CHARLES TINKER'S JOURNAL
A TRIP TO CALIFORNIA IN 1849
edited by EUGENE H. ROSEBOOM
Professor of History, Ohio State
University
I. INTRODUCTION
Don't go to California, boys,
Don't go to Oregon,
There's wealth for you in the Buckeye
State,
And wealth that may be won,
Aye, wealth that may be won, boys,
By true hearts, strong and bold,
Then don't go to California,
Stay at home and gather gold.1
If this somewhat belated appeal had
appeared in print in the
spring of 1849, the hundreds of Ohioans
then starting on the long
journey to the land of gold would have
scoffed at it. A year later
many of them, sadder and wiser but not
wealthier, were offering
the same advice in letters home but in
language more forceful than
that of Mrs. Frances Dana Gage's
sentimental verses. A sure cure
for the California fever was an
overland trip to the gold country
and a few weeks in the diggings. The
number of Ohioans who suc-
cumbed to the lure of Sutter's gold may
only be conjectured, but
5,500 were in California when the
census of 1850 was taken and
thousands more were on the way.2 How
many returned home in the
next few years is an even more elusive
conjecture, but the dis-
illusioned far outnumbered those who
had struck it rich. Many
remained in the land of gold but
usually found material success in
1 From a poem by Mrs. Frances Dana Gage
in the Ohio Cultivator, VIII (May 15,
1852), 151, and Ashtabula Sentinel, May
8, 1852. The Cleveland True Democrat,
issue not located, had printed it
earlier.
2 For an excellent account of Ohio's
connection with the gold rush, see an un-
published master's thesis, The Impact of
the California Gold Rush on Ohio and
Ohioans (Ohio State University, 1949),
by Robert Thomas, one chapter of which
appeared in the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, LIX (1950),
256-269.
64
Charles Tinker's Journal 65
more prosaic occupations than the one
they had envisioned as a
short cut to riches when they started
on the Overland Trail.
But posterity has paid slight attention
to the material success
of the Argonauts. Their achievement lay
in their participation in an
epic American adventure, and the name
Forty-niners is inscribed in
golden letters high on the Independence
Rock of the nation's im-
mortals. Historians have kept their
memory green by a steady
flow of books and articles about them,
and the publication of their
diaries, letters, and reminiscences
continues to add to their saga.
Many of the gold seekers started
diaries or journals but too often
discontinued them under the strain of
the long trek. A goodly
number of faithful souls, however,
persisted to the end, and even
more important, preserved these records
of their trials and hazards
for the enlightenment of their children
and their children's children.
The immortality of the printed page has
been their reward in some
instances, but many diaries still
remain as their authors wrote them,
in family possession or in the archives
of libraries and museums.
Over twenty-five contemporary accounts
of those who followed the
South Pass route in the first year of
the gold rush existed in printed
form in 1945 and the number has been
added to since then.3
The journal of Charles Tinker, which
follows this introduction,
was brought to the attention of Dr.
James H. Rodabaugh, editor
of the Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society, by Miss
Henrietta McKinsey, principal of Bunker
Hill Elementary School,
Ashtabula, Ohio. It was in the
possession of Mr. Tinker's grand-
daughter, Mrs. A. T. Faulkner, who
kindly consented to its pub-
3 David M. Potter, ed., Trail to
California: The Overland Journal of Vincent
Geiger and Wakeman Bryarly (New Haven, 1945), lists twenty-six such contemporary
accounts for 1849 in print. Several are
by Ohioans. See pp. 237-243. Merrill J.
Mattes, regional historian, Region Two,
National Park Service, Omaha, Nebraska,
puts the number of overland journals of
1849, in print or in manuscript, of which
he had personal knowledge, at "over
one hundred." Merrill J. Mattes and Esley J.
Kirk, "From Ohio to California in
1849: The Gold Rush Journal of Elijah Bryan
Farnham," Indiana Magazine of History, XLVI
(1950), 298. Neither Potter nor
Mattes apparently knew about the Tinker
journal and one written by J. E. Armstrong,
now in possession of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society, and one
kept by Dr. Charles E. Boyle of London,
Ohio, which was printed--unfortunately
in incomplete form--in several issues of
the Columbus Dispatch beginning October 2,
1949. It should be remembered that many
gold-seekers reached California by other
routes than the South Pass overland
road, and that 1849 was only the first year
of the gold rush.
66 Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
lication. Mrs. Faulkner and Mrs. Nettie
Curtis, another grand-
daughter, both of Ashtabula, have
preserved this and other in-
teresting possessions of their
grandfather. The journal was written in
a little leather notebook, three by
five inches in size, which is in an
excellent state of preservation. The
entries are not separated in day-
by-day diary form but were written
rather as a running account of
the journey with dates sometimes
inserted in the texts of sentences.
There are no entries for some days when
apparently the writer had
nothing significant to record or was
too weary to bother with his
chronicle. The earliest entries were
evidently inserted later to pro-
vide a suitable introduction, for they
appear at the end of the
journal in the original manuscript.
They have been put in their
proper place in the printed version.
Charles Tinker was born near
Kingsville, Ohio, on September 7,
1821.4 He was brought up on
a farm and received a limited common
school education. His father, a
Connecticut Yankee, taught the son
a trade he had learned, that of wagon
making, a skill that must have
proved very useful on the California
trail. Young Tinker must have
had a mechanical turn of mind, for he
built a sawmill in 1843, and
then an oil mill. He married Mary
Webster in 1842 and five chil-
dren were born to them, four before the
father left for California.
Why a family man in his late twenties
succumbed to the gold fever
is not made clear in his journal or
elsewhere. A biographical sketch
in a county history does reveal that he
was never very successful at
farming, which he tried soon after his
marriage, and twice in his
later years. Perhaps this initial failure
and the needs of a growing
family entered the picture. But it is
equally possible that the lure of
adventure and the influence of friends
who were going may have
played their part. His journal ends
with his arrival in California,
but apparently he did not remain there
very long. He was back in
Ohio the next year, returning by boat
"around the Horn," and was
4 Williams Bros., History of
Ashtabula County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Bio-
graphical Sketches of Its Pioneers
and Most Prominent Men (Philadelphia,
1878),
sketch on unnumbered page between pages
176 and 177, accompanied by a photo-
graph. On the fly leaf of his journal,
"September 7, 1819," is written in as the date
of his birth, but after it is inserted
the words "(mistake) should be 1821." Since
the sketch in the county history was
evidently written from information supplied by
the subject and it gives the year as
1821, it may be presumed to be correct. His
granddaughter, Mrs. A. T. Faulkner, also confirms this
conclusion.
Charles Tinker's Journal 67
soon applying his mechanical aptitude
to the manufacture of farm
machinery and tools. He became an
active figure in several enter-
prises, eventually becoming president
of the Phoenix Iron Works,
and for many years was a respected
citizen of Ashtabula County.
He died on December 29, 1908,
fifty-nine years after his California
adventure. His granddaughter, Mrs. A.
T. Faulkner, remembers
him as "a splendid family
man" and an indulgent grandfather,
living in a big house surrounded by
flowers and fruit trees.5
Tinker's journal is the brief,
matter-of-fact record of a prac-
tical man, quite observant, but
unaccustomed to putting his thoughts
on paper and not too familiar with the
orthodox rules of grammar
and spelling. Except for the desert
crossing there are no striking
descriptive passages nor is the reader
permitted more than a fleeting
glimpse or two into the feelings and
thoughts of the writer. If he
was ever exasperated at his companions,
the journal does not reveal
it, for he religiously refrained from
censuring anyone. Generally he
is content to write of what he saw and
did, not of what he thought.
On only two occasions do his emotions
break into the journal. When
he was ill with mountain fever (July 23
entry), he wrote, "I was
hard sick all the way and had to ride
it seamed as though the wagon
hit all the stones on the road every
bone in me was on the aiche
it made me think of home some."
The other occasion was the diffi-
cult desert crossing. Tinker reveals
himself here as a young man of
kind heart and simple faith, distressed
at the abandonment of faithful
oxen and happy to see trees again and
to hear a Sunday sermon by
an elder from a nearby camp. "It
seamed the most like home to me
here than it had in any place since I
left the States" (August 5).
In one respect the journal is
disappointing, a result of its brevity.
It contains too little about the
details of daily life--company organi-
zation and assignment of duties, menus
of the trail, liquor consump-
tion, sleeping accommodations, health
problems, the handling of
animals and equipment, recreations, the
weather from day to day,
insect pests, and so on. Forage, water,
fuel, Indians, river crossings,
hunting luck, road conditions-these are
the meat of the journal.
Tinker wastes no words on
non--essentials but there is one exception
5 Information supplied by Mrs. A. T.
Faulkner of Ashtabula, Ohio.
68 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
-he could not overlook the changing
scenery and the wonders of
nature in the Great West.
The Ashtabula Sentinel supplies
some meager additional informa-
tion about the Kingsville company. A
news item in the issue of
May 5, 1849, evidently copied from a
Missouri newspaper, reported
the presence of two Ohio companies at
St. Joseph on April 14, ready
to move, one of them from Ashtabula
County.6 The list of names is
that of the Kingsville group.7 H.
B. Stone ("Henry A." in the
diary) was the captain, Charles Tinker
the lieutenant. Tinker's
journal is silent as to the first
officers but later refers to the election
of James Haynes as captain. This is
also confirmed by the Sentinel.
Another Western Reserve group--from
Painesville--started from
Independence, Missouri,8 and
joined forces with the Kingsville party
shortly before the crossing of the
South Platte. A California letter
from John Packer, printed in the Sentinel
of March 23, 1850, states
that James Haines (spelled
"Haynes" by Tinker) was elected cap-
tain, apparently of both organizations,
as they were traveling to-
gether.9 Since the
Kingsville men were accompanied from the start
by a small Springfield group (organized
at neighboring Springfield,
Erie County, Pennsylvania), the
traveling "train" consisted of three
little companies with a total of over
thirty men.
These companies were typical of the
hundreds of organized parties
that followed the overland trail in
1849. Each usually had some kind
of constitution or articles of
agreement, for cooperative organiza-
tions were essential for protection and
in coping with the hardships
and difficulties of overland wagon
travel.10 The constitution of the
6 Thomas,
loc. cit., 265, citing other sources, states that nine Ohio companies
were
at St. Joseph on April 14, the largest
number from any one state.
7 There
are minor discrepancies in the names and only one of the Springfield (Erie
County, Pennsylvania) group is listed.
Tinker states that they traveled with the
Kingsville men and gives the names of
six men. See the first entry in his journal.
8 Thomas,
loc. cit., 262. It had sixteen members. See Painesville Telegraph extract
in
Cleveland Herald, March 30, 1849, for list of names.
9 Packer wrote as follows: "A few
days previous to crossing the south fork of the
Platte River, we were joined by the
Painesville company. We then chose James Haines
as our captain." In Tinker's
journal (entry for June 7) is a reference to Turner and
Ely of the Painesville group, an
indication that they were traveling together.
10 Potter, op. cit., 213-222,
gives the complete text of the constitution of the
Charlestown, Virginia, Company. Most
constitutions or company agreements were
simpler and less detailed.
Charles Tinker's Journal 69
Kingsville group is not given in
Tinker's journal, but there are
references to the election of officers
for fixed terms. The Ashtabula
Sentinel's reprint of a Missouri newspaper article, referred to
earlier, has this revealing sentence:
"They go as a joint stock com-
pany, bound together for two years, and
carry with them two tents,
four wagons, twelve yoke of oxen and
provisions for nine months."
Near the end of the journey Tinker
records that the constitution
was missing, that an election could not
be held, and so the company
decided to divide the money in the
treasury. "The provisions we
agreed to consume together and divide
the rest when we got through"
(entry of August 6). At least the
Kingsville men, unlike so many
other parties, held together until the
trek was completed, though
dissolving as a company.
Although Tinker seemed unaware of it,
his group had a surpris-
ingly successful trip. One man was
injured before the start from
St. Joseph, but he recovered, and all
the others made the journey
safely. Cholera, gunshot accidents,
Indian raids, and the other
dangers of the overland train passed
them by. They made good time,
requiring 114 days to reach some
outlying diggings, forty miles from
Johnson's Ranch.11 This was
well below the average for the transit
and requires explanation.
Three factors may be suggested to
account for their success,
namely, the size and homogeneity of the
party, an early start, and
the fortunate assistance of a Missouri
company in crossing both the
North Platte and the Green rivers. The
Kingsville-Painesville com-
panies, traveling together but
maintaining separate organizations,
constituted a party of some thirty men,
all from the same general
locality. Larger groups, unless well
organized and skillfully managed,
traveled more slowly, found grass for
animals more of a problem,
and developed feuds and dissensions
that often split them apart. The
advice of a member of another Ohio
company, written from Cali-
11 Ibid., 230-232, for tables
showing the travel schedules and number of days on the
road of thirty-one groups. Table II has
one error. Isham's total should be 107 days
instead of 117. Nineteen required more
than 114 days for the trip, and the totals of
three could not be tabulated. If
Johnson's Ranch is regarded as the terminal point,
three days should be added to the
Kingsville company's total. This would still leave
them well below the average. Dr. Charles
E. Boyle's party (see footnote 3), using
mules and carrying corn until grass was
available, required only 106 days.
70
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
fornia, is the voice of experience:
"A company of 15 is enough, I do
not mean joint-stock company but only
for protection, two is enough
for a joint-stock company, and perhaps
they will break up."12
The early start is not explained in the
journal or elsewhere. A
late spring held back the grass,
essential for forage, and few com-
panies started before the second week
of May. How Tinker's group
solved the forage problem is not clear.
It did not make very rapid
progress until Fort Laramie was
reached, but, even so, escaped the
worst congestion by a margin of nearly
two weeks. Besides the
delays occasioned by river crossings,
steep hills, the narrowing of
the trail, and other obstructions, the
late starters found forage used
up in more arid and barren sections and
ran into severe competition
for good camp sites. Cholera was also
more widespread. It came
up the Mississippi and accompanied the
gold seekers for many
weeks.
A third advantage was purely
accidental-the tie-up with the
Findley-McCulloch party from Missouri,
an incident explained at
some length in the journal. Undoubtedly
the aid of the grateful
Missourians speeded up the crossings of
the North Platte and Green
rivers, two formidable obstacles. Yet
even this assistance is hardly
sufficient to explain the excellent
time made by the Kingsville men
between Fort Laramie and Fort Hall.
Their animals must have
been in good condition to have covered
one difficult stretch of fifty-
three miles (their reckoning) in
twenty-three hours with an hour
and a half for rest periods. Later,
marauding Indians stole four
cattle and several were lost in the
desert crossing, but there is no
mention of the abandonment of any
wagons. The oxen were in
poor condition at the end of the long
trek, but they had brought
the party safely to California.
Did the Kingsville men make use of a
guidebook such as that
of Joseph Ware, published early in
1849,13 and referred to fre-
quently in many diaries? There is no
direct evidence in the Tinker
journal, but there are some
parallelisms that make it seem probable.
12 Ashtabula Sentinel, March 2, 1850. Letter of Calvin Munger, member of another
Western Reserve company.
13 Joseph E. Ware, The
Emigrants' Guide to California. Reprinted from the 1849
edition with introduction and notes by
John Caughey (Princeton, 1932).
Charles Tinker's Journal 71
At least they followed the orthodox
trail and did not use cut-offs
or alternate routes (except for
Sublette's Cut-off), as did those who
started later.
The journal is given here exactly as
Tinker wrote it with spelling
and punctuation unchanged. Dates,
however, have been italicized.
Proper names are given the correct
modern spelling in footnotes.
At the end of the journal is appended
some additional information
about the Kingsville men after their
arrival in California.
II. CHARLES TINKER'S JOURNAL14
Chas. Tinker Journal on trip to
California in the year 1849.--he left Kings-
vill Mar 20th 1849 Ashtabula Co.
O with a company of Twelve from
same Township--Names to wit. Charles
Tinker Chauncey Tinker, Lyman
Luce Webster Albert Webster, Hamilton
Way, Lemuel Beckwith, John
Perkins A. N. Kent Albert Kendall John
Packer, Henry A. Stone Horace
Tinker--and they were accompanied by
John Capron & James Haynes of
Conneaut and James Bancroft Alford Marsh
Henry Marsh and Augustus
DeFor [?] of Springfield Erie Co.
Pa.--James Haynes and John Capron
clubed in with the Springfield Co gott
up by James Bancroft and they
started with the Kingsvill on the same
day the Kingsvill Co had a general
outfit of Such tools & clothing as
they thought they should need. and three
wagons & two tents--the Springfield
Co had one wagon and 1 tent the
first Night after starting we stopped at
the House of Mr Gould in Richmond
Ashtabula Co. the next night the 21st
we Staid in Poland Trumbull Co O.15
14 Other
accounts in print which are useful for comparison are: Georgia Willis Read
and Ruth Gaines, eds., Gold Rush, The
Journals, Drawings, and Other Papers of
J. Goldsborough Bruff (New York, 1949, and in two volumes, New York, 1944);
Alonzo Delano, Life on the Plains and
Among the Diggings: Being Scenes and Ad-
ventures of an Overland Journal to
California (Auburn and Buffalo, N. Y.,
1854);
Elizabeth Page, Wagons West, A Story
of The Oregon Trail (New York, 1930);
Owen C. Coy, The Great Trek (Los
Angeles and San Francisco, 1931); Potter,
op. cit.; Mattes and Kirk, loc. cit., 297-318, 403-420.
The last named is the diary of
J. B. Farnham, an Ohioan, who, with many
other Buckeyes, went from Zanesville on
the steamer Enterprise. Zanesville
Gazette, April 11, May 9, 1849. Irene D. Paden,
The Wake of the Prairie Schooner (New York, 1943), locates and describes the
California and Oregon trails as they
were a few years ago when the author and
her family followed them. The book
contains much historical information from con-
temporary sources and some excellent
maps of each section of the trail, together with
sketches by the author. Many other books
could be cited if space permitted.
15 Tinker was unaware that Poland was in
Mahoning County, created three years
earlier from parts of Trumbull and
Columbiana counties. The journey to Beaver was
made by horse and wagon, probably with
hired horses, as was the case of the Paines-
ville company. See Painesville
Telegraph in Cleveland Herald, March 30, 1849. Draft
animals were purchased later.
72 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
the next night the 22nd we camped
at town in columbian Co. The 23rd we
stayed over night in Bever Pa The 24th
we took a Boat at Rochester Pa.
at the mouth of the Beaver River.-by the
Name of Germantown the 25th
day and called at Stubenville over night
and one day at Cincinnati and
called a few hours at Louisville Ky.
then at Paducha Evansville Cairo. and
Arrived at St. Louis April 1, 1849 we
bought our provisions here for our
Journey and left on the Steamer
Elexander Hamilton for St. Joseph Mo
the 3d day of April and arrived
at St. Joseph April 9th 1849.16 here we
bought our cattle. ten yoke at an
average of $50 each and one Horse at $40.
with saddle and bridle-an 3 cows at $10
each. April 11 Way got shot acci-
dentaley while looking at Some cattle at
Mr Steven's about 4 miles out east
of Town on the 19th of April we
got all things ready and Started out
with three Wagons & 10 yoke of
cattle-for Savannah Landing where we
arrived the 20th near sunset17
Journal
Hamilton Way was shot in the thigh April
11th with his
own gun by an
axident from James Haynes stepping on an
ox bow partly straitined out
which flew up and struck the hammer of
the gun which caused it to go off
and discharge its contents in his thigh
Way was a sitting on the fence just
over his gun looking at some cattle that
we talked of buying. This hapend
at Mr Steven's about four miles from St.
Joseph where he remained till we
left for California18
Journal For California
April 19th we got all things ready for a start we started with
three wagons
-ten yoak of cattle at an average price
of fifty four Dollars a yoak our load
consisted of 2000 lbs hard bread at 31/2
cents pr lb 500 lb side Bacon at 4
cents, 300 lbs muton hams at 21/2 cents
pr lb 600 lbs Indian meal 11/2 cent
pr lb kiln dried, 80 lb Beans @ 11/2 lb.
pr cents and 400 lbs sugar at 7
cents pr lb 100 lbs of flour @ 21/4
cents pr lb, 12 Gallons vinegar @ 15¢
15 Gallons Monongahela at 65 cents pr
Gall. 3 Keggs Powder @ $5.25 pr
Keg three pigs of Lead 72 lbs each @
41/2 cents 17000 cap Purcussions @
65 cnt pr thou four chests of Tea 24 lbs
at 65 cents pr lb saluratus Medicins
16 St. Joseph, farther up the Missouri,
had become a rival of Independence, the
older outfitting point for the Santa Fe
Trail and the South Pass emigrants. Westport
was also important.
17 The journal up to this point seems to have been written after the dates
indi-
cated. It appears on pp. 55-59 of the
notebook after the last California entry.
18 Such accidents were all too common.
See Ashtabula Sentinel extract in the
"Epilogue" (at the end of the
journal) for a fatal accidental shooting of a member
of the party in California.
Charles Tinker's Journal 73
roaps axes shovels hoes Pick Blacksmith
tools Gilletts Goods & C.19 thus
rigged we left St Joseph for savannah
Landing to cross the Missourie we
arrived their at sunset.20 April
20th we encamped on the banks of the river.
the day was pleasant & warm. 21st
we got our traps ferried acrosst the
river and encamped in the Indian
teritory on the west bank of the Missourie
here we lay till the 24th of April when
we hitched up our teams & moved
back to the bluff about five miles and
encamped on a small brook. Thursday
April 26th we took our final leave of the fronteer and moved on
our way
to california we passed over a roling
paraire dotted here & their with
a few shrubby trees and encamped on moose
creek 27th we arrived at the
missionaray station about 10 A.M. here
uncle Sam keeps an Indian agent.21
we traiveled 9 miles and encamped after
a dispute as to where we should
stop Beckwith was in bad humor & had
a good deal to say & blamed most
of the company for being such fools as
he turmed us, but after a general
confab their was a vote taken to drop
the subject & the company incamped
with a general good feeling. Tuesday
May 1st we arrived on the west side
of the Nimewha and encamped here we held
our election which resulted in
the election of the same officers that
we started with except the steward.22
we chose John Capron in the place of A.
N. Kent. some dissatisfaction was
manifested by some of the company about
the chois. Wednesday May 2d
we broak one of the hind wheels to way's
wagon in crossing a small brook
it hindered us about 1/2 day. Friday
May 4 we arrived at the Big Blue at
19 It
is hard to say whether this varied much from the normal supply of a Cali-
fornia company. Ware's Guide, 5-10,
has suggestions, but Tinker's list does not
conform in several respects. The absence
of dried fruits is most surprising, nor is
coffee included, though the tea supply
was adequate. Why a company of this size,
all male, took three cows with them is a
puzzle. But the Kingsville company came
from the dairy section of Ohio. And the
cows survived and proved a profitable in-
vestment! Ware, op. cit., 22-23,
warned against the use of milk in the alkali sections
of the trail. Whether the recommended
maximum load of 2,500 Ibs. per wagon was
exceeded is impossible to say from the
evidence above. Tinker does not mention the
abandonment of provisions and equipment,
a commonplace occurrence on the trail,
but the company was running low on
provisions at the end of the trek.
20 For
a description of the congestion at the St. Joseph ferry, see Read and Gaines,
op. cit., 7 (1949 edition). Savannah Landing (Amazonia) was a few
miles up the
river from St. Joseph. Ibid., 573,
footnote 43. Packer's California letter (see Intro-
duction) tells of rain and high winds
for several days after the start of the journey.
Tinker says little about the weather.
21 The
Sauk (or Sac) and Fox Indian agency and Presbyterian mission and school.
Potter, op. cit., 78; Paden, op.
cit., 59.
22 The Nemaha River curves northward
into Nebraska and empties into the Mis-
souri. The camp must have been near
present Seneca, Nemaha County, Kansas. How
often elections were held is not clear.
Dissensions, even in small companies, were
common. Tinker does not mention any
other instances.
74 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
1 A.M. crossed by raising our wagon
boxes23 and incamped one miles from
the river on good feed wood and water May
16th we passed Fort Charles
300 miles from St Joseph and incamped
about 3 miles west of the Fort.24
Sunday May 20th our boys went out onto the bluff to hunt they all
returned
about noon without bringing in any game
except Webster Luce & Capron,
they had better luck Luce killed two antelope
at one shot they backed one to
the road & we had got so far ahead
that they could not overtake us that
night so the waited till Cap Bowmans
company came up and staid with them
all night.25 the next morning
before breakfast they got into camp with one
quarter of the antelope which we had for
breakfast May 21st I with 7
others started for the bluff in search
of game about 10 A.M. we got in sight
of 3 elk Beckwith & Nash shot and
wounded one when we all commenced
the chase 4 of us shot 16 shots 9 of them
taking effect before we got him. he
weighed about 140 lbs we see some
antelope & see some fresh Buffalo
tracks but we could not get any shots at
them we had two horses along &
packed the meat on to them and got into
camp about 1 P.M. we had all we
could eat as long as it would keep I
shot at him 4 times 3 shots taking effects
Tuesday the 22d all that could leave the teams started for the bluffs
in serch
of Buffalo they see 4 but could get no
shots at them deer & Antelope was
plenty Horace killed one deer &
wounded another in the hips Wm. Nash
shot one Antelope but it was so far from
camp that he could not fetch it
in. the boys was so tired when they came
into camp that they concluded
not to hunt any more till we had eat up
what fresh meat we had & got
rested from their leight tramps.26 we
encamped at the forks of the platt
river on a little brook the feed was
poor it had been eat down by Buffalo
their is not much wood at this place 23d
we passed up the south fork of the
Platt their is considerable game in the
bluffs along her the Buffalo had been
driven back by the first emigration.
there is but a few small bands to be
seen as we passed along Saturday 26th
we crossed the south fork of the
23 The crossing at Marysville, Kansas.
See Ware, op. cit., 14-15. Geographical de-
tails are so meager in Tinker's journal
that the exact route cannot be ascertained.
There is no entry for twelve days after
May 4.
24 Ft. Childs, renamed Ft. Kearny (or
Kearney) was established in 1848. Farnham's
diary (Mattes and Kirk, loc. cit., 304)
calls it "Ft. Carney or Charles." See Read and
Gaines, op. cit., 21-22, 583-584;
Potter, op. cit., 87-88. The fort was on the south bank
of the Platte River, some seven or eight
miles southeast of present Kearney, Nebraska.
It is now a state park. See Paden, op.
cit., 84-87, and Lyle E. Mantor, "Fort Kearny
and the Westward Movement," Nebraska
History, XXIX (1948), 175-207. The
spelling "Kearney" was the
result of an error but was generally accepted, though the
fort was named after General Stephen W.
Kearny, who died in 1848.
25 "Cap Bowmans company" is nowhere identified.
26 From
the attention Tinker gives to their hunting luck, it must have been their
first game of any consequence.
Charles Tinker's Journal 75
Platt river. it is one of the muddyest
streams that I ever saw. The crossing
is about 40 miles from the junction of
the North and south fork of the
Platts.27 The river here is
3/4 of a mile wide & 21/2 deep. at the time we
crossed their was some 40 wagons in the
river at once their was in sight at
this time one hundred and 14 wagons we
encamped for the night about a
mile up the river here we held election
for capt of our train when James
Haynes was unanimously elected capt of
our train. Sunday 27th we traiveled
up the south fork 12 miles and nooned at
an Indian Village here was 100
lodges strung along the river and about
600 Indians. these were Sioux
Indians.28 we encamped for
the night about 14 miles to the north west on
our way to the north fork of the Platt
river 28th we started on our way and
arrived at the North fork about 11 A. M.
we passed through Ash Hollow
about 9 A. M. their is a furstrate
spring of cold water here the only spring
we had seen for 60 m there was plenty of
wood here for camping purposes.29
their considerable sand in the road
along her we killed 7 rattle snakes this
day 29th we had verry sandy
roads. there is no wood on the river here &
but a few ceeders on the bluffs and them
some 5 m off from the river we
had to used Buffalo manure for wood here
as we had have done most of
the way for 100 m back Wednesday 30th
we lay over it rained and blew
so hard that we could not traivel.30
June 1st we passed castle rock & en-
camped opposite of chimney rock31 It
was a warm sunshiny day & we had
a beautiful view of the bluffs Chimney
rock is about 2 m from the river.
the bottom or bass [base] of the rock is
in the form of a hay stack & on
the top of the bacement part stands a
purpendicular rock 100 ft high about
as large at the top as it is at the
bottom the whole stack bacement and all
is about 250 feet above the level of the
river it can be seen 30 m before
you get to it the bluffs all along here
are high & Picturesque their is some
scatering norway pine & seeder trees
on the bluff along here which is the
27 This may have been the Lower
California crossing near present Brule, Nebraska,
but the distance from the forks (forty
miles) suggests a crossing farther down the
river. The fact that the company
followed the north bank for twelve miles before
turning northwest is further evidence.
See sketch map in Paden, op. cit., 101, and pp.
106-113 for an interesting account of
the difficulties of the ford.
28 Most diaries contain reference to
Sioux in this area. The village may have been
the same one referred to in the
Geiger-Bryarly diary (Potter, op. cit., 99, entry of
June 5). See also Mattes and Kirk, loc.
cit., 307-308.
29 A familiar camping spot. See Paden, op.
cit., 114 et seq.
30 Delano, op. cit., 57-59,
comments on the terrible storm. See also Potter, op. cit.,
90-91; Page, op. cit., 135-136.
31 Nearly every account mentions these
well advertised landmarks. See Ware, op. cit.,
18-19; Page, op. cit., 146-147;
Delano, op. cit., 70-71; Potter, op. cit., 103; Read and
Gaines, op. cit., 28-29; Mattes
and Kirk, loc. cit., 308-309. Tinker's "Castle Rock"
was evidently Courthouse Rock.
76 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
only timber their is in these parts June
2d we arrived at scotts bluff we
traiveled this day 25 m at Scotts bluff
their is a Blacksmith shop owned by
Roubedoux a Frenchman He has a squaw for
a wife.32 the bluff arround
this place are high and crabbed you can
see the blue ridge of the rocky
mountains & Larimies Peak 150 miles
off June 5th we arrived at Fort Larimie
about noon.33 this is built
in the form of a fort for a trading station of adobie
or unburnt brick the wall incloses about
1/2 acre of Land 6th we arrived at
Bitter creek about 18 miles from the
Fort here we discovered a shining
substance in the bead [bed] of the
stream which we took to be gold &
mica we found one piece of pure gold,34
which incouraged us to cend out
June 7th four men James Haynes Turner Mason & Ely to follow
up the
stream in search of the fountain all
well armed and equiped for the ex-
pidition. the arrived in camp June
9th at noon they traised the stream up
to its source at Larimies Peak they
found some gold but it was into small
quantities to pay for digging Mason had
the bad luck to loose his horse
by the bite of a rattlesnake as they
supposed
on this part of the Black hills35 the
feed is very scarce we could find
scarcely anough for our cattle at noon
this night we stoped on a small
stream about four miles from the North
fork of the Platt without any
feed we let our cattle loos & they
rambled so we had to get them up and
yoak them to in keep them in sight. this
caused a good deal of scolding. Beck-
with swore he would not touch an ox that
night. we got the yoak without
his help and about one O.C. Sunday
morning we hitched on our teams and
drove on about two miles where Capt
Haynes had found some feed the night
before but bfore he could get back to us
we had let our cattle loose he not
getting back as soon as some wanted to
have him is what made the fuss
this patch of feed was midling good to
what we had had Sunday June 10th
we drove on to Deer creek about 7 m
& laid over till Monday36 we caught
some fish here and James Haynes killed
one Buffalo this day Monday June
l1th we arrived at the crossing of Platt river the Oquawka
company 22
32 Robidoux's trading post. See Merrill
J. Mattes, "Robidoux's Trading Post at
Scott's Bluffs, and the California Gold
Rush," Nebraska History, XXX (1949),
95-138.
33 Fort Laramie was transferred to the
United States government by the American
Fur Company about three weeks after
Tinker saw it. Its history may be read in Leroy
R. Hafen and Francis M. Young, Fort
Laramie and the Pageant of the West, 1834-
1890 (Glendale, Calif., 1938).
34 Bitter Cottonwood Creek is the
correct name. Paden, op. cit., 178-179. How the
Kingsville party was certain this was
gold is not clear.
35 Not to be confused with the Black Hills of South Dakota and northeastern
Wyoming.
36 Deer Creek flowed into the North Platte at one of the crossings of that
river.
Charles Tinker's Journal 77
wagons Capt Findley & Capt
McCullouch of the Missourie train of 17
wagons were a crossing. they had made
some boats of their own and were
crossing about 4 miles below the mormon
crossing37 we tried to get the use
of their boats to cross in. they said
they made them for their own use and
calculated to distroy them as soon as
they got over so as to prevent others
from crowding them so hard from behind
they said they made theirs and if
we wanted to get over we might do the
same. we offered them fifty Dollars
for the use of it. but to no use so we
turned out our teams & commenced
making one of our own. we had but just
got to work when we heard the cry
of men a drownding we run to the river
& their we found two men of
Findleys train a drownding. they had
attempted to cross the river on horse
back to drive over some cattle when
their horses got stalled & throwed
them off & the river ran so swift
& water so cold that they could not swim
ashore but floted down and logded on a
bar in water up to their waists
and would have drownded in a few minutes
if we had not saved their lives
James Haynes & Charles Davis swam
into one of them with a rope and
tied it arround his body and we hauled
them ashore. by this time we got
this one safe our men had got word to
Capt Findley and he had a canoe
cut loose and two men rowed it down and
saved the life of the remaining one.
we took them up to our camp & nursed
them up and keep them till morning
when they were able to go to their own
camp Capt Findley & McCullouch
felt so greatfull to us for our kindness
and assistance that it seamed that they
could not do to much for us. they
offered us the use of their boats & men
to help us over. we accepted their offer
and by 12 O.C. P.M. Tuesday we
were on the other side of the river they
said any assistance that they could
render us on the road would be given
freely. their whole company appeared
to be men of honor. Newton Wood of
Oquawka was one of their members.
by getting acrosst as soon as we did put
us ahead of about two hundred
wagons & give us about three days
the satrt [start] of those that crossed
at the regular ferry they made us pledge
ourselves to distroy the boats as they
intended to do. just as we were about
acrosst their was a train of wagons
inder Capt. Gallaway of Mercer Co Pa
because we would not give the
boats up to them they thretened to take
them away from us by force. Some
of Findleys men heard the threat and
scent word to their train which had
got about three [miles?] from the ferry.
they ammediately stoped their
37 The North Platte had to be crossed by
ferry or by rafting. Tinker puts this
crossing place four miles below a Mormon
crossing, evidently the Lower Ferry. The
Upper Mormon Ferry was about
twenty-eight miles from Deer Creek, too far to have
been reached in part of a day. A week
later Alonzo Delano's party crossed some-
where near the place described above.
Delano, op. cit., 86-92.
78 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
train & armed seventy men to the
teeth and marched them to the ferry
to protect us and see that the boats
were distroyed and that we were safe
over their was no disturbance made the
boats were distroyed and we traveled
13 m on our way to california this day
their was in sight of us to day some
100 wagons all on the move. they were
strung long for two miles. Thursday
June 14th we passed I[n]dependance rock this is a solid mass of
rock
covering about 20 acres of ground and
upwards of one hundred feet high
travelers passing here have put on their
names & the time they passed this.38
quite a noted place it is situated on
the banks of the sweet water river.
Friday June 15th I took view of the Devils gate this is a narrow channel
through a high rock where the sweet
water forces its waters through the
gorge is about 30 feet wide & 400
feet high one solid mass of rock. this
place is five miles from Independance
rock & 1/2 mile from the road the
scenery is beautifull.39 we
arrived in the South Pass of the rocky Mountains
Tuesday June 19th their wa[s] nothing worthy of note up to this date here
we found snow on the north side of the
hills & the Peaks at the north were
covered with snow.40 we had a
light snow storm today the pass here is
some seven thousand eight hundred feet
above the gulf of mexico. the
air here is very light and windy we
could hardly get our breath we passed
a company of mountaineers here incamped
on the sweet water they had
started for fort Larimie with a drove of
horse to sell to the emigrants but
they met the first trains here and sold
out their poneys here and scent back
to fort Bridger for a hundred & thirty
more they sold them from 80. to
100 Dollars each & sold them quick
at that.41 the atmosphere here is so
much differant here from what people are
accostomed to that they are
apt to have the mountain fever Several
of our men was taken sick with it
here they were taken by having a pain
all over in their boans but the worst
in the back with a chill & fever.42
Wednesday June 20th we laid over one
day on the sweet water river five miles
from the Pacific Springs in the south
pass we found good feed here. some of
our boys went upon the mountains
to look for game Horace killed one
Antelope they said that they could
38 Called "The Great Register of the Desert," the most famous of
all trail landmarks.
39 Compare with Ware's description.
Ware, op. cit., 23-24.
40 Tinker skips four days with his
entries. Until recently South Pass could be crossed
by automobile only with the greatest
difficulty. For the Padens' experiences, see Paden,
op. cit., 223-239. Yet in covered wagon days diarists commented
on its easy, gradual
ascent. For example, see Potter, op.
cit., 128; Delano, op. cit., 114-116.
41 Probably the same group of trappers, or mountain men, encountered by the
Charlestown company ten days later.
Potter, op. cit., 125-127.
42 Packer's letter (Ashtabula Sentinel, March 23, 1850) says that
the company lay
by one day because of mountain fever.
"Stone, Kent and Charles Tinker were the
worst off."
Charles Tinker's Journal 79
not hardly get their breath up their and
they had not strength to walk very
fast. it makes a man feel as though he
had no strength. I took violent could
to day. Thursday June 21st we
fairly passed the sumit of the rocky mountains
and incamped on the little sandy. I was
taken sick with the mountain fever
just as we drove into camp Friday
June 22nd we started and drove over
to big sandy 7 m and turned out our
cattle till 3 P.M. when we made a
start for green river distant 53 m
without water43 we stoped at 11 O.C. at
night one half hour then we drove till
daylight & baited our cattle one
hour then hitched up & drove to the
river where we arrived about 2 O.C.
P.M. Saturday June 23rd I was
hard sick all the way & had to ride it
seamed as though the wagon hit all the
stones on the road every bone in
me was on the aiche it made me think of
home some. Sunday June 24th
we commenced ferrying accrosst green
river44 Capt Findley & Capt
McCullouch joined in with us and made a
boat & Tuesday June 26th we
had all things over and ready for a
start I was not able to help any in
crossing over-but I managed to keep up
about & sold some one hundred
dollars worth of Gillett goods
Sunday July 1st we arrived at the beer springs on Bear river45 I
had just
got able to foot it a little my fever
had left me but very weak, these spring
are worth seeing. the water in some of
them spurts up 2 feet & tastes
some like small beer the road from green
river passes over a rough
mountainious region the road some of the
way was bad we had to let our
wagons down one hill with ropes but we
arrived here in safety July 4th
we arrived at Fort Hall46 from
Beer Springs to the fort the road is bad
in crossing the dividing ridge that
divides the waters of the Pacific & the
43 They were taking Sublette's Cut-off,
which left the old Oregon Trail between
the Dry Sandy and Little Sandy and ran
almost due west across a waterless desert.
William Sublette used it first in 1832.
The older trail led southwest to Ft. Bridger
and then northward. The cut-off saved
many miles but crossed rough country and
lacked water. Hence it was usually
crossed at night. Tinker's estimate of 53 miles is
high. Ware's Guide called it 35
miles from Big Sandy to Green River, but most
Forty-niners thought this far too low.
For other estimates, see Ware, op. cit., footnote
40; Paden, op. cit., 256-257.
44 The help of the Missourians enabled
the Kingsville men to make a speedy cross-
ing. Alonzo Delano's party spent four
days waiting their turn at a regular ferry.
Delano, op. cit., 122-127. J. E.
Armstrong's party also waited four days. Manuscript
diary in the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society Library, entries of July
10-14, 1849.
45 Beer Springs, near present
Soda Springs in southeastern Idaho, always amazed the
Argonauts. There were several
effervescent springs. Steamboat Spring spurted two or
three feet into the air. Potter, op.
cit., 144-146; Ware, op. cit., 28-29; Coy, op. cit.,
154; Delano, op. cit., 137.
46 Tinker's party followed the customary trail to Fort Hall. About two
weeks later,
Hudspeth's Cut-off was opened up south
of Fort Hall and later emigrants followed
it as a rule. It saved a few miles but
very little time.
80 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
Great Interior Bacin and in crossing
Port Nieuf river and the flatts we
had some bad slues to cross the worst we
had seen on the road Fort Hall
is situated in the forks of Lewis &
Port Nieuf rivers it is built of unburnt
Brick & covers about one quarter of
an acres of ground.47 here I see the
first Gold dust from California--the
owners of this fort keep a large
heard of cattle & horses--from Fort Hall
to raft river a distance of 60 m
the road leads down Lewis river over a
sandy barren track of land covered
with not much but wild sage up raft
river 30 m the road & feed is good
all the way Sunday July 15th we
arrived on a branch of Marys river we
had a light showr of rain this day. Monday
the 16th we reached the
main river from raft river to marys river the distance is
145 m the road
feed & water is good, but not much
wood but wild sage we had but one
high ridge to cross in this distance
& it was not bad, but tiresome to our
cattle in assending48-Mary's river here
is a handsome stream with a
pleasant valy with a plenty of good
grass & willow brush for wood here
we found Timothy grass and red clover in
its native state.49
Sunday July 22nd when about half way down Mary's river the Indians
stole four cattle from our train about 2
O.C. in the morning after missing
we scient out seven men to look after
them.50 they struck their trail and
followed them about ten miles up the
mountains when they found one of
the cattle killed & skined &
found the tracks of the other three where they
drove them of they the same night stole
five horses from some Pack men
that was encamped close by & drove
them of the same time. they not
seeing any Indians nor anything of the
rest of the cattle they give up
the hunt and got into camp about 2 P.M.
from this place we moved along
down the river without anything worthy
of note untill we arrived at
47 Fort Hall, established as a trading
post by Nathaniel J. Wyeth in 1834, was later
taken over by the Hudson's Bay Company
and was still in its possession in 1849. For
an excellent contemporary description of
the fort and its residents by J. Goldsborough
Bruff, see Read and Gaines, op. cit.,
102-106. The site of the post is on the Snake
River just above the American Falls
Reservoir, a few miles from Pocatello, Idaho.
The name is applied also to the Indian
reservation and to the superintendent's head-
quarters today. Tinker uses the older
name, "Lewis River" (after Meriwether Lewis
of the Lewis and Clark expedition), for
the Snake River.
48 Apparently a reference to Granite
Mountain, regarded usually as a formidable
obstacle. See Mattes and Kirk, loc.
cit., 411 (entry of July 31), and Paden, op. cit.,
376-377.
49 Tinker uses the older name, Mary's
River, for the Humboldt, the water life-line
of the Forty-niners, running west and
southwest across northern Nevada. See Dale L.
Morgan, The Humboldt, Highroad of the
West (New York, 1943), for its history.
50 Loss of animals from depredations of
Ute Indians was common along the
Humboldt. Paden, op. cit., 379-381.
Packer's letter says that the four cattle were found
dead and skinned, and that they had been
shot with arrows. Ashtabula Sentinel,
March 23, 1850.
Charles Tinker's Journal 81
the slew of marys river except that feed
grew scarcer & water poorer &
the weather hotter we reached the slue July
31st here we found a cold
spring of sulphur water this we thought
was good in comparison to the
river water which had got so muddy and
hot that it was bad to use. this
spring is a little brackish.51 the river
partly looses itself here in this
marshy slue. we had to drive our cattle
8 miles to feed this was good but
before our cattle got back to camp they
was as hungry as ever August 1st
3 O.C. in the morning we left the slue
for the sink where we arrived
at one in the morning of the 2d a
distance of 20 m here we found a fiew
bull rushes and cane brake for our
cattle but no water that we dare give
them to drink. this is the end of Marys
river it sinks here in the sand.
the water here is so saturated with
alkaly & salt that it is dangerous to us.
we left this place for sulphur wells in
the morning a disdance of eight
miles here the water is barely fit for
use. it is strongly inpregnated with
sulphur & salt we found no feed
here. some of our cattle refused to drink
the water we lay here till 3 P.M. when
we started our wried [wearied?]
teams for the boiling springs where we
arrived at sunrise August 3rd
a distance of 25 miles we found no feed
here & the water boiling hot we
cooled some for our cattle but they
hated to drink it.52 the water is full of
mineral & a little brackish this
place is a perfect hell upon earth. here
we were on the deserts of the great
interior Bacin exposed to the hot rays
of a parching sun without any water fit
for man to use still thirst compelled
us to use it every man that used it
freely was taken sick & the only way
to save life was for us to leave this
place as soon as we could which we
did at 5 P.M. for Truckies river a
distance of 20 m before we reached
the boiling spring we had to leave 3 of
our cattle by the side of the road.
the fatiegue was more than they could
bear. it was hard for us to part
with animals to die with hunger &
thirst which had served us so long and
faithful Painesville Co lost two &
Bancroft team one. from the sulphur
wells to the spring the road sides was
strewed with dead cattle horses
& mules when we come up to the hot
springs one of the Painesville
Co. dogs came running up to the springs
& steped his feet in to the water
it scaled him so he gave a leap into the
bacin and was scaled to death
in an instant. The Thermomitor stood at
110 Deg[rees] above zero the
51 Referred to in Paden, op. cit., 414.
52 For more detailed descriptions
of the desert route, see Potter, op. cit., 188-194;
Paden, op. cit., 415 et seq.; Page,
op. cit., 186-187. Tinker's company followed the
Truckee road reaching the Truckee River
near present Wadsworth, Nevada. Many
companies chose the Carson route to the
southward to reach the Carson River and
usually fared worse. The latter was the
better road once the summit of the Sierras
was passed.
82 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
heat was almost unindurable but we left
this hell of boiling liquid for
Truckies river as I said before at 5
P.M. we got a little hard bread down
our cattle before we left the only thing
that it was in our powr to give
them to eat. we arrived at the river at
sunrise on the morning of the 4th
with three of our wagons and all of our
cattle except one which we had
to leave he got within 3 miles of the river
& that was the last that we saw
of him53 five of the wagons
belonging to our train we had to leave 8 m
from the river and hitch all the teams
on the 3 wagons that we got through
with here we found a stream of pure soft
water from the Siera Nevada
mountains and a plenty of feed & the
first trees we had seen for 460 miles
you cant imagin our joy on our arrival
here. we was parched to death by
thirst almost. when within 8 or 10 miles
of the river I lay down several
times to rest, it did not seam as though
I could go any farther but it was
death to stay their so I had to budge
along as best I could through the
burning sand till I reached the water.
water was all my wants I would
have given all I possesed for a drink of
cold water my tongue and lips
was parched and fured over so it took
one hour to soak it of. Sunday Aug 5th
we got our cattle recruted so that they
went after the remaining wagons at
night and arrived in camp at 2 O.C.
Monday morning Aug 6th all safe
and sound Sunday their was a searmon
pareached at a camp below us &
we got the Elder to preach to us at our
camp in the eavning of the same
day it seamed the most like home to me
that it had in any place since
I left the States here was the first
feed to speak of that we had had for
the last 150 m here we were contented it
seamed as though we had passed
over the scorching valy of death to life
tongue cannot express the joy
that we felt when we see that we was
safe over these deserts of America
Monday Aug. 6th we held a company meating we found the constitution of
the company missing. this prevented the
Election of our officers whose
terms had expired & the company by
mutual consent conclude to divide
the money that was in the treasury
$268.50. it was divided into eleven
shares John Capron did not receive any
by the companys releasing him
from the company as a member.54
the provisions we agreed to consume
together & divide the rest when we
got through
August 14 at 2 O.C. P.M. we found ourselves on the sumit of the
Siera
53 This would make four oxen lost in the
desert crossing. Packer's letter reported
five lost, but possibly he included the
one lost by the Springfield men, traveling with
the Kingsville company. Tinker mentions
that the Painesville company also lost two.
54 Capron was listed earlier as a member
of the Springfield company.
Charles Tinker's Journal 83
Nevada by doubling our teams we rose to
the sumit without dificulty.55
Horace & Myself climb to the sumit
of the nearist Peak which was upward
of five hundred feet above the sumit of
the pass from here we could se for
miles in each direction we could see
peak hundreds of feet higher than
we wer covered with snow. snow lay on
the sides of this peak and in the
pass. from here we descended into the valy
of the Yuba and incamped on
good feed. these mountains are covered
with Pine Fur cedar of stately
dimencions some measuring 26 feet in
circumferance & upwards of 200
feet high
August 17th we desended into the valy of a small stream leading
into
bear river & the next day we
concluded to lay over a few day and cend our
cattle ahead to recruit they was to much
reduced to draw our wagons any
further56 from Yuba vally to
this place the road is the worst that we had
seen57 we had to assend rock
rigdes and down the same where it was
almost imposible to get along we had to
decind two hills where we had
to chain both hind wheels and rough lock
them, then hitch all our team
behind but the wheel yoak by so doing we
got down without much
dificulty--here we found ourselves in
the Gold mines and people a digging
for the precious mettle58 Horace
Chauncey Lyman Albert & Myself went
out the 18th to try our luck with
tin pans a washing Gold we got over one
oz. Sunday Aug 19th we washed out one oz and a half in the fournoon
we just went out to see what could be
done Monday Chauncey & I made
a Gold washer in the form of a cradle
& in the two following days we
made about 450.00 Dollars of Gold dust
Horace Lyman & Albert worked
55 Tinker omits entries for several
days, but apparently his party followed the old
Truckee route along the Truckee River up
to Donner Lake and Pass and down into
a valley of one of the branches of the
Yuba River. That they crossed the divide "without
difficulty" is surprising. See
Paden, op. cit., 466-467. U. S. 40 today follows sub-
stantially the old trail along the
Truckee through Reno, Nevada, across the Sierras to
Sacramento, leaving the trail, however,
as it nears the last named city. The Forty-
niners followed the Bear River westward
to the Feather River valley and down it to
the Sacramento River.
56 See the extract from Packer's letter
which follows.
57 This agrees with Ware, op.
cit., 41. See also Paden, op. cit., 467-468; Potter,
op. cit., 204 et seq.; Page, op. cit., 191-192.
58 The location of these diggings is
uncertain, other than that they were on a
branch of the Bear River. It may have
been Steep Hollow Creek. See Paden, op. cit.,
468-469. The Geiger-Bryarly journal of
the Charlestown company has a description of
the same diggings but no location is
given. Potter, op. cit., 210. It states that most of
the miners were emigrants who had sent
their animals forty miles to the Sacramento
Valley to recruit and bring back
provisions. Joseph Hackney saw his first diggings in
Steep Hollow. Page, op. cit., 192.
84 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
with us. one day we made $30.00 apeace
water & wood is good here
but no grass a baren mountainious place
[End of the journal]
III. EPILOGUE
[The following is part of a letter from
John Packer to G. G. Gillett,
written from Upper California, January 22, 1850,
printed in the Ashtabula
Sentinel, March 23, 1850. This letter has been referred to
earlier.]
Our cattle were now nearly dead, being
all shrivelled up--supposed to
have been something they had eaten59--and
[we] sent them on to Johnson's,
40 miles distant to recruit. While they
were gone we commenced digging
for gold. We found from $25 to $100
worth each. Our cattle returning,
we proceeded on our way to the city. We
were now nearly out of provisions,
which we found to be very high here. We
proceeded on to Vernon, a city
only three weeks old, where we met
Haines, who had went ahead previous
to our crossing the desert.60 This
city is situated at the junction of the
Sacramento and Feather rivers. A
considerable business is done here. We
proceeded from thence to Sacramento
where we disposed of our cattle and
wagons--selling our oxen at $65 per
yoke, and 3 cows at $150.61 [The
letter then discusses conditions in
California and adds a personal note.]
I have not seen any of the boys since I
left them in Sept. I saw Stone
in Oct. who was yet sick. He told me he
saw the boys the week before--
that they were all sick-and that I was
doing better than any of them. I
have now provisions enough to last until
the first of May, $300 in gold,
and a good set of mining tools.
* *
*
[From the Ashtabula Sentinel, January
12, 1850.]
Mr. James F. Kendall of Ashtabula
County, Ohio, was unfortunately
killed, in the night, by A. N. Kent.
Kendall went out in the night, and
Kent, hearing the noise, supposed it an
Indian, and going to the tent door,
told the Indian to be off. Kendall moved
towards him, and Kent fired
59 Wild parsnip along the Truckee and
wild laurel in the mountains were blamed
by other emigrants. Paden, op cit., 459;
Potter, op. cit., 209.
60 Haines was a member of the
Springfield company but had been captain of the
combined companies earlier. Did he go
ahead on horseback?
61 The company lost money on the oxen
purchased at $54 a yoke, considering the
inflated California prices, but the cows
(apparently all three survived) were an ex-
cellent investment. They had cost ten
dollars apiece.
Charles Tinker's Journal 85
his pistol three times, and killed him
instantly. The Jury declared it to be
"an unfortunate mistake."
[News story from California, no source
in-
dicated.]
* *
*
[Marriage announcement from the Ashtabula
Sentinel, October 25, 1851.]
In Kingsville, at the residence of H.
G. Thurber, Esq., Mr. Alonzo N.
Kent, recently from California, and
Miss Martha A. Clark, of Kingsville.
* *
*
[Marriage announcement from the Ashtabula
Sentinel, December 27, 1851.]
In Kingsville, on the 18th inst., by
Rev. J. W. Lowe, of Fredonia,
N. Y., Mr. J. W. Haines, lately of
Sacramento City, California, to Miss
Cornelia F. Luce, of the former place.
[Haines had been captain of the
Kingsville-Springfield companies and
Lyman Luce a member.]