Gold Rush Diary & 15 Letters of Articulate Methodist Gold Prospector: Violence, Hope, Poignancy & Tragedy in Almost 100 Pages

This fascinating Diary/Journal and series of letters, written by a New York gold rush prospector to his wife in Wisconsin, vividly reveals the "gold fever" that seized so many men in the early 1850s. After traveling to California from New York via the isthmus of Panama, Warren Porter went to the gold fields northeast of Sacramento. Like most of his contemporaries, Porter did not get rich quickly and tried a variety of enterprises to support himself while waiting for his big opportunity. After nearly three years of effort, with various setbacks, Porter was no better off than when he arrived. His letters must have been heartbreaking to his wife and small child half a continent away. Porter was murdered on July 1, 1853, while serving as treasurer of a company supplying water to miners; his murderer was never apprehended.

[CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH], Warren H. Porter, Archive of a Diary/Journal Letter and Autograph Letters Signed, to His Wife, Mother, Sister and Brother, and Letters Relating the Circumstances of His Death, 1851-1853. 16 letters, 99 pp., most 7.5"-8.5" x 9.75"-11". Some separation on folds; small holes at intersections of folds; very good.

Contents and Excerpts

- Warren H. Porter, An attractive little black journal book Diary which is actually a series of letters Signed, to Martha Porter, January 24, February 3, 1851, Hangtown, California. 44 pp., in Joseph W. Gregory, Miners' and Travellers' Pocket Letter Book (New York: Thompson & Hitchcock, 1850), 3.125" x 5.25".
"In the fore part of the last month I had come to the conclusion & so mentioned in a letter (on business to T. R. P. which I requested him to forward to you after reading (as I was then unable to write more), to write no more till I should have something to say. I came to that conclusion, as I was wearied if not ashamed of repeating, what perhaps you were equally wearied with reading, the same old song of 'ill luck' bad luck &c." (p1)
"though as it has sometimes seemed, I was deserted by man & abandoned of God, yet by two women at least I was still remembered...." (p1)
"My last letter left me in Sacramento city in search of work & expecting to get a job on the highway—planking [?] Street. On the 11th Dec I began work as a fireman with good wages worked 2½ days when we were broken off by a rain of 1 or 2 days & at the end of which time we found the city unable to go on with it because the property holders on that St did not fork over." (p7)
"When dirt is plentiful so as not to have to move the machine too often & a little fall of water can be had, the tom is very profitable." (p10)
"As to our fare here, it is quite comfortable having all the necessaries of life (and an abundance of luxuries in reach if our finances were in better condition) with a comfortable shantee & a good cook stove in it. When on Bear river I had a good shantee a good moral company & plenty to eat." (p12-13)
"preparations for so long a jaunt would cost so much that I shall be unable, before I can send down from the mountains, to make you a remittance; & what I regret still more, be unable to send to TRP. to renew my life insurance policy, which expires on the 1st or 15th April." (p18)
"All my dreams of acquiring a fortune in a few weeks, without any means for making money, are fled; unless by accident I stumble on diggings richer than 1 in 10000 find." (p19)
"Thousands & thousands of miners who have thrown up earth in the dry diggings to be ready to wash more rapidly & easily when the ravines should be supplied with water, have laid by their dirt till their means & credit were exhausted have had to abandon it and go the creeks & rivers." (p23)
"It is the Sabbath & one of the loneliest I have seen in C. I heard there was a Methodist meeting today & went thro the town to find it but could not easily do so. The streets stores & taverns or gambling shops (they are synonymous) are more crowded this day than any other as the miners are more in town. Every tavern here (& nearly so thro the country) has its gambling tables spread out, & going at all hours of every day & night—when they can find customers." (p36)
"Notwithstanding all I have said if I had a good location & means to start a farm& had you & little Alice with a few families of friends near, I should never wish to return to the East—so lovely so very lovely is this climate." (p39)
"Perhaps I am the loneliest man in California, partly because most others go & work in companies, but more because with 3 exceptions I am the only one that I know of that neither gambles, drinks nor plays cards." (p40). Such writings of gold rush miners in this format are very rare. Recently a longer journal (although possibly written later) fetched $47,500 in a Potter and Potter auction.

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Timothy R. Porter, May 3, 1850, Panama, New Grenada. 4 pp. (incomplete)
"here we are & here we are likely to be—how long I cant tell.... There are estimated to be 3000 Americans since the Oregon left (on the 1st Inst) & they form I think full half the adult male population.... I hope there will be no more fools to come here without some certainty of getting off." (p1)
After arrival at the mouth of the Chagres River in Panama, "Soon after dark during a gentle rain we got on board & went to the opposite side of the river for the natives to get their stores—as we passed 2 or 3 vessels on the native side a voice called out from one of them for all Americans to arm. Passing up into a low shallow cove we found 4 or 5 canoes filled with Americans, & the shores lined with natives both male & female chattering & gesticulating like drunken monkeys. We could understand nothing, but by the gesticulations of one of our boatmen we learned that a gun had been fired. We tried to have our canoe men put back but no – stay we must & the Americans in one of the canoes begged us not to go & said all the Americs should stick together. Our canoe had stoppd but they soon brot us up to the other canoes & we learnd from them that an American had shot a native without provocation & he was lying dead but a few feet from the shore canoe. One canoe load of Americans was by & saw it—they said it was because the native would not take him off in his canoe & the man was drunk. A native attempted to take him was knocked down & severely beaten. Though numbers of natives & the canoe load saw it done, they allowed him to wade out & escape the Americans said to one of the vessels." (p2-3)

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Martha Porter, May 10-20, 1851, Panama, New Granada. 7 pp.
"did T. R. P. [Warren Porter's younger brother Timothy R. Porter] get the insurance on my life & arrange it as I wished & as he agreed." (p1)
"Yesterday some Americans arrested for theft a native youth & took him to the office of the Panama Echo, they say to find an interpreter & learn how to deal with him. The natives followed & assaulted the Office & rescued the boy. While the crowd was there a cry arose that an American was being killed in the garden. The Am. Consul who had just arrived & thought there would be no difficulty, said My God boys we must not stand here & allow him to be killed. A rush was made and found to be a false alarm, another cry of an Amer. Being killed at the end of the lane was raised...and another rush made. At the head of the crowd was a man named Somers (a bar keep on a steamer & rather dissolute) when the rush reached the gate.... Somers while stooping to pick up a stone was knocked down by a stone on the head & stabbed the knife entering the breast & passing through him. He told his name & residence called for help was caught by one of our Co. Pomeroy & died. The Americans tho' double in number to the natives nearly all retreated & they soon began to collect again. The Consul urged them to avoid excitement & advised them to take the corpse to the tavern." (p5)
"A council of war is called & decided that we go in to the city. The Officers & Gov (as it proved to be) has just passed down our street & appear to be patroling. As it is about dark the negro's story must be gas—still there have been unusual movements & appearances of discontent, that seem to bode mischief. So for precaution we go within the walls, though we do not fully believe a fight is intended." (p7)
"I think the danger is all past unless the Americans are foolish enough to make some wanton aggressions on the natives...." (p7)
"A part of our Co. have gone to Taboga, an island 12 m. distant whence the steamers get their water & coal, to work for a few days at $5. per day, & I expect they will make an arrangement for the rest to follow & if so we shall tent out while there. We shall stay there till the steamer comes & is ready to start which will be from 10th to 15th June. I don't know as I have mentioned that there are 3000 Americans here waiting a passage—generally with Steamer tickets but some without." (p7)

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Martha Porter, June 3, 1850, Panama. 4 pp.
"It is but a few days since I wrote you, yet as you charged me to write frequently you can have no right to censure me if I write a little too often. But were it otherwise, if you know the loneliness & listlessness of idling away so long a time amid such a multitude & in such a climate & in sight of such women, you would not blame me for talking (by letter) to my own dear wife, seeing I cannot talk with her." (p1)
"I now have an extra ticket on the Sands & that on the Northerner towards which I owe Pomeroy $30. They are worth about $225 each. I intend to go up in the Northerner & hope to sell the Sands ticket for $300 before I go.... The Oregon which arrived today brings word that the Sarah Sands was 100 miles from San F. taking in coal which had been sent down to her, & the scant supply of which caused her detention.... I would sell one of my tickets in order to make you a remittance, but I have seen plainly the vast advantage of having a little capital in order to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves that I doubt not Dear Martha, that could I consult you, you would say it is best to have it with me." (p3)

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Martha Porter, August 11-September 1, 1850, Steam Ship Northerner, off the coast of Baja California; Middle Fork of American River, California. 4 pp.
"Imagine the goodly Steamer Northerner cramd with say 600 passengers; all the rooms below deck, except the Aft Saloon & state rooms filled with coal stores baggage, & standee berths; 7 the main deck, between the row of offices, kitchen & c. in the center, and the bulwarks on each side filled also with standee berths, leaving only room for one person to pass at a time; the hurricane deck stewed with passengers lounging on heaps of baggage, hen coops, over pig pens & cattle stalls; with a few in standees between the wheel houses; then imagine your liege stuck upon a pile of bags of potatoes, with a vacant spot on a Hh'd of bread before him large enough to hold an ink-stand, with his paper on his knee for a table & you have a very good idea of the circumstances." (p1)
"Although I have had anything but good luck so far, I hope the preservation of my health where so many have fallen around me & in such a charnel house as Panama has been to Americans, is an omen of good for the future." (p2)
Porter arrived at San Francisco onboard the Northerner on August 15, 1850.
"I held on to my tickets & had to borrow money to land in San F. & to pay my first meal & could get nothing from the Steamboat Co. for my tickets except the ½ price which they are willing to return. I recd there your 2 letters & 2 from T.R.P.—the first I had heard from home since I left it." (p2)
"The fact is the mines are exhausted—that is the river bars & diggings have been turned over & over & none but those who were here early & secured reefs not worked last year, make any thing by dams &c. The majority of the miners are crevising as it is called, I.E. digging the sand & dirt from the cracks & crevices of the rocks & washing it. When they find a place not touched they make sometimes a good haul, but generally only from 0 to 8 or $10 in a day. Very few are getting rich fast." (p2-3)
"If the winter is such as they tell me it is, if my friends were all here I would never return to the States except to visit them." (p3)
"I can earn more here than in the States, yet I cannot earn more or faster than is generally done it will take me some time to earn a passage home & leave me as much as I started with." (p4)

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Martha Porter, March 23, 1851, Hangtown, California. 4 pp.First page of stationery illustrated with drawings related to mining in California, published and sold in San Francisco."You say you did not think I would neglect me (you), the mother of your Alice & your own wife.... Those reasons were probably not a sufficient excuse for my delay; but believe me Dear Martha, it was not caused by intended neglect of you the Dear Mother of my Dear Alice." (p2)"About the last of Feb. Dr. Woodruff & myself agreed to get a large 'tom' & work, here if we could get a place & if not, then on some river bar as soon as spring was on. We found a place here & concluded to take in Rogers (of the old Syracuse Co.) as a partner. To work it we should have to dig a ditch 30 or 40 rods long to get fall enough & they insisted it would cost, tom & all, $500 (reckoning work @ $4. per day) while I thought ½ the am't would be sufficient. We therefore, to get capital took in Mr Miller, making a Co. of 4.... We began to work it 6th Inst & the next week we had had taken out enough to pay the cost of all hired help, the tom, & divide $250 among the four." (p2)"You ask me if I deem it expedient for you to come here & if I would like to have you come. I would indeed like to have you come & bring Allie & if I now had what I believe I shall have in 3 mo. would remit the money to bring you & Carro (if she wished to come); but at present & until I am more settled in my plans & prospects, I do not think it expedient." (p3)"When I send for you, it will be with the expectation of keeping you one year & then returning with you. I would not have Alice 'brought up' in California for all the gold in it—hardly; unless society improves greatly." (p3)

Caroline "Carro" Maynard (b. 1825) was Martha Porter's younger sister.

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Martha Porter, June 8, 1851, Hangtown, California. 4 pp."You ask me what I will give for you to spend the day with me & mend my socks. An ounce & if you bring your daughter with you 1½ oz. But if you will stay but one day, I should consider your time too valuable to be spent in mending socks. I would rather wear holy socks, & hear your tongue run freely, or can your tongue run as freely while your hands are busy? Well, do you accept my offer or is 1 oz per day too little for your time? I so much wish to see Dear little Alice that I would offer as much for her as for you, but I feared making you jealous!" (p1)"Here, there are better opportunities for providing for our future comfort than can be found E. of the mountains & I wish to improve them." (p1)"We (Dr. W & I.) bought Rogers & Miller's interest in the tom May 19th, since that we have been running it alone. The water is failing but will last 2 or 3 weeks to run with fewer hands." (p3)"There is no country in the world that offers such chances (I think) of getting rich quick, & such certainty of getting rich in a few years to the prudent & industrious even without any great luck; where a family can be supported with so little labor & where every poor man if he has health can do well." (p3)

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Martha Porter, February 22, 1852, Placerville, California. 3 pp.
"if I had any good news to send it would be for my own enjoyment as much as your gratification. You will infer from this that I still meet the frowns of fortune, but I keep my health & have had no great misfortune except a notice to attend a special meeting of the Central Quartz Company at which the officers reported that the gold extracted from the vein would not pay the expense of working it—consequently the stock is worthless & I nearly where I was one year ago." (p1)
"To show how all in mining depends on luck, I bought what was considered the richest claim in D. M. Hollow & the man of whom I bought after going to the southern mines returned unsatisfied & bought a share in the claim next below me for $60 (I paid $250. In Central stock!) & his claim pays 10 to 20$ per day & mine 6 to 12$." (p1-2)
"From all this you may say that it was a wretched mistake my selling out the garden &c as I did. Several events, resulting differently from my expectations, have made me long since feel it. The long time after I left it, spent in trying to find a winter job & to sell my stock, the unfortunate selection of a place finally made & the failure of the Central Quartz stock, were each of them sufficient to make it a losing game—the latter made it a ruinous one." (p2)
"Another difficulty in the way of deciding to remain here till I can conveniently return is the situation & health of Mother is such that I do not know as I ought to stay under any circumstances & yet I cant return at present." (p2)
"Though disappointed chagrined, & vexed with myself my luck & with others, I am not discouraged. Though my golden dreams of a large & sudden fortune are flown, I am not discouraged about my ability to do well & get rich in a few years if I remain here and keep my health. My great trouble is to decide what to do." (p3)
"By the mail of the 1st Inst I sent TRP. $50 to renew the policy on my life insurance. I hope I shall not be so unfortunate or so long sick should fate be against me, as to be able to leave no other provision for my wife & child." (p3)

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Martha Porter, April 10, 1852, D. M. Hollow. 3 pp.
"Two years! how short, how swiftly flown, how meager the results; and yet what an age in incidents & anxiety to both of us. Will another 2 years—one year, find us separated? Oh I hope not. And yet, if I continued to be pursued as for the last 3 years with relentless misfortune or ill luck, I know now when we shall meet. But I will try to 'wait & hope.'... I still sometimes (but not often) indulge the hope that in mining I may have the good fortune that so many (in numbers but few in proportion) have, strike a pile, but oftener much oftener hope to get into some good & lucrative business." (p1)
"I was strongly urged to adopt one of these by Mr. Nolton & Bruce (waggon makers from Onon. Co) located here—but it is too slow business. Though with good luck I could probably make 12 or $1500 by winter, I want to go faster. Part of their plan for me was to send immediately after you & have your ladyship go to making cakes & pies or keeping boarding house & thus support the family & horses, while I pile up the price of teaming. But I do not wish to have you here to try what I fear you would dislike or could not perform. Besides I wish to make something quick enough to buy cows & other stock when emigration comes in (& stock cheap) to open a ranch or farm." (p2)

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Martha Porter, May 23, 1852, Indian Creek, California. 2 pp.
"I have passed the month so far doing little but waiting for the organization of a Company & the commencement of a job in which I am now engaged. It is a company of 40 men or shares to dig a ditch or canal to carry the water of the S. fork of the Cosumnes to the dry diggings in the vicinity of Drytown & Willow Springs.... we expect to finish it in 3 months & it will require all my means & work—for this reason I can make you no remittance at present; if it fails I lose another season." (p1)
"If I fail in this enterprize, I shall attempt nothing but day labor or something that will pay something every day—at least I will attempt nothing that will so tie up my hands or use my means as to prevent my sending you regular remittances; thus giving up the idea of acquiring a fortune & aiming only at a living. That living I hope might soon be with you." (p2)

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Martha Porter, December 25, 1852, Jamesons Ranch, California. 3 pp.
"yours of Oct 3d informing me that the 'agony' of your California fever had not only abated, but that you lost all desire of joining me here. Although the change is somewhat of a disappointment to me I ought to be satisfied if it is the most likely to promote your comfort & happiness. Very likely it is for the best--& I hope it may be for both of us." (p1)

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Mary Ann Porter and Julia A. Porter Chapman, January 20, 1853, Indian Creek, California. 3 pp.
"our ditch is unfinished & I at work on it. We have but 8 or 10 men at work grading for flooming, but the roads are such that we cant draw our lumber. If that was on the ground it might be finished in 4 weeks if we had money to pay hands, but there is the rub. Our capital stock is all exhausted & most of the stockholders are unable to advance farther, so the work goes on slowly.... As I have good wages I have no reason to complain whatever may be the case with others, but it will take longer to get my pile out than I hoped for." (p2)
"When I shall be homeward bound I cant exactly say, probably not this spring as our ditch is so dull that it would not sell well at present." (p3)
Mary Ann Adams Porter (1782-1858) was Warren H. Porter's mother, and Julia A. Porter Chapman (1800-1869) was his older sister.

- Warren H. Porter, Autograph Letter Signed, to Martha Porter, January 23, 1853, Cosumnes River, California. 3 pp.
"If I could immediately sell out, I would as I intimated in my last, be home in the spring to come out with stock next season & that trip would enable me to settle where I chose. But the ditch is unfinished & therefore there is little demand for the stock, & as there is but 2 or 3 weeks before it would be too late for the trip there is little prospect of my engaging in it. One thing is pretty certain, I shall never return to the states unless I have something to live on when I get there, except I go on a visit of speculation or pleasure, or am recalled by a strong conviction of duty." (p1-2)

- Henry Alvord, Autograph Letter Signed, to T. R. Porter, July 8, 1853, Boston Store. 3 pp.
"It is my painfull duty to inform you of a sad accident, that your Brother Warren H. Porter met with, on the first of this month, which caused his death. He left his Boarding House in the morning to examine the Ditch (that he is one of the Co.) with his shovel & his Dinner in his hand, And was found about 12 O.C. by the side of the Path dead. He was shot through the small of his Back, and the bullet came through the skin in front. And after he fell, it is supposed by his Friends, that his murderer stood over him, and shot him again through his head, and scattering his Brains in every direction. As soon as his Co heard of his death, They went after his remains and brought them to his Boarding Place, and had a good Coffin made, And then one of them came here (9 miles) to let James & myself know of it." (p1)
"He was buried on the 2d July on a Side Hill, and can always be found by us. And if his Brothers wish, James will have a fence put around his Grave. You are probably aware that he was engaged in a Water Co, and at the time of his death was acting as Treasurer of the Co, And the murder[er] must [have] supposed he had a good deal of money with him, which was not the case, as from all we can learn he did not have $20 about him at the time. His pants was onbuttoned and his Pockets cut off. His Silver Watch was laying by his side, and his Acct Book was found in the fingers of his left Hand, and is supposed to have been put there by the one that shot Him." (p2)
"After his Burial the Co and myself expressed a wish that James would take charge of all his effects, so as to save all he could for his Family, And when James returned he done so, and has all his effects, which he will write you about. I would advise you to let him attend to it. As his Property is such that it will not do to sell it now, as it will be worth twice as much next fall." (p2)
"Within the last week there has been one Negro and one Mexican shot in about the same place, and all the Citizens turned out to find the murderer, But without success so far. They are supposed to be Englishmen that live in the neighborhood. But cannot get any clue to them. I wish you would inform his wife of this melancholly accident, as we did not feel like writing her." (p2-3)

- James H. Alvord, Autograph Letter Signed, to Timothy R. Porter, July 12, 1853, Q Ranch, Lone Valley, California. 4 pp.
"It is my painful duty to inform you and our friends of the death of your Brother Warren H. who was shot on friday the first day of this month about 12 miles from here. Henry has written you all the particulars of his death. he is buried In Eldorado Co on the North bank of Dry Creek in what is called Kentuckey hill about 8 miles from this place.... their has been two shot in the same place since Warren." (p1)
"His business was all straight and it is all satisfactory to the Co he was gitting $6 pr day from the Co as Treas and Collector. The Co now owe him $757.45 cts, $575.75 of this amount was found in his trunk and the balance the Co owed him for labour. The Co Books show over 40,000 dollars which has been disbursed through his hands as Treas. The Co all speak well of him. This amount $757.45 I have the Co Due bill for they will pay it over to me as soon as I git out Letters of Administration which I shall have to go to Coloma the Co seat of Eldorado which is fifty miles from here." (p2-3)
"I got his watch letters and his Diary which I sent you by Mail also a lock of his hair also a gold speceman worth 6 or 7 dollars all of which I will send by Express if you wish I have his wifes likeness which was in his valise. My opinion is it is not good policy to sell his interest in the Ditch Co now as next winter it will sell for a good deal more, however Mr Porter I will do as the friends at Home wish." (p3)

- James H. Alvord, Autograph Letter Signed, to Timothy R. Porter, September 20, 1853, Q Ranch, Lone Valley, California. 3 pp.
"I had to have the property apprased by three men…it is appraized at $1657.00 in all." (p2)
"I send in this two extracts from papers here we cannot git any clue to who done the fowl deed in any way or manner." (p2)
One of the enclosed extracts reads: "Excitement.—During the week a great excitement arose at Drytown, in consequence of the frequency of the secret murders which have been perpetrated on the trail between that place and Fiddletown, more especially the recent case of the death of the Treasurer of the Water Company. All the bodies found have been shot from behind with a musket ball. It was determined to send out a scouring party, but little can be expected from such means, as suspicion is utterly at fault."
The following notice appeared in The Pacific (San Francisco, CA), on July 8: "Mr. Warren H. Porter, formerly of Salinas, New York, was murdered on Friday last, about four miles from Drytown, by being shot through the head. He was Treasurer of the Drytown Canal Company, and was undoubtedly murdered for his money." Similar notices appeared in the El Dorado Republican, the Sacramento Democratic State Journal, and The San Francisco Herald.

- James H. Alvord, Account with the Estate of Warren H. Porter, June 1, 1855. 1 p., 15.5" x 12.25".
Account of fees associated with settling the estate between July 1853 and June 1855; sent "home" a total of $1,698.00.

Historical Background
California Gold Rush
News of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, California, in January 1848, brought approximately 300,000 people to California over the next seven years. The New York Herald was the first to report the discovery of gold on the East Coast of the United States in August 1848, but several months passed before more reliable reports appeared, beginning the peak of the Gold Rush in 1849.

There was no easy way to get to California from the East Coast, but prospectors generally followed one of four routes. Sailing around the tip of South America took four to five months and covered approximately 18,000 nautical miles. Some sailed to Panama, then took canoes and mules for a week to the Pacific side of the isthmus, where they waited for a ship bound for San Francisco. Another route traveled overland through Mexico from Veracruz to catch a ship on the western coast of Mexico heading to San Francisco. The most popular land-only route was along the California trail, as a branch of the Oregon Trail. After traveling through Nebraska and Wyoming, prospectors turned southwest in what is now Idaho to travel through Nevada to California. Each of these routes had its dangers and disadvantages, but hundreds of thousands of people made the voyage in search of riches.

Many groups of prospectors traveled in companies to share the expenses of the voyage and to provide mutual protection. Some men mortgaged their farms, clerks resigned their positions, mechanics packed their tools, merchants closed their stores, and physicians sold or abandoned their practices to join a company to head for California. The maritime professions of New England had an advantage in experience with sea voyages, and they could carry provisions not only for the voyage but also for several months of work in California, where the cost of provisions was extremely high.

The first vessel to sail from Boston to California left on December 7, 1848. The shipyards of New Bedford and Nantucket were soon busy converting whaling ships and fishing schooners into vessels outfitted for a California voyage. In the early months of 1849, dozens of ships of all sizes left Boston, New Bedford, and Nantucket bound for California.

Built in 1847 in New York City, the paddle steamer Northerner was sent to the Pacific Ocean in 1850. Subsequently purchased by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, it was placed in service between San Francisco and Panama, bringing freight and hundreds of passengers with each load. In 1853, the Northerner was placed on a route between San Francisco and Oregon and wrecked on a submerged rock in January 1860 off northern California.

Syracuse Salt
After the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784) transferred lands around Onondaga Lake from the Onondaga to the State of New York, salt production began near what became Syracuse, New York. Families worked to boil brine from the salt