Chapter 7
After getting back to my own time from my test with the mules, I took their packs off. I loaded them onto the trailer, stowed their gear, and drove out of the parking lot. I headed west. I was going to do a little gold mining!
What better place than Coloma, California? It was the home of the famous gold strike that started the great gold rush of 1849. It was actually 1848 that the gold was discovered, but it took some time for the information to percolate back to "civilization".
I took it easy, driving slowly, doing it in stages. I arrived at Placerville late in the morning of the third day out from K.C. I decided to get my supplies, there.
Armed with two weeks worth of food, I then drove to Coloma. It is located between Auburn and Placerville, and is the location of Sutter's Mill. I went to the James Marshall State Historical Park. That was a good place, with a lot of energy. I could walk with my mules, from there.
I unloaded my mules and put the packs on them. The first mule had my tent and all the equipment I was going to use. The second mule carried my food, and the grain for the two animals. While they ate grass, I was going to keep them fed well on grain, too.
I thought about Sutter and the fact that he had built his sawmill in a gold rich area. He built the sawmill so he could cut boards for his four stone flourmills. I shook my head. Seemed convoluted to me, but that was the way it was.
Marshall, who worked for Sutter, was all excited about finding gold. Sutter went up to the sawmill site to make sure. He then he asked his employees to keep quiet about this for six weeks. That was all he needed for his mill to be finished. Unfortunately, they kept quiet for only two weeks.
Ah well. Such was life. I was going back to about the same time as Sutter and Marshall. It would not surprise me to see those two gentlemen. I was just about ready. All I needed to do was change my clothes, and get into my authentic 1848 clothing. Then I had to get my weapons ready.
I had an authentic 1844 US Musket. It was fired with a percussion cap, and shot a 69-caliber ball. I had 100 balls, and wads, with two hundred caps. I had powder for it, and intended to shoot it while in the past.
Just for safety's sake, I had a much more modern set of weapons which would be out of sight. I had a semi-automatic carbine, and a 9mm Glock. They would be my back up, in case I needed some real firepower.
For my clothing, I chose to get a few different sets from a company called the Gentleman's Emporium. They had a range of authentic mid-1800's style clothing for those that were into that sort of thing; which I apparently was, come to think of it. They were able to dress me from the skin out. As for boots? I found another store that specialized in those as well. I had two sets of boots. I got plenty of socks and also a pocket watch from the Emporium. Altogether, I spent close to three hundred dollars outfitting myself.
I also had a hat. I got what was termed a 'coachman's hat'. Ok, it was definitely a better hat than most wore back then, but I had to have it to complete the effect. Everyone wore a hat back then, if they could afford it, and I could. It completed my look, and I felt quite dapper with it.
I had parked out of the way, mostly as far from everyone as I could. The place was fairly glowing with energy! Well, it had been visited for years by visitors, and the park let you pan for gold. I had all that hopeful energy to draw on. I drew and drew on that energy, storing it for future need. I was getting better with storing power, now.
It was a little more difficult going back in time, here, as it was hard to zero in on exactly 'when' I wanted to be. I finally got it, and with my mules' leads firmly in my hand, we stepped forward into the past.
It was my sixth day in the past, and I was having a blast. I had the advantage of knowing where the strikes were, and where the best panning and placer mining was going to be. While it took me a while to get there, I recognized the landmarks I was looking for, and set up my camp.
I had already panned several ounces of gold, found several largish nuggets, and was well pleased. I was surprised at how much I had gotten, already. I had just put up my panning equipment and was getting ready to chop some more wood for my fire, when I noticed both of the mules were staring off to the south.
I went over to where I had my musket, and eased back into the brush. While it did not provide much cover in the event of a firefight, it was damned good concealment. The mules looking to the south was a sure sign something was coming. They had very good hearing.
I wished I had my carbine handy, but it was packed away. I cursed myself silently for not having it ready for use. Sure enough, I soon saw a group of five horsemen riding at a walk towards my camp.
They noticed my tent, almost as soon as I saw the first rider rounding the hill to the south. They pulled up about thirty feet away.
"Hello the camp!" yelled one of the riders, hands cupped around his mouth.
No one had a rifle at the ready, so I stood up slowly, with my rifle cradled in my arms. It was their Indian guide who saw me first.
"Hello," I yelled back. "What can I do for you?" I asked curiously.
"We were headed for this place to spend the night. I see you found it already," the man who seemed to be their spokesman said.
"The more the merrier I always say. I have no objections to sharing my fire or camp," I replied politely.
They all pulled up and introductions were made. My new companions were Bill Mosby, Arthur Wright, Jesse Goodman, Tim Hutchins, and the Indian guide was Sunhawk. I introduced myself. They were on their way to Yerba Buena, which was San Francisco's name before the gold rush.
"Those are some mighty fine mules you got there, Tom," Bill told me after they unsaddled and started getting camp ready for supper. We all contributed to the meal, and I was glad not to cook. Oh, I can cook; it was just nice to have someone else doing it. I had trapped a rabbit earlier, and that went into the meal.
After supper, we talked a bit. Smoking cigarettes had not caught on yet. It had been made popular and had spread upward from Mexico. A couple pipes were brought out, and soon the smell of pipe tobacco was filling the air.
I made up a story of exploring the country, having a bit of wanderlust. These men had used up most of their supplies, which was why they were headed to the village. To think of San Francisco as a village, was an amazing thing! My salt and pepper were a big hit. Just a little thing, but to these men it was the spice of life!
I pondered it for a couple minutes, then thought, what the hell. I got up, went into my tent and returned with six of my remaining twelve oranges. I handed out five, and peeled mine. To say they were astonished was an understatement. Apparently oranges were out of season. I had brought oranges, apples, and bananas with me from my own time. Damn! I had not considered this.
By this time it was almost totally dark. I lit my kerosene lamp. It was definitely period, and I was not worried about them seeing it. I had a flashlight too, but that was put away. We talked some more, and then a yawning contest got started.
If I were home, I would either be watching TV, or talking with Mom. In 1847, which is when I was; there was no radio, TV, computers, or any modern items of amusement. So it was get up with the sun, and go to bed at sundown, or shortly after. Personally, I was glad I had been born when I was.
The next morning I awoke to hear my guests already up and moving around, outside. I threw back my covers and looked at the ground in my tent carefully. A snake had come into my tent my second day here, and I am not sure who was more startled when my foot hit the ground, it or me. As a result, I was cautious every morning. I checked the ground and my boots, carefully.
I got dressed and exited my tent, greeting the men. They all 'helloed' me, and I saw they had fixed breakfast. There had left a little bacon in the pan for me. I wolfed it down, and watched as they saddled their horses.
"Well, it was good to meet you, Tom," Bill told me, shaking my hand.
"You too, Bill. If I am still here when you get back, stop on by. You and the rest are always welcome," I said to them all.
After they left, I got back to panning. The water was cold, and I had removed my boots and socks. While the mornings were generally cold, it warmed up by mid-morning. The air was fresh, and seemed to offer something that the air in my own time didn't. It was hard to put my finger on it, but it was as though the air had a newness or freshness that was not around in my own time.
The days blended one into another, and the two weeks I gave myself, was soon up. I'd had had no further company, although I had gotten the feeling I was being watched a time or two. If so, I never saw anyone.
I packed up my camp and my mules, and started back towards the future. Now while I had been in the past, I had exercised my talent of storing power, everyday. I would pull in as much energy as the place had, which was not really all that much. While there were growing things and animals around, people were the ones who contributed the most power.
I made the trip back to my time in two parts. First I used all the power I had stored, to move about seventy-five years into the future from 1847. After that, it was easy to grab all the power I needed for the rest of the trip.
I had decided to go to an assay office away from the park, and out of state. It would not do to turn any large amounts of gold over to the park's assay office. They would get excited, and there would be publicity. I didn't want any type of notoriety.
I stopped a day into my drive back towards home, and turned over two nice nuggets, and a little over three troy ounces of gold to the assay clerk. His eyes widened, but he did his calculations and I found myself with a little over one thousand dollars richer. The nuggets were particularly rich in gold.
When asked where I had gotten this from, I told him I had spent some time in California and was going to take it home, but needed gas money. He nodded, and I left. I had not turned over much of my dust or flakes. I still had a very heavy bag full. I had weights and measure along with the items I had taken back with me, and I was bringing back 18 troy ounces of gold dust. With the bit I had just sold, I had a little over 14 troy ounces of gold and still had seven of the nine nuggets I had found.
While that may seem like a lot for two weeks work, I had gone back knowing where the best place was to get the gold. The first couple miners into my area had reported arriving and just walking along the waters edge and seeing the gold for the taking! They were right, too. In the past, those two gentleman had sold out their claims, and had become two of the very few who actually made any real money in that time.
Mom had laughed when I arrived home with the two mules. She shook her head and asked what I planned to do with them. I told her not to worry, as I had made arrangements for their care with the same farmer who rented our land from us. They were going to let me board them with him.
I unloaded my packs, putting the mule packs in the barn, and my own bags in my room. I grabbed a nugget, and took it down to Mom, and showed it to her. She was impressed with it, and tried to hand it back. I told her to keep it, as I had more.
I told her a tale of going west and taking the mules up into the mountains, and panning for gold, and had run across an old hole in the side of a mountain. I told her how I had gone in, and saw someone had worked it at one time, but it had been a long time ago.
She instantly saw that I could have gotten killed, and asked me not to do that again. I kicked myself mentally for giving her worries. I should have come up with a better story. I hung my head, and told her I wouldn't go into anymore abandoned mines or caves, unless I knew they were safe.
Authors Note
I read several articles on the internet that had been written by John Sutter. I kept as true to history as I could. The historical park I mention in the story is real, and you can get a virtual tour of it on the internet. Any mistakes I may have made are purely my fault, and hope you will forgive me. The Gentleman's Emporium is a real store. It, too, can be looked up on the internet. You can see the clothes with which I outfitted my character, at that store's site. It does all sorts of period clothing.
Volentrin
Edited by TeNderLoin