Two-page letter from Henry D. to "My dear H. C." from Valparaiso dated Nov 29th 48. Additional page by "Sarah" and addressed to "My dear kind Brother Henry C." In pencil on the verso of the letter is "Wm G Moorhead Nov 29 1848". With transcription. Henry is catching up with his correspondence, having recently returned to Valparaiso, Chile, where he is staying with his sister, Sarah, and her husband, William G. Moorhead. During the 1840s a substantial Anglo community had become established in Valparaiso which was one of the main ports of call for vessels sailing around Cape Horn to California. Writing to the unidentified "Henry C" who is then staying with Henry's brother Jay in Newport (R.I.?), Henry reports on the local reaction to news about the California gold discoveries: "Every body here and all along this Coast, as far as Panama, are in a great state of excitement on account of the news of the discovery of the gold Mines in California. When I arrived in California, last June, the first important discoveries were made. These were succeeded by others, more and more rich, until I left the coast the first part of Septr. Yet in Califa there was not half the excitement which prevails here and all along the coast of South America. ... I have been asked so many questions since I arrived here that I have learned to hate the sound of the word 'gold-mine'." Henry goes on to talk of reports of the gold fields en route to the States: "I landed the Bearer of Despatches in my vessel at Payta -- Lieut Loeser - U.S.A., who took to Washington the first official intelligence of the discovery of the mines." And, in a postscript: "Lieut Loeser, took among other letters, a most beautifully written description of the Gold mines, by the Rev Walter Colton - sent to Editors of the National Intelligencer. Mr. Colton read the letter to me at Monterey before sealing it." Lt. Lucien Loeser was carrying a dispatch from Col. Richard B. Mason relating his observations in the gold fields. In a report to the U.S. Congress on Dec. 5, President Polk used information from this dispatch to justify the war with Mexico. Colton's letter to the Intelligencer appeared on Dec. 9th and a second letter was printed there on Dec. 11th. Mason's dispatch and Colton's letters did much to establish the credibility of the California gold discoveries in public opinion.
