m Indians on the trail.
Frenchman and wife murdered. The journey resumed. Arrival at the "Wild
Yankee's". A breakfast with fresh butter and cream. Indian bucks,
squaws, and papooses. Their curiosity. Pride of an Indian on his
ability to repeat one line of a song. Indian women. Extreme beauty of
their limbs; slender ankles and statuesque feet; haggardness of
expression and ugliness of features. Girl of sixteen, a "wildwood
Cleopatra," an exception to the general hideousness. The California
Indian not the Indian of the Leatherstocking tales. A stop at the
Buckeye Rancho. Start for Pleasant Valley Rancho. The trail again lost.
Camping out for the night. Growling bears. Arrive at Pleasant Valley
Rancho. Flea-haunted shanty. Beauty of the wilderness. Quail and deer.
The chaparrals, and their difficulty of penetration by the mules.
Escape from a rattlesnake. Descending precipitous hill on muleback.
Saddle-girth breaks. Harmless fall from the saddle. Triumphant entry
into Rich Bar. Tribute to mulekind. The Empire Hotel. "A huge shingle
palace."

LETTER _the_ SECOND PAGE 33

RICH BAR--ITS HOTELS AND PIONEER FAMILIES

The Empire Hotel, _the_ hotel of Rich Bar. The author safely
ensconced therein. California might be called the "Hotel State," from
the plenitude of its taverns, etc. The Empire the only two-story
building in Rich Bar, and the only one there having glass windows.
Built by gamblers for immoral purposes. The speculation a failure, its
occupants being treated with contempt or pity. Building sold for a few
hundred dollars. The new landlord of the Empire. The landlady, an
example of the wear and tear of crossing the plains. Left behind her
two children and an eight-months-old baby. Cooking for six people, her
two-weeks-old baby kicking and screaming in champagne-basket cradle.
"The sublime martyrdom of maternity". Left alone immediately after
infant's birth. Husband dangerously ill, and cannot help. A kindly
miner. Three other women at the Bar. The "Indiana girl". "Girl" a
misnomer. "A gigantic piece of humanity". "Dainty" habits and herculean
feats. A log-cabin family. Pretty and interesting children. "The
Miners' Home". Its petite landlady tends bar. "Splendid material for
social parties this winter."

LETTER _the_ THIRD PAGE 43

LIFE AND FORTUNE AT THE BAR-DIGGINGS

Flashy shops and showy houses of San Francisco. Rich Bar c