ORIGIN OF THE MINERS' LAWS AND COURts. 75

many paying claims-probably not more on that account than because the owners were elated at their good luck, and wished to go home and show it, never dreaming that they could ever want again or would need to work more themselves. That was before the era of sulphurets had well set in, and men to whom money was a new sensation, and who were making a cool thousand a week with little trouble, may perhaps be pardoned for extravagance and improvidence.

The pattern after which the mining districts and miners' laws were fashioned, had been roughly outlined and adopted at a miners' meeting in Gregory Diggings, June 8th, 1859. The Gregory Lode was discovered in May. For a few days the small party which went to the spot with Gregory on his second visit, had a monopoly of the discovering and working of lodes. Many of the best ones in the Gregory Diggings were found and claimed before the end of May, 1859. The Gregory Lode was taken in claims of a hundred feet each, allowing Gregory, as the discoverer, two claims. All this was easy and natural, since there were just about enough men in the party to own the whole lode, divided in that way. Subsequently, Dr. Casto was elected and acted as Secretary, some record being absolutely necessary; and he and Gregory penciled down a few rules for the claiming and holding of lodes on an accidental page of foolscap-not extant-and this arrangement answered every purpose for the time being.

But by the 1st of June, Gregory Gulch, from

North Clear Creek to the confluence of Eureka, Nevada, and Spring Gulches, was crowded with canvas tents, log shanties, and bough houses, as thick as they could stand, and there was a great deal more room then than now. William N. Byers had pitched his tent about on the corner of Main and Lawrence Streets, Central City, and had suggested the name for the city, to be there, which it now bears. The gulch below was swampy, and overgrown with alders and willows. It was estimated that there were five thousand people in the gulch.

The more recent arrivals began to murmur about the first comers-none of them had been here a month yet-monopolizing everything; and contended for a re-distribution of claims on the Gregory, Mammoth, Hunter, Bates, Bobtail, Gregory Second, &c., cutting them down to twenty-five feet each. In consequence of this feeling a great meeting convened at Gregory Point, numbering some three thousand men. The chances of the first comers seemed small in this state of affairs, but by boldness, vigor, and address, they not only managed to extricate themselves but to come out stronger than they went in. W. G. Russell had just returned from Georgia with one hundred and seventy men who would do as he said, and having been a pioneer of the previous year, he naturally joined the pioneers of this year. The first move made was to get control of the meeting by nominating one of their number, Wilkes Defrees, for chairman. The meeting elected him of course.

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They hen proposed a committee of twelve men, one each from different States, to draft a code of laws that should once for all settle affairs. The meeting approved this proposition too. The pioneers then dexterously scattered through the crowd and nominated each other to such committee, the meeting approving in every instance. As the committee retired the strangers began to suspect something, but they had not been in the mines long enough to know that it was no place to hesitate.

The committee brought in the following report, which was read and adopted by sections, without giving time for discussion :

I. Resolved, That this mining district shall be bounded as follows: Commencing at the mouth of the North Fork of Clear Creek, following the divide between said stream and Ralston Creek, running seven miles up the last named stream to a point known as "Miners' Camp;" thence south-west to the divide between the North Fork of Clear Creek and the South Fork of the same to the place of beginning.

2. Resolved, That no miner shall hold more than one claim except by purchase or discovery; and in any case of purchase, the same shall be attested by at least two disinterested witnesses, and shall be recorded by the Secretary, who shall receive in compensation a fee of one dollar.

3. Resolved, That no claim, which has or may be made, shall be good and valid unless it be staked off with the owner's name, giving the direction, length and breadth, also the date when said claim was made; and when held by a company the name of each member shall appear plainly.

4. Resolved, That each miner shall be entitled to hold one mountain claim, one gulch claim, and one creek claim for the purpose of washing: the first to be one hundred feet long and fifty wide; the second one hundred feet up and down the river or gulch, and extending from bank to bank.

5. Resolved, That mountain claims shall be worked within ten days from the time they are staked off, otherwise forfeited.

6. Resolved, That when members of a company, constituted of two or more, shall be at work on one claim of the company, the rest shall be considered as worked by putting a notice of the same on the claim.

7. Resolved, That each discovery claim shall be marked as such, and shall be safely held, whether worked or not.

8. Resolved, That in all cases, priority of claim, when honestly carried out, shall be respected.

9. Resolved, That when two parties wish to use water on the same stream or ravine for quartz-washing, it shall be equally divided between them.

10. Resolved, That when disputes shall arise between parties in* regard to claims, the party aggrieved shall call upon the Secretary, who shall designate nine miners, being disinterested persons, from which number the parties shall alternately strike out one until the names of but three remain, who shall at once proceed to hear and try the case; and should any miner refuse to obey their decision, the Secretary shall call a meeting of the miners, and if their decision is the same, the party refusing to obey shall not be entitled to hold another claim in this district; and the party against whom the decision is given shall pay to the Secretary and referees the sum of fifteen dollars each for their services.

On the 9th of July, 1859, another mass meeting was held at Gregory Point, at which it was

Resolved, That for the settlement of difficulties and the purpose of preventing disputes, the miners of this district hereby enact: That there shall be elected in this district, by ballot, a President, a Recorder of Claims, and a Sheriff, for the term of one year from this date. That the President, Secretary, and one assistant, to be chosen by the people, be tellers of said election, and that it take place immediately.

The election took place, and Richard Sopris was chosen President, C. A. Roberts, Recorder, and Charles Peck, Sheriff. A committee was appointed to codify the laws of the district, and on the 16th of July, 1859, that committee reported to the adjourned miners' meeting the following laws and

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regulations, recommending the retaining of the original code with these additions, to wit:

1. It shall, be the duty of the Recorder to take charge of and safely keep all records heretofore made by the Secretary, and all records made necessary by law shall hereafter be made by him.

2. All claims may be recorded if the owners see fit, but no claim that is being worked shall be obliged to be recorded.

3. When any miner has a lode claim which it is impossible to work to advantage this season, either from want of water or machinery, he may hold the same until the first of June next, by filing a statement of the reasons with the Recorder.

4. All water claims not used shall be recorded within ten days of the claim date, or they shall be considered forfeited.

5. All bills of sale or conveyances of claims shall be witnessed by at least two disinterested witnesses and recorded.

6. The books of the Recorder shall be always open to the inspection of the public, and shall never be taken from the Recorder's hands; but any person shall be entitled to copy any record at any reasonable time.

7. All laws relating to trials of disputed claims are hereby repealed.

8. When any person is aggrieved with regard to a claim, he shall file with any commissioned Justice of the Peace, or in his absence, with the President of the Miners' Association, a statement of his grounds of complaint, which shall also have the names of the parties complained of, and a prayer that they be summoned to appear and answer. Thereupon, the Justice (or President,) shall issue a summons to the adverse party to appear and answer within three days. If he fail to do so, the complaint shall be taken as true and execution issue. If he appear and answer, the Justice (or President) shall summon a venire of nine persons from which each party shall strike off one until there remain but three, who shall proceed to hear the evidence of the parties with or without counsel, and try their case. Any juror may be challenged for cause shown either by his own evidence or that of others. Should the party losing, feel aggrieved by the decision, he may appeal to a jury, of twelve men, by paying cost already accrued, which jury shall be selected by the Justice (or President), and their decision shall be final.

9. The Sheriff shall have power to serve notices and executions, and he shall have power to summon parties, put parties in posses