St.
Clair County
Remnants Of The Past
History of Henry and St. Clair Counties, Missouri, 1883
Quest for Gold - 1849
St. Clair County did not escape the excitement which
rolled over the country like a huge wave, carrying all before it, in
the year 1849.
The discovery of gold in California seemed fairly to electrify the nation,
and the people swarmed every outlet that led to the Western Eldorado.
By sea, around the Horn, or across the Isthmus, or the arid plains,
on foot even, on horseback and in wagons, cattle, horses and mules for
transportation, -- it was the wildest and most impetuous hegira of modern
times. It was not exactly a "craze", but it was a consuming
fever which, when once struck in, was impossible to cure except by going
to the far-off land. It did not take long for the states to pour a hundred
thousand able-bodied men into the gold fields of California, besides
leaving the bones of a few thousand more to mark the route for those
behind, to bleach and rot upon the plains and desert places, which were
found far too numerous in their pathway.
The fever took a virulent hold of a good many citizens of St. Clair
County. As it spread it took a business shape and a company arrangement
was effected whereby they could, in modern parlance, "pool their
issues" for a trip to the Pacific coast. This was effected and
William Waldo was elected captain of the company, and Ervin Thomas in
charge of transportation. Under this arrangement a company of nearly
fifty men was formed, the names of forty-two being here appended.
List of those who crossed the plains in 1849 with twenty-four
wagons and two hundred head of stock, cattle, mules and horses:
|
Abb, John
Bailey, Tigner Burke, Joseph Culbertson, James Culbertson, Jonathan Culbertson, Oliver Curry, James Curry, William Dent, Harrison Dent, Henry Elkins, Stephen Elkins, Thomas Foster, Robert Fuell, Richard Gardner, Albert Gardner, Jeff Hodgin, Steve Hodgin, William Hoshaw, Mayfield |
Johnston, John
Keller, Russell Marlow, William McMinn, James Morgan, Simpson Ray, Alec Reed, John Rice, William Roberts, Henry Robinson, George Robinson, John Robinson, Wash Smarr, William Thomas, Ervin Waldo, Captain William Waldo, John, wife & Nathan (colored) Wamsley, John Weir, George Wright, John |
The train crossed the Osage at Osceola April 24, 1849, reaching the diggings in five months and seventeen days. One man, John Reed, died on the head waters of the Humboldt River, and John Waldo, John Wamsley and Alec Ray died shortly after reaching California.
There were a few persons who left St. Clair County for California on their own hook, as it were, going alone to take their chances in the struggle for wealth, but the names above are all that could be remembered. The company under Waldo reached as high as sixty wagons before they reached California, by others joining them, and they got through with no serious trouble, yet suffered much from the fatigue of the trip. Some returned, others made California their home, but it is doubtful if the wealth taken out of the county to pay the expenses of the trip and the outfit was ever returned.
