238' EL DORADO.
claimed 1,000 feet along the ledge, being 125 feet to each man. For nine months they remained in peacea- ble possession, working their mine continuously. The richness of the vein drew to the hill many miners, who at length began to question the right of Morgan and his men to hold so much ground ; and the ques- tion of title once raised, soon the whole claim was covered with squatters. Morgan appealed to the courts and was declared the rightful possessor; but when the sheriff attempted to place him in possession the squatters declared they would die before yieldihg their claims. Further than this, being greatly supe- rior in numbers, they held a meeting and passed reso- lutions that Morgan and his company should leave the camp within an hour, or be driven thence. The property in their cabin, said their resolutions, was to be "held sacred." The resolutions of 200 armed men against eight usually prevailed in the mines, so next day all that was left of the Morgan company on Carson hill was the cabin with its sacred utensils — hallowed pots and kettles and holy woolen shirts.
Thus ejected from a ledge of his own discovering, of which the courts had declared him the rightful owner, Morgan heralded his wrongs in every direction, and called upon the neighboring camps to sustain him in his rights. The opposite party likewise sent forth messengers asking a suspension of public opinion, threatenino; at the same time to raise five hundred men for a fiixht. Meanwhile Morgan went to Sonora, where he found fifty men to join his standard. With these he set out on his return to Carson hill ; but on the way nearly half his force deserted, thinking it hardly the mark of wisdom to risk their necks in other men's quarrels. Arriving after night, Morgan en- camped with about thirty men in a canon under the hill, intending next day to open a fight for the prem- ises. A gun accidentally discharged made known their presence to the opposite party, who, supposing their number ten times greater than it was, abandoned
