Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts I have written about local and regional history, people, places, documents, maps, Sacramento, Placer, and California.
From my car at the Oregon Bar parking lot, to the point where I estimated the first tunnel was located, is a little over 2.65 miles. However, those 2 miles, along the river, over the river cobble, cliffs, and sand bars is some of the most challenging and strenuous terrain I have hiked over. There are points where bare rock juts into the river and you must literally climb up and over the slate or granite.
It will not entail on you any pecuniary responsibility or outlay at all and will be of no disadvantage. I have recommended you to Col. Wilson the representative of the capital and who will be the President of the company and he unites with me in the request that you should consent to serve.
David, the gentleman Ann wrote had been shot in the back, did make it to California. David Beach was also a cousin of Amos Catlin and several people wrote to Amos about news of David’s gunshot injury. Of the other men listed in the letter to Amos Catlin, Judge Hastings was most likely Serranus Clinton Hastings. Judge Hastings lived and practice law in Iowa. He found his way to California and was appointed to the California Supreme Court and later won the election to become the state’s Attorney General.
If you think you can escape from my hands after such dealings, you are mistaken. For by the God who made me, I will have satisfaction, which if it does not shake your pocket will shake your damn cowardly nerves.
The two letters differ in tone and substance. However, they each give a glimpse of the 7-month ocean voyage around Cape Horn, South America. Amos Catlin’s decision to join the Gold Rush seemed somewhat out of character for a 26-year-old man who had spent his adult life studying and then practicing law in New York. These letters exhibit his detailed observations that would be reflected in letters Amos wrote later while living in California.
In 1843, John Bidwell rode over the potential grant property with John Sinclair. The two men were examining the property for Nathan Spear who was considering petitioning the Mexican government for a land grant. William Alexander Leidesdorff would petition for the property and in 1844 was awarded a land grant named the rancho Rio de Los Americanos by the Mexican government. John A. Sutter subsequently rode over the property with Leidesdorff and would give him juridical possession of the property 4 leagues in width east to west, 2 leagues in length to the south, encompassing 8 leagues of land.
Even though the miners paid for the water on a daily basis, it was assumed that the mining day was 10 hours long, after which the water was shut down. If a miner continued using water during the night, it was understood they were trying to steal extra water.[26] During his tenure as superintendent, Amos estimated the North Fork Ditch was carrying 2200 to 2300 inches of water as measured under 6 inches of head pressure.[27]
The description within the receipt also provided information on the wage rate. For white laborers, the daily rate was $2.50. Chinese labor was paid at $1.50 per man per day. I created a spreadsheet to compare the Chinese labor costs to that of white labor employed by the American River Water and Mining Company. Where the number of men and daily rate was not specifically mentioned, I imputed the daily rate by the total dollar amount. For example, Ah Sune was paid $13.50 for nine days work on cleaning out the Fox’s Ravine ditch in the Rose Springs district. Nine days times $1.50 per day comes out to $13.50.
From the drainage area and mean flow events, the Army Corp of Engineers, based on the time frame of 1903 – 1952, calculated the mean runoff to be 2,840,000 acre feet of water. The final holding capacity of Folsom Lake is 977,000 acre feet of water. The minimum amount of water is 88,000 acre feet*. That makes the holding capacity of Folsom Lake 889,000 acre feet of water. This means that in a normal or average year, enough water flows into Folsom Lake to fill it from dead pool to full capacity 3.19 times.
It was a pandemic lengthen 2-year project to research and write a book on the life of Amos Catlin. In the course of the research, I could not locate the burial site for several of Amos Catlin’s children. Historic Sacramento Cemetery documents indicated that some of the children had been moved closer to their mother Ruth Anne (Donaldson) Catlin who died in 1878. However, there were no headstones in the plot with Ruth Anne and Amos.
