California Gold Rush Family History - Mormon Island

OwenT

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Feb 11, 2015
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Moses Lake WA & Provo UT
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Today I was doing some reading about different passed relatives of mine and I came across a short history of the life of one of my great-great-... grandpas John Eagar. I had heard my grandpa Eagar talk many times before about how John and his family traveled to California from New York on the ship Brooklyn, but I didn't know to what extent he was involved in the gold rush. I only knew than Sam Brannan, who was the leader of the group on the ship, was one of the people that first publicized the discovery of gold on the American River and subsequently set up shop to profit off those who rushed to the goldfields.

In this short piece, I found it at least shows that he was in fact one of the first miners on the American River. He didn't stay long before moving on to Utah, however. In another history I read somewhere it said that his sister and mother stayed and tried to make it mining there for a while anyway. It said that William Tecumseh Sherman had come to see the gold camps and he found them there panning along the river. Mrs. Eagar said that she wouldn't leave until she found $20,000 in gold. It was noted that later, she made a living making dresses.

The history states:
"The Mormon Battalion veterans had been on the spot when gold was discovered in January of 1848. A
chance discovery led two men to find the richest of all gold discoveries, the famous Mormon Island of the American
River. But gold was not the prime goal for these men. Early in the spring of 1848 they had decided to continue their
journey to Salt Lake Valley and the riches found on Mormon Island did no more than cause a slight delay in their
travels. These men were religious followers who preferred to join their families."

It then includes a part written by John Eagar.
"A good many of us went to what is called the Mormon Island to dig gold. Myself and family were among the first
on the ground. In a few days, there was a meeting called of all those that had gathered there. I was called upon to give my
opinion of how much land each man should have for a claim across the island. It was decided that each man should have
eighteen feet wide. All agreed to protect each other’s claims that no strangers could impose upon us. At this time people
rushed to the gold mines in such numbers that provisions became scarce. Flour sold for a dollar a pound and everything else
in proportion. Clothing was not to be had at any price. These times only lasted a short time. Ships began to pour in from
Chile and Oregon and other places loaded with provisions, groceries, clothing and merchandise, till everything was down
again quite reasonable. With the influx of population of all grades, nationalities, and color came the increase of wickedness,
stealing robbing, murdering and all manner of evil. It so often occurred that some one was robbed and their bodies thrown in
the river that it became a common phrase of 'another man for breakfast.'"

I wonder if anyone else here has some interesting rush era family stories? I'm sure some of you have had mining in the family for generations.
 

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Awesome. I know that great great grandparent was born in Rough and Ready in 1858. I sure wish I had more info surrounding this. All I have is a birthdate and a name....
 

Awesome. I know that great great grandparent was born in Rough and Ready in 1858. I sure wish I had more info surrounding this. All I have is a birthdate and a name....

Did you know there was more than one mining town in California named Rough and Ready in 1858?
Etna, Ca was called Rough and Ready till 1874.
 

My location is now “Rough and Ready” according to Google.

Must be because I searched that term. Snoopy people.
 

You Never Know What You May Find...Turning Over Stones...Of One's Family Members!

I wonder if anyone else here has some interesting rush era family stories? I'm sure some of you have had mining in the family for generations.

This is not about mining Gold...More along the lines of "Acquiring Gold!

I recently researched this history for my family... of my late Grampa.

The Outlaw Story of Grampa…Lew Taylor…His Life…With Butch Cassidy, and the Wild Bunch!

Wild Bunch.jpg
This story is from family memories, stories, and research, into what may have been a part of Grandpa Lew’s upbringing.

Lew Taylor was not born a Taylor; his given name was Lars Peter Sorensen.

It was said that his family emigrated from Denmark with the aid of the Mormon’s Perpetual Emigrating Fund.

The director of this Mormon organization which helped poor European families move to Utah, was Franklin Dewey Richards.

The town Franklin, Idaho (named after Franklin Richards) was the town earliest Mormon family’s arrived to... located in (then) North East Utah, by the Mormon Trail or later by train.

Franklin was an important depot town for the Wild Bunch used to supply their Hole in the Wall, Gang’s Sanctuary.

The Sorensen family while living in Levan, Utah, may have succumbed to what Utah called their Typhoid Mary. During the later part of the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Century, these epidemics ravished Utah Settlers.

Lew was given over to the Taylor family to raise, and eventually moved South with them, to their family ranch at Salina, Utah.

It was there with his older brother Frank Taylor where they raised the fastest and highest endurance horses in the County.

It was the reputation of these horses that caught the attention of the Wild Bunch Gang, as they required cached top-quality horses which they could ride for hours at high speeds without tiring.

These along with their spare horses were capable of out running the Law, after Bank Robberies.

Frank was more the horse breaker while Lew chose the musical career.

Frank became good friends with the gang's member Matt Warner... whose job it was to procure horses for the gang and transport them to their Hold Out, Robber’s Roost.

Robbers Roost…” was an outlaw hideout in southeastern Utah used mostly by Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch gang in the closing years of the Old West.
The hideout was considered ideal because of the rough terrain. It was easily defended, difficult to navigate into without detection, and excellent when the gang needed a month or longer to rest and lie low following a robbery. It was while hiding out at Robbers Roost that Elzy Lay and Butch Cassidy first formed the Wild Bunch gang. Gang members developed contacts inside Utah that gave them easy access to supplies of fresh horses and beef.”

I believe, it was these trips into Robbers Roost with Matt Warner and Frank Taylor, that Lew developed his talent for entertainment. Grampa Lew with his Banjo, Mandolin, Harmonica and Guitar would entertain Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid, Matt Warner and other wanted men and women at their Dance Hall, with his songs and dance.

Matt Warner was known as a sort of Gentlemen Bandit as he never resorted to gun play and was a married man with a daughter.

When Matt Warner was captured by the Law and then sentenced to Prison Life, his wife Ruth died giving birth to his son Rex.

Unable to raise Rex, Matt gave his son to his good friend Frank Taylor to adopt.

Today, Rex Taylor, the once son of one of the most feared outlaw gangs in history, is now part of the Taylor’s lineage!

It was “Strange” how the timing of Grampa and Grandma (Ockey) Taylors’ arrival to Cardston Canada, coincided with the breakup of the Wild Bunch Gang.

It is “Curious” how he managed to buy and build his properties at Beaver and then at Lee’s Creek without any form of employment.

It was said that Grandpa always paid for all purchases with coin.

To this day, I wonder about that old large Oak Tree growing by itself far in the back yard of their house, covered around by tall grass, the one we as children were never supposed to go near!

On his death...he left each of us children...a sizable sum... all in coinage!
 

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My third GGrandfather George Lord arrived at Steep Hollow on the Bear River on September 8, 1849 from an overland crossing. He worked Steep Hollow for about a year and then being Scottish moved to Downieville in early 1850 and hit a pocket of 7lbs 5oz. He packed up and went back to Iowa where he sold his land and married a young gal. He returned to California the next year, spending the rest of his life in Southern Cal growing prize winning crops and running a store. he lived to 98 years old.
 

My third GGrandfather George Lord arrived at Steep Hollow on the Bear River on September 8, 1849 from an overland crossing. He worked Steep Hollow for about a year and then being Scottish moved to Downieville in early 1850 and hit a pocket of 7lbs 5oz. He packed up and went back to Iowa where he sold his land and married a young gal. He returned to California the next year, spending the rest of his life in Southern Cal growing prize winning crops and running a store. he lived to 98 years old.

I worked Steep Hollow for years myself, we used to take the kids down there swimming in the summer in the big pool under the falls :)

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU1852...--20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-"Auburn+Ravine"-------1
 

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