Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, ed . chine was built a-nd introduced into the countyby Dallamand & Imes, the builders, in changed our entire method of preparinggrain for the market, and to us it was a mostwonderful improvement. In 1850 the California fever struck ourneighborhood, and, with many others, I startedfor the Golden West. We left McDonoughCounty on the 20th of March, of that year, andarrived at Hangtown, in California, on the 12thof August, after five months of weary pilgrim-age spent in crossing the great plains and des-erts of the West. We saw numerous bands of »Indi
Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, ed . chine was built a-nd introduced into the countyby Dallamand & Imes, the builders, in changed our entire method of preparinggrain for the market, and to us it was a mostwonderful improvement. In 1850 the California fever struck ourneighborhood, and, with many others, I startedfor the Golden West. We left McDonoughCounty on the 20th of March, of that year, andarrived at Hangtown, in California, on the 12thof August, after five months of weary pilgrim-age spent in crossing the great plains and des-erts of the West. We saw numerous bands of »Indians, large herds of buffaloes, deer, prairiedogs, antelopes, rattlesnakes and many otheranimals—not a few of which were welcomed toour camp kettles. Our route was by way ofFort Kearney, up the South Platte River to AshHollow, where it was crossed, thence by wayof the Black Hills, to Fort Laramie, Sweet Wa-ter and Devils Gate, and through the SouthPass of the Rocky Mountains and down theHumboldt River to the Sink, where it enters \. ,^42^yic/i*< HISTORY OI M(l)()X()l(;H couxtv 639 the ground; then across a grassless, waterlessdesert of fifty miles to the Sierra NevadaMountains, and over the mountains to Hang-town. This was an old mining town, which re-ceived its name from the hanging there of twonotorious thieves. There I remained and work-ed over two years. I had the usual success ofthese early miners—made little money, butgained great experience and saw much of theworld. 1 returned by way of Panama, by steam-er, to New York, and thence home. Mr. Bridges furnishes much more of his valu-able and interesting history, but as this coversthe early period of his life in connection withthe first settling of McDonough County, otherportions of his narrative will be reserved forlater pages. DkkI Sxow HI 1830-31.—One of the most nota-ble events in the memory of the early set-tlers of McDonough County, as it was withthose of the same period in other iwrtions ofIllinois, was the D
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