|
Hardships weren't to be over, even at the trail's end
By Jerry Bowen
In my last column,
we left James and William Pleasants at Bidwell Bar near Marysville in
California.
They turned the cattle and faithful oxen loose to graze on the abundant grass in
the hills nearby. Unfortunately the local Indians ran all of the cattle off and
butchered them, a sad end for the faithful beasts after long months on the
trail.
In his book, Pleasants reflected, "On leaving home, it was confidently expected
that we would return within eighteen months, at least partially successful. But
it is six long years - years of labor and disappointment, of hopes and fears -
ere many of us go back. Some remain in California the balance of their lives,
and others still of the little band that started forth that lovely May morning,
their hearts filled to overflowing with bright, glowing hopes for the future,
lie under the silent stars, sleeping the sleep that knows no waking."
Shortly after arriving at Bidwell's Bar, the pioneers were able to send letters
home with John Bidwell himself acting as the deliveryman to the post office. Of
course communication with the folks back home would be slow and many months
would pass before they could expect any news from home.
Just when you would expect the hardships of the trip across the continent should
be over, tragedy still dogged the heels of the members of the Pleasant Hill
Wagon Train. Shortly after arriving at Bidwell's Bar, Tom Fristo came down with
cholera and died within a few hours. His was the fourth death to occur in a
family of five that traveled with the wagon train. The only survivor in that
family was John Kearns.
With their own supplies exhausted, the shock of the high price of goods in the
California gold region soon hit home. True, they were finding some gold while
working in overwhelming heat to recover the precious metal, but the cost of
food, clothing and shelter was so high that it was hard to make any sort of a
profit.
Then along came the rains in October that prevented them from being able to dig
for gold and ruined what little foodstuffs they had. Supplies became even
scarcer and of course the already high prices zoomed even higher.
Pleasants goes on to say, "During the winter that followed we paid one dollar
per pound for flour that became almost a solid mass, and had to be cut from the
barrel and the lumps pounded into a powder before it could be made into bread.
Certainly a poor article of diet, but better than no bread at all."
James Pleasants was able to earn some money by assisting others to build cabins.
The pay would have been considered high had they been home, but in the gold
fields $10 a day wasn't much to hoot about.
 |
William had not fully recovered from his "mountain fever" as diagnosed by
doctors and remained sick all of the rest of 1849 and 1850. He had become very
weak from constant diarrhea and could barely walk.
One day while he was at the local supply store he spotted some figs and the
store owner let him try them. He had never seen anything like them before, loved
the taste and seemed to feel better after eating them for a while. When he told
the doctor that was attending to his illness he was told, "You darn fool, go and
eat of those figs and you will die before another sun rises."
Well, he didn't die by the next sunrise and he continued to eat them and
continued to improve and finally got well. It may be that he was actually
suffering from scurvy rather than "mountain fever" and perhaps the doctor was
somewhat of a quack.
They managed to find a few rich pockets of gold as time passed and add to their
poke somewhat. But the claims they were able to obtain at Bidwell's Bar weren't
productive enough for them, so they moved to new digs.
They spent a lot of time turning the stream from its bed in expectation of
finding rich deposits, but they found nothing. They were to learn years later
that the area, Oregon Bar, later gave up massive gold. It just wasn't their luck
of the draw to find any of it.
In November 1850, the Pleasants decided to see more of the country. Boarding a
ferry with a pack mule they stepped ashore at the new town of Sacramento. From
there they moved on to Davisville - Davis today - and Winters and wandered into
a lush valley loaded with wild game; the valley that was to later be named after
them as Pleasants Valley.
William described the valley, "The whole country was at that time filled with
wild game. Hundreds of elk could be seen in a single herd, and antelope equally
numerous, while great flocks of wild geese covered thousands of acres of ground
at a time. And I must not forget to mention that royal beast, the monarch of
them all, the grizzly bear. This region was his home, and for years after my
father had settled this valley he continued to challenge our right to oust him
from it."
It was a wilderness completely suited to the tastes of these devoted hunters.
At the time, Vacaville was not yet fully established. The plat map had been
drawn up and the sale to Mizner and McDaniel made. The only residents in the
area in 1850 were Mrs. McGuire, the Long family, the Vacas and Penas. By 1852,
most of Pleasants Valley was under claim and was in the process of being
settled. The task of clearing the land and building homes was enormous, but the
uncomplaining pioneers were equal to the task.
With aid and advice by one of the earliest settlers, John Wolfskill, they
planted orchards that would eventually expand all over the area and for a long
time become the famous Vacaville fruit belt.
|
On Feb. 19, 1856, James sent his son, William, back to Missouri to bring the
rest of the family to California. He traveled back in relative comfort on ships
and via the Isthmus of Panama Railroad and arrived on April 6 at the Missouri
homestead after a 200-mile horseback ride. After six long years he was reunited
with his brothers and sisters and their families.
During the trip he finally shed the heavy coat that was his "bank." In it was
sewn about $1,500 in gold coin. By the time he arrived, the coat had become
quite a burden to wear and according to William, "... and at last when it was
discarded my skin bore for weeks afterward visible impressions of ten and twenty
dollar gold pieces."
The money was used to put together a new wagon train outfit to take his three
sisters and brother, Thomas Harvey, back to California. It's interesting once
again to note that the sisters' names were not recorded in the journal.
For the story of his journey back to California, I'll leave it up to the readers
to learn for themselves how and what route he took on the return trip. The book,
"Twice Across The Plains" is available at the Vacaville Library and a copy is
also located at the Vacaville Heritage Council.
As for James Pleasants, after living in tents and a log cabin, the family built
a fine redwood home in 1880, followed by William living on his own plot of land.
William's home is still standing with descendent Ethel Hoskins still living
there and in the process of placing it on the historic register.
As for James Pleasants' home, its story is not so pleasant. The home had been
abandoned for a time in the 1960s and it wasn't long before unscrupulous
individuals began to vandalize the home and steal whatever they could get their
hands on.
The Pleasants family was so disheartened by the actions of these human predators
that they ordered the house to be burned. The task fell to Vacaville's fire
chief, Warren Hughes, and his crew. But just as the family stood solidly against
the elements to build their future, the house resisted the fiery destruction.
On May 6, 1969, in an article about the home's demise, The Reporter's Richard
Rico declared, "Yet despite the desecration, the old house stood solid early
Sunday morning as the day J. M. built it. It was reluctant to burn. The old
solid beams were like tempered steel."
In reading pioneer diaries and journals it's easy to see our ancestors were like
tempered steel. During tough times they did what was needed to overcome the
obstacles and problems that were dealt without whining or complaining. It was
just another temporary roadblock in everyday life to be dealt with. Perhaps
there is a lesson to be learned here.
This concludes the series of articles about the Pleasants family.
|
