He and his associates spared no
efforts to defeat me. Their great reliance consisted in creating the
belief that I was an abolitionist. If that character could have been
fastened upon me it would have been fatal to my hopes, for it was a
term of great reproach. Yuba County then comprised the present county
of that name, and also what are now Nevada and Sierra Counties. It
was over a hundred miles in length and about fifty in width, and had
a population of twenty-five thousand people, being the most populous
mining region in the State. I visited nearly every precinct and spoke
whenever I could get an audience. An incident of the canvass may not
be uninteresting. I went to the town of Nevada a little more than a
week before the election. As I was riding through its main street a
gentleman whom I had long known, General John Anderson, hailed me,
and, after passing a few words, said, "Field, you won't get fifty
votes here." I asked, "Why not?" He replied, "Because everybody is for
McCarty, your opponent." I said, somewhat sharply, "Anderson, I have
come here to fight my own battle and I intend to carry Nevada." He
laughed and I rode on. The first man I met after reaching the hotel
was Captain Morgan, who afterwards commanded a steamer on the Bay of
San Francisco. After talking for some time on general topics, he asked
me about a story in circulation that I was an abolitionist.
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