Title: Autograph Letter Signed by Charles Sibree, to his wife, written from the mines on the South Fork of the Merced River Author: Sibree, Charles Place: Mariposa Co., South Fork Merced Publisher: Date: May 14, 1850 Description: 2 pages, on 4-page lettersheet, addressed on p.4, with faint postmark. 25x20.2 cm. (9¾x8"). Rather poignant letter from a lonely, disillusioned miner, in part: "Another monthly mail has come in and I have no letter from you. I hope and trust you have wrote - and that the fault of my not receiving them is not to be laid to you - disappointment after disappointment makes me heartsick... I expect to hear form you by the next mail acknowledging receipt of the gold dust I sent by Adams Express with the March steamer. I have nothing new to write you about our success - things get worse rather than better. We are working like slaves in a boiling hot sun, today in the shade it was between 90 degrees and 100 degrees. You may fancy what it must be picking and shoveling and turning over stones, some of which are nearly a ton weight - exposed to his full Meridian blare. The fact is Catherine were it not for the fulfilling of the Agreement made before leaving N.Y. I would not stop in the mines one hour - but as it is I deem it my duty to do so if possible. There is but one out of five hundred who are here will do more than pay expenses - and there are no greater fools than those who are leaving the States and coming here. The newspapers from first to last are filled with false statements, utterly untrue and only calculated to bring misery and wretchedness on those who are deluded by them. Many a heart is broke at home, many a spirit crushed never again to rise by this California Mania. But my dear Catherine, my time here will soon be over. November will soon come round and then I leave the mines. Whether I will then return or not will depend on the state of my finances and on the word I get from you between this and then. It is most probable I will winter in Mexico and think of coming that way and may probably do some business there..." The letter is addressed to his wife in New York "via Panama & Chagres per Steam Ship." Probably a English-Scottish immigrant to America, Charles Sibree, with his brother Henry sailed from New York aboard the Ship Elizabeth on February 16, 1849, arriving in San Francisco on September 25. (A fellow passenger was a destitute Irish immigrant, James Flood, who later became one of the "Bonanza Kings", among the wealthiest men in America.) According to one account, Sibree died aboard ship later that year while sailing home from San Francisco to Panama. Lot Amendments Condition: A few short tears, very good. Item number: 220443
Title: Autograph Letter Signed by Charles Sibree, to his wife, written from the mines on the South Fork of the Merced River Author: Sibree, Charles Place: Mariposa Co., South Fork Merced Publisher: Date: May 14, 1850 Description: 2 pages, on 4-page lettersheet, addressed on p.4, with faint postmark. 25x20.2 cm. (9¾x8"). Rather poignant letter from a lonely, disillusioned miner, in part: "Another monthly mail has come in and I have no letter from you. I hope and trust you have wrote - and that the fault of my not receiving them is not to be laid to you - disappointment after disappointment makes me heartsick... I expect to hear form you by the next mail acknowledging receipt of the gold dust I sent by Adams Express with the March steamer. I have nothing new to write you about our success - things get worse rather than better. We are working like slaves in a boiling hot sun, today in the shade it was between 90 degrees and 100 degrees. You may fancy what it must be picking and shoveling and turning over stones, some of which are nearly a ton weight - exposed to his full Meridian blare. The fact is Catherine were it not for the fulfilling of the Agreement made before leaving N.Y. I would not stop in the mines one hour - but as it is I deem it my duty to do so if possible. There is but one out of five hundred who are here will do more than pay expenses - and there are no greater fools than those who are leaving the States and coming here. The newspapers from first to last are filled with false statements, utterly untrue and only calculated to bring misery and wretchedness on those who are deluded by them. Many a heart is broke at home, many a spirit crushed never again to rise by this California Mania. But my dear Catherine, my time here will soon be over. November will soon come round and then I leave the mines. Whether I will then return or not will depend on the state of my finances and on the word I get from you between this and then. It is most probable I will winter in Mexico and think of coming that way and may probably do some business there..." The letter is addressed to his wife in New York "via Panama & Chagres per Steam Ship." Probably a English-Scottish immigrant to America, Charles Sibree, with his brother Henry sailed from New York aboard the Ship Elizabeth on February 16, 1849, arriving in San Francisco on September 25. (A fellow passenger was a destitute Irish immigrant, James Flood, who later became one of the "Bonanza Kings", among the wealthiest men in America.) According to one account, Sibree died aboard ship later that year while sailing home from San Francisco to Panama. Lot Amendments Condition: A few short tears, very good. Item number: 220443
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
