Gold Fever of 1849 Takes Its Toll

When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California, Robert Caldwell could think of little else. Intelligent, well educated, and dependable, he had worked long and hard for his half-interest in a blacksmith shop, a Lower Sandusky (Fremont), Ohio tavern, and land in Fulton County. But gold fever was everywhere and like thousands of others Caldwell was consumed by it. 

He planned to leave his wife Eleanor and head for the gold fields. With his brother William, Robert joined the Fort Stephenson  Mining Association, a group of nearly a dozen men who hoped to find riches in the "far west." 

By April 1849, Caldwell along with the other Sandusky Countians were in Independence, Missouri, outfitting for the 2,200-mile overland route to California. During an interview with a St. Louis reporter, the men declared they were ready for anything - starvation, drought, snows, Indians, and rugged terrain. They were not alone! That spring more than 25,000 Americans had set out across the plains. All were dreaming of the California gold fields and spectacular wealth!

In reading several of Robert's letters that are part of the Hayes Presidential's William Caldwell Collection. it is clear that nothing was as Robert Caldwell envisioned. Soon after filing claims on the north fork of the American River near Beals Bar, Caldwell was forced to give up his "diggings." because of heavy snows. Then came washouts, inflated prices,  robbery, riots, and always, hordes of gold seekers. Robert opened a blacksmith shop in Sacramento to renew his grubstake.

When Robert and Eleanor's adopted child died, Eleanor begged her husband to give up his dream and come home. Robert wrote, "Suppose that I do come home and not have any money - what will you say to me ...I will tell you what you would say to me - If you had always listened to me you would not have went to California. Are you not willing to sacrifice some of the happiness for me to make one more try?" 

Robert could not bear the humiliation of returning to Fremont a failure. He wrote that I am not about to "be a beggar." "No, I will die here unless things change..." Caldwell was certain he would soon strike it rich. 

Weeks became months and months became years. Finally, Robert admitted that he did not have even enough money to book passage for home. 

Just before Christmas in 1853, death made its claim on Robert Caldwell and his dreams. In late January 1854, Eleanor received a letter postmarked "Sacramento." It was a letter from a minister, sending his condolences and telling her that "while Robert Caldwell was buried among strangers, he had died among friends."  [To date, the location of Robert Caldwell's grave is unknown.]

Eleanor (Lary) Caldwell remained in Fremont, raising the couple's only child, Augustus. She died in 1868 at the age of 57 and is buried in Fremont's Old Whittlesey Cemetery  

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