if any of the boys and girls born in the united states were asked "where is the land of gold?" they would answer "it is california," and if any of the children born in california were asked "what is el dorado?" they would say "why, that means the land of gold."
so it does and for two reasons.
cortez named it california after the heroine of a romance of chivalry he had read when he was in spain. the book said there was an island on the right hand of the indies very near the terrestrial paradise, peopled with black women, who were amazons, and wore gold ornaments in great profusion. down in his heart cortez cherished the hope that he might find the northwest passage to india, not because he cared very much for science, but because he believed the most extravagant stories about the silks, spices, sweet-smelling gums and rare gems to be found there. his ill-gotten mexican 251 gold did him very little good, and was soon all expended, and he was anxious to find some other country to conquer. the very next year after the death of montezuma, cortez heard of the land of gold, and came over to a cove on the pacific coast of mexico where he laid out a town and built some ships for the purpose of finding the new wonderland. all he ever discovered was the peninsula of lower california, where the indians already knew about the pearl fisheries. this was what he thought was an island, and what he named california.
one of his officers sailed around the island of st. thomas, and on a sunday morning he said he saw a merman swimming close to his ship.
"it came alongside the vessel," he declared, "and raised its head and looked at us two or three times. it was as full of antics as a monkey. sometimes it would dive, and then raise up out of the water and wash its face with its hands. finally a sea bird drove it away."
of course he was mistaken, for what he really did see was either a walrus or a big seal as both animals abound in the pacific ocean.
it was more than three hundred years after cabrillo sailed into the gate of palms at the entrance to the bay of san diego, before gold was discovered in california. the country had been settled by spanish cavaliers and padres and there were missions for the teaching of the indians. mexico had rebelled against the king of spain and 252 the united states had made war on mexico and won. then a man by the name of marshall found some free gold. it was in the sand at the bottom of a ditch he was digging to get water to run a sawmill he was building. he knew at once that the bright yellow pebbles he held in his hands were gold, so he hurried to the men at work on the watershed and said:
"i have found it!" and that is what the motto, eureka! on the state shield of california really means.
"what is it you have found, mr. marshall?" asked the men.
"gold!" he exclaimed, excitedly. the men threw down their tools and gathered about him to examine the new find.
"no, no; you are mistaken," they said, when they had turned the pebbles over, and held them to the light, and hammered them with a stone.
"i am certain that it is," he stoutly maintained, but they only laughed at him. he paid no attention to them but turned on the water the next night. then he picked up all the yellow lumps he found in the sand, and putting them into a little bag hastened to the man for whom he was building the mill, and said:
"i have found gold at the sawmill, and want you to come and see for yourself."
his employer tested and weighed the shining mass carefully, and finally said:
"you are right. it is real gold. go back to 254 the mill, but say nothing until we get it finished. if you do the men will quit work and we shall have no one to take their places."
"the discovery of san francisco bay"
but the secret was too good to keep, and in a few days the whole country raised the same sordid cry of "gold, gold, gold," which had brought the spaniards to the coast. in less than a year eighty thousand people came to california looking for gold. from an independent republic, california became a state and with its admission into the union the search for el dorado passed from spanish into american hands. both the padres and cavaliers in california as elsewhere in the americas enslaved the indians in a system of peonage which thinned out their ranks, and led to many hostile outbreaks before they were finally subdued. the gold seekers had to do some of the fighting, but they did not rob and pillage the country, nor were they allowed to be unnecessarily cruel. one of our great writers has said of the indian:
"the red man of america has something peculiarly sensitive in his nature. he shrinks instinctively from the rude touch of a foreign hand. like some of the dumb creatures he pines and dies in captivity. if today we see them with their energies broken we simply learn from that what a terrible thing is slavery. in their faltering steps and meek and melancholy aspect we read the sad characteristics of a conquered race."
his faith in the traditions of his forefathers, 255 the belief that the golden hearted would come again to bring him all that his heart desired finally enslaved and ruined him.
if we pity the indian we must also feel sorry for the miserable ending of all the spanish leaders who searched for el dorado. columbus spent the last years of his life in prison; balboa, who discovered the pacific ocean, was treacherously executed and lies in an unknown grave near panama; pizarro was assassinated and buried in peru; magellan was killed by the natives in the philippine islands; cortez was accused of strangling his wife to death, and finally deprived of all honors and wealth; guzman died in poverty and distress while coronado was said to be insane after his return to mexico. for the crime and violence done by spain in these expeditions she has not only lost all the revenues, but no longer owns a foot of land in any part of the new world.
let us be thankful that the wisdom and liberty of our own government has saved us from making such terrible mistakes, and doing such grievous wrongs in our attempts to find el dorado. the brave men and women who crossed the plains long before we had a railroad were willing to work for the riches they wanted. they did not come with the idea of robbing anybody, and when they found the gold they were generous and kind to less fortunate neighbors and friends.
"in this land of sunshine and flowers," they said, "we find gold in the crops of the chickens we 256 have for our sunday dinners, and our children build doll-houses with the odd-shaped nuggets given to them by the big-hearted miners."
it is hard to imagine the stirring times that followed. everybody had the gold fever, and in crossing the plains they heard the name el dorado as soon as they came near where coronado had been. some of them made up a song about it, which was for many years very popular among the men in the mining camps. this is one verse of it:
we'll rock the cradle around pike's peak
in search of the gold dust that we seek,
the indians ask us why we're here
we tell them we're born as free as the air,
and oh!
boys ho!
to the mountains we will go
for there is plenty of gold
out west we are told
in the new el dorado.
many of the emigrants sickened and died on the way; others were killed by the hostile indians, and all were subjected to a life of hardship and toil, because they were the builders of a new commonwealth. once in california they found many trying situations, not the least of which was an occasional fight with the huge grizzly bears that roamed through the forests. many times the men were obliged to organize a hunt for the purpose 257 of ridding a district of a nest of grizzlies. not only would the bears fight ferociously, but they did not hesitate to go into a corral and carry off calves, hogs and sheep under the very eyes of the owner.
"never for a moment imagine that a grizzly bear will run from you," said the leader of a hunting party filling his powder horn and putting a box of caps into his pocket. "take good aim at the center of his forehead. otherwise one shot will not kill him, and remember that he cannot climb. if you get into close quarters, try to get up a tree as fast as you can."
"we know his trail and we are going to send our dogs in to start him out of his den."
"unless your dogs know how to attack him it is very unsafe to let them go near. one blow from a grizzly's paw will kill any dog, and we cannot afford to lose any of yours," said the leader, doubtfully.
"my dogs know all about bear hunting. they will keep well behind him, and after we have crippled him, they will snap at his heels and worry him so he cannot chase the last man who shoots at him."
"will a grizzly do that?" asked a man who had never been in a bear hunt before.
"indeed he will. if you watch closely you can tell how many times he is hit for he will fall down, roll over and slap himself wherever the bullet strikes him." 258
"i would not advise you to waste any time trying to find out who fired the last shot, for the bear will never make a mistake about it. he knows, and is always after the last one."
"separate into pairs," said the leader, when he had finished examining the bear tracks in the path they were following. "take your stations about a hundred yards apart, and when you hear the grizzly coming, aim as i have already told you, and then look out for trouble."
"do you think we are likely to find him soon?" asked the newcomer, nervously.
"he is in that thicket where the dogs are keeping up such a loud barking. you will hear him snapping and growling in a few minutes."
"the grass and underbrush are so high i am afraid i will not be able to see him," said the timid, inexperienced hunter.
"you can tell by the way the dogs bark when he is coming, and you can easily hear the click of his sharp claws before he gets too near for comfort," said the leader, with a smile. "make sure that the trigger of your gun is properly set, and you will be all right."
he had stationed other men farther up the ravine, and in a few minutes the dogs yelped warningly, and the man at the upper station shouted:
"look out! here he comes!"
"bang!" went the gun, and then the dogs rushed by in a solid pack with a huge she bear at their heels. 259
"there are two of them," somebody said, and in a moment everything was in the wildest confusion.
"man alive! don't you see that wounded grizzly rolling in the grass. he is not badly hurt, but he will be after you in a second. give him another dose, and run," said the leader excitedly, to the new hunter who was standing stock still and gazing around him helplessly. he did not seem to hear what was said, and before he recovered from his paralyzing fright, the bear grabbed him.
"help! help! help! for god's sake come here! i am being killed!" he screamed.
"lie perfectly still and pretend you are dead," said the leader. "make no sound when i shoot, and crawl behind that big rock as soon as you get up."
the knowing dogs barked and raged around the bear until he could not tear the prostrate man. they kept him turning round and round, and the daring hunter coolly waited until his head was away from the wounded man's, and then he shot him through the fore leg. down he fell and kicked and scratched the fallen hunter, but true to his instinct got up and gave chase to the leader, with the dogs in full cry behind him. the wounded man managed to reach the rock, and by scrambling up on its jagged sides was comparatively safe. from his height he could see what the other men were doing. 260
"i am all right," called the leader from a neighboring tree, "but how is it with you?"
"my powder-horn is crushed and broken and my arm is bitten through. there is blood running down my face too, but i think that is only scratches."
"bang!" went a gun near by, and turning to look both men saw one of the party standing up in the saddle, on the horse brought along to carry the game.
"get out of that thicket! you will be killed if you try to stay there," shouted the leader.
"my only chance is to shoot as i stand," answered the man, busy loading his gun. "i can not make this horse move. but for the mexican stiff-bit in his mouth and a vigorous use of my big spurs he would lie down with me."
"i am coming to help you," said the leader, sliding down the limb of the tree to the ground. "i will ham-string the grizzly and then you can finish him."
he was an excellent shot, and soon the bear was dragging his hind quarters and showing signs of weakness from loss of blood. the man in the saddle deliberately aimed at his heart, and after a few convulsive struggles the grizzly lay dead.
the barking of the dogs and the reports of the guns brought the whole party together, and after bandaging the wounds of their companion, and sending him home on the horse the remaining men went in search of the she bear. they had 261 wounded her and it was not hard to track her to a small stream, where they found her sitting on her haunches and groaning like a human being.
"that sounds too much like a woman's moans," said the men, "and we will slip away without being seen and let her alone."
as they walked home they took turns in carrying the skin of the grizzly they had killed.
"he would weigh two thousand pounds and could jump fully twenty feet," they said.
