Eureka Moments Revisited Part 4, Levis in the Gold Rush, Myth or Fact ?

    The California Gold Rush produced enough wealth to finance countless business ventures but very few survived to the present day. One of the survivors of that turbulent time is the world renown Levi Strauss & Co. What this post will explore, is the truth behind the persistent story that Levi Strauss sewed blue jean trousers for miners, in the early days of the Gold Rush.

     During my first year of volunteering at Columbia State Historic Park, I was told by the docent in charge of men's costumes, that it was a "fact" that Levi Strauss had personally made canvas trousers for miners from the sailcloth of abandoned ships in San Francisco harbor. He explained that the reason the fabric was dyed blue, was because Levi wanted to hide the fact that the canvas was soiled. Over the years, I have heard many tales of the origins of blue jeans, some even from teachers, who I know have access to accurate information. I've read skewed examples of the story in history books and cringed when I heard "talking head" historians tell their version, in several documentary films. The thing that makes me crazy is that there is an element of truth in some of the "tales" but the actual story is far more interesting. Today's Levi Strauss & Co. has made every effort to tell the true history but the myths continue. I will try to shed some light on this story and then show and tell how I made my own pair of "early" Levis that I use to teach with.




Levis Strauss
Gold Rush Merchant
image courtesy abcpedia.us


    The story starts in 1853, with the arrival in San Francisco of a Bavarian immigrant named Levi Strauss. Levi was acting on behalf of his family's New York dry goods company, J. Strauss Brother & Co., with the intention of starting a new business in the boom or bust "City by the Bay". Dry Goods merchants typically sold fabric and ready-made clothing as their staples and Levi was no exception. He immediately began wholesaling to other merchants who could barely keep up with the needs of their consumers, namely miners. So, here is your first element of truth. A miner could have purchased a pair of typical, strudy work trousers from his local merchant that might have been from Levis's wholesale warehouse, but they would have been made elsewhere, most likely back East. Nothing remarkable here, just the business of business. So what was the big deal that starts the ball rolling towards the birth of the iconic blue-jean ? Well, that isn't until 1873, long after the gold-crazed rush had settled down a bit.

Illustration from the Original
1873 Davis Patent

     A Reno Nevada tailor named Jacob Davis was a good customer of Levi Strauss in the early 1870's. Jacob purchased his fabric from Levi to make his stock-in-trade clothing, some of which was for laborers and Comstock miners. A woman customer had requested that Jacob come up with a way to make sturdier trousers for her husband. Jacob hit on the idea of riveting the seams of his trousers, at their stress points, to improve their longevity. It was so successful that he could barely keep up with the demand for his "new" riveted trousers or waist overalls as they were called. Sensing that his idea might get away, Jacob approached his old business associate Levi Strauss, with the thought of having him help patent this revolutionary concept. Levi knew a good thing when he saw it and the rest is history. Jacob ended up with job at Levi's, producing the new trousers that would soon take the world by storm. The only reason they used blue denim jean, was because it was a favorite fabric choice for work-wear, nothing more. So, what did these first Blue Jeans look like ?

Oldest Pair of Levis, Held by
Lynn Downey, L.S. & Co. Historian
image courtesy fashioncraz.com

      Unfortunately, Levi Strauss & Co. lost all of their early records in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, but on occasion, rare historical material relating to the company, will surface. In the recent past, L. S. & Co. was lucky enough to purchase what they believe is the earliest surviving pair of  jeans, dated circa 1879. When I studied the pictures of those trousers, I discovered that this earliest survivor shares a lot with its modern 501 cousin. The single back pocket,  belted-back and lack of belt loops are the most obvious differences.

My Replica
Images Lindy Miller 2012

     For my replica, I chose to use Past Patterns #710 Union Issue Trowsers pattern to start with. I had to alter the pattern's side pocket design to duplicate the traditional scooping front pockets of the original trousers. My modern 501 jeans gave me just the clues I needed to amend the pattern. A medium weight, 100% cotton denim was easy enough to locate as it's still a common staple in the fabric world. I used the smallest, 2 piece, solid copper rivets I could find and brass 4 hole buttons, which I modified with the addition of a rim and depressed center. I found it was easy to use an awl to open a hole for the rivets, rather than punching one. After wearing the trousers off and on for a year, they've started to look the part of a survivor. It's not a perfect replica as I'm not trying to deceive anyone. The reason I created this replica was to use it as a visual aid while teaching a "truer" version of one of the greatest success stories that ever came out of Gold Rush California.

Replica Rear View

     If you wish more information on the history of the Levi Strauss & Co., I would suggest you visit their website or purchase a copy of  " Images of America, Levi Strauss & Co.", by Lynn Downey, Arcadia Publishing 2007.

Historic Costume Recreations Revisited or A Suspended Project Revived

     I think it's safe to say that people involved in historical crafts, normally have a backlog of projects. It's also a fact that once in awhile a "future" project slips through the cracks. That is exactly what happened to this undertaking, until recently rediscovered.

The original pattern from
Godey's Lady's Magazine, April 1864
Photos Lindy Miller 2012

    Many years ago, someone gave me a pattern for men's crocheted suspenders from the April 1864 issue of Godey's Lady's Magazine. At one point, I made the effort to chase down silk yarn (Empire Silk, Karabella Yarns) and even dyed white yarn to create the "maize" color required. My wife is a great knitter, but since she doesn't crochet, I had to find someone to take this on. Apparently, I wasn't very successful, as the yarn and pattern ended up in a bag, buried and forgotten for almost a decade. Now rediscovered, the project finally got rolling again thanks to the unknown talent of my wife's friend Connie. I knew Connie was a stellar seamstress but I didn't know she crocheted. Yeah !!

Crocheted Strips Completed
 Calf and Kid Ends with Holes Punched
Ready for Stiching

     Once the crocheted strips were completed, I dampened and blocked them to shrink their width slightly. One of the great things about this pattern was the illustration that accompanied it. I've been collecting and studying 19th Century suspenders for years and felt confident to interpret what original examples might have looked like. There certainly is some latitude here, as this pattern was intended for home use. For the leather fittings, I chose a light weight, vegetable tanned calf for the top, and white kid for the underside.

Ends Showing Linen Canvas Extension
and Kid Backside

     When you study the illustration, it appears that the buttonholes were bound. From what I've found, bound button holes seem to appear on nicer versions of suspenders. Since the instructions suggest, " .....a little elasticity is desirable." in the crochet work, I feel that the extender section on the back, must have been  a simple section of canvas, rather than an elastic tape. When you look at it, there appears to be a seam in the middle.

Nelson Goodyear's Patented 1849
Elastic Cord Suspender Ends
Note the Bound Buttonholes

    A "little elasticity" is a good thing in suspenders, so I thought I would augment the crochet with a little elastic cord on the front attachment, courtesy of Nelson Goodyear's patent of 1849.  For the buckle I chose the ubiquitous Hartshorn style, patented in 1855. All of the leather was saddle-stitched with a waxed linen thread and I decided to go ahead and bind the buttonholes with kid, which gave them a nice finished look.

One Side Completed and One
On the Way

     I think they turned out swell, with more than a little help from our friend. Thanks Connie !! You made it happen. Now I have to keep my eye's peeled for more "buried" projects.

Eureka Moments Revisited Part 3, A Divine Project or "The Lord's Cradle"

     Not that Lord !, I'm talking about Israel Shipman Pelton Lord. Way back in 1999, I purchased a copy of the book, "At the Extremity of Civilizaton", An Illinois Physician's Journey to California in 1849, from the author Necia Dixon Liles. Necia promised a good read and I was not dissapointed. The book is described as a "Meticulously Descriptive Diary of an Illinois Physician's Journey in 1849 Along the Oregon Trail to the Goldmines and Cholera of California, Thence in Two Years to Return by Boat Via Panama by Israel Shipman Pelton Lord."

     Descriptive far beyond the usual journal, Lord's account holds details about his experiences that minutia junkies like myself feast on. One of the many delights in this book was Lord's description of a typical Cradle or Rocker, as used in the Gold Rush. In an earlier post, I had mentioned that I used this description to create authentic replica cradles for years, when I had an interpretive carpenter's shop in Columbia State Historic Park. All of the examples I once crafted are long gone but just recently, some pending projects had steered me towards creating one more. I thought it would be fun to share this classic cradle with the reader.

 Detail From an Original Gold Rush Daguerreotype
Showing a Carpenter's Shop in Jacksonville
Image Source Online Auction

     Let's start with Lord's description, from page 221, dated Thursday, March 14, 1850. " Many attempts have been made to improve upon the common rocker, or cradle, for separating the gold from the earth; and in my opinion all have most signally failed. The form is very similar to that of the article of the same name, used to rock children in, and here occasionally put to that use. Think of a cradle worth $55. The common size is four feet long, from sixteen to twenty inches wide on the top, and from six to eight inches deep. The bottom is laid down - from nine to twelve inches broad; next a piece five or six inches wide stands off on each side at an angle of 45 degrees; and then two pieces of like width perpendicular above them, forming  a trough with five unequal sides. These top pieces, at a point about two-fifths from one end, are slanted off, at about the same angle, towards each end; thus making the longest end, or foot of the cradle, the shallowest.

My Version of Lord's Cradle
Note the removeable handle
and reenforced corners, both period details
Photos Lindy Miller 2012

     But this figure is only to lessen the weight, and make it a little more ship-shape. The short end, or head, slopes, perhaps, an inch and a half, and the long one, or foot, over two inches. A piece is next nailed across each end to close it up, the foot having an opening one and a half inches above the bottom, and two inches or less wide, extending to within an inch and a half of the sides of the cradle. A cleat an inch and a half wide is nailed across the bottom at the junction of the two sections and the cradle, and another, midway between that and the foot. In each side (inside) of the head section, is nailed a thin strip of wood, slanting from near the top downwards towards the head, to within two or three inches of the bottom. On this is placed a thin frame, like the screens in a fanning mill, with a piece across the middle, on which is stretched a piece of strong cotton or linen cloth. This reaches to within two or three inches of the head.

Riddle Box lifted to reveal Apron ("cloth plane")

      A box five or six inches deep, and tapering toward the head to four, covering the whole upper section, with the bottom of sheet iron or zinc, punched with holes about two inches apart, and from one half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter, is hung to the head of the cradle by a couple of common three-inch butts. A handle is screwed to the side, and a couple of short rockers, with a short iron pin in the middle of the bottom of each, and the animal is ready to go. It is placed by the water, on a slight frame of two side pieces and two end ones,in the middle of each of which is a hole for the pin in the rocker to play in. These keep the cradle in its place.

Apron removed to show "thin strips of wood"
for support

     Two lazy men sometimes work it, but usually one man is sufficient. He stands or sits with the left hand on the handle, which stands out more or less from the cradle, and in his right which is toward the head, a tin dipper holding two or three quarts. About a pail full of earth is thrown into the box, and the cradler begins to rock backwards and forward, constantly throwing on water, until all is washed that will go through the holes in the metal bottom. The remainder is thrown out, by quickly raising the end of the box, and then the process is repeated.

Underside, showing "rockers", "iron pin(s)",
 bedpiece ("slight frame") and plugs for the drain holes

     Whatever goes through the holes is washed down the inclined cloth-plane, which lies under-and drops into the bottom of the cradle at the very head. From this point it is washed, dashing from side to side, traversing the whole length of the cradle, the bottom of which inclines toward the foot about four and a half inches, tumbling and rolling and whriling over the cleats, and finally rushes out at the opening in the foot.

     Some of the gold usually stays on the cloth plane, unless it is very tensly stretched on the frame - most of the remainder is found in the upper section of the cradle, and some reaches the space between the first and second cleats - seldom lower. When the half day's or day's work is done the cloth is cleaned off into a pan, and the earth and gold in the upper section, and between the first and second cleats of the lower, are put back into the box and run through again.  What remains in the same section is drawn off through holes in the bottom (which at other times are kept plugged) into the pan with what was taken from the cloth and "panned out", such is the term used."

      So, there you have it. During the period, cradles could be as different as the men who built them but they usually followed a similar pattern. I've always liked this particular cradle for many reasons, not the least being that it's extremely effective at processing material and it's just a great looking example, "ship-shape", as Lord put it. For those who are curious, I used full dimension, rough cut pine for most of the construction and cut-nails from Tremont Nail . All the steel is uplated and when I used screws, I removed their plating to keep it reasonably authentic. Rock on !!

Further Digging Into Our Colonial Past, Uncovers a Truly "American" Clay Pipe

      While I was researching 17th Century clay pipes for an earlier post, I came across a style of pipe that I had never seen before. It wasn't at all like the common Dutch or English, white (ball) clay variety, with their bulbous, tiny bowls. This completely different style of pipe is known to archaeologists as a Chesapeake or Colono Pipe. You will sometimes see them identified as Local Pipes, Terra-cotta Pipes, Virginia Pipes or even just Red or Brown Pipes. The evidence suggests that they were produced by local craftsman during most of the 17th Century but apparently fell out of favor by the 18th Century.

A Classic But Plain Chesapeake Pipe
from Emmanuel Drew, 1650-1669
Image Courtesy losttowns.com

     For decades there's been an ongoing debate as to who actually produced these pipes. Strong cases have been made for a probable Native American origin. Other scholars contend that the West African style designs, found on some versions, point to enslaved or indentured African craftsman. This discussion took on a new dimension when it was discovered that an Englishman named Emmanuel Drue, was making his own version of Chesapeake pipes at Swan Cove Maryland. This discovery suggested the possibility that a variety of people were producing this style of pipe at the same time, for personal or local consumption. It now appears that there may have been some sort of "cultural fusion" going on in the early colonies, as these groups freely borrowed from each other in the expression of their craft.

Chesapeake Pipe Fragments Showing Typical Decorations
Image Source Unknown




     What made these pipes interesting to me, is that with the "blending" of cultural influences, in their form and decorations, they became distinctively "American". I think that is worth celebrating, and for me, what better way than to create a replica. There was only one problem, I knew nothing about how to make a clay pipe. Now that this project is behind me and I know a little bit more, I would like to share what I learned with the reader. What the heck, you might want to try it yourself.  I found it a very rewarding and successful project.

An Original Brass Pipe Mold
 19th Century
Note the Bowl Shaper and Vent Wire
Image Courtesy pijpenkabinet

     The first thing I decided, was that I wanted to press solid clay in a mold, rather than pour liquid clay slip into a mold. I felt that this would make a sturdier product and be closer to the way many originals were made. It appears that most original molds were made of cast metal although I did find some primitve wooden ones. I chose to make my mold out of plaster-of-paris, poured around a wooden model of the intended pipe. I also had to plan out how the bowl's interior would be shaped during the clay molding process and how the wire would be inserted for the vent hole. Many clues as to how this was accomplished came from watching a youtube of the last Dutch clay pipe maker at work. He made it look so easy but I knew better.




One of Drue's Pipes
Showing the Use of Rouletting
Wheel
Image Courtesy chipstone.org


     I decided to use the pipes of Emmanuel Drue as my inspiration, mostly because of a fascinating article by Al Luckenbach about the discovery of Mr. Drue and the importance of his work ( Ceramics in America 2004, "The Swan Cove Kiln: Chesapeake Tobacco Pipe Production, Circa 1650-1669 "). Plus, I really loved the way he decorated his pipes using rouletting wheels and custom made stamps. I felt that with enough effort, I could replicate the look and feel of his pipes.

Another of Drue's Pipes
Showing His Custom Stamps
Image Courtesy chipstone.org 

     After crafting the wooden model for the pipe, I sealed it with beeswax, which hopefully would act as a mold release. When designing  the two-part plaster mold, I took into account the usual indentations that key the two halves together. In addition, I thought it best to include two stable dowel slides to guide the halves during the pressing of the clay. Next, I shaped the bowl's interior forming tool of wood and sized it to allow for a fairly thin walled bowl. The depth of the tool was critical as it has to connect with the vent wire, when inserted in the clay. The vent wire had to be thought out as well, as the clay shrinks a little when drying and a little more during firing in the kiln. I used a 1/8" brass rod for the venting wire and gave it a stop collar to maintain its proper depth, when inserted.

My Pipe Factory
Showing from the bottom up,
 Pipe Pattern, Paper Template, 2 Piece Mold,
Bowl Shaper, Vent Wire, Knife, Stamps and Rouletting Wheel
Photos Lindy Miller 2012

     After the plaster mold dried for several days, I bravely began experimenting with the clay and immediately found that there is no substitute for time and patience. The clay I used was Rustone from Columbus Clay in Ohio. It has great modeling properties and fires to a nice terra-cotta color at cone 6. One of earliest challenges after hand rolling out the basic clay form, was carefully piercing the soft clay stem with the vent wire. You have to do it without poking it out the side. I kept thinking of the Dutch pipe maker when he was a beginner, not how skilled he was after thousands of pipes.

Step #1
Rolling Out the Clay
Note the Inserted Bowl Shaper

          I found that by inserting the bowl tool first and then removing it, I could at least see the end of the wire poking into what would become the inside bottom of the finished bowl. All of this is before you go near the plaster mold. Once the vent wire was is in place and the bowl tool removed, I trimmed the clay to a proper length. Next came bending the soft clay into the proper angle and laying it all into one half of the plaster mold.

Step #2
Inserting the Vent Wire



     Once that was accomplished, I lined up the other half of the plaster mold on the wooden dowels and pressed the two halves together. You have to press pretty hard but also keep in mind that the mold is only fragile plaster. In the original process, with metal molds, they used a leverage press or a vise. Once the mold was closed as far as possible, I inserted the bowl tool once more but only to the allowable depth. A few turns of the tool and it was removed.

Step #3
Clay Form is Layed in Mold Half

       Next came checking the vent wire, to see if it was visible at the bottom of the bowl. If all was well, I gently pulled the mold halves apart and released the pipe from one half of the mold. After trimming off the flashing around the pipe outline, I gently lifted it out of the mold, using a finger in the bowl and the end of the vent wire for support. What comes next is more than a little tricky. You have to pull out the vent wire from the soft clay without making a mess of the whole thing. This took practice and produced a number of failed attempts but hey.....that's half the fun. It's only clay you know. You roll it up and try again.

Step #4
After the Pressing
Ready for Trimming and Removal



     After the blank clay pipes were air dried for a couple of hours, I carefully picked them up and began the decorating process. Yeah !! Now we're into the fun stuff, right ? Maybe. This was also the best time to clean-up any left over flashing and check for cosmetic problems. To recreate something approximating the original rouletting tools, I used old clock gears that I was lucky to have. After stacking three gears together, I soldered them into a single tool. For the stamps, I carved the ends of dowels to match a negative of the original designs. By experimenting with their impression, I finally came up with something close to Drue's originals. I found out that it took a direct and slightly firm hand to stamp and roll out the designs in the soft clay. By inserting the bowl tool back into the pipe for support, I could decorate the outside of the bowl without collapsing it. I learned all of this the hard way.

The Fruit of My Labor
Note the Stamped Designs


       Once all the finished pipes were dry enough, they were fired in our kiln to turn into what I think are reasonable replicas of an obscure but important piece of Americana. A little bit of recreated history from the forgotten century of our great nation's past.

Lots of Fruit !!

A Simple Request Leads to a "Smart" Candle Snuffer

     Okay, this story is a little different but still very much in keeping with my interest in the history of our sensible ancestors. My wife routinely makes beeswax candles, using a period style tin mold. For her, it's more about dealing with our predictable power-outages, rather than some kind of living history. She recently asked if I would make her a couple of candle snuffers, along the lines of the one we purchased years ago, at Sturbridge Village.

My Copies of 19th Century Tin Snuffers
Image Lindy Miller 2011

    Not the biggest of challenges but to keep it fun, I started with an image search on Google. I was looking for any original 19th century snuffers to use as models. I was successful in my initial search, finding a couple of suitable examples but then, one really cool version jumped right off the page. It suddenly reminded me of a "mechanical" snuffer I found on an online auction, years ago. Luckily, I had saved a picture of the "patented" automatic snuffer, in a file.




Patented Automatic Snuffer
from an Online Auction


     What I liked most about the Google image snuffer, was its simplicity and easily understood mechanics. I thought to myself, I can make the simple tin "Witch's Hat" versions to fill the need but a replica of the mechanical marvel would rate as a Christmas gift, for sure.




From "The End of Energy Obesity"
by Peter Tartzakian
Image Courtesy Google


     Continuing my research for examples of the automatic variety, I discovered a drawing from the 1860's of yet another version. The first Google image was identified in a book as 18th century and I seem to remember that the Patented example was from the 1880's ( I haven't found the exact record yet ). Either way, these little devices apparently saw service over time, or were just a recuring novelty.

The Reverend Thomas Butler's Version
Circa 1860's
Image Courtesy dorsetforyou.com



My Replica on the Job

      For the replica, I chose brass as I had some flat stock in various thicknesses. I used a springy brass for the clamp and a heavier gauge for the arms and snuffer. The best part is that the dang thing works. It works great. Such a simple idea but considering what candles cost our ancestors in time, it's no wonder they thought of a way to manage their consumption.

     For the curious, the way it works is, you clamp the mechanism on the candle below where you want it to burn to and then stab the arm into the candle's middle. The trick is to make sure the stabbing arm goes deep enough to allow the dropping arm (snuffer) to lean past straight-up, a little towards the candle. What happens is that when the candle burns down far enough, it releases the stabber and down comes the snuffer. It's actually fun to watch, but that's just me. My wife loved the gift and now has snuffers with options. As the saying goes, "waste not, want not".



"Good Night !"

    

Eureka Moments Revisited, Part 2, Exploring the Mysterious Origins of the Gold Rush Rocker / Cradle

         The intention of this post is to peel away some of the layers of speculation and hopefully shed a little light on the possible origins of the Gold Rush mining machine known in California as the Rocker or Cradle. When I had my carpenter's shop in Columbia State Historic Park (1998-2008), it was my "stock in trade" to build and sell authentic replica Cradles. Over the years I sold hundreds of copies of a plan I developed to build a smaller version, based on the original measured drawing by Joseph G. Bruff ( "Gold Rush", Vol. 1, pg 424). One of my favorite patterns of a period Cradle, was the one described by Israel Pelton Lord in his Gold Rush journal ( "At the Extremity of Civilization", pg. 221). It had all the attributes of a classic "coffin bottomed" Cradle and was small enough to be portable. I used a replica of Lord's Cradle for many years to teach mining history to 4th Graders by giving demonstrations in front of my shop, complete with dirt, water and of course....gold!.

Hands-on California History Lesson
Yours Truly and Eager 4th Graders

                                  What is a Cradle or Rocker ?


     For those that don't know, here is one description of a Cradle from 1861, my additions to the description are in italics, ( "Mining in the Pacific States of North America", John S. Hittell, pg. 129) "It resembles, in size and shape, a child's cradle, has similar rockers, and is rocked in a similar manner; whence the name. The cradle box is a wooden trough, about twenty inches wide and forty long, with sides four inches high. The lower end is left open ( the cradle is placed on a slope with the open end being lower). On the upper end sits a hopper or riddle, which is a box twenty inches square, with sides four inches high, and a bottom of sheet iron or zinc, pierced with numerous holes, half an inch in diameter ( the hopper is where you put the dirt and by pouring water on it and rocking the machine, begin the process of separating the gold from the surrounding earth). Under the hopper is an apron of wood or cloth, which slopes down from the lower end of the hopper to the upper end of the cradle box ( the apron deflects the dirt that washed through the hopper, forcing it to the back of the machine). A strip of wood an inch square, called a riffle bar, is nailed across the bottom of the cradle box, about its middle, and another at its lower end ( the riffle bars are like little dams to trap the heavier gold as it is released from the surrounding earth on its way to the open end). Under the bottom of the cradle box are nailed two rockers, so that a rocking motion may be given to the machine." One thing worth noting here is the size of the machine, rather small and very portable but that might not be the way they started out. Read on !




Basic Tools of the Gold Rush Miner
Note the Cradle at the Bottom
Drawing by Fritz Wikersheim, Circa 1850
Image Courtesy Bancroft Library




     It's generally agreed upon by historians, that the Cradle was introduced to California by the Georgia miner Issac Humphrey, who built the first one sometime around March 9th, 1848, on the American River( Bancroft, "History of California" Vol. VI 1848-1859, Chapter V, pg. 67).  It was recently brought to my attention by my friend Nelson Snook, that there is a noteworthy challenge to this supposed fact, that deserves attention. What I'm interested in exploring besides who gets the credit, is the origin of the machine itself. Granted, it saw service in the Georgia Gold Rush of 1829 but it wasn't invented there and certainly not by Humphrey, as some have claimed. I feel that the European miners who participated in the Georgia Gold Rush would certainly have used the technology they brought with them, but how did it all come together in California?



                           The Challenge to Humphrey

      The challenge to Issac Humphrey's title as the "first" to employ a cradle in California, comes from one of the Mormon laborers working on Sutter's mill. James Stephens Brown was an eyewitness to the beginnings of the Gold Rush and he wrote in his reminiscence, ( "California Gold", pg 14) published in 1894, " Alexander Stephens dug out a trough, leaving the bottom round like a log.........he commenced to rock the trough, which led to the idea of a rocker.......The rocker above mentioned led to the renowned gold rocker; I am under the impression that Stephens did make the first rocker ever used in California." Brown doesn't actually say when this happened and is only under the impression that this was the first rocker.

     Henry William Bigler ( another eyewitness) noted in his diary ( "Bigler's Chronicle of the West", Erwin G. Gudde, pg. 109) that "Elie (Alexander) Stephens dug out a wooden dish that he used to wash in..." This recounting of the mill workers using whatever was available for mining tools, is dated April 13, 1848, more than a month after Humphrey was cradling on the American River. Kenneth Owens in "Gold Rush Saints" (pg. 128) speculates "...Alexander Stephens, who had perhaps spent time in western Georgia's placer mining districts..." could quite possibly have built the first cradle, as Brown claimed. Stephens was actually from North Carolina and it's possible he might have participated in the region's gold rush.  We may never know for sure who deserves the full credit for the first cradle, as there may have been several "firsts" as the mining region expanded beyond the American River.

     So, what exactly did a North Carolina / Georgia cradle look like? The best account I have found to date comes from the "American Journal of Science and Arts", 1st series XIII, 1828 ("Remarks on the Gold Mines of North Carolina", Charles E.Roth, pg 208-209) " A rocker is a simple machine, made of inch,or three quarter inch plank, in the shape of a cylinder equally divided lengthwise. A common barrel thus bisected would, in form, make two of these rockers, though they would be rather smaller than is common. The rocker is placed on two poles, laid on the ground parallel with each other, and crosswise to the rocker, one near each end, so as to make it rock easily and regularly." The text goes on to describe the use of a dipper for adding water and a common hoe to stir the saturated earth as it moves along the incline. There is no mention of a sieve and / or riffles to catch the gold. It states that the fine gold was picked out with the point of a knife! What is fascinating to me is the primitive simplicity of this rocking trough even though more advanced machines existed before and during this time. Read on for more !


                                  The Earliest Origins of the Cradle
 

16th Century Gold Mining
Book VIII, Page 326
De Re Metallica

      The most compelling evidence I've uncovered for the origin of the cradle, comes from the first mining technology handbook, printed in 1556. Georgius Agricola published "De Re Metallica as a "Biographical Introduction, Annotations and Appendices upon the Development of Mining Methods, Metallurgucal Processes, Geology, Mineralogy & Mining Law from the earliest times to the 16th Century." It would have been too easy to open the book and find my proto-Cradle, but what I did discover instead was that the European Renaissance miner, used  machines that would have been recognizable to any 49er. Most appear to be simple sluices with staged riffles and some have attached riddle boxes or sieves at the upper end. I feel these machines have an ancestoral connection to what would become the Cradle and even the Long Tom, but the Tom's history is another story.

17th Century Gold Mining
From "The Miner's Own Book"
Note the Rocking Riddle Box

     Another enticing piece of the puzzle is in "The Miners' Own Book : California Mining ", published in 1858. On page 28 is an illustration of Placer Mining two hundred years ago. That would put it at 1658, a little later than De Re Metallica. It looks like the engraving might have been taken from an original illustration but no source is given. What makes this important is that the miners are rocking what appears to be the riddle box, suspended from chains. This addition of motion is a strong clue for the "rocking" aspect of our Cradle.

Oscar Willis' Ore Washer
Patented Sept. 5, 1832
Image Courtesy Google Patent Search

     Chris Worick of the Lumpkin County Georgia Historical Society suggested I look into early mining machine patents that pre-date the California Gold Rush. I discovered that several were the result of the Southern mining experience. Oscar Willis' "Ore Washer" patented Sept. 5, 1832 ( pat. 7222X) caught my eye, as it had many of the features of the 1658 apparatus and suggests that the earlier knowlege was available and understood.

      In the 1658 illustration's associated text, we have the perfect statement regarding the so called advancement of mining technology, ".....that most new discoveries are mere recoveries of things of value from the oblivion of past ages." So, in closing I would say that the Cradle's ancestry is very likely multi-cultural as it's clearly a child born of the world-wide pursuit of the "yellow stuff" but its actual origin might be lost in the murky shadows of the past. I'll just keep looking for clues.


                                      The First California Cradle

        So, what did that first Cradle built by Issac Humphrey or even Stephens really look like ? There is evidence that it may have been a little different than what we are used to seeing in later period images. Since no one was there with a camera or sketch pad when the Gold Rush was revolutionized with machinery, we must rely on someone's observations. My friend Derek Manov reminded me to dig into the highly detailed letters written by U.S.Consul to California, Thomas O. Larkin. ( "The Larkin Papers", Vol. VII, pg. 301-302)  Larkin wrote in a letter to James Buchanan (Sect. of State), dated June 28th, 1848, " These men...had two machines, each made from one hundred feet of boards,......made similar to a child's cradle ten feet long without ends." Later in the same letter he says, " I at last purchased a log dug out, with a riddle and seive made of willow boughs on it..... . My Californian has told me since, that himself, partner and two Indians obtained with this canoe eight ounces ...."

     Another reliable witness to the earliest cradles, was Jacques Antoine Moerenhout. Monsieur Moerenhout was the French consul at Monterey and when he heard about the discovery of Gold on the American River, he booked it to the diggins' as soon as he could. His reports back to the French goverment are full of details about those amazing first months of the Gold Rush. Moerenhout's observations are a little later than Larkin's and it appears that he is seeing less rude machines with metal riddles instead of woven willows. He states,("The Inside Story of the Gold Rush", part 2, pg. 18)  ".....these are wooden troughs or boxes that have exactly the form of a dugout canoe, but open at one end. This trough or dugout is 12 or 14 feet long and inside it pieces of wood or ribs are nailed or fastened, running across it at intervals of a foot or 15 inches, exactly like the ribs of a boat.......On top, at the front of the machine is affixed another box which is about two feet long of the same width as the machine and fits on it. At the bottom of this box is an iron grate or simply a sheet of copper, tinplate or iron (perforated) with holes from half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter."  What got me excited about these descriptions were the references to"dugout canoes" when describing the Cradle's forms and their enormous lengths.

A Miner With His Very Primitve Cradle
That Appears to Be a Dugout Log
Drawn By John Woodhouse Audubon in 1850

     In another account, Henry Vizetelly ( "Four Months Among the Gold-Finders, Being the Diary of an Expedition from San Francisco to the Gold District", Chapter X) wrote in his diary, ".... building our cradles, or "gold canoes," as the Indians called them.....". Once again, Vizetelly's words support the idea that the "canoe" reference was understood. What I'm getting from this, is that these earliest Cradles ( and possibly later ones) were apparently crafted from hollowed-out logs ( like a dugout). Also, because of the natural roundness of the log, they could be rocked easily (no need for added rockers). They were apparently larger and more primitive than the later, more portable and carefully constructed versions, yet more sophisticated (with riddles and riffles) than the 1828 North Carolina versions. The rapid evolution of this machine in the California gold fields, was likely due to the increasing availability of sawn lumber, the restless prospector's need for mobility and his determination to improve on past technology.

      By late 1849-50, the Cradle's status as the primary mining tool of choice in California was soon diminished by more efficient devices like the Long Tom , but it continued to be used in small scale mining operations for many years to come by Chinese miners and others. The cradle, with its highly recognizable form, continues to this day to evoke the very spirit of a Gold Rush and as those 4th Graders always tell me, it's just "way cool"  fun to work one.

 The Chinese in California
Were Known to Favor Cradling 
Which They Excelled At 

Another Chapter in Early Pipe Lore, Or How They Kept Their Clays Safe





     While investigating the early history of pipe smoking, I frequently found speculation on the supposed disposability of clay pipes. One writer even claimed that a smoker would break several a day and never worry about it because they were so throw-away cheap. Clumsy brute ! In my humble opinion, the enormous number of broken pipes found by archaeologists, is just a testament to their inherently fragile nature and a reminder of the once widespread popularity of smoking in general.





"The Card Players"
 by Josse van Craesbeek 1645
Note the Pipe in the Hat
Image Courtesy of the Getty Museum

     So how exactly did the early smoker keep his or her clay pipe safe ? There is no doubt, as evidence suggests, that some folks just tucked their pipes into their hat bands, keeping them out of harms way until needed. Period imagery supports the idea that in the early 19th Century, some Native Americans wore their clay pipes attached to a small tobacco pouch suspended from their necks. Contemporarily, fur trappers did the same with their Gage d'Amour pouches, supposedly crafted by their native brides.

A Fur Trapper Painted by Alfred Jacob Miller in 1837
Note His Heart-Shaped Gage d'Amour
Pouch and Clay Pipe

Delaware Chief  Tish - Co - Han
By McKenny Hall
Image Courtesy Philadelphia Print Shop

    My interest peaked when I discovered that begining in the 17th Century and far into the 19th, many smokers used specifically designed and carefully crafted wooden ( and occasionally metal ) cases to protect their pipes. This notion of a specially designed case challenges the disposability theory and  instead, celebrates the sensibility of our ancestors, a notion I always appreciate. I felt a project coming but first I would need a great pipe to build a case around.

    A few years back, I learned about Heather Coleman and her clay pipes. Heather lives in the UK and has a studio called Dawnmist. One of her many talents is to craft historic clay pipes that I believe are some of the most authentic out there. Many of today's replica clays are made of clay slip, poured in a mold, unlike the originals that were formed by pressing solid clay in a mold. The difference is obvious when you compare the two. Heather makes hers in the traditional manner, so I went ahead and ordered her classic 17th Century example, copied from 1630-1670 originals.

Heather Coleman's 1630-1670 Clay Pipes
One of those is mine !

     While researching the surviving examples of wooden cases, it became apparent that there were two basic versions defined by how they functioned. You either had a case with a sliding lid, that allowed for the pipe's removal from the top or you had a hinged cover variety, with its swinging opening at the bowl end of the pipe case, which allowed for removal out the end. In a museum newsletter on one of my favorite sites, the Dutch Pijpen Kabinet, there was a discussion of a recently aquired pipe case having the "earlier" style sliding lid. I also found several sliding lid examples from a Christies Auction, identified as 18th Century. Some of these were carved to resemble pistols. Way cool ! Many cases appear to be professionally carved and were most likley products of specialized shops.

Three Examples of the "Sliding Lid" Variety
Image Coutesy Christies



A Classic Example of the "Hinged End" Variety
Image Courtesy Christies


     I did discover a more homey "whittled" version of the sliding top, pistol form case, on a fantastic French Archaeology site called La Natiere. This little treasure was recovered from the wreck of the frigate La Dauphine, which was lost in 1704. As a bonus, the case still held its clay pipe. Isn't that amazing ! I'm sure the sailor who made it was quite proud of his work. It also proves that some cases were home-made.

Top View of Sailor's Pipe Case from the Wreck of La Dauphine 1704
Image Courtesy of La Natiere

Bottom View
Image Courtesy La Natiere

    At this point in the process, I decided to make my version of a pipe case as a sliding lid variety. I chose a piece of easy-to-carve cedar for my first attempt, even though most of the originals seem to be boxwood or fruitwood. Before my pipe arrived, I scaled a paper template from Heather's photo of it and crafted the main two parts of the case. The hardest part was getting the tapered channels to fit properly in order for the sliding lid to function.

First Stage of the Case Replica
Roughly Profiled and Lid Fitted
Photos Lindy Miller 2011

      It didn't go unoticed that the sailor's version had an ingenious swinging slide design that kept the lid attached. I decided to make my lid removable as was suggested by other examples. This is all guesswork, you know, as I rarely get to study original examples in person.

Pipe Arrives !! Now the Interior is Hollowed Out
and the Form is More Rounded



    This is one of those projects that needs to evolve to some unknown point. I'm not sure if I should do some decorative chip carving on this one, or make another case from hardwood.  Okay.....let's finish this one with some beginner chip carving and worry about a "better" case later.

Ta - Da, It's Done and Not Too Bad
But I Love the Pipe !