Autograph Letter, signed. 4 pages, plus original mailing envelope.

To Jacob C. Hawley, Burlington, Vermont. A Forty-Niner writes home after two years in California, which he appreciated more than some disappointed emigrants who “worship Gold” but “know little of the country”. Harrington thought of going to the “Southern Mines” during the winter, despite the fears of his family who thought the mountain camps “horrid”, with “bears and Indians for companions…I think them the finest place in the world, only think of the Scenery not to say anything of the pleasure of the Camp, fried pork and flippers…” He had encountered only two bears; one chased him up a tree, where he dropped his rifle before he could “return his compliments with powder and ball…As for Indians, my acquaintance was very limited. I have seen plenty of them, nothing more.” It was true that crime was a problem: “…there had been some men murdered in the mines and some of my letters from you were found there and it was thought by a friend of mine who saw the letters that I was one of the murdered party. I expect it was some one of the same name…” In San Francisco, where he was then employed, “improvements are progressing very rapid, there are a good more stone and brick…buildings going up that would be an armament to any city.” He had already sent home “an account of the Execution of Whitaker and Mackenzie by the Vigilance Committee and the execution of Robinson and others in Sacramento. Before the Vigilance Committee organized, a man’s life was not worth 5 dollars but now a person can walk the streets in safety, they have done more good than all the legal authority here, but I see by some of the State papers condemn their actions but I think they do not know the trouble….” He wasn’t certain if he would remain if California, but had “a desire to see China”, and if he left, intended to sail home via the Far East.