Hangtown or Bust!
© 2005 by Anthony M. Belli
| “we were
in the domain of the dreaded Indian, with rivers to ford
and deserts to cross before we would reach civilization
again. Cholera was claiming its victims on the trail before
us, but the lure of gold urged us on.” |
|
Following Marshall’s discovery
of gold at Sutter’s Mill in January 1848, more than 80,000 men
would set off for California within the year. More would come from
around
the globe. By January of 1850 the era of the 49er had passed within
a single year. With the Gold Rush at its pinnacle, 1851 to 1852 were
roaring years. But as some disgruntled miners returned home in the
east with little more than nothing in their pockets, settlers from
the east were making their way west to California in 1852.
Unlike the 49ers who were miners, these pioneer settlers came with
their families. They were farmers, merchants, and others who saw opportunity
in California.  Among
those first wagon trains to head out to California was a family
from Galena, Illinois. Miss Pauline Wonderly was just fifteen years
old and recorded her family’s perilous journey into the frontier.
Her passage is a real life saga of life and death. It is a story
of survival, murder, massacre, and disease. But it is also a story
of births, simple pleasures and new beginnings.
Pulling out of Galena on April 15, 1852,
Pauline’s outfit consisted of four men, her father, uncle
and two others. Her mother and both of her brothers, one eight years
old and the other two, completed the party. They left in two light
wagons with four yoke of oxen and two cows. It was“Hangtown
or Bust!” As there was little room in the wagons
it was decided that Pauline would walk, which is exactly what she
did, except at streams and rivers.
After crossing the Mississippi by ferryboat
into Iowa, the outfit got mired down in snow that nearly made the
road impassible. Creeks and rivers were swollen and rising, making
fording impossible. The wagons were broken down and were floated,
along with passengers and belongings, across the raging waters by
heavy rope. Miss Wonderly wrote, “We sat in the wagon bed,
very much relieved when we reached the other side.”
One month out of Galena on May 12th the
small pioneering party arrived at Council Bluffs. Pauline notes,
“This Mormon settlement was the last civilized place we were
to pass through.” Ten days out of Kanesville, Pauline’s
outfit arrived upon the scene of the Elk Horn Crossing massacre.
“They [Indians] were burying their dead when we arrived. We
were very much frightened for fear they would take vengeance on
us, but they retaliated in their way by burning the bridge,”
she wrote.
Note: The Elk
Horn Crossing massacre was carried out by whites in an earlier
train who refused to pay the Indians a reasonable toll of 25 cents
per wagon to cross the Indian built bridge. Eleven Indians were
murdered.
Fearing Indian attack, several small outfits
were joining larger trains. Pauline’s family joined Captain
Meeker’s train along with another party, the Bundy family,
which had eight children and were bound for Oregon. The Bundy’s
remained with the train until they thought it was safe to go ahead,
as they had horses and could move much more quickly. Within days
the Bundy’s were dying off from cholera. The first to go was
Mr. Bundy, followed by his eldest and youngest daughters, all laid
to rest along the trail. Heartbroken, Mrs. Bundy continued on alone
with her remaining children for the Oregon frontier.
Traveling through Nebraska on June 7th,
Pauline’s Mother gave birth to a baby girl. The family pulled
out of the train long enough for the birth but had soon rejoined
the group. Along the trail they passed by an encampment of men,
many dying of cholera, passing through Devil’s Gate, Wyoming
on June 30th.
With a new born in her mother's charge,
Pauline took over the cooking and laundry. Misfortune carried off
one wagon and kitchen utensils down the swollen crossing at Green
River, but with their load lightened, they arrived at Soda Springs
on July 18th. The following day they left the Oregon Trail behind
and took the branch for California, reaching Goose Creek, Nevada
on the 30th.
From August 5th through the 24th the small
caravan would cross and re-cross the Humboldt River a total of 13
times. With spirits at their lowest, provisions nearly gone, animals
exhausted and their wagon ready to fall apart, the party now faced
the desert. It was the last 26 miles, before they pulled into Rag
Town [Carson City], that Pauline mentions in her journal, “The
whole length of the trail was marked by abandoned wagons, bodies
of animals, especially of horses, furniture, cooking utensils, in
fact whole outfits. Graves also dotted the way.”
At Rag Town the family sold their cattle
and bought provisions, arriving in Hot Springs [Genoa] August 30th.
They began their ascent over the Sierras on September 2nd. Several
in the party split at the Ringgold Trail leaving only two outfits
from the original wagon train, the Wonderly and Unger parties, who
continued on to Hangtown, arriving on the evening of September 10th.
Pauline recalls seeing her first Chinese
worker when settling in at Diamond Springs. Later she would be reunited
with the Schneider family who’d taken the Ringgold cut off
on September 2nd. They were operating a hotel at Ringgold. In time
her family would settle at Missouri Flat. During her early years
in El Dorado County she witnessed the fires of 1856 which devastated
Placerville and Diamond Springs. She also mentions the tragic murder
of Susan Newham by Jeremiah Crane and the Ringgold lynch mob that
sought justice. But that’s another story.
Pauline’s book Reminiscences of a
Pioneer [Book # 26] is available at our County
Museum for a mere $1.50. It is a small book but shows the staunch
determination of a pioneer family and the courage of one 15 year
old girl who walked from Galena, Illinois to Hangtown, California.
Check out many of the other great books for sale by local authors
which give fascinating history about events that took place right
in our own backyards. For museum hours, call (530) 621-5865.
___________________________________
Sources: Wonderly,
Pauline, Reminiscences of a Pioneer (Placerville, Ca., El Dorado
County Historical Society, 1965) edited by John Barton Hassler
Edited by El Dorado County Information Technologies |
