"There was no post office in the
Territory. Letters were brought from Salt Lake first at a cost of
two dollars and a half each, and later in the season at one
dollar each. All money at infinite risk was sent to the nearest
express office at Salt Lake City by private hands."
Practically every man in the new gold-fields was aware of the
existence of a secret band of well-organized ruffians and
robbers. The general feeling was one of extreme uneasiness. There
were plenty of men who had taken out of the ground considerable
quantities of gold, and who would have been glad to get back to
the East with their little fortunes, but they dared not start.
Time after time the express coach, the solitary rider, the
unguarded wagon-train, were held up and robbed, usually with the
concomitant of murder. When the miners did start out from one
camp to another they took all manner of precautions to conceal
their gold dust. We are told that on one occasion one party bored
a hole in the end of the wagon tongue with an auger and filled it
full of gold dust, thus escaping observation! The robbers learned
to know the express agents, and always had advice of every large
shipment of gold.
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