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[Addressed:] Col. Elias Winchell Post Master
            West Springfield
            Shelby County
             Missouri

[Postmarked:] Sacramento, CA 
              Sep 13

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Rancho Del Passo 3 miles North Sacramento City
Friday Morn. Sept 6th 1850

Dearest Mother
                             
The long and tiresome journey upon which I entered on the eleventh day of April is at length finished 
and I find myself after a period of nearly five months in the comfortable and hospitable cabin of my old 
friend, Mr. Hoyt of Palmyra, in the possession of sound health and in the enjoyment of the luxury of rest 
from the exhausting toil of incessant travel.

So many thoughts rush into my mind claiming to be first recorded in my letter that I hardly know which 
to transcribe and which to withhold for a future opportunity.  To know what would most interest you 
would be an instant removal of the difficulty; but this I cannot ascertain without judging of your present 
feelings by those of the past; and in that case, I am driven to the necessity of being so egotistical as to 
conclude that my own important self is the principal object of your hopes and fears in this part of the 
continent.  Taking this for granted then at the outset, I shall leave a description of this golden world and 
all "that in it is", which to everyone but a mother would be far the most interesting part of my 
communications, till another opportunity for writing presents itself, and terribly bore readers at large if 
any there be with a tolerably minute account of my adventures since leaving Missouri.

I wrote to you from the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, about the 27th of June, and if you received 
that letter, (which I calculated would reach you about the first of August), you already have a portrait of 
the most interesting feature of our journey-thus far.  If not it will be sufficient to state briefly that up to 
that point our journey resembled a pleasure trip more than anything else.  Our admirable team of 
ponies was yet in good order, we ourselves were in fine spirits and the future promised as much as the 
past had already yielded. We were then according to the best estimate we could form, twenty five miles 
this side of the half way point between St Joseph and Sacramento and only forty two days out.  At this 
rate the trip would be terminated in forty days more, or about the sixth or seventh of August.  We 
descended the western slope of the Rocky Mountains and in a short time entered a desert country 
almost entirely void of grass and frequently destitute of water.  The roads were very sandy and our team 
began to fail under the accumulation of hardships.  We reached the "Big Sandy", a beautiful rushing 
mountain stream which takes its rise among the snow of the "Stony Range", but between which and 
Green River lies a desert of fifty three miles without a drop of water and but a very little dried up grass. 
Here we made a halt of two days to rest our team and to find if possible a lighter wagon than the one 
we started with. Not being able to procure one, and our pasture being at a rather inconvenient distance, 
--five miles off -we cut up the body of our wagon, --made it into a box four feet square, mounted it on 
the wheels which we coupled as closely together as they would admit of and at sundown with a supply 
of provisions already cooked and a six gallon keg full water we entered the waste.  At two o'clock A.M. 
we stopped -- unharnessed our horses, laid ourselves down, in our blankets, on the dry soft sand and 
slept soundly until sunrise.  We had been told  

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that the desert was only 30 miles across and we expected to reach Green River in time for late 
breakfast.  So we started off again without stopping even to take a lunch, - travelled till noon -- still no 
water. We gave our horses the contents of our water cask, took dinner, and rested an hour; then 
starting again traveled till sun set, when we saw the waves of Green River, brightly glimmering in the 
bosom of a narrow valley 3 or 4 miles distant. By dark we were in camp, resting from our protracted toil. 
Next morning at a ferry, six miles below us, we found a wagon which suited us; and though the price was 
high for those times-$75.00-we thought it best to buy it and save our team from the heavy labor of 
dragging our old one through the sand.  We threw away our old one or rather sold it for five dollars, light 
wagons only, being in demand, and started once more, hoping to finish our journey in 25 or 30 days, - 
as the ferryman told us we could do. He had frequently travelled it in 18 or 20 on a mule, --a physical 
impossibility, as I have since become satisfied. With this pleasant expectation of terminating our journey 
so soon we deemed it unnecessary to keep all our provisions, and accordingly threw away all that we did 
not absolutely need for just 4 weeks supply. Thirty pounds of flour we sold for fifteen dollars; --nobody 
wanted the bacon, coffee, beans, pickles, or the clothing, bedding, cooking utensils and other articles 
which we left lying on the ground on the morning of the "Fourth" as we drove out from camp. In the 
course of a week, after traversing a difficult spur of the Rocky Mountains we stood on the brow of a 
precipitous descent at the foot of which was the beautiful and exceedingly fertile valley of Bear River.  
We descended in safety, and driving down the valley for 8 or 10 miles farther sought a spot among the 
luxuriant meadows, about a mile from the river, where we called a halt, and remained for 4 days, to 
recreate our weary and travel worn ponies. No meadows in Missouri could have afforded them better 
pasturage, and had we been able to remain two weeks instead of 4 days, they would have regained all 
their former strength and activity. But our allowance of provisions was calculated only to just take us 
through and as the purchase of our wagon had well nigh drained the purses of the company, we could 
not wait longer.  To add to our difficulties, my friend Bryant, who had been disabled by diarrhea for two 
or three weeks, continued to grow worse, until at length his situation was extremely critical.  No 
medicine that we had succeeded to check in the least the progress of the disease, and to procure any 
from the emigrants was next to impossible. Everyone wanted medicine for future emergencies, and but 
few would part with it for friendship or money. Contrary to my expectations however, in about a week 
our patient began to improve and by the most careful treatment and close attention to diet, was soon 
able to resume his duties.  During the greater part of the time for nearly five weeks, he was able to do 
nothing, and was only able to travel lying on a cot in the wagon. What sustained him I can hardly 
imagine 

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but he never showed symptoms of despondency or a want of cheerfulness.
 
For nearly three hundred miles we coasted along the Northern rim of the Great Interior Basin, which lies 
between the Rocky Mountains and the California Range.  Grass was good, water abundant, and our 
horses kept in tolerable good order. They did not improve any however; and when at length we reached 
the head waters of the Humboldt or St Mary's River, five hundred miles from Sacramento, and were 
approaching the "Sink" and the famed Desert of which so much has been said, we found that at the rate 
which we were then travelling our provisions would be exhausted long before we could get through. We 
accordingly resolved to pack our provisions and clothing upon our animals, leave our wagon and push 
forward as rapidly as possible.  Upon examination it was found that our stock of provisions consisted of 
21 pints of flour lightly measured,  
9 pints of dried apples, 3 pints of rice, 4 pounds of bacon, 3 pounds of sugar and 1/2 lb of coffee, about 
2 oz. tea with a little pepper, salt, spice, saleratus etc, for each man. Our clothing was reduced to the 
smallest amount imaginable, as also was our bedding. Our tent was left as a luxury which we could not 
afford to carry further; henceforth the blue canopy of heaven, bespangled with glittering stars was to be 
our only shelter.  We set out, by no means disheartened, but rather rejoicing in the hope of more 
speedily bringing our travels to a close.  Let me portray myself to you, more minutely, so that you may 
form a better idea of the appearance of your wandering son.  And now I will remind you dear mother 
that you are by no means to think that I am writing this in the spirit of complaint, or in a disheartened 
mood; I am doing it for your own amusement, alone; and if I thought that it would cause you to 
suppose, that what I have encountered on the route has had the effect of discouraging me in the least, 
or caused a moments regret that I ever set out upon the journey, I should never tell you a word about it. 
Be assured therefore that such is not the case. I am inclined slightly to suspect that I have seen some 
part at least, of the animal called the "Elephant" but so far from being intimidated by the sight, I may I 
hope without boasting say that each glimpse has nerved me to meet each succeeding view with more 
boldness, and less dread. To commence that portrait with my unskillful pencil.  Astride of a round well 
built mustard colored pony sits the subject of the sketch. By a stranger to the scenes on the road to 
California, he would be pronounced from his complexion to be one of the aborigines that range the 
trackless wilderness while the neglected growth of whiskers and moustache that hide the lower part of 
his features would assign a home for him among the native Mexicans. A low-crowned broad-brimmed, 
wool hat which once claimed to be white but which may now with equal propriety claim any other color, 
surmounts his dusky cranium and completes the head piece. His arms are encased in the sleeves of a 
flannel shirt of a brilliant red, the body of which is  

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concealed beneath the tattered and profusely fringed section of a satin vest.  Cotton was the original 
material, and drab, the original color of his nether garments; but with unskillful patchings, and 
labyrinthine darnings, involuntary and promiscuous dyeings, half completed and very partial washings, 
they now present such a very dubious appearance that the most skillful dealer in garments could 
scarcely tell whether the animal or vegetable kingdom had had the honor of producing them or whether 
they were the result of the skill of tailors, ante or post diluvian. Low topped shoes, dusty sun burnt, and 
slightly inclining to a reddish color, protect the extremeties and complete the attire. By the way of 
convenience a leather strap around the waist supports on one side a tin cup for drinking and on the 
other a heavy revolving pistol.  His saddle is surmounted and ornamented with various adjuncts. First is 
a sack containing a small amount of flour thrown across it rendering the seat more comfortable.  From 
the pummel, on the right hand side, depends a tin vessel resembling a tea canister, answering the 
purpose of a water canteen. By its side is a small bag of sassafras tea.  On the left is a bag, containing a 
day's supply of biscuit and a few etceteras. Behind the rider on the right, is a very greasy looking object 
which from the odor which escapes therefrom, is strongly suspected of being a sack of bacon, of several 
pounds' weight; while the opposite side is strikingly set off by the shining surface of a black coffee pot 
and bright tin plate, which, occasionally jumping together, make music for the million. Just behind the 
saddle, on the top of the horse's back is a dubious looking bundle which is finally pronounced to be 
perfectly O.K.-ole klose.  By the side of his elegant Rosinante he leads another animal of a little 
little[sic] larger size, but of a bay color and remarkably void of flesh or activity. A bed quilt spread upon 
his back answers the purpose of a pad for the pack saddle which surmounts him. Upon this pack saddle 
appears on one side a calico carpet bag stuffed with clothing provisions etc, duly balanced by a pack 
which is undoubtedly a bundle of books of some kind or other.

The companions of this apparition though differing somewhat in the minutiae of their dress and 
accoutrements are decidedly of the same black, and as the group moved 

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off from their camping ground and followed the enchanting stream called in honor of the "Nestor of 
scientific travellers" the "Humboldt" they presented a scene which in a civilized country would doubtless 
have been looked upon with considerable astonishment.
                 
For a few days we revelled; --not at any "feast of reason or flow of the soul," but in the delight which we 
felt in seeing our horses luxuriate amidst the finest natural meadows that the route had presented.  
Then the novelty of spreading our blankets down in the rich waving grass, close by the bright rippling 
waters of the beautiful river, with nought above us to hide the splendors of a cloudless night, was amply 
sufficient to compensate us for the loss of a few useless comforts and conveniences.  When, the 
morning came and the tops of the Rocky mountains were gorgeously gilded by the approach of the sun, 
the familiar sounds of cackling sage hens, gabbling geese, quacking ducks, gave token that we were 
leaving the high, [?] country and approaching the waters of the Pacific.  It gave us new life and vigar and 
we pushed forward, with accelerated speed and buoyant spirits, --hoping in ten days to accomplish the 
journey down the Humboldt, (three hundred miles,) rapidly traverse the Desert at the sink of the river, 
and in the course of a week more cross the Sierra Nevada, enter the valley of the Sacramento, and reach 
the end of our journey. We separated from the mass of the emigration, took a right hand road, while 
everyone else took the left and for three days were entirely alone, --four of us, rather poorly mounted, 
but partially armed, (for we had sold and thrown away our rifles) and in the heart of an Indian tribe 
decidedly unfriendly to the whites. But we instructed our sentinels at night to be vigilant and alert, 
armed them as well as we could and finally fell again into the road among acquaintances, and friends. 
Here we were told that fifty miles farther would bring us to the desert. We had supposed it to be a 
hundred and rejoiced accordingly. That night for the first time on the whole route our animals had 
absolutely nothing to eat & we ourselves were too tired to cook our own supper.  The nature of the 
country began to change.  Instead of a rich beautiful valley, with emerald mountains on either hand, and 
a river of the purest waters coursing through its bosom, we found a barren vale, producing near the 
river among the unapproachable sloughs which ran into it, considerable grass, but in general nothing 
but the wild sage; a shrub which never grows except on miserable, alkaline lands or on deserts as barren 
as those of Arabia.  The mountains were no longer clothed in their vesture of velvet green; they looked 
far more like huge piles of ashes and clay, and perfectly destitute of everything that could hide their 
ugliness.  Even the pure, sweet waters of 

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the Humboldt became polluted by their passage through this volcanic region, and were so strongly 
impregnated with alkali, (red Saleratus) as to be unfit for use.  But there was no other.  We must drink or 
thirst. Day after day this continued. Grass became more scarce, water became more poisonous, our 
horses became more weak, we became more discouraged and anxious. At length grass was entirely 
gone. It had been obtained by swimming the river, cutting it in very small quantities, with butcher knife 
and dragging it through the water with long ropes. But now this was denied us and our starving animals 
had nothing to sustain life but the browsed and scanty twigs of willows which at intervals fringed the 
bank of the river. Travelling was rendered very disagreeable by the dense clouds of dust raised by those 
preceding us, and which would have constantly enshrouded us had we not often left the road entirely.  
No such dust was ever seen or dreamed of in the states. Finer and lighter than superfine flour, the least 
disturbance was sufficient to fill the air; and it absolutely covered everything that was exposed to its 
influence. Its alkaline properties rendered it highly injurious to our animals, and still more nauseous to 
ourselves, whose eyes nostrils and throats were constantly clogged with it. It filled our clothing, and 
rotted our garments in a short time. I can furnish you a receipt for making it, as without it you never can 
enjoy the privilege of seeing it. Take equal parts of fine sifted ashes or perfectly dry, white clay and 
common saleratus. Reduce together.  Strew your highways with this mixture till it is from two to twenty 
inches deep, & never let it get wet. Then take fifty heavy wagons, with from four to six yoke of oxen 
attached to each, and a moderate sprinkling of horses and mules, cows and calves and individuals of the 
genus homo; put all them in motion at the rate of 3 or miles per hour and then at any spot, drop 
yourself in among them. Recollect that with a team you cannot learn the road; --you are bound to follow 
on. Let a gentle breeze arise so that when the dust rolls up in dense opaque masses, it will be wafted 
with unerring certainty, directly against your person. Hat, hair and head, eyebrows, eyelashes, and eyes, 
nostrils, mouth, throat and lungs, etc etc, from the crown to the sole, all is dust, dust, dust --miserable, 
filthy, disgusting, poisonous, intolerable, endless, alkaline dust. "One day", you say, "would finish a 
person". Not quite so easily rid of it as that. Count one week after another, with a few blessed 
intermissions till you have counted 7, 8 or 10 weeks and then you can probably say, "it is finished". 

Late on Friday night, the 9th of August we reached "The Meadows" where the Humboldt overflows a 
broad flat of several miles in width and 10 or 12 miles in length, and causes an abundant growth of 
excellent swamp grass.  This is the last chance for the emigrant to save and recruit his stock before 
placing his foot upon the confines of that desert which more than all others is the terror 

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of Californians. A hundred tents during the day, a hundred camp fires at night, with thousands of human 
beings preparing feed for their animals rendered, the scene one of novelty and interest. But no one 
noticed or mentioned it; -all were thinking of self alone and preparing for the dreaded future.  To add 
to the distress of the masses, provisions, now began to fail.  The majority had expected to make the trip 
in a much shorter time than it was made last year and to lighten their waggons had taken a short supply 
of food. Now it was daily rapidly disappearing, while they were yet 280 miles from Sacramento, with a 
formidable desert and the still more formidable "Sierra Nevada" ("Snowy Mountains") intervening.  
Across the desert were many trading posts where could be had flour at one dollar & fifty cents per 
pound, & bacon at two dollars per pound.  Very encouraging to those who had paid the last cent of their 
cash to procure an outfit, or had been compelled to use it by the way.  To this strait my companions 
were now reduced and I was so nearly in the same fix that I could not assist them. Mr. Bryant by an 
accident the most trivial and which seemed providential, met his brother whom he had not before seen 
on the journey. His brother was bringing out his family, --had an abundance of provisions to last him, 
and his brother joined him. Mr. Gore found at the same time and place, an uncle, who though he had no 
extra supplies, took him in. Thus I was left alone with my two horses, my baggage and a mighty few 
dollars. I knew I had no relations on the route & didn't stop to hunt up any. I staid at the meadows till 
Monday morning, --meantime crossed the slough on a waggon body turned bottom up and supported 
by empty water casks lashed to its corners, as the only ferry boat, --waded 400 yards through water a 
foot deep, -- cut a sufficient quantity of grass, partly with my penknife, partly with a scythe, carried it 
dripping, on my back, across the slough to my camp, and thoroughly cured enough of it to make 100 lbs 
of hay.  Packing this on my riding horse, for the other was not able to carry it, I started on Monday 
morning to reach the "Sink of the Humboldt", twenty five miles distant. I was per necessity obliged to 
walk and lead my horses, to spare their strength for the sixty five miles which was now to be traversed 
without a particle of grass; the hay which I had cut was to be their only sustenance till I reached the 
Valley of Carson River on the West side of the desert.  I arrived at the "Sink" at sundown weak and 
exhausted, but in good spirits. I had baked at the "Meadows", what flour I had into hard biscuit, that I 
need not be delayed for want of bread and in a few moments had eaten my supper, given my ponies 
their quantum of hay and was sound asleep on the alkaline sand by their side.  The quilt which you gave 
me, mother, was my bed & bedding, and it made me exceedingly comfortable. Early in the morning I 
arose, and moved a mile farther down, to the last watering point, before entering the desert.  There I 
fed horses, and lay till 4 o'clock P.M. as it is customary to cross the dessert in the night to avert as far as 
possible, 

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the danger of suffering from thirst.  But as you may wish a farther explanation of the "Sink" I will tell you 
what it is. The beautiful river, Humboldt, which rises among the snows of a range which I cannot 
designate, here passes over a soil of a decidedly volcanic nature. Ashes, alkali, & salt are its principal 
constituents, and in passing through this medley of scorious substances, the river entirely loses its 
original character, becomes a foul, disgusting, poisonous slough, a real, "bona fide," "River Styx" totally 
unworthy to bear the distinguished name by which it is known; and finally after sneaking sluggishly 
along for some distance among heaps of ashes, coal, burnt stones & red clay as if trying to hide itself, it 
becomes to a sandy plain, spreads out its noxious waters upon its bosom, and then disappears, -- 
actually and literally kennels itself, --runs into the ground and is totally, utterly lost. No traces of it 
thereafter, have ever been found.

From this point to Carson River is distance of 40 miles without a drop of water or spin of grass. To 
disguise the nauseous taste of the "lye" which we dipped from the river and which was to be our only 
drink across the waste, I made my coffee pot full of strong coffee, and at 4 P.M in company with 
hundreds of others, I saddled  my horses and on foot, coffee pot in hand, set out. At sundown I stopped 
a few moments to rest my horses, ate a biscuit and then moved on again. The scenery around was 
indescribably desolate. By the light of the moon, I could easily discern on either hand the low ranges of 
scorched and barren mountains which hemmed in the plain but not a spin of grass, a leaf or the most 
insignificant shrub appeared to relieve the oppressive monotony of the dreary waste. Around me was an 
undulating plain of sand, dust salt and alkali clouds of dust rolled up from beneath the wheels and the 
horses' hoofs and filled the atmosphere. With these now began to appear another interesting feature of 
the scene. Numerous dead bodies of oxen, horses & mules whose strength had been exhausted on the 
Humboldt, lay on either side of the road, impregnating the air with an odor by no means very delicious. I 
pushed on until midnight, --the moon was then two hours high and I resolved 

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to stop and rest until about the time of her setting. Here I gave my horses the last of my hay, and having 
with some difficulty swallowed a pint of my alkaline coffee, I stretched myself on the dry sand wrapped 
in my quilt, and for two hours slept sweetly. When I awoke the moon had disappeared but the stars 
gave light enough to travel by. After travelling a number of miles I found myself entirely alone, --I had 
passed a great number of emigrants who had gone [nite?] camp for the remainder of the night, and now 
could neither see nor hear anything of teams on the road. Thinking I might have travelled faster than I 
supposed and was approaching the confines of the desert, and finding that my weak horses were 
growing tired I called a halt & remained until day break. When I started again I discovered that the 
number of dead animals was rapidly increasing by the road side and with these were left in many cases, 
the waggons to which they had [?]. At sunrise I met a man who told me that it was 14 miles away to the 
farther edge of the desert. My heart almost sunk within me for I feared that I could not accomplish it 
until the heat of the day and that my horses would become exhausted before that time. But I pushed 
on. Abandoned waggons and dead animals became thicker at every step, and the air was filled with a 
disgusting odor. I became very thirsty but my alkaline coffee was insufficient to give me relief. It was 
moreover about as pleasant to take, as ipicachuana. Six miles farther a crowd around a waggon 
attracted my attention. I went to it and found Carson River water for sale, at a dollar per gallon. I bought 
half a gallon and drank the most of it immediately. How delicious and reviving it was, you cannot 
imagine unless you mix saleratus with your beverage for two weeks. The water dealer told us it was 14 
miles yet, across the waste, and 12 of them heavy sand. This was quite distressing, but I pushed on 
again. Shortly after reaching the sandy portion of the road the dead animals and broken waggons began 
to accumulate rapidly. Several times during the morning I had passed spots when property to the value 
of $2000 was strewed within the space of 200 yards, but what I now beheld far exceeded anything that I 
had before witnessed. The route of the emigrants could have been discerned for miles and miles with a 
spy glass, by the abandoned waggons, which were literally strewed on each side of the road. Hundreds 
of them had been burned for fuel, and others were broken, dismantled and stripped; but there were 
numbers of them that stood there as perfect and complete as when they passed out of the hands of 
their builders. Horses, mules and oxen lay by them and around them in the precise position, where they 
fell. Often they dropped in the road; but no one thought of removing them and the trains which 
followed, if it was not convenient to turn out drove directly over the dead bodies, crushing and mangling 
the bones and flesh beneath their heavy wheels and trampling hoofs. The sun was now high in the 
heavens and poured down a scorching tide of his rays.  A gentle breeze swept fitfully across the plain 
and brought a refreshing coolness; -but the stench which it brought to our nostrils was almost 
insufferable.  When it lulled for a moment the plain seemed to be the vision[?] of some vast oven 
glowing with oppressive heat.  Then, eleven, twelve slowly came and slowly passed, -still I was toiling 
through the sand miles from the edge of the desert.  I could not rest, for my horses were

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suffering with thirst, & the scanty supply of water for myself was almost gone.  Teams around me began 
to fail, -more than one poor brute dropped helpless on the sand to die of thirst, and men were 
disengaging their oxen and horses from their waggons, and driving them forward to water, intending 
when night should come to return and finish the journey. Others who had no animals to ride took 
buckets in their hands or casks upon their shoulders and started for a supply of water for thirsting 
women & children. This, through miles of deep sand under a scorching sun was no pastime. 
     
But all things Earthly have an end; and at about half past one, as I reached the summit of a sand hill I 
saw the beautiful green tops of the trees which line the banks of the Carson River, a mile or two in the 
distance.  It gave me new life and vigor; my horses also seemed to know that they were approaching a 
place of rest and were inspired with unwonted energy.  In half an hour more they had quenched their 
thirst in the pure cooling waters of the stream, and stripped of their saddles were grazing at their leisure 
along the banks; -while I was stretched in full length beneath the branches of an aspen tree and 
enjoying the luxury of a shade for the first time since leaving St. Joseph!! My passage across the desert 
was easy compared with that of many.  Some suffered dreadfully and I have heard of a few who found a 
grave among its scorching sands.

One hundred thousand dollars worth of property encumbered the ground on the last ten miles of the 
waste beside what had been previously destroyed & had disappeared.  The emigration behind will swell 
the amount to more than double that value. I never shall complain of what I underwent in crossing it.

From the desert to Sacramento City was 210 miles. For several days I travelled very slowly to recruit my 
horses; but grass was scanty and they just had strength to creep along. I walked and led them as much 
as I could but the long use of alkaline water with indifferent food had somewhat reduced my own 
strength and I could not walk all day. But now I found trading posts every day or two, where with other 
articles of food they generally kept the finest beef I ever saw in any market. California against the world 
for good beef.  This you may suppose was a delicious luxury to one who had been for four months 
almost exclusively confined to salt bacon, & together with the pure water of the mountain streams, 
contributed much to restore my usual strength. I will not dwell on my journey up Carson river, but state 
briefly that my progress was slow on account of the enfeebled state of my horses. At length the 
towering peaks of the "Sierra Nevada", beautifully clothed in forests of majestic pines and hemlocks, 
arose to view. For three or four days we travelled through a beautiful portion of the Carson valley 
alongside a lofty spur of the mountains till we reached the "Canon"  (pro. Kanyon) when we turn 
suddenly to the right and enter the pass which leads over the range. Here was the last good grazing that 
I would find till I reached the valley of Sacramento, --100 miles distant, and I came to the conclusion to 
leave my horses for six or eight weeks to regain their flesh before attempting to cross, pack my baggage 
on my back and for the remainder of the distance take it on foot. A trader took my horses in his care and 
after throwing away my coat and india rubber overcoat, my quilt, my coffee pot & canteen, my saddle 
blankets and bridles and selling my saddle for two dollars, I had my provisions, a change 

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of flannels, and my books.  After bringing them so far these latter, I was resolved should come through 
even if it cost me a good deal of severe labor to accomplish that purpose. My books weighed just 24 lbs-
-the rest of my baggage about 10; so that I had a comfortable load of thirty four lbs to carry over the 
Sierra Nevada and down the valley of the Sacramento to the city-a distance of one hundred and forty 
miles; --at least this was my delightful anticipation when I set out. About one o'clock P.M. I started, 
travelled 4 miles to the Can[y]on, which I must tell you is the Mexican term for a defile or group with 
hills. Here was the most beautiful scenery I had witnessed for a long time but I must pass it by & get 
through the Can[y]on before dark. It is six miles long--is a deep cut through a high spur of the mountain, 
with perpendicular sides of granite which has been shattered by some great power into millions of huge 
fragments which have thundered headlong down from the heights above and strewed in tremendous 
masses the whole bottom of the ravine. The fragments are too heavy to be rolled away or even moved 
by mortal power, and too thickly strewed to admit the passage of a team between them. The only 
recourse there is to go over them; and over the Anglo Saxons go in tens of thousands, with heavy 
waggons with their wives and children and with their earthly treasures. You would think could you see 
them a moment that oxen, mules, horses and waggons, must all be crushed or dashed in a thousand 
fragments before they could get through. Some animals are killed outright and many waggons 
splintered in slivers; but the majority get though safely. It was slow and toilsome work for me to clamber 
over the huge rocks and often I was disposed to sit or lie down and rest, but at dark I had made my exit 
from the gorge and was reposing by my campfire ten miles from where I had started that afternoon.  I 
was quite tired, but I soon dispatched my supper, laid a good supply of pine logs on the fire, cut a few 
aspen bushes to shelter me from the night air, and then without coat, vest or blanket laid me down on 
the ground with my feet to the fire, and was soon asleep. Next morning I was up at an early hour and on 
my way to cross the first ridge of the "Sierra".  It was 12 or l5 miles over it, but I expected to sleep on the 
west side of it at night. Passing near some teams in camp, someone called me by name. I stepped aside 
and recognized a Tennessean from Dade Co. Mo with whom we had become acquainted on the route & 
with whom we had exchanged some trivial favors, hundreds of miles back. We chatted a few moments 
and he invited me to put my pack into his waggon and travel along with him as he was going direct to 
Sacramento.  I assure you I did not need a second invitation.  I was soon at home again. Of our climbing 
the 1st and 2nd ridges of the "Sierra Navada", --of the snow banks that we travelled over of the dense 
forests of majestic pines that sent me back in imagination to the hills of New England, of our final arrival 
one bright morning at the flourishing village of Ringgold, 50 miles from Sacramento, -of the mines 
which I passed through and of the pleasure which I felt at being once more in a land of civilization, I 
need not particularly speak.  Suffice it to say that at Ringgold by some accident I became separated from 
the train of my friend, --he taking one road & I taking another, --both however leading to Sacramento. I 
walked ten miles but could hear nothing of him. It was then dark and for want of better 
accommodations, I turned aside a few yards from the road-found a branching oak bush which 
furnished a pretty good 

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shelter, and camping under it fell asleep without blanket or fire. At three or four o'clock A.M. it being 
rather uncomfortably cool I arose and started, expecting to reach the city-40 miles distant that day. 
Half a pound of crackers was my supper the night before, and the same constituted my breakfast this 
morning. At noon I had just 30 cents left, with which I bought a biscuit 121/2--a small piece of beef steak 
121/2 and a smoked herring, 5 cents. Of these I made a sumptuous dinner. Twelve miles now to the city-
ten to Col. Wm Muldrow's ferry. Sun about an hour high I walked into his public house in this guise. 
Ragged, dirty & shapeless broad brimmed white hat, red flannel shirt, without coat or vest blanket or 
over coat, ragged and dirty cotton pants with used-up suspenders, worn out shoes and very dirty 
stockings. Whiskers & moustache & hair, uncombed, unbrushed ragged and full of dust. No one 
recognized me though there were a number of old acquaintances around, and I doubt not in that dress I 
could easily have preserved my incognito till the present moment.
 
Having improved my appearance somewhat, next morning I walked into the city, --and was 
thunderstruck at the sight before me. Instead of a large town one half of whose buildings were of cotton 
cloth I found myself in a great city with occasionally a cloth house towards the suburbs doing nearly as 
much business as St Louis, --at best far more than any town above her on either shore of the Mississippi. 
By her side sweeps a deep and noble river, whose banks present a scene of life and activity which no 
one in Mo. ever sees out of St Louis. Seventy five brigs and schooners lie at anchor and a splendid line of 
steamers communicate daily with the waters of the Pacific.  The wharf or levee is covered with 
merchandise from every nation of the world and every language almost beneath the sun pours its jargon 
to swell the multiplied sounds which strike your ear. The European, the South American the Islanders of 
the South Seas, the Asian, & the African here mingle together as though it were the Common home of 
humanity. And Sacramento is one year old!!

My companions are safely in. Mr. Gore arrived a day or two after me.  Mr. Gore has taken a situation as 
clerk in an establishment six or seven miles from town and receives a salary of one hundred dollars per 
month.  Mr. Bryant is with his brother's family, but has not yet decided what to do. I have not fully 
determined what I shall do this Winter as yet. Had I a few hundred to start on, I would immediately go 
into the practice of my profession. There is an immense amount of litigation in the city with every 
prospect of its steady increase. Every man who ever heard of Mr. Anderson says if he was here he could 
make from fifty to one hundred thousand dollars per annuim!!

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A great difficulty lies in the way of my going into Practice.  Board in the City at the finest hotels is one 
dollar per meal--20 dollars per week; -at the lowest houses 10.00 per week.  Office rents from 75 to 
100 dollars per month.  Fuel high and Books & Clothing about twice what they cost in the States. I 
cannot in all probability do much for some time, and my expenses meantime must be considerable.  I 
could borrow money of my friends here but this I do not wish to do.  I had a situation as a clerk in an 
auction store in the City, offered me a short time ago with a salary of 100 dollars per month and if I 
cannot do better I shall take it for a month or two.  Mr. Hoyt talks of setting up a store in the mines, 
about 80 miles from the city & wishes me to take charge of it, but I do not know what he would be 
willing to give.  Most of the emigrants are disappointed in the mines and many are seeking employment 
elsewhere, which accounts for the great reduction in wages.

For myself I cannot say that I am much disappointed in California.  It is true that the mines do not 
produce so much in proportion to the laborers engaged in them as they did last year; but I was prepared 
to expect this.  There is no probability that the mines will be exhausted for years to come, and so long as 
they hold out, this country must rapidly increase in population and wealth.  If a person does not realize 
"an ounce" a day, I see no reason for packing out, giving up all and going back home.  This however is 
the case with a good many.  Numbers go on every boat, ready to swear when they get home that 
California is all a humbug.  For my part I am by no means discouraged.  I did not decide to come out here 
hastily, or without much consideration, and I do not think that I have footed it across the plains, deserts 
and mountains for nothing. So long as I can do better here than in the states I shall remain; i.e., for a 
reasonable length of time.  Two years is the shortest time that I can now fix upon, and it may be I shall 
stay longer; but if I am blessed with success, I think that two years from this fall will see me again among 
that circle whom I often think of with deep unabated interest.

Mr. Hoyt and Henry have made a good deal of money in the short time that they have been here but 
were so very unfortunate as to lose the larger portion of it four or five weeks ago by some rascal who 
broke open their trunk at night and took out nearly all of their hard earnings, -about $4000.00. They 
lost last spring a share in 1400 dolls. in the same manner and their suspicions have fastened upon a 
couple of men who were in partnership with them and who slept in the room where the trunk was on 
the night of the robbery.  There is no evidence which would be available in a court of justice, but it is 
sufficient to satisfy their own minds.  They have since dissolved partnership with those men and will 
henceforth work "on their own hook". They have yet about $1500.00 each, which will give them a fair 
start for another year.

"Rancho Del Passo" is a tract of land about 9 miles square lying on the north bank of the American Fork 
of the Sacramento, three miles from the city, and belongs to a gentleman by the name of Norris.  

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He has been in the country a number of years and is now immensely wealthy.  His "rancho" (or farm) is 
let out to a number of tenants among whom is Mr. Hoyt.  A rich strip of land on the bank of the river is 
surrounded by a ditch which serves as a fence and is in a state of good cultivation.  Corn, potatoes, 
pumpkins squashes melons of all kinds, cabbages, turnips & and onions of mammoth size sweet 
potatoes and all vegetables that grow in Mo. flourish here in abundance.  Every morning he sends a load 
of them to town Potatoes 121/2 cts per lb. Tomatoes, 25 do[zen], Pumpkins 6 do[zen], etc etc.  Everything 
he can raise readily brings money.

His house which is partly of cloth & partly of wood stands close by the side of the beautiful American 
Fork, and has annexed to it a smaller garden, --a "corrall" or yard for his cows, stock yards etc etc.  His 
cows are as fine-looking as any I ever saw and give a good supply of milk.

The American Fork is a delightful stream. Its clear pure waters are always cool and furnish a refreshing 
beverage; while in their crystal depths sport myriads of the finest fish. Every morning his sales of fresh 
fish caught with a seine & four men in a short time, amount to 25 or 30 dollars. Salmon bring 50 cents 
per pound, and bass, perch etc etc 25 cts.

I must bring my endless communication to an end. I fear you think, as the Irishman did about the rope 
he was hauling on board a ship, that somebody has cut the end of this letter off--it is so long in making 
its appearance. But I expect to bore you with another soon, though I promise you, it shall not be so 
trying to your patience or to your eyes. When I arrived I found a solitary letter in the office from Rens. 
dated Tully, May 24th and day before yesterday I got another dated Greenfield July 17th. For each of 
these I am greatly indebted to him and hope he will accept my sincerest thanks; not forgetting to keep 
up the practice which he has commenced.  I shall reply as soon as possible, --meantime will he consider 
some part of this as an answer pro tem. I am glad that the difficulty in his throat is likely to yield to 
careful-treatment.  Think Homer's prospects are very flattering. On the bank of the golden Sacramento I 
hear, by "one who knows", of his extraordinary success in teaching.  High compliments are passed upon 
his skill. He need not suppose I hear by letters, --it comes "viva voce", from a "propria persona".  And Joe 
is to be a printer! Good! So was Franklin & so was & is Horace Greely who despite some of his peculiar 
views is an honor & an ornament to his country.  I hope that it will not be many years ere we see our 
little "Dodo" (he won't be offended now, I guess, at the name) standing at the 

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head of one of those moral machines that scatters living intellectual light over our land and 
disseminating with skill and power those influences which do now and are yet to sustain and beautify 
our political fabrics, and protect, strengthen and improve all our institutions whether social, political or 
religious. When that consummation is reached, amidst the long columns of essays dissertations etc I 
wish to have preserved a little nook of sufficient extent to attract notice, and over the head of it in 
respectable capitals have placed there words "The Weekly Fun Bundle".  This will be the mirth-
provoking department of the paper and will supply the place of that twinkling little luminary which arose 
so brilliantly years ago, but which was destined to a long eclipse by the force of circumstances. I wish the 
young printer all imaginable success and hope that nothing may occur to discourage him in the path he 
has chosen.

By the way now that I think of it I dreamed last night that I was at home, and rejoiced exceedingly that I 
was amid familiar scenes once more.  I noticed all the improvements about the house and garden and 
noted particularly the accuracy with which Rens had described to me the new walk in the garden south 
of the house.  But the vision was short and fleeting and I awoke to find myself near the shores of the 
Pacific.
 
I am expecting by the next steamer from Panama a host of letters.  I have the promise of Homer, Joe & 
Fanny safely treasured up and shall not speedily forget them.  I warn them not to disappoint me.  I fear 
more from Fanny than I do from the others as she has less leisure to write than most anyone else. How 
often I think of her kindness to me, I need not say.  That I can ever forget it is impossible. That I may live 
to repay her, or at least to show her by my actions that that I am not ungrateful, is my dearest w[ish].

Rens says that H & Father think of taking the contract to ca[rry] the mail from Memphis to Pal.  I hope 
that it yield them a good reward if they do so, though I should think Father's time was already so 
completely occupied that he could have no leisure for attending to new business.  I hope his agencies 
are not growing less profitable.

I am really glad to hear that my old used-up horse is able to pay for his board.  I hope he may live and do 
much good for a long time to come.

Now, dear mother, I have tired you completely out. It seems as though I could write for a week, but I 
know it would be nonsense to continue farther. I shall expect to hear from you occasionally, though I am 
aware you cannot write very often. I would give much to see and talk with you a short time but wishing 
will not afford that pleasure.  Time however will roll away rapidly, and it will not be a very long period 
before I am in Mo. again.  I think, meantime I shall exercise patience knowing that to be a great 
comforter.  Give my love to all and my respects etc to all who inquire.

                        Yours very affectionately
                              Elisha C. Winchell