Transcription
Hamilton, White Pine, Nevada
14th July 1869
Dear Miss Smith,
I write to inform you that I arrived at White Pine on the 24 April, on my arrival here I wrote to you, but I have not had a reply from you, and am afraid you did not receive it. I stayed at this place about 2 weeks, did not like it, and left to look at some new districts about one hundred miles east of this place, getting back ten days ago. And since then have had the pleasure of receiving two letters from you. They were brought by a friend of mine who arrived here in my absence. One is dated 7th December, the other 6th May, so I will reply to both now.
I am sorry to see by your favor of 7th Dec. that common report says I have wrote to Mr. Ries making enquires about you personally. Now I have mostly found that common report almost always lies in cases of that kind, as it certainly does in this instance. In one of Mr. Ries’ letters to me he mentioned about the young ladies in that section and their beaux, without giving any names, and I think when I wrote him again I may have told him to give the names of the parties he writes about, but never asked Mr. Ries or any other party for any but the general news. If I wanted news about anyone in particular I certainly would not apply to Mr. Ries, for I never had confidence enough in him to trust him so far.
I also find by your letter that by your continuing to write to me you are likely to lose many advantages (perhaps), and I will own that it was very wrong for me to ask you to continue a correspondence under such adverse circumstances, and do not consider that I ought to expect you to do so. The only excuse I have to offer is that I have been disappointed in every one of the calculations I had made when I had the pleasure of seeing you last. I thank you very much for your kind wishes and if short letters could only have gave you the chance you spoke about of boxing my ears when you saw me, you would have received many of them long ago, for I know I would feel much better after you had performed the operation [?].
I was very glad to hear from you by your favor of March 6th.
I find that you think I have become infatuated about mining and White Pine, and that you do not expect to see me again at Frenchtown, and as you mention it three times in your letter, I conclude that you have seriously made up your mind that it will be so. And you may possibly prefer it. And if so, you would be perfectly right. Except in thinking that I would, when I thought I had sufficiently explained my motives, and after trying so hard to be able to settle down and quit mining. I can assure you that by thinking so you would do me great injustice. But it is nothing more than doing justice to you for me to tell you that my prospects now are not any better (in fact at present not good) as they were last fall when I left Cerro Gordo.
And that (no matter how much I may regret it or circumstances that causes it) I ought not and do not expect you to continue a correspondence, provided the doing so would interfere with, or have a tendency to injure, any of your prospects or calculations.
It is possible that I may not stay here many weeks and certainly do not intend to winter here or go farther east. I hope you will write on receipt of this and tell me everything about your calculations and prospects as you would to a friend you can rely on. And if you would consider it best for me not to write you, you will please say so. If I should leave here previous to hearing from you, I will drop you a line to inform you where I am, but will not write again from this place until I have a reply to this letter. But under every circumstances believe me always,
Your Friend,
J. L. Porter
P.S. As yet I have not told you anything about this place. Well, I arrived in time to witness the celebration on the 4th and 5 July. It was a very creditable affair. At Hamilton was a very large procession, plenty of carriages and carts beautifully decorated, containing 37 little misses, each holding a flag representing each state, and I believe every one of them from a different state, all of them singing the Star Spangled Banner and other national songs. Then there was the usual amount of fireworks and speeches. Everything being as orderly as it possibly could be at San Francisco. Even the Goshutes Indians following the line of marchers. But I am afraid there will not be so many here to celebrate the next 4 July, for everything is over down here, and you were right in your opinion of White Pine, except about capitalists, for now it would be a first rate place for them to get rid of a portion of it.
Everything is very dull here now and a great many leaving, and if 2/3 of the people would leave, then it would be a good place for some time, and there would not be many to complain of dull times.
Please give my regards to Mr. and Madam Smith, and all my friends, not forgetting Mary and Ella, and tell them that before I quit mining I will get some rich ore and melt down a silver button as a specimen for each of them.
Hoping that this will find you all well,
Truly Your Friend,
J. L. Porter
I have wrote this at camp expecting to copy it as it should be, but find it so crowded at the office that I can’t. So you will please excuse my poor pencil scratching.
Porter