The Integration of the West

When California outlawed slavery in 1850 within it boundaries, the gold mines became places where a mixture of races and nationalities came together in search of wealth. 

Mary Ballou wrote home that she lived in a mining camp called "Negro Bar" where French, Dutch, Scotch, Jews, Italians, Swedes, Chinese, and Indians were all panning for gold.  Some of the women who worked in the mining camps had comes as slaves, sold by their masters to families headed West.

Even before the discovery of gold, California had been settled by men and women of Mexican,

Indian, and African descent.  According to the 1790 census, 18% of the population were of something other than Anglo-American origin.  By 1849, San Francisco had its own "mutual Benefit and Relief Society" of Afro-Americans.  By 1854, the city had three black churches and within 10 years, three black newspapers as well.

Oregon, on the other hand, was less hospitable to blacks than many who came West had hoped.  The territory passed laws prohibiting admission to black settlers in general.   In 1857 when Oregon became a state, the Free Negro Admission Article proposed for the state constitution, was defeated and the small number of blacks who had made their way to Oregon lived uneasily until the Emancipation Proclamation six years later.

Next time...we'll look at individual Afro-American pioneers who shaped our western civilization.
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Today in Pioneer History:  On June 16, 1884, the first roller coaster in America opens at Coney Island, in Brooklyn, New York. Known as a switchback railway, it was the brainchild of LaMarcus Thompson, traveled approximately six miles per hour and cost a nickel to ride.

Wagons and Horses Still Rule the Trail

Wagons were still the most common mode of travel for pioneers going west in the mid 1800s.  Women were also more involved in the travel journey as 15 year old Eliza Warner notes in her journal:

"I drove four horses nearly all day, saw the most magnificent scenery I ever saw."

After finishing their work for the day, Mary says "we had a good time singing." 

When the weather was good, she and her Aunt Celia (a married lady barely out of her teens) rode
horseback for the sheer fun of it.  With all that open land, riding would have been a thrill with the wind in your hair, fresh air in your lungs.  Can't you imagine it along with Mary and Celia?

Next time - a more older a serious Katherine Dunlap

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Today in Pioneer History: On Mary 29, 1843,  John C. Fremont again departs from St. Louis to explore the West, having only recently returned from his first western expedition.

The Nancy Welch Story

In 1843, Nancy and James Welch along with their 3 year old son, went west from Iowa.  In the winter Nancy's 2nd son was born while they wintered in Independence, Missouri.  They started out again in the spring, following only notices posted on trees by previous travelers.  The season was rainy with the rain drenching the wagon tops, and the roads were muddy.  When they reached the Deschutes River in Oregon, they loaded everything they had onto rafts and let the Indians guide them across.  It was a cold, wet December.

When James and Nancy arrived in Oregon, they bought 300 acres of land.  They built the first wooden house and a lumber mill.  In 1849, James Welch went off after gold, leaving Nancy alone with the eventual 11 children to stave off the Indians.

Nancy's journals illustrate that child-bearing did not delay or deter travel west.  19th century men did not excuse women from daily responsibilities to prepare for children.  There was no maternity leave, few if any baby doctors and women were on their own in childbirth. 

I have shared these two women's stories because it amazed me that most settlers started out west with no maps, no plans of how to get there - and without even a compass to guide them!  By the Grace of God they arrived for the most part unharmed to build a new life in the unknown wilderness.  That would be comparable to us going to Antarctica or even Outer Space without  a compass or any idea of how to get there!  Simply amazing...

Next time...The Journey from a 13 year old's Eyes

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Today in Pioneer History:  On July 10, 1889, hotel owner, "Buckskin" Frank Leslie murders his lover, the Tombstone prostitute Blonde Mollie Williams in a drunken rage.