John Woodhouse Audubon

“ The sun soon threw its red light over all we saw to the west, but was hidden by the range of mountains to the east which we had passed, till mastering at an effort, as it seemed, the highest ridge, it burst forth in all its splendor. In the bottom of my saddle-bags, rolled in a handkerchief, was a flag given me by poor Hamilton Boden, and by the time the haze had gone, it floated in the breeze, from the top of the highest tree near our camp; nature was all in a smile, and we prepared to spend the day according to our various inclinations. ”

“ The dust in this road is over the shoe tops, and rises in clouds, filling eyes and almost choking us as we trudge along, sore and jaded—men, horses, mules, cattle. We stop at night, after eight hours' travel, having made only fifteen or twenty miles; often without food except by chance, for our animals. Grass is only found in the good bends of the river, which we may strike, or may not. ”

“ The soil looks poor, and the rock is granite and sandstone with some slate. On the high points and peaks of "Table Mountain" huge masses of conglomerate boulders, two feet and more in diameter, are scattered everywhere, and give a dreary look to all the north side of Wood's diggings. The hill to the west has shot up into beautiful obelisks of quartz, and you only cease to admire it to be in raptures over the views seen by turning east, to look over mountain beyond mountain, snowy peaks bare of trees, and between them the rounded points of hills, looking tiny by comparison. ”

“ Our road today was by far the most tedious we have had, being up hill nearly all the time, but the view from the top almost repaid us, if not our mules, for the toil. We arrived at the highest top near Jesus Maria; miles of mountain tops and peaks of rock and woods are far below us. Through a gap we looked at clouds blending with the mists below them, until the scene was like an ocean view. ”

“ Raspberries are as good as in Maine, and very abundant in many of the ravines and valleys. The magnificent oak with glossy leaves is here too, and a new species of reed, a perfect miniature of our large cane of the west. Steller's jay, a titmouse, and, I think, a crossbill, have been seen, but no parrots such as we saw to the east of Jesus Maria. Mists and fogs hang over the mountains, and the air is cold and damp unless the sun shines, and then it is very hot. Deep, indeed, is the solitude of this grand country, for but little animation is seen. ”

“ We now commenced the regular ascent of the Coast Range, the mountains at first were sandy loam and sandstone; we had no grand views, even of distance, and we lost two of our mules from fatigue. Our descent was rapid for some miles, and brought us to the gorge leading to the dividing ridge, where was a rapid torrent, about up to our knees, and as we followed it scenes of the wildest description presented themselves. Sometimes it looked as if our further progress was completely at an end, and again a turn at right angles showed us half a mile more of our road. ”

“ The rocks here are shelly sandstone, looking at first sight, at a distance, like slate. The tops of all the mountains are covered with snow, and the wind from the northwest was blowing so hard as to bring our tired mules to a standstill, as the puffs struck them.
As we came out into the plain or valley a few squalls of hail and rain came on, and we were glad to camp near some cottonwoods, not deeming it prudent to be under them, as their limbs had 182 already, some of them, yielded to the mountain gusts and fallen. ”

“ The road from Stanislaus over broad prairies of poor sandy soil extends for miles until nearing the edge of the line of beautiful old oaks that fringe French Creek and its swamps; then the earth becomes richer and sends up a growth of clover and beautiful grass knee high, until you reach Stockton. Indeed all the best lands of the San Joaquin River are admirably suited for planting with proper drainage and cultivation. ”

“ I thought I saw the sandhill, but it was so far off I could not be certain; the red-shafted woodpecker is seen daily, and many small birds, new to me, but not so abundant as two hundred miles behind us. The soil of this country is beautiful in many places, but the want of water and timber renders it difficult to live here; the government is feeble, and desolation and poverty show that better days have been seen. Tomorrow we start westward at 4 a. m. for our march to the Colorado; how we shall get through the twenty leagues with almost no water or grass I do not know, but it must be done. ”

“ The valley here is not as wide as at Stockton by at least twenty miles, and the grand masses of snow covered mountains seem almost within a day of you, whilst south you still have distance to give additional enchantment to the view. The oaks here are small, not more than from eighteen inches to two feet in diameter; if the soil in which they grew had any richness, I should say the whole forest was of forty years growth at most, but for the occasional presence of a grove of magnificent pines, from a hundred to nearly two hundred feet high. ”

“ I have already seen the nucleus of an American rancho, in this country, which is lonely rather than desolate. We have passed many fine old Missions, at least six or seven, but though in the midst of beautiful land, with hundreds of horses and cattle, and many herds of sheep and goats, the indolence of the people has left all decaying, and they live in dirt and ignorance, and merely vegetate away this life in listlessness, except for the occasional excitement of a trade in horses, or a game of monte. We have had many melons, late in the season as we are ”

“ It is all new to me; the hills and mountains are different in shape from any I have seen; the plants, trees, rock, all strange, and as we take our horses to the beautiful creek to drink, curious fish come to look at their noses.
July 1st. Again our road was up hill, and most dangerous, so most of us walked, but with all our care nearly lost two mules, by mis-steps. The narrow passes are so worn by the trains of pack mules, that, to insure safe footing, each mule puts his foot in the same worn hole that other mules have trod, for, perhaps, fifty years previously. ”

“ David Hudson and I had struck far off to the north, and had traversed table lands and mountain paths for some miles, when just as we emerged from a patch of oaks and undergrowth, all dead, thin, dried, brown leaves in contrast with the full summer bloom of everything outside this blighted spot, we heard the tread of men, and quietly moving behind two large trees near us, waited to see who the newcomers were. We knew we had heard the footsteps of more than one man, but only the Mexican appeared at first ”

“ As the traveller leaves the north side of the Calaveras and rises higher, the ground becomes cold and has a bluish-looking clay for the road, almost as hard as soft brick, and more tenacious; there are streaks of sandy soil, and in a few places good land; this is scarce however, between the Calaveras and Mokulumne where the Sacramento road crosses the plain. The last three miles of the road is through a pleasant, half-wooded country of live-oak and a few varieties of other shrubs, for the whole of the wood is small. ”

“ When the old priests had this broad valley tilled and irrigated by the convert Indians it must indeed have been a scene of luxurious growth, and they, no doubt, lived in great comfort, if isolation. Still the place is inland, and indolence there as everywhere in Mexico reigns supreme. So fell Rio Florida.
June 17th. From Rio Florida to El Valle, ten leagues, our road in places has been most beautiful; undulating plains like those of Texas, and we saw the first streaks of iron mixed with the limestone which for weeks we have been traveling through. ”

“ Sorrow filled my heart for the probable fate of so fine a body of men, but it was no time now for reflections, I had three dying men on my hands, and the business of the camp to attend to.
I went to the sick tents; poor young Liscomb worn out and heart broken sat leaning against the tent where his father lay dying, looking as pallid and exhausted as the sick man, and almost asleep; I roused him and sent him to my tent to get some rest. ”

“ The road from San Diego is a pleasant one; northwest over a few moderate hills brings the traveller to the edge of a large bay, which from its appearance seems to be shallow; to the west, mountains, not the Coast Range, and a few miles along this bay, a beautiful "hollow" rather than valley, opens, and after six or eight miles leads to some steep and disagreeable hills, where our first night from San Diego will be passed. I did not regret leaving San Diego, except for the kindness received there (it is a miserable Mexican town) and our own rather forlorn condition. ”

“ In his descriptions he exhibits the keen observation of the naturalist and the trained eye of the artist. The result is a remarkable picture of social conditions in Mexico, of birds and trees, of sky and mountains and the changing face of nature, of the barrenness of the desert and the difficulties of the journey, of the ruined missions of California, of methods of mining, and of the chaos of races and babel of tongues in the gold fields. It was manifestly impossible to keep a daily journal, and the entries were made from time to time as opportunity occurred. ”

“ From La Zarca to Cerro Gordo the country is flat and uninteresting, barren in most places of all but musquit bushes. Every mile or so for the first few leagues we crossed a beautiful little brook, which was, however, gradually absorbed by the thirsty sand, a water hole and bed of sand appearing alternately, until the water wholly disappeared. We made two days' journey of it, going the first day eighteen miles, where we found good grazing on partially dry grass, better for horses and mules than corn alone, which half the time has been all we could get for them. ”

“ Passing along the sandy trail we saw hundreds of the plumed partridge (the brown-headed) . I shot five in about ten minutes. I could not delay longer, as my fast-walking little mule was too jaded to put to the pain of going faster to catch up with the train. These birds, at this season, seem to feed on the seeds of the pig-weed, which is now and then seen in patches of many acres, putting one in mind of old potato fields. The sandy desolation of the river bottom is beyond belief; nothing but the sand hills of the Carolina coast can compare with it. ”

“ The sea breeze at this season is cold and searching, keeping the thermometer at 60 degrees and 62 degrees for days; when a lull comes the heat is at once oppressive, and the mercury rises to 80 degrees or 85 degrees, and the heat dances before us almost in palpable shapes; the water all stagnant sends its odor of decaying vegetation everywhere, accompanied by myriads of mosquitoes. ”

“ The march through the Gila valley to the Colorado proved the most trying part of the journey. With supplies for the men exhausted, without grass for the mules, and with little water for either, the limit of endurance was almost reached. Crossing the Colorado, the company turned northward through the desert to the mountain passes and then southward to San Diego, whence they followed the trail to Los Angeles. Here Mr. Audubon decided to send the greater part of the company to San Francisco by sea, while he, with ten of the men, drove the mules through by land. ”

“ Many of the views before us, as we mounted hill after hill looking towards the mountains, are very beautiful park-like country; the roads are a series of mud-holes and quicksands at this season, and the trees, either swamp, or post-oak, with occasionally a fine ridge of a species of live-oak. At times we had to pack the cargoes of the weaker mules, every few hundred yards, and at one place, had nine mules mired at the same time, the mud being so tenacious that even when the packs were taken off, the poor animals could not get out without our help. ”

“ Audubon were excellent musicians, great readers, and most desirous that their children should be prepared, as fully as possible, to enter the world as educated, and even accomplished men. Drawing was an important matter always, and both sons, Victor and John, became well skilled in this art, but in different lines, the first in landscape, the second in delineating birds and quadrupeds—or as the scientists say today, mammals—the latter being his specialty, though the first intention was that he should be a portrait painter. ”

“ There is no trail but that of wild horses and elk, all terminating at some water-hole, not a sign of civilization, not the track of a white man to be seen, and sometimes the loneliness and solitude seem unending. ”