Carleton Watkins End of Innocence
What a pity it was that Willard Huntington failed to get his uncle to share any of his private Oneonta memories for his ambitious oral history project. There remain many unanswered questions about Collis's life between 1849, when the Sacramento, California, outpost of the S. and C. P. Huntington general merchandise firm was established, and 1853 when it was dissolved.
The predictable routines of agricultural and industrial Oneonta changed dramatically the week of August 20, 1848, when news of the discovery of gold in California [Fig. 6] arrived via the New York Tribune that was available in the barroom of Oneonta House.[24] During the final quarter of 1848 a party of five fortune-seekers was organized under the leadership of Collis Huntington, who made the plan for a departure by sea from New York City. Carleton, who turned nineteen a few months before, was a member of the party.
In Chapter Four we will find out where and how Carleton Watkins learned the Spanish language, how he became known to his Oneonta family as "Uncle Carlos," and something about his secret life in Central and South America in 1849-1850.
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Close Chapter Three: End of Innocence