Attempt to Kidnap. — Sometime during Wednesday, officers Keyser and Mclntosh received information from Placerville and Mud Springs, El Dorado county, that a colored man would arrive in the city that night, who was being taken through the State without authority of law, in irons, as a slave, with the view of removing him by the next steamer to the East, to the State of Missouri. The officers were on the alert, and in the night, between twelve and one o’clock, secured the release of the man referred to.
The facts of the case appear to be as follows : In 1850, some fifteen or sixteen slaves belonging to Smith, of Missouri, were brought to this State. The owner, who was a large slaveholder in Missouri, has recently died. Several of the slaves, it is said, have since his death been taken back by those who claim to be his heirs. In the present case one of his sons, Thomas Smith, secured the one above refered to, whose name is John Turner, in Carson Valley, and brought him in irons to the vicinity of Placerville. He was then transferred to a buggy and brought to Folsom ; from there he was brought by the cars to Salisbury Station and again transferred to a buggy and brought to the city after night. The officers above named ascertained that Smith had taken Turner to his room over the Fashion Saloon, and while guarding the place, Smith ascertained the fact and concluded to turn Turner loose, to avoid arrest. Turner, it is said, was compelled to work at Washoe for several weeks without pay, by his ” owner.”
(Washoe is a term often used in northern California newspapers for the area of the California and Nevada mining districts of this era – see Wikipedia Washoe People.)