This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Page 22. MAINE COASTAL NEWS January 2011


Maritime History DOWNEASTERS BECAME FORTY-NINERS


By Amos Boyd


The Gold Rush that caused so much commotion and changed lives in many countries, actually got off to a slow start, and even had a difficult time getting noticed at all. It was the old story of crying “Wolf Wolf” when there was there was no wolf; rich gold deposits had been “discovered” many times, and then when they became real, no one paid attention. The rich gold deposits found at Sutter’s Mills in January of 1848 at first attracted little attention beyond the boundaries of California.


Two interesting gold discoveries had been made: a hungry rancher in California had dug up a wild onion and found gold dust clinging to its roots, and a herder had literally stumbled across gold. These and other reports had been widely circulated, but no great amount of gold was found; the deposits soon petered out.


The hard-working, hard headed Yankees of Washington County had seen little gold in their life-times and in 1848 and 1849 the thought of finding riches in the earth of the remote and God-forsaken Mexican province of California, was more than they could swallow.


They had good reason for their opinions. Mexico and Maine were not only far distant and opposite in climate and geography, but also different in heritage and culture. Much of life in Maine depended on the great abundance of water as a source of power, transportation, and food for local consumption and as an important export of trade.


Maine had become a state in 1820, but was first a province of Massachusetts, and from her beginnings came a heritage of independence of thought and action, and dedication to freedom of religion.


California’s roots were a combination of early Indian civilization and culture and the Spanish, who conquered with cruelty and enslaved the people. No religious freedom there.


Before 1848, there had been many disagreements and much unpleasantness along the borders between the United States and Mexico, with fault on both sides. Many Downeast men served in the U. S. military during the war with Mexico in 1846, and much of what they saw and experienced in that hot and arid country they did not like. When they returned after the war, they shared their opinions of Mexico with anyone who would listen.


Many Downeast young men did not live to return home. The hot dry climate, disease and fever took a heavy toll on men accustomed to Maine’s coastal summers, abundance of cool, clean drinking water and the mossy shade of its green forests. On May 13, 1846, the United States declared war of Mexico, and a distinguished and prominent Eastport family received news of the death of their cherished son. The promising career of Lt. Theodore Chadbourne, a classmate of


U. S. Grant at West Point, was cut short when he died at Resaca de la Palma during a skirmish” before was declared. There were many other cherished sons, husbands and brothers who did not return from Mexico. However, the attitude of Downeasters toward California began to change as reports continued about vast amounts of wealth easily obtainable in the California mines. Most convincing was the appearance of people they had known, who returned from the gold fields with great wealth. Then began the insidious gold “fever” with the thought “if he can do it, so can I.”


Many vessels from Washington County and the neighboring Canadian Maritimes sailed to San Francisco during the Gold Rush of 1849. Our people, having strong connections with the sea, preferred the hazardous sailing route around South America and Cape Horn to the land route across the Isthmus of Panama.


The route across the Isthmus was favored by the more affluent Forty-Niners, who considered that route less hazardous than the long voyage by sea. Steamship companies vied with each other in providing luxurious accommodations from New York to the Caribbean port of Aspinwall. There they would hire native guides to lead them across the narrow Isthmus to the Pacific side, and then go by steamer for San Francisco. The trip sounded easier and less dangerous than the sea route around Cape Horn. However, once on shore at Aspinwall, they found conditions shockingly different than they expected, partly because of the way the first Forty-Niners had treated the native population and partly because of the primitive living conditions and the climate. Those who managed to survive the trip across Panama wrote friends at home warning others not to use that route. Newspapers of Boston and New York continued to be full of items about new and richer deposits of gold in California, and the easily obtainable wealth acquired there. Even the Calais paper carried such news items, although the editor, John Johnson, filled columns of his paper with warnings of the dangers involved.


There had been accounts of piracy in the Pacific, and more specifically, murder and piracy on board the brig AMELIA (which may have been the same brig launched in Perry). Vessels bound for California


frequently made Rio de Janeiro one of their ports of call. There the American consul removed captains who had abused passengers, and had thrown overboard bad provisions or furnishings, and changed the outfitters with the expense of new supplies. Costs in Rio were twice what they would have been in Boston or New York. However, such glowing reports were not always typical.


San Francisco itself was reported to be completely without law and order, and in the mines there was always danger and it was every man for himself. Even General Smith and the troops under his command were driven from the city, and became refugees on board harbor-based ships, while soldiers on shore were hunted down like wolves. John Johnson, editor of the Calais newspaper, was a careful observer, and although he noticed that gold fever confined itself to the male sex, he failed to mention the opinion of the women of Calais. Perhaps their feelings were too strong to be discussed in public.


Gold had been discovered near the Sacramento River in California in 1848. Interest had been slow to develop, but the word “gold” soon had a magic of its own, and although newspapers spread the word, information about the gold discovery spread even more rapidly from man to man. Although there had been exaggerated accounts, the entire world now aware of the true richness of the California Gold Fields. Riches at the mines had been so great that the formerly busy and thriving town of San Francisco was now deserted. All along that route houses were vacant; farms and mills were deserted, and crops left standing in the fields. When men could be found to ordinary work, they would do so only when


Painting Done and What a Difference! 4.602 x 2.388


A close up of the starboard side with primer coats on the main house.


A close up of the starboard side with primer coats on, but it now has its final coat on the main house and hull.


This stern view shows the deck, chipped, ground and given two final coats of Durabak. Still need to get final coats on deck under grates, bases of bitts and hatch covers. Does look a lot different!


This stern view shows the deck, chipped, ground and given two final coats of Durabak. Still need to get final coats on deck under grates, bases of bitts and hatch covers. Does look a lot different!


Fall is fast approaching and hours and hours of the chipping, grinding and painting has been accomplished. So far this year the starboard hull, above and below the waterline, main deck on both sides of the mainhouse and aft deck, stack, has been chipped and ground and is now waiting for paint. We are hoping for another three to four weeks of good painting weather and then attention will be turned to the engineering spaces and interior work. SATURN is a 117-foot railroad tug built as the BERN for the Reading Railroad in 1907. She is one of the last railroad tugs in existence and is being saved for future generations to enjoy. For further information : (207) 223-8846 or to join the Friends of SATURN, send a check for $25 or more to P.O. Box 710, Winterport, ME 04496.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32