California
Fairfax, still the potential 10th Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron, traveled to the West Coast aboard ship. Joining the company of 74 other gold seekers, he left Richmond, Virginia, on the "Glenmore." After disembarking and crossing Panama, he boarded a second ship, the steamer California, and arrived in San Francisco on June 23, 1850.
The life of a miner in the mother lode of California might have been somewhat of a shock to Fairfax, who grew up amidst the life of a gentleman farmer, but he stuck with the endeavor for a while. He prospected extensively, only to lose whatever money he made as fast as he got hold of it. There were stories of him working for others, pushing a wheelbarrow, or tending a mule pulling a cart of gravel and sloshing about in the mud of the diggings. He might have decided there must be a better way to acquire a fortune.
In 1851, he abandoned the goldfields and turned to a new calling—politics—and became a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Fairfax was a member of the California State Assembly, first representing Yuba and Sierra Counties from 1853 to '54, then Yuba County alone from 1854 to '55. He served as Speaker of the Assembly in 1854. He subsequently served as Clerk of the Supreme Court of California, 1856–'61. From 1865 to 1867, he was a Supervisor of Marin County.
Read more about this topic: Charles S. Fairfax
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