Journal of James Matthew Hicks
In early 1849, I, James, left to go mining in Golden Gulch, California. I joined a mining company, the 40 Miners. It took several tries to get to California, more than 10. We first tried land travel on a route no one had gone before, a place called Dead Man’s Cutoff. It turned out to be a place that Indians had deserted because there was no food or water. We next tried sailing the seas, but a major misfortune came our way. Our ship was destroyed on the way around the horn. It seemed our team would never make it to the diggin’s. We again tried sea travel, but only to fail once more. Our boat had a rotten hull, and going on the treacherous Cape Horn, the ship fell apart with everyone in it. We finally made it to California when we tried the Golden Princess around Cape Horn. It was a luxury boat; everybody got their own cabin. There were many more fates to be told, but I will not tell them all. We are so very fortunate that we did not die.