Diary of Azariah Smith in 1847 and 1848, with notes by John S. Hittell [pp. 123-127]

Diary of Azariah Smith in $487 and I4&8.
II.
As I ride with thee, shall I ride with thee,
With my withered face, and my misery,
Stirrup to stirrup, and stride for stride,
The Cross, and the Book, and the Priest defied.
Through time, and death, and eternity,
No days that breed, nor years that kill,
Nor prayer, nor tear of souls that be
Past the swift river of good and ill,
Shall sever the bonds that hold me, tied
By deed and by will of thy own to thy side.
Stirrup to stirrup, and stride for stride,
Steadily, sternly, silently,
I shall ride with thee.
P. Y. Black.
DIARY OF AZARIAH SMITH IN i847 AND i848.
[AZARIAH SMITH was one of those adventurous Latter Day Saints who, after enlisting
in June, i846, to aid the United States in
conquering California, marched from the
Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. Having
been honorably discharged at Los Angeles,
on July i6, i847, he with some of his companions sought and obtained employment
of John A. Sutter. He worked several weeks
at Sutter's projected flour mill on the American River, and then was sent to help build
the sawmill at Coloma, where he was, with
nine other white men on the 24th of January, I848, at the time of the revolutionizing
gold discovery, — the most important and
influential event in the history of the western
slope of our continent. Like his friend and
fellow workman, Henry W. Bigler, whose
diary appeared in the OVERLAND MONTHLY
of September last, Mr. Smith had enough
mental activity, notwithstanding his limited
education, to feel the want of a written record of the notable events of his life; and to
this characteristic of these two men we owe
these interesting contemporaneous accounts
of the simple and rude life of the builders
of the Colomna sawmill, and of the occurrences that preceded, accompanied, and suc
ceeded Marshall's discovery. The entries
from Mr. Smith's diary are copied from the
archives of the Society of California Pioneers, as edited by John S. Hittell.]
Sunday, Sept. 9th, I847. Last Wednesday, as one of a party, I took a job of Sutter
to dig a race at 1 2 ~ cents a cubic yard; and
we went five miles from the fort to a house
which we occupy. I worked the last three
days of the week. We expect to make more
than $i a day. Sutter furnishes tools and
provisions.
Sept. 24th. My back was so lame yesterday that I could not work.
Sunday Oct, 3d. Marshall sent word
that he wanted some of us to go about thirty
miles into the mountains to build a sawmill.
I went with others, spending three days on
the way. We had a very slow ox team. Arrived here Thursday evening. Here we
have a woman to cook for us. I have had
a fever every other day and have done no
work.
Oct. 4th. The ague has disappeared.
God grant me health so that I may return to
my parents, sisters, and brother. I feel very
lonesome and am like a cat in a strange gar
1888.]
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