California
Emigrants
No
doubt the desire for gold has been the mainspring of
all progress and enterprise in the county from the
beginning till the present time, and will so continue
to remote ages. Generally, however, this desire has
been manifested in the usual avenues of thrift and
industry.
On one occasion it passed the bounds of reason and
assumed the character of a mania. The gold fever first
broke out in the fall of 1848 when stories began to
spread about of the wonderful richness of the placer
mines in California. The excitement grew daily,
feeding on the marvelous reports that came from the
Pacific slope, and nothing was talked of but the
achievements of gold diggers. The papers were replete
with the most extravagant stories, and yet the
excitement was so great that the gravest and most
incredulous men were smitten with the contagion and
hurriedly left their homes and all that was dear to
them on earth to try the dangers, difficulties and
uncertainties of hunting gold. Day after day and month
after month were the papers filled with glowing
accounts of California. Instead of dying out, the
fever rose higher and higher. It was too late in the
fall of 1848 to cross the plains, but thousands of
people in Missouri began their preparations for
starting in the following spring. The one great
subject of discussion around the firesides that winter
(1848) was the gold of California. It is said at one
time the majority of the able-bodied men of the county
were unsettled in mind, and were contemplating the
trip to California. Even the most thoughtful and
sober-minded found it most difficult to resist the
infection. Wonderful sights were seen when the
emigrants passed through sights that may never be seen
again in Monroe county. Some of the emigrant wagons
were drawn by cows; other gold hunters went on foot
and hauled their worldly goods in hand-carts. Early in
the spring the rush began. It must have been a scene
to beggar description. There was one continuous line
of wagons from the Orient to the Occident, as far as
the eye could reach, moving steadily westward and,
like a cyclone, drawing in its course on the right and
left many of those along its path. The gold hunters of
Monroe crowded eagerly into the gaps in the wagon
trains, bidding farewell to their nearest and dearest
friends, many of them never to be seen again on earth.
Sadder farewells were never spoken. Many who went,
left quiet and peaceful homes only to find in the
" Far West" utter disappointment and death.
Just how many persons went to California in 1849-50
from Monroe county cannot at this date be ascertained.
It is supposed that the parties named below composed
the majority of the emigrants from this county:
John
Sears
|
Alexander
Mackey
|
Hugh
Glenn
|
Frank
Buckner
|
William
Buckner
|
Daniel
Boon
|
Jefferson
Wilcoxon
|
D.
A. McKamey
|
James
Bridgford
|
Jefferson
Bridgford
|
George
Waller
|
James
Waller
|
Thomas
McKamey
|
Dr.
G. M. Bower
|
Waller
Withers
|
William
Withers
|
William
Withers
|
James
Glenn
|
James
Hill
|
Wesley
Hill
|
Stephen
Hill
|
James
H. Smith
|
Boon
Helm
|
David
Helm
|
Fleming
Helm
|
Samuel
Sproule
|
Samuel
Gaines
|
George
Kipper
|
Joseph
Donaldson
|
Alexander
Thompson
|
Joseph
Thompson
|
John
Thompson
|
John
Poage
|
William
Poage
|
Thomas
Cleaver
|
Thompson
Holliday
|
William
Holliday
|
Marion
Biggs
|
Thomas
Farley
|
Green
Featherstone
|
Charles
Featherstone
|
William
Armstrong
|
Thomas
Reavis
|
David
Reavis
|
William
Williams
|
Curren
Foreman
|
Edline
Chapman
|
David
Heninger
|
Joseph
Heninger
|
Thomas
Dry
|
Benjamin
Davis
|
Hiram
Collins
|
John
M. Bates
|
Saul
Threlkeld
|
Jesse
Allen
|
Harrison
Williamson
|
Will
Sparks
|
John
Goe
|
George
Goe
|
Isaac
Stalcup
|
George
Bondurant
|
Vincent
Worland
|
James
Worland
|
Zimmerman
Zigler
|
Malk
Ashcraft
|
Adam
Heckart
|
James
Gough
|
James
Lasley
|
William
Gibson
|
David
Craig
|
David
Major
|
William
Gilbert
|
Frank
Williamson
|
Gose
McBroom
|
Thomas
Maupin
|
Taylor
Barton
|
William
Fitzpatrick
|
William
Greenwell
|
Dr.
M. Gough
|
|