of gold coins the merchants and gambling palaces need to conduct business. Accepting gold dust is messy, inconvenient, and open to fraud. Once the miner consigned his gold to our company it would be assayed and then made into a series of standard weight ingots from molds in our assay office. The bank would receive gold that is pure and in a form ready for shipment or sale.”
“The plan is interesting, but how could you compete with such big express companies as Wells Fargo with their large stage coaches and well established routes and reputation for security?” Dillon asked skeptically.
“We can’t compete with them and their predominately American and Anglo clients and banks, but our market is a niche market they’ve been given by default as there is no competition to process and ship French and Chilean gold. The American express companies don’t carry French or Chilean mail or supplies; we do. They carry our gold because there is no alternative for transport. The Americans don’t like our miners at all and would like us to return to France with our tails between our legs, but they’re happy to take our gold and make money with it. I can assure you French and Chilean miners would prefer to have us handle their gold and get an efficient mail service at the same time. In my trips to the northern and southern placers, the most persistent complaint I heard from our people was the lack of mail service and the exorbitant cost of paying for a letter if finally received; miners often had to pay as much as $2.50 for a letter a year old sent via a smaller American express company to miners in remote areas. I’ve heard miners working low grade claims say they’d go without eating for a day if necessary to get a letter from home. Most French miners don’t make on average more than $3.50 a day which is only enough to pay for food and lodging.” I paused in my spiel. I was laying it on thick, but Dillon had been nodding affirmatively to what I said. He surprised me when he left his comfortable chair, pulled out a bottle of cognac and two glasses and poured us each a healthy tot.
“I like your proposal and see how the consulate could benefit. But I’m concerned about the scope of your proposal and your means to make it happen realistically. Won’t establishing a competitive express company require considerable capital? And you know we can’t put any money into your venture. We’ve heard about your plans to build a new school. How do you plan to finance such a venture?” Dillon asked soberly.
I downed half of my tot of cognac and relit my cigar before replying. We were down to the nitty-gritty now. His concerns were very valid and I would have to bluff some parts of my response to convince him of the financial feasibility of my scheme. “I made reliable contacts with established French merchants in both the northern and southern diggings who indicated a willingness to assist and participate in the plan I’ve laid out. Some would be agents earning commissions and others direct partners.” I paused to finish my cognac and take a pull on my cigar. What I’d stated was only partially true. I was sure that the French hotel owner Ricard, in Marysville, would jump on my bandwagon as he had a French mail concession to deliver mail to French miners working the north and south forks of the Yuba River and had eagerly assisted me and would be happy to work with me on a commission basis.
“The same is true for Sonora and the southern placers. They’ve no post office and no plans to build one with as many as 12,000 foreign miners working this area first settled by Mexicans. I would make my assistant, Gino, who has worked on our French mail concession with me, a partner and he would handle mail for the 8,000 French and 2,000 Chilean miners who work the rivers and tributaries north of Sonora where his office would be based. Our assay office would be there as well. With the recently established telegraph service between Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco, we will be able to signal in code the arrival and departure of gold shipments. I’ve got the assurance of Justinian Caire, who sells assay equipment and has worked as an assayer, to staff and set up our assay office and smelter for the southern mines.” This was only partially true. Caire did fiddle with assaying and sold equipment under his trade name in his mining supply store in San Francisco, but I had yet to broach my scheme to him. I had to trust that Consul Dillon was too occupied with his own problems to want to seek out Caire and I believed Gino would jump at the chance to return to Sonora to woo Miss Virginie, the girl he’d fallen in love with on our trip to Sonora. With his own business and a job requiring him to travel to the mining camps where he’d made his pile and knew his way around, I felt confident he’d be happy to settle in Sonora with his Virginie, who had made it clear she was available for marriage only and did not plan to leave her home town.
“Further, I can easily replace Bowers Express which started in 1849 but has been out of business since 1851. They provided mail service to Nevada City for $2.50 a letter. By taking Bower’s route, I’d have an exclusive route from Auburn to Grass Valley and all the mining camps in between – Gold Run, Rough and Ready as well as French Corral and Timbuctoo where there are major concentrations of French miners I have visited. Access to these camps from Nevada City and Grass Valley is only a hop, skip and jump away during the Summer and Fall mining seasons.” As I had no stage coaches, I’d have to use public transport from Sacramento to Nevada City and hire concessionaires to take the mail. I had in the back of my mind to hire a couple of burly ex-policemen I met both to deliver the mail and ride shotgun to accompany gold shipments. When these two visited the mining camps they could also make the inquiries as to the whereabouts of miners whose relatives were willing to have me locate them for a fee. I couldn’t tell Dillon my plans to run my express service on the cheap. He needed to believe I had the necessary resources and personnel in the bag to carry out my ambitious scheme.
Dillon eyed the clock in his office and I’d taken up a lot of his time. One of his staff had been hovering outside his office and pacing back and forth for the last ten minutes. It was time to close the interview and see if I’d achieved his backing. “So, that’s where it stands. Do I have your support for this venture? It will mean a lot to the miners and my associates to know you back this venture.” Ball in his court.
Dillon rose slowly from his chair and extended his hand. “You have my support. I only hope it goes as smoothly as you suggest. I can deal with our banks when you’ve got the gold. Good luck.”
We shook hands on my proposal and I left hoping as Georges would say, “Let’s hope ya can follow on that pack of blarney.”
“THE ABC CLASS”, A BOOKMARK AD FOR HOOD’S SARSAPARILLA — c. 1880 (author’s collection).
“THE OLD SCHOOL HOUSE ON PORTSMOUTH SQUARE”
— litho c. 1853 (author’s collection).
California Gold Rush Journal
CHAPTER TWO
San Francisco — 1853
I was buoyed by the news that in January gold shipped through the San Francisco customs house totaled $46.6 million dollars. This figure didn’t include the considerable amount of gold successful miners took with them returning to their home countries. I had been intrigued by several French miners like Marie Suize, her brother and others who wanted to invest their gold in income-producing properties or businesses. As an entrepreneur, I needed both to raise capital for my new venture,
