is branch
of the river. The largest amount ever taken from one panful of dirt was
fifteen hundred dollars. In a little more than a week after its
discovery, five hundred men had settled upon the Bar for the summer.
Such is the wonderful alacrity with which a mining town is built. Soon
after was discovered, on the same side of the river, about half a mile
apart, and at nearly the same distance from this place, the two bars,
Smith and Indian, both very rich, also another, lying across the river,
just opposite Indian, called Missouri Bar. There are several more, all
within a few miles of here, called Frenchman's, Taylor's, Brown's, The
Junction, Wyandott, and Muggin's; but they are, at present, of little
importance as mining stations.

Those who worked in these mines during the fall of 1850 were extremely
fortunate, but, alas! the monte fiend ruined hundreds. Shall I tell you
the fate of two of the most successful of these gold-hunters? From poor
men, they found themselves, at the end of a few weeks, absolutely rich.
Elated with their good fortune, seized with a mania for monte, in less
than a year these unfortunates, so lately respectable and intelligent,
became a pair of drunken gamblers. One of them, at this present
writing, works for five dollars a day, and boards himself out of that;
the other actually suffers for the necessaries of life,--a too common
result of scenes in the mines.

There were but few that dared to remain in the mountains during the
winter, for fear of being buried in the snow, of which, at that time,
they had a most vague idea. I have been told that in these sheltered
valleys it seldom falls to the depth of more than a foot, and
disappears almost invariably within a day or two. Perhaps there were
three hundred that concluded to stay, of which number two thirds
stopped on Smith's Bar, as the labor of mining there is much easier
than it is here. Contrary to the general expectation, the weather was
delightful until about the middle of March. It then commenced storming,
and continued to snow and rain incessantly for nearly three weeks.
Supposing that the rainy season had passed, hundreds had arrived on the
river during the previous month. The snow, which fell several feet in
depth on the mountains, rendered the trail impassable, and entirely
stopped the pack trains. Provisions soon became scarce, and the
sufferings of these unhappy men were indeed extreme. Some adventurous
spirits, with true Yankee ha