The arrival of the mail steamer was the event of the month to this host
of people so far away from home and loved ones. Guns were fired, bells
rang to announce the approach of the vessel, then there was a wild rush
to the post office, where the long lines of men, most of them wearing
flannel shirts, wide hats, and high boots, extended far down the street.
Very high prices were sometimes paid, as high even as one hundred
dollars, by a late corner to buy from some one lucky enough to be near
the head of the line a position near the delivery window. Then if no
letter came, how great was the disappointment!
One man thus described the mines:--
"I was but a lad and my party took me along only because I had a knack
at cooking and was willing to do anything in order to see the place
where such wonderful fortunes were made. It was a hot summer afternoon
when, crossing a region of low, thinly wooded hills, we looked down upon
American River; away to the east were high mountain ranges, their peaks,
although it was still August, snow-tipped.
"From them came swiftly down the already famous river. Its volume was
evidently diminished from the heat, and along its gravelly bed men were
digging the sand and gravel into buckets.
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