A new inventory, taken about this time, disclosed the fact that the company’s stock of supplies was insufficient to carry it through to California.  A call was made for volunteers who should hasten on horseback to Sutter’s Fort, procure supplies and, returning, meet the train en route.  Mr. Stanton, who was without family, and Mr. McCutchen, whose wife and child were in the company, heroically responded.  They were furnished with necessaries for their personal needs, and with letters to Captain Sutter, explaining the company’s situation, and petitioning for supplies which would enable it to reach the settlement.  As the two men rode away, many anxious eyes watched them pass out of sight, and many heartfelt prayers were offered for their personal safety, and the success of their mission.

In addressing this letter to Captain Sutter, my father followed the general example of emigrants to California in those days, for Sutter, great-hearted and generous, was the man to whom all turned in distress or emergencies.  He himself had emigrated to the United States at an early age, and after a few years spent in St. Louis, Missouri, had pushed his way westward to California.

There he negotiated with the Russian Government for its holdings on the Pacific coast, and took them over when Russia evacuated the country.  He then established himself on the vast estates so acquired, which, in memory of his parentage, he called New Helvetia.  The Mexican Government, however, soon assumed his liabilities to the Russian Government, and exercised sovereignty over the territory.  Sutter’s position, nevertheless, was practically that of a potentate.  He constructed the well-known fort near the present site of the city of Sacramento, as protection against Indian depredations, and it became a trading centre and rendezvous for incoming emigrants.

CHAPTER V

BEWILDERING GUIDE BOARD—­SOUL-TRYING STRUGGLES—­FIRST SNOW—­REED-SNYDER TRAGEDY—­HARDCOOP’S FATE.

Our next memorable camp was in a fertile valley where we found twenty natural wells, some very deep and full to the brim of pure, cold water.  “They varied from six inches to several feet in diameter, the soil around the edges was dry and hard, and as fast as water was dipped out, a new supply rose to the surface."[2] Grass was plentiful and wood easily obtained.  Our people made much of a brief stay, for though the weather was a little sharp, the surroundings were restful.  Then came a long, dreary pull over a low range of hills, which brought us to another beautiful valley where the pasturage was abundant, and more wells marked the site of good camping grounds.

Close by the largest well stood a rueful spectacle,—­a bewildering guide board, flecked with bits of white paper, showing that the notice or message which had recently been pasted and tacked thereon had since been stripped off in irregular bits.