Here was a section of comparatively level land, for the mountain divide, and a fine spring of good cold water, all surrounded by several hundred acres of the most magnificent sugar pines California ever raised, very large, straight as a candle, and one hundred feet or more to the lowest limbs.  This place was afterward called Snow Tent, and S.W.  Churchill built a sawmill at the spring, and had all this fine timber at the mercy of his ax and saw, without anyone to dispute his right.  He furnished lumber to the miners at fifty dollars or more per thousand feet.  Bloody Run no doubt well deserves its name, for there was much talk of killing done there.

I, however, went up and talked to the men and told them I wished to hire a cross cut saw for a few days to get out stuff for a cabin, and agreed to pay two dollars a day for the use of it till it came back.

We cut down a large sugar pine, cut off four six feet cuts, one twelve feet, and one sixteen feet cut, and from these we split out a lot of boards which we used to make a V-shaped flume which we placed in our ditch, and thus got the water through.  We split the longer cuts into two inch plank for sluice boxes, and made a small reservoir, so that we succeeded in working the ground.  We paid wages to the two men who worked, and two other men who were with us went and built a cabin.

I now went and got another load of provisions, and as the snow could be seen on the high mountains to the east, I thought the deer must be crowded down to our country, so I went out hunting and killed a big fat buck, and the next day three more, so fresh meat was plenty.

About this time a man came down the mountain with his oxen and wagon, wife and three or four children, the eldest a young lady of fifteen years.  The man’s name was H. M. Moore.  We had posted notices, according to custom, to make mining laws, and had quite a discussion about a name for the place.  Some of the fellows wanted to name it after the young lady, “Minda’s Flat,” but we finally chose “Moore’s Flat” instead, which I believe is the name it still goes by.  Our laws were soon completed, and a recorder chosen to record claims.  We gave Mr. Moore the honor of having a prospecting town named after him because he was the first man to be on hand with a wife.

I became satisfied after a little that this place would be a very snowy place, and that from all appearances it would fall from two to four feet deep, and not a very pleasant place to winter in.  An honest acquaintance of mine came along, Samuel Tyler and to him I let my claim to work on shares and made McCloud my agent, verbally, while I took my blankets and started for the valley.