NHA Home | Historic Nantucket Articles |
Originally published in the Historic Nantucket, Vol 48, no. 3 (Summer 1999), p. 10-14
Rounding the Horn and Crossing the Isthmus to a Life in California
By Cecil Barron Jensen
IN 1894 THERE WERE THREE WAYS FOR PEOPLE from the East Coast of America to travel to California — around the Horn, across the Isthmus of Panama, or cross-country by land. Nantucketers ruled out the overland route immediately. They went by sea, of course! With a fleet of whaling ships, captains and crews looking for opportunities to get back out on the water, and a population that understood, and even delighted in, long sailing voyages — they were well prepared to join the Gold Rush. They were in fact among the first on the East Coast to leave for San Francisco.
The first whaleship to leave Nantucket was the Aurora — pulling out from the bar on January 9, 1849. One of its passengers was William C. Pease, the twenty-one-year-old son of a whaling captain. Throughout his journey around the Horn, Pease documented his experiences by writing to his parents and siblings letters that are now held in the manuscript collection of the Nantucket Historical Association. Pease, however, traveled to San Francisco again in 1854, that time with his wife, Harriett Cartwright, via the isthmus. The voyage is also well documented by a long letter sent upon their arrival in California. So by tracking Pease's two trips West, readers can get a sense of how Nantucketers journeyed for gold. We get a feel for the fun of the adventure but also its hardships. Each route, around the Horn or across the isthmus, had its challenges. Pease's experiences were in many ways typical of the experiences shared by men and women from all over the country in the years 1849-54.
On his first voyage he represents the young prospector seeking his fortune, caught up in the excitement and thrills of the adventure, but also disappointed by the realities he encounters. With his wife, whom he calls Hattie, we see a more mature settler. He is leading a group of companions westward. They are leaving Nantucket to seek a new life in California.
But let's start at the beginning — on board the Aurora. For many men, not used to life on a whaling ship, there were many adjustments to be made. The first was to the rolling, rocking vessel. In his book To California by Sea: A Maritime History of the California Gold Rush, James P. Delgado writes that "The vast majority of Gold Rush passengers had never been upon the waters of a lake or a river, let alone the ocean, so often the first week at sea was a time of sickness, despair, soul-searching, and gradual accommodation as reality began to clash with expectations." For Pease, seasickness was his first battle. Not wanting his family to miss anything about his adventure, he writes on February 16 "I will give you a little account of my seasickness. We left the bar Tuesday morning at 3 oclock when I came on deck before breakfast Sancaty head was just in sight that morning. I took breakfast with all hands and I did not eat another regular meal for a week." He continues with a description of the gales, storms, and headwinds that they encountered by way of explanation for his illness. Eventually he recovered, was back up on deck, and eating again.
Pease spends much of his time in his letters describing the food — one of his great sources of disappointment on board the ship. On February 25, he writes "I have been barefooted for three weeks. I am growing fat and lazy. Nothing to do and plenty to eat such as it is. Our pork is so poor that I do not eat it. We have apple pies every Sunday. It takes about 14 to go around the table." By June 23 his comments about the state of their provisions reaches a pitch and he writes to his family "a little history of this voyage which if it could be printed in full form would be more interesting to read than Miriam Coffin." [Miriam Coffin, or the Whale-Fishermen by Joseph C. Hart, and published in 1834, is a great historical novel set in Nantucket and standard reading for all Nantucketers of Pease's day.] He explains that at the beginning of the voyage the passengers were happy with the crew and captain and "our victuals then was very good." But after the first barrel or two of pork was eaten, the quality diminished and the men could no longer eat it. "They would take a barrel on deck and it would be as yellow as gold it would be so musty, and they would throw about half of it overboard, and the rest of it would frighten a starving man." The flour and biscuits also went "musty and sour." It seems as if water from the deck above had leaked on top of the barrels of food. "When about 3 months out it got so poor that nobody could eat it but the Captain, and he called it good."
The passengers "growled and talked" amongst themselves and to the captain. But it was no use. Nothing was going to be done about the condition and terrible smell of rotting food. Eventually, two of the passengers took it upon themselves to clear out the food. They threw about "two cart loads" overboard, including so many potatoes that the sea "was a solid body of rotting potatoes."
"I wish the owners had to live on the fare, we have for six months. It would learn them how to fit a ship, if the owners got as badly shaved as we have, I will be satisfied, if we had some captains we would have been in San Francisco the 10th of June, we have seen the chance to do it, most all hands on board has been sick. I expect I should have been as sick as any, if I had not been tough as a shark and eat enough to keep me fat."
As readers can see, Pease's expectations certainly clashed with the reality. However, he did have some amusing times. In one letter he writes "We muster two accordions one fiddle a flute and a fiagaelet [flageolet] on board. So in the evening we have singing and dancing." They fished for sharks, caught porpoises, and watched for other ships. One of his most enthusiastic passages is a description of a trip he and some of his fellow passengers made to another ship bound for California.
Throughout the journey, Pease writes about sighting other "sails." Not only does it represent an opportunity to broaden their circle of human contact, it is also a chance to pass mail and share news. "Wednesday there was a large ship in sight. We came up within three mile of her and then six of us passengers got the Captain to let us have a boat and we boarded her." (It was in the whaleboat, incidentally, that Pease crossed the equator.) "When we lowered the ship was 2 '/2 mile ahead of us and it was a stern chase.... The Captain advized us not to go he said we could not get to her but we was bound to go. We pulled over an hour and I blistered my hand some, but I would have pulled all day before we would come back and had them to laughed at us." The men's efforts were well worth it. As they came up to the Edward Everett of Boston the 150 passengers were "all up in the stern of the ship most of them with red shirts on it was quite a sight." When the six men announced that they were heading for California "they gave 3 cheers that made the old ship ring." They were treated to lemonade, sung to, and given a copy of the crew list before they returned to their own ship. It was definitely a highlight of the voyage.
On the first of July 1849, the Aurora sailed into San Francisco. "We are all well and fine spirits. We arrive in here today at 11 oclock and it was a sight to behold to see the vessels. I should think there was near 200 here." So Pease's first journey to California came to a close. "Father and Mother I do not think there has a day passed but what I have thought of you and whenever I open my trunk the top things are your miniatures and that Bible. I have read that Bible all through on the voyage but the last 7 chapters in it."
Pease continued to write to his family while he was in San Francisco. It appears that he was a skilled carpenter, and instead of seeking his fortune in the mines, he stayed in the growing port to build houses and shops. He earned enough money to hire a crew, lease land, build a house (with space for shop rentals and lodgers), and send money home to his family. On November 11, 1849, he writes "California is a world of itself. 4 months ago when I got here there was hardly any wooden buildings and now it is a place almost as large as Nantucket and growing beyond all account. I should think now that there was from 50 to 75 buildings now under way and it has been the same way ever since I have been here. No man can say here but what he can make money, no matter whether he has got a trade or not. " He firmly believes that anyone with initiative can make money in San Francisco. He reports that the wages are high, but so are the expenses, and it is not a good place for families. And anyone who does not want to be there, who does not want to work hard, should just pack up their kit and head home!
It's not obvious in his letters why William Pease went home himself. Early on in his letters he repeats to his family his intentions of returning to Nantucket — eventually. Perhaps he went home sooner than he expected because of two deaths in the family. A search in the Eliza Starbuck Barney Genealogical Record reveals that Pease's eldest brother Edward died December 4, 1849, and his father, John H. Pease, died November 15, 1851. It is possible that one of those deaths was the reason for return. His last letter from his first visit to San Francisco is dated November 11, 1949.
The final letter in the William C. Pease collection is dated July 22, 1854. Forty-four-pages, it runs as a narrative of his experiences from the time he left Nantucket until his arrival in San Francisco. It covers his travels to New York to stay with his in-laws in Brooklyn; the trip on the North Star steamer to Aspinwall; their lodgings at the Summit — a small waystation along the isthmus; their trip to Panama on the backs of mules; tours of Panama; and finally, boarding the steamer Golden Gate. Pease truly enjoys writing this account of his journey and, newly married, he is a very happy man. His words sing with enthusiasm. His love of his adventures and life are apparent — even if he does still complain about the food!
The Peases and friends left Nantucket on board the Nebraska bound for Hyannis — "the old boat is good but slow. " A cart picked them up at the boat and drove them across the Cape. "We rode along through one village after another. All looking very pleasant but not much business stirring. It seemed as though there was plenty of room on the Cape for men of energy and capital to build up the place." The cart delivered them to Fairhaven, where they boarded a ferry for New Bedford. Pease writes that on this leg of the journey he had the company of Mr. and Mrs. Hadwen and Mr. and Mrs. Barney. They journeyed from New Bedford to Fall River where they took a ship to New York. After a pleasant stay with his in-laws, Hattie and William boarded their steamer bound for Panama. What started out with a great deal of optimism turned out to be a trying passage for the newlyweds.
At the start of the journey, all 500 passengers climbed up on to the deck to say farewell to New York. Pease describes his view of the city where "the steeples of the numerous churches towered up majestically above all other buildings and whose wharves were crowded with shipping from all parts of the world. So numerous that their masts looked like a forest of trees. " Shivering in their "silks & all the jewelry on that they owned," the passengers went down for their first meal. According to Pease the beefsteak was passable, the bread was very good, the butter was filthy, and the ham . . . "we would put our fork in it to keep it from walking off on its own account." Hattie did not venture to the dining saloon again until the last day.
Many of the passengers, including Hattie, were sick throughout most of the journey, but not Pease. He was fit and attended every meal the ship's stewards served. "I made up my mind to get as near my moneys worth as possible." He also enjoyed "music on the family organ," playing cards with Hattie in their cabin, being served ice water, and visiting with the other passengers. He records passing Cuba and seeing Santo Domingo from the deck. After more than a week they arrived at Aspinwall, now known as Colon, in north central Panama at the entrance of the canal.
Early on in the letter, it is clear to see that Pease and Hattie had fun and lots of laughs together, but never more than in an amusing discussion following their arrival in the muddy port of Aspinwall. After scouting out the route across the isthmus, Pease returned to the North Star to tell his group that the terrible conditions of the road made it impossible for the women to ride a mule sidesaddle. It is easy to imagine the following conversation: "I told Hattie that she would have to put on the pants and ride across the Isthmus on a man's saddle. No she said I shall not. But you must. No I must not was still the answer. She thought I was gassing her." In the end, Hattie and the other women wore trousers. And a good thing, too, from the sound of it; the conditions were dreadful.
The first leg of their journey across the isthmus was by train. After six hours, partially in the rain, they arrived in a small village called the Summit. From the train depot it was a half-mile walk in mud up to the American Hotel. Even though she was wearing pants, Hattie was also wearing a dress that kept dragging in the mud. To help her out, Pease tied up her skirts around her knees. He didn't realize that this inhibited the movement of her legs, and she did not tell him. As a result, she couldn't take big steps and he had to "jimmy" her over puddles or rocks. Finally, they "hopped along" to the hotel, where they were served meat so tough they assumed it was an old mule that had just retired from carrying people back and forth from Panama, cooked in molasses! They had quite a laugh over that meal!
In the morning, the party set off on the mules down the muddy road leading to the Pacific. "Some places you would have to hold on to the mule's neck to keep from going off behind and next it would be to brace back and keep from going over his head." The mule was "sometimes knee deep in mud and other times deeper." All along the road the "natives" were selling things like eggs, coffee, lemonade, and cakes. Pease described the natives' homes as huts made with poles dug into the ground with thatched roofs. "One corner partitioned off from poles and bushes made the bedroom." The children were naked. The Peases estimated that there were a thousand mules on the road from the Summit to Panama. When the Pacific port came in sight they all "gave a cheer." The road improved and things started to look a little more "civilized." That night they ate dinner in a French restaurant. It was also an opportunity to stay in a nice hotel and wash off the layers of dirt.
Pease's description of the difficult journey across the isthmus rings with joy. It is especially clear in the following passages: "Hattie now declared she was satisfied with wearing the pants. The old dress that she took off she threw down in disgust as she had no more need of that. . . . She was tickled as a dog with two tails all the way along as she enjoyed it and could have a good time in laughing at the rest of the crowd. She said she would not go to California if she could not have the chance to ride a mule across the Isthmus."
The next morning they boarded the steamer Golden Gate. According to Delgado, the Golden Gate in New York in 1851 was considered to be the "queen steamer of the Pacific. "Large and spacious, the 3,000-ton steamer's 269-foot-long wooden hull accommodated 800 passengers." She was also the fastest steamer of the day, setting a new record in April 1853 for the journey from Panama to San Francisco of eleven days, fourteen hours. Pease writes very little about their time on the ship other than to describe her as "beautiful" and a "floating palace." We can assume the food was good, too!
Pease concludes a letter to his mother from their house in San Francisco. It is pleasant to picture domestic peace and a comfortable life for the two settlers: "Hattie and myself are in fine health both fat and hearty. The climate agrees with us as well as we could wish, Hattie is setting by my side making me an undershirt. She is Jack at all trades and good at all. I have never been away from her but one eve since we married and then I had business to attend down the street. We get along as nice as a fire. I think we are just suited for each other."
In his letter Pease mentions his two brothers, also living in San Francisco —John H. Pease, Jr., and George H. Pease. The Barney Record reveals that the brothers married and settled in California. Their mother, Mary (Bunker) Pease, eventually moved to California where she died in 1865. William and Harriet had three children: Edward C., George William, and Lester W. The Peases truly were a Nantucket family who settled a continent away. To think it all started aboard the Aurora in 1849—one hundred and fifty years ago—with a dream of making a fortune in the gold mines.
Sources:
