?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,500 - $ 5,000
(CALIFORNIA--GOLD RUSH.) Dyer, Jeb.Manuscript diary by a prospector covering his journey from Maine to Columbia, California,describing the rough and tumble life in a mining town and detailing his work and finds. About a third of the diary written in pencil and over-written in ink at a contemporary date by Dyer, the diary is written in ink from September 1854 to the end. 8vo, contemporary green morocco, worn at edges; one signature almost detached.<\t>Vp, 30 January 1854 to 27 July 1855
Dyer left Maine on 30 January 1854, traveling from Boston to New York and then by boat to California. Much information is given about life aboard ship during the month-long voyage. Dyer arrived in San Francisco on 4 March 1854 and immediately left for Stockton. "The landlord where we stayed told of the finding of a large lump of gold near Sonora. It was found by a duch [sic] boy & weighed 193 lbs - valued at $35,000. However I think it is an improbable story." On 7 March Dyer traveled to Columbia (located approximately 140 miles east of San Francisco). "Along this dich [sic] the ground is thrown up in all forms. No place escapes the miners if there is gold there . . . Columbia is considerable of a village built in the fashion of all mining towns in California. Gambling for days & hours are numerous. There is two small churches . . . a theatre, stores, [unclear word] hotels, small dwelling houses & cabins make up the settlement. Mining is carried on in the very streets & no place where gold is thought to exist escapes riged [sic] scrutiny." Five days after arriving, Dyer writes that a man has been shot in one of the dance halls. "If a man wishes to avoid trouble he should keep clear from such places. The victims of gambling & fandango houses give California a hard name." This sentiment is repeated often in the diary. Gold was first discovered in Columbia in 1850 and was mined by shooting water at high pressure. However, the lack of water in the region created great difficulties for the miners and is evident in Dyer's journal, in which he records entries for having to pay to have water brought to his claim. Dyer begins prospecting on 20 March and about a month later writes, "Mining business is good. Many new places have been discovered of late. A few weeks since an Italian man found a lump of gold that weighed 24 lbs . . . the idea that California has been 'all dug over' is false. Good courage and perseverance will secure golden reward." However, Dyer finds little success and decides to find a new claim. On 27 September he begins prospecting a new site with two others and commences digging two days later. On 17 October he strikes gold. "The dich was full [of water] at noon & we washed in the afternoon. Washed down at night & got the sum of $4. One bit heavy for 3 men but we must take it as it comes." After several days of other minor finds, on 28 October he writes, "washed down tonight and had $31.63. Encouraging. Although the miner fares & works hard yet when successful he is content." Many of his almost daily entries include information about the weather, the status of water, and the dollar amount discovered that day. Dyer continues working the claim with the two other men through the following Spring, with particular success in December and February. Much of his descriptions concern crime in the town, including a pistol duel on 24 October, a miller being shot by a miner who was stealing his water on 16 November (and later describes the miner's execution), the murder of a prospector by an Englishmen who is hunted down by a posse on 20 January, and a lengthy description of several murders and robberies by Mexican banditti. "A band of mexicans headed by an american named Potter attacked a place known as lower rancher . . . killing 5 men, one woman and severely wounding a child . . . 9 mexicans were lynched before 48 hours had passed." He then describes a shoot out with one of the suspected bandits, and writes that meetings have been held and resolutions passed to force all Mexicans and South Americans from the area. On 19 July 1855, without explanation, Dyer decided to leave the claim and simply writes in his diary, "Reckoned up to day whole amount of money made in county without deducting anything for expenses $1356.23." On 27 July he leaves Columbia for Stockton and then leaves Stockton the same day. The last few pages in the diary include various accountings and sums. Included in the diary are two entries written out of chronological order, the first describing the July fourth celebration in 1854 and the second detailing a devasting fire in Columbia several days later (both appear within April 1855).<
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