Reprinted with permission by the Sierra County Historical Society from The Sierran of August 1970, Vol 2., No.2

Last week this column ended with a Frenchman and a Spaniard confirming they had discovered a rich gold deposit while hunting above the Slate Creek House north of Downieville.

A company of twelve was soon organized, and the Frenchman getting drunk, a Mr. Ship, of Pine Grove, induced him to sell his share to him for $1600. As soon as he got sober he repented his bargain, and tried to induce Ship to let him pay him his money back. Ship refused, and held on to his bargain, although many thought he ought not have traded whilst the Frenchman was drunk. Ship gave a Capt. Davis--a hard charactor--a share, to see after his own portion of the profits in the lead. Quite a large camp of Spaniards was soon collected on the flat at the head of Slate Creek, and, as usual when Spaniards congregate, much cutting and shooting began to take place. DaVis, for some time, was very regular in his settlements with Ship. However, he managed his cards so well that no one suspected him. Having collected some $19,000 he suddenly one evening was among the missing, and as he had hitherto been very regular in his visits to Pine Grove, they began to fear that he had been waylaid and murdered; especially, as on enquiring at the Slate Creek House, Ship was told that he had started from there about 4 P.M. the day before. He was known to have a large sum with him, and was heard at the lead in loud altercation with the Spaniards. The neighbors were raised, and a strict search made for him; but nothing was heard then of him. The miners now decided to break up the rest of the Spaniards at the camp on the flat. Accordingly, they were notified, that no Spaniard, but those actually interested or at work on the quartz lead would be suffered to work there; and twenty-four hours was given for them to depart in. The Spaniards obeyed and left, and soon after the quartz gave out, and I believe is not now worked. It was months before anything was heard of Davis; but at last authentic news arrived that he had decamped with the gold and made his way to Central America, where he was then settled.

Whilst I am speaking of this place, I will refer to a bloody murder which occurred at the Slate Creek House in 1851. The story is that McDonald, who then owned the house, one night got into a game of poker with his cook and three other men, miners in the neighborhood. McDonald quarreled with the men and the cook struck him with a bar of iron, and the others finished him. They then buried him in a hole about three foot square, divided his money - some $400 only - amongst themselves, and departed. The cook gave out that McDonald had gone below, to San Francisco; and he remained two weeks, keeping the house as usual. He however did two things from which he was suspected. The first was he hired a man for $3 to fell a tree in a particular direction which would have covered up the grave of McDonald, but the axe was dull, and the man desisted after a little, remarking he would be damned if he would cut a tree with such an axe. Whilst talking with hm, the man saw some blood on the helve and remarked it was singular to have blood on the chopping axe. The cook colored up, and stammered out something about chopping some meat with it. This incident led to inquiry about McDonald, and some of his friends wrote to the San Francisco papers to advertise for him. About this time the cook sent some money down to a lawyer, to send home for him. The lawyer having seen the advertisement, instead of sending home the money for him, came up to Pine Grove and made a statement. This roused the miners, and they determined to arrest the cook and the others who had been loafing around there. Accordingly, a crowd came over and arrested the cook, but found the others had gone home to their cabins on Canon Creek. They succeeded in arresting two others, but the fourth, resisting, and refusing to be taken alive, was shot in his tracks. A miner’s court was then held on the principles of Judge Lynch, when it being proved, by the confession of two of them, that all were guilty, and having pointed out McDonald’s grave, they were all sentenced, and hung inside half an hour. The bodies were left hanging in a ravine, about a hundred yards from the house, and next morning came near frightening to death a party of emigrants, who had arrived that night, and who were out hunting their mules.

Stay tuned, in this space next week we will print Part 5 of Wm. Pickiepoche's "Annals of Early Downieville" and readers will be provided information about Kanaka Creek and the Kanakas during the 1850s.