The owner imported a carpet and some mirrors. Tuttles store, where the men used to meet to talk and play cards, also changed. The men painted it white, planted flowers around it and kept it clean. The first improvements were made in the cabin of Tommy or "The Luck" as he was usually called. Soon after the ceremony, Roaring Camp began to change. The ceremony was held under the pine trees with Stumpy saying the simple works: "I proclaim you Thomas Luck, according to the laws of the United States and the state of California, so help me God." So "Luck" was the name they chose for him, adding before it, the first name "Tommy."Ī name day was set for him. One day Oakhurst declared that the baby had brought "The Luck" to Roaring Camp. All of them had noticed that since the babys birth, they were finding more gold than ever before. They wanted the best that money could buy.īy the time the baby was a month old, the men decided he needed a name. Stumpy was hired.Īll the men gave him some gold to send for baby things from the city of Sacramento. There was something original, independent, even heroic about Stumpys plan that pleased the men of Roaring Camp. He had been feeding it milk from a donkey, and he believed he could raise the baby just fine. But when the others finally asked his opinion, he admitted that he wanted to continue taking care of the baby himself. Stumpy didnt say a word during these long discussions. And they decided that they didnt want any more of the other kind. But the men believed no good woman would accept Roaring Camp as her home. Tom Ryder suggested bringing a woman into the camp to care for the baby. But nobody could agree on the best way to take care of it. Everyone in the camp voted to keep the child. Afterwards, they held a formal meeting to discuss what to do with the baby. The next morning, the men of Roaring Camp buried Cherokee Sal. "That funny little fellow," he said, as he gently pulled his hand out of the box. As a gambler named Kentucky leaned over the box, the baby reached up and held one of the mans fingers. Only one incident broke the flow of the men through the cabin. And about two hundred dollars in gold and silver. And as the men slowly marched past, they dropped gifts into the hat. Someone had put a large hat near the babys box. Inside lay Roaring Camps newest citizen, wrapped in a piece of bright red cloth. On a pine table, near that bed, was a small wooden box. On the bed, under a blanket, they could see the body of the unlucky mother. All the men jumped to their feet as Stumpy appeared at the cabin door. Suddenly, a sharp cry broke the air…the cry of a new-born baby. The rest of the men built a campfire outside and gathered around it to wait. One of the men turned to another and ordered: "Go in there, Stumpy, and see what you can do." Stumpy opened the cabin door, and disappeared inside. Cherokee Sal was having a baby.ĭeaths were not unusual in Roaring Camp.
Inside that cabin was "Cherokee Sal," the only woman in camp. A crowd was gathered in front of a small wooden house by the river. On a sunny morning in eighteen fifty, however, the men of Roaring Camp were quiet.
The noise of their continual fighting finally gave the camp its strange name. They filled the peaceful mountain air with shouting and gun shots. Many of these gold miners were criminals. More than one-hundred men from every part of the United States had come to that little camp – stopping there for a short time on their way to getting rich. Roaring Camp was the noisiest gold mining town in California. Our story today is called, "The Luck of Roaring Camp." It was written by Bret Harte.
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