History:

Documents From Nevada History

Nevada's First District Attorney

 [From The Life and Adventures of Col. L.A. Norton, Pacific Press Publishing House, Oakland: 1887.  A digital version of the full text of this work can be seen here, as part of the "California as I Saw It:" First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900" Collection of the Library of Congress]

CHAPTER XXXIX.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY IN WESTERN UTAH.

IN 1855, the Mormons came into Carson Valley in force to make a settlement, claiming it to be a portion of Utah. They organized and established themselves in Carson County. Elder Orson Hyde was sent out as the leading spirit of the enterprise, and, by the way, they could not have sent a better man for the position. The third judicial district of Utah was organized, and W. W. Drummond was appointed judge of the United States district court. Orson Hyde was elected probate judge, but they had no district attorney, and Hyde came to Placerville and insisted upon my taking the appointment. I consented and accompanied him to Carson Valley.

Genoa was a little center, where Col. John Reese resided; there was a store, a saw and grist-mill, and the place was dignified with the title of the village of Genoa. On our arrival I found some two hundred Mormons camped, with tents, covered wagons, and shanties. I soon found myself surrounded with Mormons, and my blankets, saddle-bags, overcoat, and traps generally were stripped from my horse and thrown down in a large tent which, from the appearance of things, seemed to be the tent of Hyde; and all seemed ready to perform the duties of body-guard generally to Hyde. They rushed around and soon had a substantial meal prepared, to which the elder and myself did ample justice.

After dinner I went back to the big tent (which, by the way, was subdivided), and commenced looking for

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my baggage, as I wanted a cigar from my saddle-bags. But imagine my surprise and chagrin, for on examination there was not a vestige of my plunder where I had left it, or in sight. I did not know what to do. I did not feel like coming out and getting into a row with the Mormons the first thing on my arrival, and Hyde had gone out among his people to attend to some of his many duties. Well, I was perplexed, but concluded on the whole to forego my cigar and await the return of Hyde. On his return I rather shamefacedly told the elder that my things had all disappeared and I could not imagine what had become of them. I noticed a broad grin overspread the old man's face, when he remarked that we would go and see if we could find them. On entering the tent he addressed one of the lackeys and asked him what was done with the gentleman's things. He immediately led the way to a small room partitioned off with canvas. Upon one side of the room was a long pole on two crotches set in the ground, and there, neatly brushed, hung all my clothes, saddle-bags, and fixtures; and I soon discovered that I was not a subject to be robbed by the Mormons, but rather to be treated as a favored guest.

This was in the latter part of August, 1855. The weather was warm, and the old elder, or rather the probate judge of Carson County, and myself stowed ourselves away in the tent, rolled in our blankets for the night. We had not lain long before we had a realizing sense that there were about as many fleas as there were grains of sand under us, and that we were surrounded and covered with them to that extent that we were compelled to beat a hasty retreat and seek other quarters.

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There was a small hay-stack near by, of which we took possession. We shook our clothing and blankets and again turned in; but it was no go. The old judge could not stand the assault as well as I could; he had a buffalo robe, and he finally got up, divested himself of every stitch of clothing, and rolled himself in his robe, the flesh side next to his body, and then curled down on the hay and was soon asleep. But as for myself, I had no alternative but to surrender at discretion and submit to the torture until morning. How the Mormons stood it I do not know.

Now there was a beautiful cold mountain stream flowing through the place, running and sparkling over its sandy bed, and a large bowlder had parted the stream a short distance above our quarters, and left a little island of sand about ten feet wide and twenty feet long, with a nice flow of water each side of it. I told the judge that I thought we might yet get the best of the fleas; that we could put a couple of armfuls of hay in the stream long enough to get the fleas out of it, then take it out onto the little islet, spread it out in the sun and let it dry; then soak our blankets for an hour, wring them out and let them dry; then put some poles and brush on the sand and put our hay onto that, and thus fortify against the fleas.

The idea struck the old judge favorably, and before night his slaves had carried the whole thing out to perfection, and it proved a success. And before the week had elapsed there at least a dozen little islands with similar sleeping arrangements in the stream, made by throwing in rocks above and sand below. It worked

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well, but it was one of the inventions for which I never applied for a patent. After a time our court was fairly organized, and when the business of the term was concluded, Orson Hyde and myself had become fast friends. I found that the old man possessed a fine intellect, and a kind and genial disposition, all backed up by a liberal education. He had a versatile mind, and was possessed of great energy of character. This was about the time when there was quite a dispute regarding the location of the line between California and Utah. The old man and myself took observations by the north star, not through a goose-quill. but an instrument about as simple. I say we took observations; well, he took the observations and I looked on. We lay by the same camp-fire and slept under the same blankets, and Mormon elder as he was, I learned to love the old man. In fact I have heard him preach ofttimes; his text was always from the Bible, and was always of that instructive character that would interest intelligent hearers. And during all the time I was with him I never heard him preach one of their doctrinal sermons. In fact, I got the statement from the Mormons that he had such differences with the church that he had withdrawn on two or three different occasions, but each time the leaders had pursued him until the matter had been fixed up between them. The following extracts of letters will show something of the feelings he entertained towards me:--

CAPT. L. A. NORTON-- My Dear Sir :...To illustrate the present state of political affairs, allow me here to relate an anecdote. Several years ago, a young lawyer in the little town of K--, in Ohio, by the

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name of N. M., got very drunk, and cast anchor under the lee of a worm fence by the roadside, to snooze off the great quantity of steam which the fire of alcohol had raised or caused to generate in his boiler. After enjoying this repose for a time, he was abruptly disturbed in his spirit dreams by the rough "hallo" of a passing stranger. "Get up here," said the stranger, "who are you?" The inebriate answered (rubbing his eyes and scratching his head, with an occasional yawn), "When I lay down here, I was N. M., the young lawyer; but now I don't know whether I'm Joe Smith, the prophet, or Sidney Rigdon, his spokesman." The old political landmarks are broken down, and the lines of distinction cannot be traced. A general melee ensues, in which every participant "goes it on his own hook," hardly knowing who he is or what he is. Who or what will come out best, time must determine. Meanwhile, for one, I will be only a looker-on, and take items -- watch the signs of the times and of the weather, which, by the by, has generally been very cold and dry here, though for the last week we have had a little rain and considerable snow.

Our citizens bitterly complain about paying one-half per cent county tax upon a very low assessment, and one-fourth per cent territorial tax even after our legislature has appropriated the territorial tax to the use and benefit of this new county. The citizens here are rather generous and public-spirited! You may expect to see Carson County "excelsior" under this order of things. They still claim, that is, some of them, that they are in California, though the line has been correctly established, I believe. At the Lawson diggings, manifestly in California, they claim that they are in Utah, for the sole

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purpose of dodging taxation. In my late trip to that region, I took observations every night from the north star, not exactly "through a goose-quill," but with instruments nearly as simple, and am confident they are in California. The truth of the matter is this: the eastern range of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is the natural boundary and ought to be adopted. Then the expense and trouble of a survey would be avoided. Indeed, it is already the legal boundary for a long distance. But the trouble is, we do not intend to pay taxes, if we can possible dodge that bowlder. Anyway, between wind and water, between California and Utah you must not touch our purse. We are lords of the soil.

I am a conscientious Mormon. I live and practice that religion, expect to live and die in that faith, because I believe it to be true; and whatever faults its professors may have, however exaggerated, shakes my faith no more than the murders, thefts, robberies, and the vast catalogue of crimes that come in every week's papers from the Golden State, shakes yours in the political economy or code of California enactments. I believe that the only crime (if crime it is) that the good people of this country can lay to my charge is, that I am a Mormon. Some, however, care nothing about it. Others think it a damning sin to be suffered in the midst of their profanity, general gambling, and horse-racing on the Sabbath and other days. Still, the people are kind and neighborly. But I have been very careful not to dishonor any of these entertainments, by being a participant, or even to be present; and I never intend to dishonor any such amusements, here or elsewhere, by my presence, when I can reasonably avoid it.

If mine

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is the only house of prayer in all western Utah, it may be a digression from the practice worthy to be an exception.

But I must stop talking to you so freely about things directly and indirectly connected with my religion, lest some may think, from the liberty I take with you in writing, that you also are a little tinctured with Mormonism. But the freedom that I have indulged in with you arises from that natural friendship which I feel towards every frank and generous-minded man who, if he prefer to eat his goose, is equally willing that I should eat my turkey. On this principle alone have I reason to claim a reciprocal affinity.

If, however, any man can take the good old-fashioned Bible, which all Christendom extols (but not too highly), and point out to me my error, philosophically and scripturally, he will bring me under an obligation which I should be happy to discharge by a renunciation of that error. ..... ..... Respectfully, your obedient servant, ORSON HYDE.

GENOA, February 28, 1856. CAPT. L. A. NORTON-- My Dear Sir : ... Having been confined since last Christmas-day with frozen (or rather thawed) feet, I may be thought a little childish. Well, if any poor fellow has a right to be childish, I can assert my claim with many painful reasons, for thawed feet are far more severe and tedious than frozen ones; so your generosity, I am sure, will make all necessary allowance, and indulge me while I quote a Mormon poem illustrative of some of the foregoing--especially as the poetic organ stands prominently developed in the cap-stone of your own superstructure:--

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"O my Father, thou that dwellest In the high and glorious place! When shall I regain thy presence, And again behold thy face? In thy holy habitation Did my spirit once reside? In my first primeval childhood Was I nurtured near thy side? "For a wise and glorious purpose Thou hast placed me here on earth, And withheld the recollection Of my former friends and birth; Yet ofttimes a secret something Whispered, You're a stranger here; And I felt that I had wandered From a more exalted sphere. "I had learned to call thee, Father, Through thy Spirit from on high; But until the key of knowledge Was restored, I knew not why. In the heavens are parents single? No! the thought makes reason stare; Truth is reason; truth eternal Tells me I've a mother there. "When I leave this frail existence, When I lay this mortal by, Father, mother, may I meet you In your royal court on high? Then, at length, when I've completed All you sent me forth to do, With your mutual approbation, Let me come and dwell with you."

When the number of spirits destined from the beginning to emigrate to this world, ere the morning stars sang together or the sons of God shouted for joy, shall have obtained earthly tabernacles, or bodies of flesh and blood (and God grant that the purity, integrity, and devotion of thy conjugal atmosphere may be such as to invite a liberal number of the higher orders or grades of those spirits to seek an earthly home with you), then will be completed the great revolution of nations and kingdoms, and the kingdom of our God cover the earth

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as the waters cover the vast deep! To this crowning climax is the present disturbed political state of affairs throughout the world, as a faithful index, now pointing.

The tide of immigration to this lower world has not been (mathematically speaking) in a ratio equal to the square of the distance from the creation (counting time for distance), in consequence of, perhaps, the know-nothings of California, who, I believe, are opposed to the influx of foreigners, preferring a life of "single blessedness," through the strange desire for gold, and who thereby check the tide of immigration by practically carrying out their principles. Add to this the great drawback by premature deaths in wars, etc. Yet wisdom, justified by her children, may have disclosed a partial remedy. But why should I trouble you with that which may generally be considered a delusive fancy? I will not trespass further with this subject. Forgive the foregoing!

The last mail brought us the long-looked-for message of President Pierce. I consider it a good one--plain, pertinent, reasonable, dignified, and true. On the subject of our foreign relations, his reasoning is unostentatious, clear, generous, firm, and conclusive. His remarks touching home affairs are highly conciliatory and just--even such as we might expect from a father who felt a deep solicitude for the welfare of every part of his family. In short, it is just such a message as the condition of the country, both at home and abroad, requires. In many sections, President Pierce has not had credit for his talent, ability, and statesmanship, to which the evidences in his late message justly entitle him.

But that the interests and honor of the American people should be so ingloriously tampered with at the

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present critical state of affairs, by the political factions now in Washington, to whom that interest and honor have been generously and sacredly confided, is humiliating and mortifying in the extreme! Quite too many are eager to carve out of the Constitution portions which their own selfish and disordered appetites may direct them to appropriate to personal aggrandizement or sectional party interests, while the great Magna Charta , the broad shield of American liberty, the entire Constitution, is picked, mangled, perforated, and preyed upon until it becomes a scarecrow to the infatuated, a burlesque in the eyes of strangers, a deep wound to the spirits of its departed framers, and a cause of mourning in every American heart.

There appears to be no lack of courage to defend party politics and interests; but who, and how many among them all, possess courage enough to yield a point, and "stoop a little to conquer"? There is one striking instance on record clearly demonstrating that by yielding a most essential point both honor and the desired object were obtained. In the days of Solomon, the wise king of Israel, two women claimed an infant child as its mother. Of course only one of the women could be its mother. Hence a serious dispute arose, the final adjustment of which was referred to the king. He called for a sword to divide the child, with a proposition to give half to each claimant, as it was so very difficult to determine to which of the women it really did belong. She who was not the mother would not yield, but consented to take half the child inasmuch as she could not have it all. She sanctioned the proposal of Solomon! But the other, with all the tender sympathies that swell

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a mother's heart, said, I yield my claim! Let not the king divide the child, but give it all to the other woman! God bless the real mother! Did she not get her child by yielding all her claim? And did she not gratefully and fondly bear it away amid the gratulations of an admiring crowd? I "reckon" she did. If our political men at Washington had really drawn from the breast of the Constitution the pure milk of sound policy, and had been raised to political manhood by its kindly nourishing properties, could they be so tardy in organizing the House? Why profess friendship for the Constitution and deny the rights which it secures?

I was born and raised in the free States of the North, and have no personal predilection in favor of slavery. Yet the terms of the original compact, to which the North and the South voluntarily subscribed, ought not to lose their binding force upon either party, only by the voluntary consent of both. Through all the extension of territory subsequently acquired by the mutual exertions and enterprise of the northern and southern States, the rights of the South should run parallel with those of the North. Take it up on one side and down on the other, and I can see no injustice or inequality in allowing the citizens of each new State to determine, by vote, whether it shall be a free or a slave State.

Any other course would savor too strongly of foreign legislation. The Yankees of the North are about as quick to take up the line of march towards a new territory as the slave-holders of the South. If they are not, it is their own fault.

It is agreed that liberty is national, and slavery

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sectional. Hence slavery should not exist. I believe that corn and wheat raising is national; but cotton and rice growing, I think, is sectional. Must we, therefore, be deprived of our rice puddings--our shirts, hose, pants, and a hundred and one other articles of common use manufactured from cotton? It may be asked if it is not lawful and right, in this age of progress, to reform abuses by remodeling the internal policy of the Government. It certainly is when there exists a reasonable prospect of bettering the condition of the country. But when certain ruin is likely to attend the enterprise, it can be with no very benevolent or charitable design that it is set on foot. If I had a son who was born with a hair lip, it would be criminal rashness to cut off his head to reform his personal appearance. To effect a reform against the decree of Providence and our own plighted faith, to say the best of it, is the investment of an ill-grounded political piety in a sinking fund. Fair play and equal rights are the principles of high-minded and liberal men. When these fail to stand in the ascendant, it may be regarded as a painful proof of the downward tendency of everything that can shed a glory on the American name.

But for years I have marked the tide of events, and carefully noted the progress of affairs; and have beheld, in the foreground, with painful anxiety, the crisis that must be met. I have also contemplated in sorrow and regret some of the causes that have indirectly and providentially led to the present political embarrassments that now threaten to afflict the country--causes which, though on record, are measurably lost sight of and forgotten by the nation; and yet, if fresh in the memory of all, they probably would not be believed.

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I am no politician; still I can hardly avoid entertaining some views upon every subject that commends itself to my attention. If you shall consider them to contain anything curious, amusing, or beneficial, you are at liberty to use them as you may deem proper.

It becomes every man to act well his part, in these as well as in all other times, in the sphere in which he is destined to move--praying that an overruling Providence may guide our destiny in mercy, and crown the efforts of the just with glorious victory!

Till I see you, believe me as ever your friend and obedient servant, .......... ORSON HYDE.

CHAPTER XL.

REMOVAL TO HEALDSBURG -- THE SQUATTER WAR.

I HAD built up quite a practice in the vally, and one day as I was on the floor addressing a jury in the United States district court, a friend stepped up to me and said, "Give them h--l, Norton, you are gone in at home." When I had finished my argument, I asked my friend what he meant. He replied, "Placerville is entirely wiped out by fire; nothing has been saved." I returned home, and learned that a fire had broken out near the Carey House, at the foot of Main Street, at the west end of the city, and as the town was in a canon running nearly east and west, and there being a strong west wind, and everything very dry, the flames would leap forty and fifty feet from building to building, firing the roofs, and in less than thirty minutes the town was all in flames. It was Sunday, and my wife was in

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church, not far from my office. She rushed to the office, and with the assistance of a few friends had secured the most of my library, conveying the books to the rear of the building into a mining tunnel. My house was situated on a hill outside of the town, and was safe. But my entire block of buildings on Main Street, that I had just finished at a cost of thirteen thousand dollars, was entirely destroyed, and I was left with my library and one thousand dollars (my fee in the case I was trying) and with three thousand dollars owing me from T. B. Andrian Co., mill men, to be paid in lumber. There was no insurance in those days in Placerville.

This fire occurred on the 5th of July, 1856. In the course of a couple of months I had filled the burned space in my tract with a block of cheap buildings, and again continued my business till the summer of 1857, when I found that many of the mines were exhausted, and that Placerville had seen its best days. And I had further become satisfied that every blow struck in a mining county was exhausting the native wealth of the county, while each blow struck in an agricultural county was increasing its wealth. Hence I was resolved to seek a location in an agricultural region, and having favorable reports from Sonoma County, I made up my mind to visit that quarter with a view to finding a location. Having relatives living in Green Valley, Sonoma County, I mounted my horse and set out for that point. I had paid them a flying visit in 1855, but saw very little of the country. On my second visit I spent a short time with my friends and in the coast country, when A. J. Steele, my brother-in-law, suggested that we visit the Geysers, which we accordingly did.

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[Ed. -- L.A. Norton's autobiography continues from here, but since his Nevada adventures end at this point, it is omitted.]