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MINERS DECLARE INDEPENDENCE FROM
UNITED STATES
History article by Harold Hough June/July 2009
The recent comment by the Governor of Texas that his state could
become an independent nation anytime it wanted gained a lot of
attention from the media.
However, the fact is that Americans are an independent sort and
threatening to declare independence from the US is a lot more
common than one thinks. One such example is the Great Republic
of Rough and Ready, which was formed in California when it became
clear that the place was becoming overrun with lawyers and Easterners.
Our story begins in 1850 in the California gold rush town of Rough
and Ready. Although it was settled by good God fearing miners
from Wisconsin, it soon became the typical boom town. One preacher,
James Dinleavy, operated a saloon on weekdays and Saturdays and
then turned the building into a church on Sundays. The last thing
they wanted was more government and they bristled when word came
that California was to be admitted as another state. So, it shouldn’t
have been a surprise when an Easterner, who knew too much law,
sparked the rebellion.
THE REVOLT
As with most boom towns, there were more prospectors than gold.
One such, down on his luck prospector was telling his friends
in a saloon that he couldn’t even find enough gold to pay
for his grub and was thinking about pulling up stakes and moving
on. When a well dressed Easterner came in and ordered a drink,
the prospector figured that this was his chance to make a quick
buck before taking off.
“Hey stranger,” the prospector said to the Easterner
as he sidled up to him at the bar. “How’d you like to
buy a claim for three thousand dollars?”
The Easterner wasn’t as dumb as the prospector hoped. The
stranger insisted he be allowed to work the claim for a day to
see how good it was. The two negotiated and agreed that the first
$200 recovered from the claim belonged to the stranger and anything
over $200 went to the prospector. The, at the end of the day,
the city slicker would decide if the mine was worth buying.
Needless to say, the prospectors were surprised the next day to
see the stranger take his place at the bar as nattily dressed
a usual. It seemed that rather than work the mine himself, he
had hired someone else to mine the claim for eight dollars.
At the end of the day, the worker came in with the gold he had
recovered. After weighing the take, it seemed that the stranger
had recovered $180 (minus the eight dollars for the worker). When
the owner asked if the stranger wanted to buy the claim, the Easterner
refused and proceeded to walk out of the saloon with all of the
gold.
“Wait a second,” the owner yelled after him. “I’ve
worked this claim for months and never made a decent wage from
it. Now you’ve just made $172 from it and you won’t
even buy the claim?”
“You got it right.”
“That’s not fair. I should have a share of the money.”
“You are wrong. We made a contract and according to US law,
I have every right to the money.”
If there was one thing these miners didn’t like, it was a
well dressed Easterner who knew US law. Soon all the prospectors
and miners had forgotten about working their claims and were dropping
by the saloon to commiserate with the prospector and buy him (and
themselves) a drink. Soon the discussion drifted from the Easterner
and settled on the upcoming statehood and the proposed tax on
all mines.
That was enough for one miner and leading citizen, E. F. Brundage.
He jumped up on a table and yelled with is loud booming voice,
“We’ve had enough.” Everyone agreed, but they didn’t
know what to do, so the group named Brundage a committee of one
to come up with a solution.
A week later Brundage came back with an answer, “Let’s
secede from the United States.”
What a great idea! The vote to secede was passed unanimously by
the crowd who proceeded to celebrate their new independence with
a few rounds of whiskey. While the rest of the miners were baptizing
the new country with numerous shots of firewater, Brundage drew
up a declaration of independence for the Great Republic of Rough
and Ready. It ended with this resolution, “We the people
of Rough and Ready…deem it necessary and prudent to withdraw
from the Territory of California and he United States of America
to form peacefully if we can, forcibly if we must the Great Republic
of Rough and Ready.”
Brundage read the declaration to the waiting (and drinking) crowd,
who passed it unanimously with loud yells and celebrated the document
with another round of drinks. Then they elected Brundage president
and celebrated his election with another round of booze. This
was quickly followed by a constitutional convention, which was
also toasted by the convened miners.
While the celebration continued, a delegation of miners who could
still walk went over the hotel to inform the Easterner that US
law no longer applied and that he had to return the money to the
claim owner. Undoubtedly the force of their arguments (and guns)
persuaded the Easterner to comply. After escorting the Easterner
to the international border with California, the delegation returned
to the saloon and presented the claim owner with the money, who
then proceeded to buy drinks for the house.
The next few months were quiet ones. Spring provided enough water
to work the placer deposits and everyone was happy under mining
law. Even the fears about the US invading their country had faded
a bit, although some were a bit miffed by the insulting silence
from the US government. Washington hadn’t sent troops to
invade the republic, even though the nation had a small army ready
to repel any attack. Of course, the price of vigilance was a regular
training regimen made more tolerable with a liberal ration of
whiskey for militia members.
As with most nations, the threat wasn’t from without, but
within. In June citizens met at the saloon to plan a big Fourth
of July celebration, only to realized that the Fourth wasn’t
their independence day anymore.
This was a major problem because Fourth of July celebrations were
big events throughout the US and miners took pride in making their
local event a memorable one.
Word of this calamity quickly passed throughout the town and miners
quickly congregated at the saloon to discuss the problem while
imbibing their favorite tipple. It appeared that there was only
one way to have a legitimate July 4th celebration – rejoin
the United States.
The voters quickly voted themselves back into the US, hoping that
Washington never noticed that they were gone and proceeded to
celebrate the new union with another round. Then they got down
to the serious business of planning their Fourth of July celebration.
It would be nice to say that Rough and Ready flourished under
statehood, but it didn’t happen. Five days after their July
4th blowout, the town burned down. On September 9th, 1850, California
became a state and those individuals who chaffed under American
law soon headed to new territories. Then, as always happened,
the placer deposits ran out and everyone else left.
Today, Rough and Ready is a ghost town, with nothing to remind
us of the town but the short and glorious history of the Great
Republic of Rough and Ready.
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