Their goal was to purchase land and stay there for the rest of their lives. In early July 1850, a prospector who appeared as though he could not afford anything gave Luzena a gold claim in exchange for one of her delicious dinners. By the time her husband came back that evening she already had twenty men eating at her table in the El Dorado hotel. The two started dating and quickly fell in love with each other. Mrs. It wasnt until the sun began to slowly sink in the sky and Mason announced it was time to make camp that Luzena became terrified. Luzena's memoirs do not specify if her husband came with them or if he found other transportation beforehand or afterward. The native tribes of California saw themselves as stewards not owners of the land. In 1881, Luzenas daughter helped her compile her remembrances into a book entitled, Argonaut: A Womans Reminiscences of Early Days, . She served as the United Kingdom's Children's Laureate from 2005 to 2007. 1824), a millworker, and James Gregson (b. via pinterest.com. Luzena recounted her memoirs to her daughter Correnah, in which she describes her journey from the early days in Sacramento, her founding of the "El Dorado" hotel in Nevada City, and her purchase of land in Vaca. After four or five days of easy traveling, the Wilsons pitched their tent along the first outlying range of low foothills. Once in Sacramento, Luzena quickly learned the value of being a female minority in a male-dominated group. In addition to Luzena, her husband, sons, her brothers, and their wives had committed to travel to California as well. She admitted they were in more danger of the elements and terrain than any Native Americans they encountered along the way. She made one fortune in the Klondike Gold Rush, lost it, and amassed a second, which lasted most of her life. Guests slept behind a hay bale. Torrie instantly connected with wrestler Billy Kidman backstage. The Alta Californialamented, "We must confess our regret at the perfect freedom and unseemly manner in which the abandoned females are permitted to display themselves in our public saloons and streets.". She eagerly agreed to the payment, imagining the mine would be a quick way to renew the fortune she had lost. Rumors circulated during that time suggested that Mason might have been suffering from a mental illness. Three payments had been made on the plot of land the Wilsons purchased in January 1847. Luzena Stanley Wilson, '49er (1937) contains reminiscences of her overland journey and early years in California dictated to her daughter in 1881. The $10 Biscuit As the Wilsons moved west, they found the trail littered with household items discarded to lighten loads of the tired beasts. Mason Wilson, Luzenas husband of five years, marched into the house just as she closed the lid on the trunk and fastened it tightly. However, as they began their travels into the West and encountered the vast deserts reality set in. But even so her husband, your father, became wearied. Not long after that, government surveyors came to officially lay out the town of Benicia in Vaca Valley. The Wilsons thought that unless they were able to rid some weight they would be dropped behind the others in the caravan and traveling alone could be dangerous. He swore that he would either have the land or kill every man who disputed his ownership. The winter rains and melting snow saturated the earth like a sponge, and the wagons sunk like lead in the sticky mud, Luzena wrote in her journal. In 1881, Luzena's daughter, Correnah, became very ill. To make the time pass, Luzena recounted the stories of her early days in California. Luzena and Mason purchased another boarding house in Sacramento. Luzena Stanley Wilson '49er: Her Memoirs as Taken Down by Her Daughter in 1881 Paperback - October 20, 2014 by Correnah Wilson Wright (Author) 4.2 out of 5 stars 6 ratings I had read and heard whole volumes of their bloody deeds, the massacre of harmless white men, torturing helpless women, carrying away captive children the most precious in the wide world, and I lived in an agony of dread that first night.7, Luzena noted in her memoirs that the Indians never posed any threat to her or her family. Luzena Stanley Wilson (c. 18201902), Luzena Stanley Wilson '49er: Her Memoirs as Taken Down by her Daughter in 1881, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luzena_Wilson&oldid=1066877984, Wilson, Luzena Stanley. Like thousands of others, Luzena undertook the nearly 2,000 mile journey to an unknown land, where she'd rise from flood and fire, a survivor of the wild frontier. As time went on, the area became more populated. Her kitchen was also her bank vault. The white settlers who arrived during the Gold Rush brought a different view. So, I bought two boards from a precious pile belonging to a man who was building the second wooden house in town. To add to the miseries of the trip it rained, and one night when the wagon was mired and we could not shelter under it, we slept with our feet pushed under it and an old cotton umbrella spread over our faces. The new business had two stories, a billiard room, and a large parlor. Luzena Stanley Wilson, ne Hunt (c. 1820-1902) was a California Gold Rush entrepreneur. Some died in battles fought with Native Americans trying to protect their lands, but more succumbed to illness, accidents, and to violence among wagon train members. At the time, Sacramento was infested with the horrible creatures.20, After three months, the Wilsons moved on to a valley north of Sacramento called Benicia. The Value of Domestic Arts Wilson came overland to California from Missouri with her husband and two small children in 1849. Her meager beginnings with the Wilsons Hotel grew once again into a money-making business. We were again penniless, however, and felt that we must get to work, Luzena noted in her journal. Name: Republica de Colombia or Republic of Colombia. Since there were virtually no women to tend to the men's needs, men often interacted with women they didn't know. In May 1857, the couple welcomed a daughter, Correnah. With a full table at every meal, they had ten thousand dollars invested in the business within six months. The Wilsons packed up and moved to the rough mining camp of Nevada City. Her mere presence meant she could command top dollar for her meals. Wilson was a noble woman and her death will be profoundly regretted.29. Luzena recounted her memoirs to her daughter Correnah, in which she describes her journey from the early days in Sacramento, her founding of the "El Dorado" hotel in Nevada . Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! Mason Wilson, Luzena's husband, told her it would be necessary to abandon her dirty, but prized calico apron, and three sides of bacon to spare the oxen on the ever-worsening roads. We took possession of a deserted hotel which stood on K Street, Luzena wrote in her memoirs. When she and her husband moved from Missouri to California in 1849, she was just following his dreams of striking it rich in the gold fields. Luzena sold the property for $100 to a miner. Edith Wilson served as the First Lady of the United States from December 18, 1915 until March 4, 1921. Mason supplied the variety of meat Luzena served to her boarders. Luzena had went with her husband and brought along their two kids. Each man as he rose put a $1 in my hand and said I might count him as a permanent customer.12, Within six weeks of opening her business, Luzena had earned enough to pay the money owed to the miner who brought the Wilsons to Nevada. The Wilsons packed up and moved to the rough mining camp of Nevada City. In 1850 women made up just three percent of the non-Native American population in California's mining region. But the longest way has an end. Her culinary skills were popular during the rebuilding of the mining camp. It was May 1, 1849, Luzenas birthday. The day before she finally made it to Sacramento, they passed a mining camp where a man offered her five dollars for a biscuit she had made. The Hardship of Heading West Nevada City was sixty miles from Sacramento. Ruthless: Monopoly's Secret History (espaol), Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. As always occurs to the mind of a woman, I thought of taking in boarders, she wrote in her journal. Her parents, Asa and Diane Hunt, had relocated from Piedmont, North Carolina, to Saint Louis in 1843, but the trip was comparatively easy. With my own hands I chopped stakes, drove them into the ground, and set up my table. 2023 COWGIRL Magazine/Modern West Media, Inc. | COWGIRL is a registered trademark of Modern West Media, Inc. All rights reserved.. Wild Women Wednesday: Luzena Stanley Wilson, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. In May 1857, the couple welcomed a daughter, Correnah. answer choices. You could have seen your future lives. A wife usually stayed behind and managed the home while the man tried his luck at striking gold. He was found guilty of theft, not only of the mule, but also the earnings of the young man who had placed confidence in him, [and who] gave him his bag of gold dust to take out. As time went on, the area became more populated. Mrs. The winter rains and melting snow saturated the earth like a sponge, and the wagons sunk like lead in the sticky mud, Luzena wrote in her journal. 1822), a blacksmith, were natives of England who married in Rhode Island in 1843 and almost immediately schemed to escape to the West. He did not travel far before he was overtaken and brought before a jury, the Sacramento Transcript newspaper reported on the scene. As a married American woman, Luzena Wilson reminded many miners of home, of their mothers, wives and sisters. Her final statement in her memoirs remarked how the difficulties of her earlier pioneer days are left far behind in this current age of plenty. Weight: 200-450 kg. He told her he had removed $16,000 from the mine the day before. The Alta Californialamented, "We must confess our regret at the perfect freedom and unseemly manner in which the abandoned females are permitted to display themselves in our public saloons and streets.". Kids play area . On her last known visit to Vacaville in November 1901, the newspaper noted her presence, calling her "one of the earliest settlers, coming here in 1851.". I'll never forget a September 3, 1987, afternoon game. The journal she started at the beginning of their harrowing trip did not end when she arrived in California on October 1, 1849. Her parents, Asa and Diane Hunt, had relocated from Piedmont, North Carolina, to Saint Louis in 1843, but the trip was comparatively easy. Luzena Wilson, an average pioneer woman, was offered a ten-dollar gold piece to cook a miner some breakfast, simply because he "wanted bread made by a woman." (Levy 92) An anonymous letter from a California woman published in the Merchant's Magazine and Commercial Review in 1852 reads: " I have made about $18,000 worth of pies. She paused. Luzena recounted her memoirs to her daughter Correnah, in which she describes her journey from the early days in Sacramento, her founding of the "El Dorado" hotel in Nevada City, and her purchase of land in Vaca. The Hardship of Heading West She, Mason and the children ran to the top floor of the hotel and stayed there for seventeen days as the floodwaters lapped outside. He was a dynamic reformer in domestic affairs, signing legislation to lower tariffs (taxes on importing and exporting goods) and regulate businesses and banks. The majority of boarders at the Trumbow House were men. The wooden structure was the first one of its kind built in Vaca Valley. 00:20:46 - Queens of the Mines features the authentic stories of gold rush women who blossomed from the camouflaged, twisted roots of California. The majority of boarders at the Trumbow House were men. The new business had two stories, a billiard room, and a large parlor. 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