Santa Claus Papa

© Craig MacDonald

(My grandfather, who was a miner and engineer in the Sierra, once told me an incredible story about a mother living near the gold-mining camp of Fair Play on the Cosumnes River in El Dorado County. I was able to piece together this story using grandpa's information and some details uncovered from a 19th Century newspaper, I accidentally came across while doing research for a book.)

A widow named Mary Stewart was having a very hard time making a go of it after her husband had been killed in a mine explosion. She worked long hours washing miners' clothes to put food on the table for her two small kids. Life was especially tough and discouraging with the approach of the first Christmas without her husband.

Mary had an extremely difficult time keeping her two optimistic kids (Totty, 5, & Benny, 4) realistic about their dire, impoverished situation. On Christmas Eve, a young miner named Jack Dawson happened to overhear the sad mother telling her kids that Santa wouldn't be coming this year. Outside their cabin, he listened intently as the children refused to be pessimistic and insisted on hanging stockings by the chimney. Peering through the window, he could see the widow weeping. This was just too much for Jack. Overcome with emotion, he got an idea.

Grabbing a blue stocking off their clothesline, he rushed back to town and entered Henry Howk's Gambling Hall. Jack leaped up on a chair, calling for everyone's attention.

"The hum of voices and click of ivory checks suddenly ceased," observed the Mother Lode correspondent for The Nevada State Journal. Jack told them about the widow's plight. "Boys, I think I know what kind of metal you're made of. Those kids' daddy was the same as us. I think Santa is going to find that cabin before morning!"

With that, Jack held up the stocking and put a $20 gold piece inside. Then a gambler named Brock Clark jumped up from the faro table and added another $20. Others rushed forward to make their contributions until the foot of the stocking was full; then came the cry from other gambling tables—'Pass her around!'

Soon, the stocking started bursting at the seams, so a stronger coin bag was volunteered and the stocking placed inside. Meanwhile, word of the charity spread all over town as other saloons asked for the bag.

"With a party at his heels, Jack took it from saloon to saloon. Games ceased and tipplers left the bars. Everybody crowded to tender a Christmas gift for the widow and her orphans."

Jack and his "elves" next rode to a merchant's store and purchased toys, clothes and other provisions.

Later that night, they quietly unloaded the gifts by the widow's cabin steps, before retreating to a nearby thicket of trees.

"Christmas morning dawned bright and beautiful. When the rising sun peeped over the mountains and shot its beams upon the Western Range, the sparkling frost flashed from the snow-clad peaks as though their towering heads were sprinkled with pure diamonds."

Mary awoke, sadly seeing the empty stockings by the fireplace. She kissed her little ones awake while disappointment spread across their faces as they glanced at the flat stockings.

For some reason, Benny then jumped up and ran to the door, opened it and let out a scream. Mary rushed to his side, her jaw dropped; she was stunned speechless as tears flowed at the unexpected sight of presents.

She then read a card from Santa, prompting all of them to kneel down and give thanks to God for their unexpected blessings.

As Jack and his "elves" slipped away undetected, the joyful family moved their gifts—flour, hams, canned fruits, sugar, shawls, hats, shoes, mittens, clothes, a wax doll and sled--into the cabin. At the bottom of the pile was what looked like a heavy bag of salt. Totty and Benny struggled to lift it. Mary helped them drag in the mystery sack of coins. They just couldn't believe it!

Soon, the whole secret story leaked out, reaching Mary's ears. She knew Dawson by sight and the next time she saw Jack in town, Mary grabbed him by the coat and gave a tearful "thanks." He too broke into tears.

Four months from that "Mary" Christmas, Mrs. Stewart became Mrs. Dawson. And, forever after, Jack was lovingly called by her kids, "our Santa Claus Papa!"

(Craig MacDonald's great-grandmother came to California in a covered wagon during the Gold Rush. He has spoken before the Conference of California Historical Societies and been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. His latest book is "California Gold Rush Glimpses," which he wrote with his father, Franklin.)