William R. Olden

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beatiful [beautiful] & distinct mark to shoot at, but, exceedingly difficult to hit from the fact the body of a crane 4 feet high is not larger than a man's hand this at 250 yds [yards] is a small mark. I have killed several – their feathers are beautiful & in great demand among the fair sex they make flowers & beautiful ornaments for the hair out of them – It is time I should speak of Panama it is a small walled town with a large suburb the fortification when new must have been quite strong; the sea washes three sides the fourth is once had a moat – which is now dry & filled with rubbish – the battery is the only part kept in any order & that for this country is in very good order, it faces the only point where large vessels can approach the town – it is quarter of a mile long & consists of two high walls about ten y'ds [yards] apart filled within four feet of their height with earth the armament consists of six very fine brass cannon 24 pounders – made at Sevella Seville Spain 1747, only 2 are mounted on carriages the others lay on the ground their carriages having rotted from under there – but, it is of no consequence as I dont [don't] believe they have enough powder in the town to charge one – the battery is the public walk of the town & is a delightful place of an even'g [evening]

The even'g [evening] the Oregon came there were 2000 people on it principally Americans – One tenth at the least of the space within the wall is accupied [occupied] by the churches & Convent most of them are in ruins – some half dozen are in use at present the Cathedral is as large building without any claims to architectural beauty internally or externally that is some thing they never studied they people are not religious – I have been there at high mass & seen more priests & Afficials [Officials] than worshipers [worshippers] the music is poor & chants execrable they sing thro' [through] the nose the churches as usual are filled with images of the Saints of both sexes bedizened & tinselled [tinseled] Most gaudily – the only

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church goers I have seen are old Negro Men & Women sometimes boys the respectable (very scarce) portion of the people rarely go. – The town is laid out in squares quite regularly.

The streets are narrow & roughly paved the houses are of brick rough cast two stories with balconies & tile roofs the balconies extend sufficiently to protect you sufficiently from a passing shower – tile roofs being non conducters of heat are an excellent protection from the sun as well as rain. – The only window glass I have seen are a few broken panes in the Cathedral its use here seems to be entirely unknown – the floors are either of large square brick or Mahogany (the only timber used here). They are all well ventilated the only effort seems to be to keep cool. The suburbs are large but much inferior to the town in the quality of both houses & inhabitants & that is placing the latter very low in the scale. – The inhabitants of the Isthmus are ⁹⁹⁄₁₀₀ of them a Mongrel race being a mixture of indian [Indian] & negro with here & there a little Spanish blood, excepting a very few persons of Spanish descent there is hardly a pure blooded native of any kind or description. – The better class among them are inferior to our New Orleans quadroons. My old chamber maid Emma or Barney would be aristocracy here. Barney would go to the new Grenadian Senate & perhaps become president – I have seen but 4 or five white men & no white women who belong here the balance are all copper heads.

They have the queerest specimen of soldiers here that I have seen that portion of the men who are too lazy to work enlist – they are a miserable set of devils, but, I suppose on the principle of set a thief to catch a thief, they set a Nigger to guard a gentleman of color!!! They are very harmless for they only murder music & they have killed that one time so often that I am surprised it still survives as the (band) heaven save the mark passes along the street the Americans occassionaly [occasionally] dampen their

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enthusiasm with a little slops but they bear it like martyrs, the fact is one armed American can win twenty of them at any time, the Americans have behaved themselves very well (I believe) princepally [principally] because there was no opposing force. – Those of the men who can afford it dress like Americans but mostly in white, they are very fond of dress & have considerable taste in that way, they have slender little active figures & generally look as if they could run a great speed (from a field of battle), they; as is, however universally the case have decidedly the advantage of the females in personal appearance. I suppose this point will be disputed but as a proof I refer you to a creation in general: the better class among the women dress expensively but, wear no bonnets where the head is covered they use a lace vail [veil] for that purpose but it is generally dispensed with, the hair is worn either curled (having a slight tendency that way:) on in long plaits down the back – this is the case with old or young, caps are unknown. – The largest proportion however confine themselves to two articles of dress the chemise & the frock & to all appearance wear nothing else. The difference between full dress & ordinary consists in the way the dress is fastened behind, when dressed 'tis hooked at the top a waist also but in general comfort is consulted & the waist is not confined; their principle amusement at their social gatherings seems to consist of hunting, game is plenty & they pursue it with great eagerness. The following is the plan of operations – they sit in a circle on the floor one befor [before] the other & examine each others heads those they catch they eat – those that escape they can

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home with them, this with an occasional fandango comprises their amusement – They are strong advocates of Fanny Wrightism & the beauties of socialism are beautifully exemplified here. They marry & divorce themselves when where & as often as they please without the benefit of either clergy or legislature – the consequence of this is that a family of several children the last names of all are different these matches do not last long, this is the case with ⁹⁄₁₀ of the population here.

Monday Morning May 21. –

The Oregon sails tomorrow & I must bring this to a close as I have to write to sister & Lucy Brech. – when you have waded thro' [through] this long epistle send it to Murray as I shall refer them to it – I enquired for William McIlvaine when I got here but he with some 50 others had gone to Callao, Peru to get a vessel from there, there are more vessels here than passengers to fill them – I wish I had J Paul along with me he is a young man I have a high opinion of. I think his fortune would be made, the boys & Mr. Hutchison had better wait until they hear from me in California in two months from the time you receive this I can give you the practical experience of one month in the country – we stop a [at] Mazatlan & I will write from there if possible – I send my love to all the family – kiss those dear children for me. Your husband

William R. Olden

Sacramento City Septr [September] 20"/49 [1849] –

I am almost ashamed to write after my long silence, but you will remember that I said in my San Francisco letter, that I would not write again until I had seen the mines & could speak definitely; since then I have traveled, mined & prospected, this country a little – my machine was perfectly useless, like all the machines from the States – the Rocker originally in use here is the only machine that answers the purpose. The diggings here instead of being Sand Bars are Rock Bars – accompanied by a small portion of dirt containing the gold to get which is much harder work, than to wash it – There has been no exageration [exaggeration] about the richness of the mines, but the washings have been exhausted much sooner than was expected. The most of the River bar banks & the easy points for turning the River will be exhausted by the time the rainy season sets in – For about 2 years the mining will be in the dry diggings which in the bottoms of the Ravines Galches [gulches] and beds of small streams in the mountains these have already furnished a large am't [amount] of gold – they are not so certain in their returns as the Rivers but generally pay much better in the long