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a 110 b q˜Letter from Allen Grosh: November 8, 1854 Little Sugar Loaf,1 El Dorado County, California Dear Father, We are once more in California, after passing through trials and hardships, which five years ago would have sent us to our graves, and I am happy to say our healths are entirely reestablished. We find things here but little altered, and we have every prospect of a profitable winter’s work before us; in which case Hosea will be home in the spring. We are engaged now in a thorough, complete and systematic “prospect” of our section, and will continue it until the rains, and we think, that in another winter we will have our “piles.” We found on our arrival here a letter from you enclosing one from ’Vine, and another from ’Vine. They were welcome treats! We will send this to town by the first opportunity, and follow it up by answers to your and ’Vine’s letters , and by sketches of our life in Utah, as fast as our leisure will allow us to fill them out. If we have disappointed you in our promised visit, we make what reparation we can by a diligent correspondence. Warmest love to all! Truly and affectionately your son, E. A. Grosh q˜Letter from Hosea Grosh: February 7, 1855 Little Sugar Loaf, El Dorado County, California Dear Father, We have been trying for some time to get a letter home. Allen has tried and tried, and finally calls on me to write a short letter at any rate, and he will then write a long one. As half a loaf is better than no bread, I try my hand. Things have been very dull here as all over this state. We have been getting along 1854 and 1855 a5b 1854 and 1855 b 111 and that is all. The great bulk of the gold since ’49 and ’50 has come from the dry diggings. Everything has waited for and been dependent on them. For several years they have been the wheel greasers of commerce; this year the rains so far have failed almost wholly. As far as mining is concerned, they did not even start the ravines in this section, and did very little good anywhere; so the aforesaid wheels, for lack of greasing have nearly come to a standstill. For a week or so past we have been doing a little better, averaging nearly $2 apiece per day. We are only able to work half the time for lack of water, so that when it comes we will be able to make at least $4 dollars per day. At present we carry our dirt a short distance and will probably continue to do about as we have for the last week, until water does come, when our wages will at least double, as the “packing” will be saved. The miners are not alone in their trouble. The farmers have been delayed in their plowing and on account of the hardness of the ground have not done it half at that; the general yield therefore will likely be less even though we have a fair season, than usual. There is perhaps more ground put in, which may bring up the aggregate as high as last year. We fill up our leisure time fixing around the house, making moccasins out of boot legs,2 and everything we want, as far as we can. This saves in expense. . . . Hunting fills up the balance. We are commencing a garden so as to raise our own vegetables which will add much to our comfort and be a great saving as it needs none but spare time to attend to it. The quartz vein we looked so much for has been found and we have 3 claims on it. At the place it has been opened it is rich; the commencement of our claims is 125 yards south from this place and as no prospecting has been done on them there is no telling how they will pay but we hope well. It is probably the vein which has thrown out the gold on the ravine we formerly worked on. Owing to the dryness of the season, we will not attempt to work [the] best placer claim, as it lies on the side hill and the only chance is working during and immediately after heavy rains. We will therefore depend on the claim we are now on as the surest. Missourians and Kansas3...

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