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[Full Title:   To Dream in the Golden City; or, How Mr. Oakley Learned To Fly.]

It was when the Daniel Webster reached Nicaragua that passengers and crew learned of the loss of the North America.

Jesse Hutchinson wrote that he and the Alleghanians were among the first to go ashore.  With the next part of the journey in mind, he said, "At this dry season of the year, it is almost impossible to get the boat up the rivers with any freight, and in some instances hundreds of passengers have been obliged to foot it for miles, carrying their own baggage along the rough and dangerous banks of the rivers, under the excessive heat of an equatorial sun."

The Daniel Webster folk crossed the Isthmus in ten days or more, some traveling faster than others.

This journey proved fatal for some and was a major trial for others,  but survivors carried with them favorite stories.

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"Mr. Oakley . . . upon the Isthmus . . . barely escaped being Mule-tilated by one of the donkeys," wrote Jesse.  "The baskets of provisions and hard crackers were sent 'far aft,' by the nimble heels of the mule, while Mr. O. went as fast forward, and for a time took a low note, in the key of B Flat.   But after the dust had cleared away, a shout of laughter announced the safety of Mr. Oakley, almost as miraculously rescued as the fictitious exploits and hair-breadth escapes of the celebrated Obadiah Oldbuck.  So we trudged along, minus the preserves and crackers."

"A steam propeller, the Monumental City," said Jesse, "has been chartered to take as many as possible of the North America's passengers, and we are momentarily expecting her here, she having gone down the coast some three days ago for coal."

In a later private circular to family and friends at home, Jesse recalled, "At San Juan, (pronounced San Wan,) one of our number (Mr. Goodenow) was very sick several days, but kind and careful nursing finally restored him to wonted buoyancy and robust health.  Miss Goodenow was also much indisposed during most of the sea voyage, but she has now fully recovered her elasticity of spirits and voice, and 'sings like a Nightingale,' as she is."

"This poor, barren and sandy town has scarcely a decent habitation for a human being," wrote Jesse to the New York Tribune, "and yet here are huddled together some 800 passengers, besides perhaps 200 residents.  All these, in addition to the natives, who are as thick as muketoes, and live and thrive anywhere, sleeping out-doors or in their little wigwams, without complaint or suffering."

Jesse's writings about the trip to San Francisco are full of stories of sickness, suffering, and death.  "So, in Heaven's mercy, if we dare to estimate that there must be perhaps twenty deaths within the next fortnight, the balance may be able to get off within three or four weeks.  But the whole scene is too solemn to speculate or even to reflect much upon."

"Our young men especially, who know not the ordinary dangers of traveling, are ill-fitted to embark for California.  None but the hardy and enduring men, who have been accustomed to hardships, should think of coming hither."

But to those who decided to venture to California in spite of these warnings, Jesse added some practical advice.  "Bring . . . plenty of dimes  -  eight pass for a dollar."

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On April 22, the Monumental City arrived.  Once on board, Jesse estimated that there were about 600 passengers and crew members crowded on the ship; and he reported that nearly 100 of them were sick, including twenty women and children.  "Our afflictions," he said, "have indeed been very great, and up to the present time, eleven of our companions have died.  Most of these were steerage passengers, and contracted their diseases on the Isthmus, being obliged to leave their stranded boat in the river, and work their way on foot through the woods for more than three miles, carrying their own baggage along with them."

Only a few hundred gallons of fresh water were taken on board.  On the 27th, the last cask of this water was opened.  Passengers expected to hear at any time that they would have no more until they reached Acapulco.

Jesse said that Captain W. R. Cressy was negligent of duty, "for he sits in his own nice cabin all the day long, reading novels, while his passengers are suffering and sickening and dying in every part of the ship."  "Nothing now but the great forbearance and humanity of a majority of the passengers, prevents others from throwing the Captain overboard."

"The whole ship is one vast hospital," reported Jesse, "and there is scarcely a foot of space upon the entire deck but what is covered with the sick, and a hundred or more hammocks are swung upon the rigging and upon every point where a rope can be fastened."

John W. Hutchinson,  many years later,  retold a story about one gallant Monumental City passenger.

This "man of spirit, soul and determination, full of strength and magnetism," blessed by all on board the Monumental City, was Jesse Hutchinson, Jr.

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"Thank God, we have as yet escaped any bad storms or ill winds," wrote Jesse; "and although the dirty propeller gets on very slowly, yet it makes quite a fuss and noise, puffing away much oftener than those of the ordinary steamers, evincing a willingness to do all it can to shorten our troubles."

As William H. Oakley and his fellow passengers risked life and limb through necessary encounters with the mule and donkey population of Nicaragua, so Jesse thought he was placing his life in someone else's hands when eating the food of the Vanderbilt Line.  But even then, the trip was not without its bright spots.

Make no mistake about it,  the Alleghanians party had an eventful trip from start to finish.

Passengers may have taken this on-board fire in stride, but Jesse still had major concerns about the riskiness of travel from the East Coast to California.

The Monumental City arrived at San Francisco on Monday evening,  May 17, 1852.   Jesse wrote:

"Thus far the Lord hath led me on."   - Isaac Watts

One of the main goals for this first edition of Voice and Spirit has been to lay the foundation for an eventual revised, greatly expanded second edition.  Thus far the Lord has led us on.   A full-length biography of the Alleghanians is very much needed, and it is starting to look feasible.  Whether it would take the form of a traditional, hardcopy book or remain as a World Wide Web-only publication is yet to be seen.  Either way, I am hoping many readers of these pages will keep an eye out for Voice and Spirit II.  If it is possible to make a full-length Alleghanians biography happen, my plan is to do it.

Alan Lewis,  August 14, 2007