Mining Company
of Cleveland. This joint stock company,
departing from Cleve-
land on May 31, had a capital of
$2,800.58 Several of the twelve
members of this company were musicians,
and Walter Van Dyke,
who later was elected president of the
company,59 was a partner
in the law firm of Adams and Van
Dyke.60
To reach California before the first
snowfall of winter, it
was necessary for overland emigrants to
leave Ohio in the spring
of the year. The Forty-Niner who failed
to meet the spring dead-
line still could make the journey by
sea at a later date. Forty-
seven Ohioans availed themselves of
this opportunity when the
sailing vessel Eureka left
Cleveland in September 1849 en route
for California. From Cleveland, the Eureka
traversed Lake Erie,
the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario, and
the St. Lawrence River to
the Atlantic Ocean. Then the ship
continued by way of Cape
Horn to California. The passenger list
for the California voyage
included names of Ohioans from
Cleveland, Independence, Milan,
Ohio City, Elyria, Zanesville,
Willoughby, Wooster, Green Creek,
Auburn, Braceville, Sandusky, and
Painesville.61 The voyage of
54 Ibid.
55 Ibid., May 9, 1849.
56 Ibid.
57 Ibid., May 2,
1849.
58 Cleveland Herald, May 31, 1849.
59 Ibid., June 29, 1849.
60 Ibid., May 31, 1849.
61 Ibid., September 25, 1849.
266 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
the Eureka was quite
significant, because it marked the first time
for a ship to sail from the Great Lakes
to California, and the sec-
ond time for a merchant vessel to make
a voyage from the Great
Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.62
In 1850 the Ohio migrations to
California continued. Six
Argonauts from Conneaut, "all robust, active and
enterprising
men," left for New York early in
January 1850 to board a ship
bound for California.63 The
party was under the direction of
Zaphna Lake, one of Conneaut's
"most prominent business
men."64 Two citizens of
Millersburg also embarked for the "dig-
gings" in January.65
In February 1850 a company from Canton
left New York by
steamer for California.66 On
February 5 seventeen citizens of
Rowsburg passed through Wooster on
their way to California.
Eleven of the Rowsburg emigrants left
families, and six were
single.67 Also during
February a Mr. Daggett of Piqua offered
to take a company of fifty men to
Sacramento, California, by the
overland route. The fee for the trip
was $100 for each man.68
Stark, Wayne, and Summit counties made
especially heavy
contributions to the California
migrations during the spring of
1850. It was estimated that at least
260 residents of Stark County
had left for the gold regions from
January to April, 1850.69 In
fact, enthusiasm for going to
California was so great in Massillon
that a project was on foot in that city
to build a ship at Marietta
which would be sent to the land of
gold.70 At least 170 citizens
of Wayne County left for California in
March 1850.71 One caval-
cade consisting of 140 emigrants and
about thirty wagons was
escorted out of Wooster at high noon on
March 25, 1850, by "a
62 Ibid.
63 Conneaut Republican, reprinted
in Cleveland Herald, January 10, 1850.
64 Ibid.
65 Holmes County Farmer (Millersburg), reprinted in Cleveland
Herald,
January 15, 1850.
66 Canton Democrat, reprinted in Cleveland
Herald, February 9, 1850.
67 Wooster Democrat, reprinted in
Cleveland Herald, February 9, 1850.
68 Piqua Enquirer, reprinted in Ohio Statesman, February 2, 1850.
69 Canton Repository, reprinted in
Cleveland Herald, March 9, 1850; Cleveland
Herald, March 16, 1850.
70 Cleveland Herald, March 16,
1850.
71 Wooster Democrat, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, March
16, 30, 1850.
Buckeye Argonauts 267
large body of horsemen, with music
playing and cannon firing."72
The Wayne County party boarded a
steamboat at Wellsville which
took them to St. Joseph, Missouri,
where they began the overland
journey to California. The fare for
each man from Wellsville to
St. Joseph was "$16 per man, $8
per mule or horse and 10 cents
per hundred on all baggage, wagons,
guns, etc., taken on board."73
The Summit Beacon made the
following comment in describing
the departure of one of the Summit
County companies for Cali-
fornia:
About forty wagons left on Thursday last
making a fine procession.
The streets were crowded with the
friends of the fearless adventurers, and
many hearts ached as parting words were
uttered and the train disap-
peared amid the roar of cannon. Several
families were in the company;
and Mr. Garrett, the leader, who
recently returned from Sacramento,
took his whole family, intending to
make a permanent home in Cali-
fornia.74
Among the Summit County citizens bound
for California by
sea in March 1850, were men from Akron,
Richfield, and North-
ampton. These Argonauts took the
steamship Georgia to Chagres,
and the Columbus from Panama to
San Francisco.75
The long list of Ohioans leaving for
California in March
1850, was enlarged by the departure of
mining companies from
Cuyahoga, Medina, Richland, Huron,
Delaware, and Lucas coun-
ties.76 The Delaware Mutual
Protection Company, under the di-
rection of Joseph Storm and D. N.
Darlington, left for California
on March 26, 1850. Two members of the
company of seventy
were women.77 The Lucas
County party from Maumee consisted
of four young men.78
In April 1850 a party including Judge
Benjamin F. Myers,
his wife, and daughter left Newark for
California under the lead-
72 Wooster Democrat, reprinted in Ohio Statesman, April 5,
1850.
73 Wooster Democrat, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, March
30, 1850.
74 Summit Beacon, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, March 21, 1850.
75 Ibid., March 29, 1850.
76 Cleveland Herald, March 12, 13, 1850; Democratic Standard (Delaware),
reprinted in Ohio Statesman, April
6, 1850.
77 Democratic Standard, reprinted in Ohio Statesman, April 6, 1850.
78 Cleveland Herald, March 12,
1850.
268 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
ership of Captain Breyfogle of
Columbus. They took the over-
land route to the land of gold.79 During the same month arrange-
ments were being made to transport a
large number of citizens
from Harmar in Washington County to the
gold fields.80 Also in
April some forty Ohioans, bound for
California, were listed as
steerage passengers on the steamship Ohio.
Accommodations on
the Ohio were so discomforting
that the steerage passengers held
a meeting at which time they resolved
that agents in New York
and New Orleans had "manifested
great indifference to the com-
fort and safety of the
passengers"; that the commander of the
Ohio, Lt. J. F. Schenk, had delayed the arrival at Chagres
for
three days; that emigrants desiring to
go to California should not
take the Ohio; and that a copy
of the resolutions would be pre-
sented to the commander and one to each
state represented in the
steerage. John Bell of Ohio served as a
member of the resolu-
tions committee.81
By May 1850 the migration had
diminished to occasional
departures by small parties. On May 20,
1850, a party of "en-
terprising, able bodied mechanics"
from Cleveland, Ohio City,
and Brooklyn left for California via
the isthmus.82 On July 9,
1850, three men from East Cleveland
sailed for California on
the America, and another East
Clevelander left for the land of
gold on the Philadelphia.83 On
August 9, 1850, the editor of the
Cleveland Herald reported that his "young German friend" Gus-
tavus Beck, a skilled amateur
violinist, had departed for Califor-
nia. The September 23, 1850, issue of
the Herald stated that a
party of eight or ten Clevelanders were
on their way to the gold
region by way of the Isthmus of Panama.
The volume of the Ohio migrations to
California in 1850
may be illustrated by pointing to the
passenger list of the steamer
James Millingar. In March 1850 the James Millingar, sailing
from New York, had on board over five
hundred passengers bound
79 Newark Gazette, reprinted in Ohio Statesman, April 6, 1850.
80 Ohio
Statesman, April 17, 1850.
81 Ibid., April 15, 1850.
82 Cleveland Herald, May 20, 1850.
83 Ibid., July 11, 1850.
Buckeye Argonauts 269
for the land of El Dorado. Two hundred
nineteen of the passen-
gers came from Ohio.84 In
like manner, the extent to which the
gold mania permeated all classes of
Ohio society is revealed.
Among the Ohio passengers on board the
ship were sixty-two
farmers. However, there were also butchers, coopers, clerks,
machinists, laborers, engineers,
millwrights, oil makers, tanners,
tinners, carpenters, blacksmiths, wagon
makers, physicians, cab-
inet makers, boatmen, joiners, school
teachers, colliers, merchants,
bakers, sextons, quarrymen, furnacemen,
gardeners, boat build-
ers, tailors, molders, flour packers,
brewers, plasterers, masons,
lumbermen, comb makers, powder makers,
teamsters, chair
makers, grocers, spinners, powder
peddlers, harness makers, pot-
ters, sawyers, corkers, and engravers.85
At least until the summer
of 1850, it is apparent that many
Ohioans from practically every
rank of society were still being
tempted by the precious metal of
the Sierra Nevada.
84 Akron Beacon, reprinted in Cleveland Herald, March 29, 1850.
85 Ibid.
BUCKEYE ARGONAUTS*
by ROBERT
THOMAS
Social Studies Instructor, Pleasant
Township High School,
Marion County, Ohio
On January 24, 1848, James Wilson
Marshall discovered
flakes of gold in the tailrace of a
sawmill he and John Sutter were
erecting about fifty miles northeast of
Sutter's Fort in Upper Cali-
fornia. As news of Marshall's discovery
spread along the Pacific
coast and then to all sections of the
nation, thousands of Ameri-
cans rushed by land and by sea to the
new E1 Dorado in quest of
quick fortune. By September 1848, Ohio
newspapers had con-
firmed reports of rich gold deposits in
California, and an army of
Buckeye citizens, infected by the gold
fever, joined in the mad
rush for material gain in the Far West.
The exact number of Ohioans who went to
California in
search of gold during 1849 and 1850 of
course is not known. The
editor of the Ohio Statesman estimated
that at least twenty thou-
sand Ohioans thronged to Pacific shores
in 1849.1 Cist's Weekly
Advertiser (Cincinnati) of March 14, 1849, believed that
"the
emigration to California from the State
of Ohio, will not average
less than one hundred and twenty
persons from each of the coun-
ties, or ten thousand individuals from
the entire state." In the
light of federal census statistics,
both of these estimates appear
to be excessive. According to the
Seventh Census, which was
taken in 1850, there were 5,500 Ohioans
in California.2 This
figure represents approximately six
percent of the total popula-
tion of California in 1850. Applying
this percentage to the total
California population of 1852 as
derived from a state census and
* This article, slightly revised, is
taken from a chapter in the author's unpub-
lished master's thesis, The Impact of
the California Gold Rush on Ohio and Ohioans
(Ohio State University, 1949).
1 Ohio Statesman (Columbus), April 6, 1849.
2 Seventh Census of the United
States: 1850 (Washington, 1853),
xxxvi.
256