122 Gold Rush Album
A MEXICAN JOURNEY
Each
one of the little groups waiting at Acapulco or San Bias or Mazatlan
had its story of privation and hardship—its tale of the harsh journey
over the mountains of Mexico from Tampico or Vera Cruz.
One
of these Mexican stories may serve for all—the story of Colonel Webb's
company from New York. John W. Audubon, son of the great naturalist,
went with the Webb party. His journal and the drawings he made on the
way are a unique record of a little-known gold rush episode.
Henry
Webb was a Colonel by virtue of his command of a regiment of volunteers
in the war with Mexico. He formed his company of gold-seekers, financed
it privately, and chose a Mexican route because he thought it would
permit an early start. Audubon took care of the preliminary
organization, and under his command the company left New York early in
February, 1849. They traveled by railroad, stagecoach and river boat as
far as Cairo, Illinois, where the Colonel joined them and assumed
command. At New Orleans they tarried a while, but soon they were able
to get passage for Brazos Santiago, the desolate sand-spit at the mouth
of the Rio Grande where part of Scott's army had concentrated for the
attack on Vera Cruz in 1847.
By March 10, 1849, the Webb company had reached Rio Grande City. On the way there, they had passed Brownsville, Texas (below). A letter
written home by an already disheartened adventurer described
Brownsville as "full of blacklegs and gamblers—not a school or a church
in the place."
