During
his seven months' stay in the vicinity of Murphy's, he witnessed much
of the anti-foreign agitation which was rife in the southern camps.
When a murdered man was found as above, the cry immediately arose—"Killed by Mexicans!" And that was a good enough excuse for driving all Mexicans off their claims.
Miners' justice had odd quirks. The picture below shows
an occurrence at Douglas Flat in the summer of 1850. A Hindu had tried
to rape the wife of a California Indian. After a wild shooting session
during which one Indian was killed, the Indians had demanded justice of
the local alcalde. The court held the Hindu guilty of making
trouble among the natives and allowed the Indians to administer half
the lashes decreed as punishment.
