"30fbc98e-fdbb-4e92-ae1f-1a5e97f174e4"@en . "CONTENTdm"@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1586067"@en . "British Columbia Historical Books Collection"@en . "Downie, William, 1819-1894"@en . "2015-05-29"@en . "1893"@en . "\"Some of my early friends: p. 379-397. William Downie's capabilities as an explorer were officially recognized by Governor Douglas who sent him on various expeditions. Under Douglas' instructions, Downie and J. W. McKay located the Harrison-Lillooet route to the Fraser River gold mines. In 1861 Downie began to mine in the Cariboo; in 1878, or shortly after, he was at the Cassiar mines, and in 1886 he reported to the government on the gold discoveries of the Similkameen country. Downie's B.C. experiences are covered in about one hundred pages of the book.\" -- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 115."@en . ""@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcbooks/items/1.0222355/source.json"@en . "407 pages : photographs, illustrations ; 23 cm"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " \nGold\nReminisences of Personal Experience\nAnd Research in The Early Days\nOf The Pacific Coast\nFrom Alaska to Panama.\nBY\nMajor William Downie\n\n Press of\t\nThe California Publishing Co.\nSan Francisco, Cal.\n1893 COPYRIGHTED BY\nTHE CALIFORNIA PUBLISHING COMPANY\nALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Hope told its flattering tale: \"Come seek ye here-\n\"For courage, Fortune gives you shining, gold 1\n\"Remove the treasure's mantel and behold\n\"The glittering specks that from beneath it peer,\n\"Leave home and friends, leave all that you hold dear\n\"As Jason won the golden fleece of old\n\"Shall you have your reward\u00E2\u0080\u0094a hundred fold\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n\"Come, tarry not\u00E2\u0080\u0094your greatest chance is near!\"\nAnd so like Jason's Argonauts they went\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nEach sinew strained, each hardy muscle bent,\nWithcourage, youth and vigor, who could fail?\nSome ne'er returned, their story none could tell\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nA few to-day in lofty mansions dwell,\nButmore, byfar, deny hope's flattering tale\nChris M. Waage.\n|ft\0 the surviving n^embers of the\ngM\ advance quafd of gold hunters,\nthe California pioneers and their\ndescendants, mho are nora living\nthroughout the United States, this\nbook is most respectfully dedieated\nby the AUTHOR INTRODUCTION\nIn presenting this book to the public the publishers\nfeel assured that it is almost superfluous, to introduce\nthe author or dwell upon the merit which these\npages possess, as originating from the pen of Major\nWilliam Downie. As one of the very earliest pioneers\nand gold seekers in California, Major Downie has become a man of universal interest, while to some of his\ndiscoveries in the early days is due the fever heat of excitement, which at that period, made the world's great\nheart palpitate with double-quick pulsation, and sent\nthousands of daring adventurers across the arid deserts\nand the stormy main.\nToo much cannot be said of the remarkable nature, of\nwhich Major Downie is possessed, having been endowed\nwith a physique and general constitution, which at times\nhave carried him through the most desperate circumstances, the subject of these pages is mentally and\nmorally equipped with a temperament which enabled\nhim to successfully withstand the temptations that caused\nthe fall of so many others in the early days; while his\nnative generosity and amiability secured for him many\nfriends, who dearly prized his personality.\nAs a practical miner, Major Downie is without a peer,\nand even to this day his authority is acknowledged, and\nhis advice is taken by any working miner, and rarely\nwithout benefit to the recipient. These pages tell of the\ndays when this experience was gained; the days on the Yuba, when, to honor him, his companions called the\nsettlement at the forks, Downieville, the name by which\nit is known as yet; the days of hardships in the snow-clad\nSierras; the adventures in British Columbia and Alaska;\nand the weird search for gold in the Indian graves of\nPanama.\nIt was only after repeated solicitations from his friends\nthat Major Downie allowed his notes to be given out for\npublication. The material thus provided was entrusted\nby the publishers to Mr. Chris M. Waage for compilation and* revision. Mr. Waage is a journalist and\nliterateur of some note, and he has spared no effort in\norder to present Major Downie's papers in the most\nacceptable form, retaining throughout, the simple modest\nway of relating the story, which characterizes the original\nmanuscript.\nIn conclusion, the publishers wish to draw attention to\nthe illustrations, which have been chosen with a view to\ndepict the situations as far as possible. Some of them\nhave been reproduced from engravings dating back to\nthe very earliest days, when pictorial art of this class was\nfirst introduced into California.\nThe Publishers. ass\nHURTIN\u00C2\u00A9 F0R @0LD.\nCHAPTER I.\nIntroductory Remarks\u00E2\u0080\u0094At Home in Scotland\u00E2\u0080\u0094First Voyage\u00E2\u0080\u0094A\nSailor on the Lakes1\u00E2\u0080\u0094Lumber Trade in Buffalo\u00E2\u0080\u0094The Gold\nFever\u00E2\u0080\u0094Round the Horn\u00E2\u0080\u0094San Francisco\u00E2\u0080\u0094Expensive Dinners\u00E2\u0080\u0094The Glorious Fourth\u00E2\u0080\u0094Generous Gamblers\u00E2\u0080\u0094Fun with\nthe Immigrants.\nI have been asked by many friends to give to the\nworld, through a publication, some of my reminiscences of\nthe early days of gold hunting and adventures on the\nPacific Coast, and it is in complying with this oft repeated request that I have penned the following.\nSome of the incidents described, may be fairly said at\none time to have helped to revolutionize the known world,\nand for that reason must forever retain a certain interest.\nThe narrative throughout is based upon personal experiences, observations and conclusions, and is compiled\nfrom notes, taken at the time; recollections, corroborated\nby friends who were with me at the periods referred to;\nletters, which have passed between myself and friends, and\nfrom official reports bearing upon the circumstances\nrelated. The correctness of my account is therefore\nwarranted, and, while it is not infrequent to read descriptions of life in the early days, which are highly\nflavored with unnecessary romance, I claim for my work\nthat in its details it corresponds with actual facts which\nhave now become part and parcel of the history of the\nwestern coast of this great continent 8 HUNTING FOR GOLD.\nI was born in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, in the\nyear 1819. It was the memorable year when the terrible\nmasacre took place at the Manchester reform meeting.\nJames Monroe was then the fifth president of the United\nStates, and George III was king'of Great Britain. It was\nin the days when such names as Shelley, Byron, Scott,\nColeridge and Wordsworth shone in the literary firmament; the days of early steamboat traveling, and the\ndays that had not as yet seen the locomotive engines\ndashing, snorting and fuming through quiet fields. In\nthat same year the steamer Savannah, 350 tons, came\nfrom New York to Liverpool in 26 days, and the passage\nwas regarded as a marvel. There were then in the\nwhole of Scotland not twelve steamers, and only the\nwheels of one stirred the surface of the river Clyde. It\nseems long ago, and the world to-day seems scarcely the\nsame as in those days.\nI was raised in Ayrshire. From quite a boy my mind\nwas bent upon adventure. When I saw the waves rolling in through the North Channel, I knew from my\nschool books that they came from the great Atlantic,\nand I longed to be on them and sail away to different\nparts of the great world. So, when I was old enough,\nI snipped on board a vessel that carried coal between\ndifferent points on the coast. It was not exactly what I\nwanted, but it fitted me for a larger undertaking, when\na chance should afford itself, and when it came I was\nready for it. My first deep-sea voyage was to Australia\non a Glasgow vessel. I was in Sidney in the days,\nwhen Botany Bay was made the inhospitable home for\nthousands of condemned prisoners, whose greatest offense\nin many instances consisted in shooting a jack rabbit in\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 the Squire's covers. I recollect seeing the landing of a\ncargo of unfortunates who had been consigned to those,\nthen desolate, regions. Prom Australia we sailed to the