Five years after the 49ers hit California looking for golden riches the news was getting very strange, and more than a little violent. The influx of outsiders caused some odd happenings.

In Grass Valley on July 4th, 1854, a newspaper headline read "Man Killed in Bear Fight".

A Nevada City man named Swurblow was accidentally shot and killed when a wild pistol shot struck him. The pistol was wielded by the owner of a performing bear. He was trying to scare the animal out of its cage for onlookers at the Independence Day celebration by firing off a pistol when a shot struck and killed Swurblow. Not very safe and sane.

Farther south, In Los Angeles, a November newspaper report said, "The week past here has been comparatively quiet. It is true that four persons have been killed, but it has been considered a poor week for killings." Another published report from LA said, "This city has gained a reputation as a terrible place for murders, and seems determined to live up to it."

Even farther south a report from San Diego told of five men who had hunted for gold in Mexico, "...beyond the Colorado and Gila rivers..." who returned "...in good condition but without any luck. When they found traces of gold in any quantity, there was no water to wash it."

More tragedy was reported by a San Francisco newspaper. "News arrived here today ...of the total loss of the Panama steamer Yankee Blade near Point Conception" (south of Santa Barbara). Word of the sinking came to San Francisco on the steamer Goliath, which had picked up some of the survivors.

From Coloma comes this 1854 headline, "Ropes Break, Double Hanging is Repeated." Before the largest crowd ever assembled in El Dorado County to watch a hanging, two men were to be executed for the murder of another over a mining claim. But, things didn't go according to plan.

"When the signal was given for the double drop, both the knots slipped and the men fell to the ground. The ropes were readjusted and on the second try the hangings went off successfully."

And, from a Grass Valley paper, a November 21, 1854 report of an attempt to whip a newspaper editor. "The famous Madame Lola Montez created a pleasant sensation here today when she tried to assault Mr. Shipley, Editor of the Grass Valley Telegraph." Apparently unhappy with the paper's coverage, "The noted dancer rushed in a rage through Mill Street to Main Street carrying a riding whip in one hand and carrying a copy of the paper in the other. She met up with the editor at the Golden Gate Saloon and struck at him with her whip while giving him a shrill tongue-lashing."

Apparently this was before the more civilized practice of writing letters of complaint to newspaper editors became common.

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Copyright Don Baumgart, 2008