Dear Brother:

I received yours, of the 27th nov and was pleased to hear you was all well and doing well and contented to stay at home[.] it is full as pleasant thare as it is here and as comfortable a place to live if a person only think so[.] here for six months you will not see a drop of rain nor dearerly a cloud and the next six month it will rain nearly all the time and you will not see the sun from one months end to unother. Splendid farming country thes the valleys along; the river whare the good farming land is[.] in Summer is all parched with the Drougth and in winter or rainy season is covered with watter. the timber is not near as good as the poorest ofering timber in the states intill you get back sixty or a hundred miles in the mountains[.] thare you will find plenty of pine and cedar as fine a can be found in any country[.] and you can get snow at all times of the year[.] you can go from Sacremento into the mountains 80 miles and get snow any time of the year and yet at Sacremento the ground never freezes. The winters I think are very unhealthy.

you will hardly see a clear day for months to geather. when ever the weather is clear it is as warm as summer. the days warm and the nights cold[.] a number have died with the small pox lately and thare is not scarecly a hous but thare several sick with it. thare is four cases in the hous I am boarding at. you will see men walking the streets with face all broke out with it[.] is impossible to keep clear of it[.] as for myself I have been with it so mutch I do not fear it mutch. those that take care of themselves do not have it very severe. You wished to know the prices of produce here flour is worth 40¢ per pound, potatoes 30, cabage 35, onion 35, beef 45¢, pork 45 or 50¢, Board $14 and 16 per week. Miners as a general thing are not making mutch more than Board though some have done more and others have not made Board. I tryed mining when I first came to the country and got Broke and then went into another Branch of business and made a raise and then went to the mines again.

My health is so poor that I think I will try some thing that I am able to do for thare is no chance to stand still here. A man must work or Beg - if he steels they hang him. So thair is not to be mad at that. I have heared that thair was great prepatory for a large imigration next spring - if it is the case write me. Give my respects to all inquiring friends

Note: Bracketed [ ] items indicate a change added for clarity. Please note also that some portions of the transciption which were confusing or were seemingly missing portions of the text, are accurate to the original letters and brackets have not been used as the correct interpretation was either obvious, or converse. In places where the original text was too ambiguous, no changes were made.

Letter Index

- EXPLANATORY NOTES -
Compiled by P. Davidson-Peters (2005)
(Any errors are therefore the result of my own deficiencies and interpretations).

- OUTSIDE LINKS -
Historical accounts & places relative to John's journey to Placerville, California

Sacramento History Online

Monroe County Historical Museum

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Updated 23 Jun 2008
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