Dear Listmembers, I thought you might like a little peek at what one miner had to say about life in the goldfields. Judee > Grissly Flat, Jan. 20th 1855. > > Dear Mother, > > All well. The boys have both had a hard spell of the mountain fever. Since I wrote last they have > commenced mining. They seem to like it very (much) well. We have received two letters from > you lately. Sorry to hear such bad news. I wrote John Foote a letter soon after we got in. It is > rather hard times at present we have very little rain. Money is scarce. Provisions cheap. There is > no religious meetings here. There is about 15 familys lives in our town. We have a dance or two > every week. Sundays there is a great rush to town. Whiskey has to suffer. We live 75 miles > from Sac city. Have a good house partitioned off in three rooms plenty of provisions and good > mining claims as far as we prospected. We need more rain to work them effectively. The > Bedsworth's live within ten miles of us at a place called Indian Diggins. I was over making them > a visit last Sunday. Staid with them two days. That was the first I have seen of them since we > got back. They were both well and doing well. They showed me the letter you wrote to them. All > my old chums seemed glad to see me back. > > I make it a rule to put the boys in mind of home once a month. I tell them about their mother and > little sister and give them good advice but I am affraid they do not heed it much.