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HISTORY
El
Dorado County, California.
CHAPTER
XIV.
DISCOVERY OF GOLD.
Early
Discoveries of Gold -- J. S. Smith, of the American Fur Company -- J. Ross
Brown's Report to Congress -- Baptiste Ruelle at San Fernando -- James
Dana, Mr. Greenhow, Dr. Santels -- James W. Marshall -- What Led to the
Discovery, and How it Happened -- Communication of the Discovery to Sutter
-- Isaac Humphrey -- Mormon Island -- California Press in Regard to the
Discovery -- Don Andreas Pico's Exploring Expedition -- Captain Charles M.
Weber's Expedition -- Jonas Spect on the Yuba -- Major P. B. Reading in
the Northern Region -- News of the Discovery of Gold Reaches Monterey --
The Governor's Trip to the Mines -- Official Forwarding of the News to
Washington -- Table of Mining Products in California.
From the time that Cortez, in his letter to his monarch,
Charles V of Spain, dated October 16, 1524, wrote that the great men of
Colima had given him information of an island of amazons, or women only, abounding
in pearls and gold, etc., through about three centuries the people of
Spanish nationality, under Spanish as well as under Mexican government,
were dreaming the golden dream, and the opinion that the country abounded
in precious metals seems never to have died out entirely ; but the
realization of the dream did not come, and no gold or other metals had
ever been discovered by the people of that nationality, and Mexico finally
was satisfied with the trivial-sum of $15,000,000 for the abdication of
California and New Mexico, none of the peace-making parties having an idea
of the richness of the country they were treating about, notwithstanding
Marshall's discovery was actually made a short while before the meeting of
the commissioners at Querataro.
The very first knowledge of precious metals was the
discovery of silver at Avizal, in Monterey county, in 1802. The following
letter is an important document, showing that Jedediah S. Smith was not
only the first white man to come overland to California, but that to him
is due the first discovery of gold in California :
"Genoa,
Carson Valley,"
September 18th, 1860.
"Edmond
Randolph, Esq., S. F.:
"Friend Randolph -- I have just been reading your address
before the Society of Pioneers. I have known of the J. S. Smith you
mentioned, by reputation, for many years. He was the first white man that
ever went overland from the Atlantic States to California. He was the
chief trader in the employ of the American Fur Company. At the rendezvous
of the company on Green river, near the South Pass, in 1825, Smith was
directed to take charge of a party of some forty men (trappers) and
penetrate the country west of Salt Lake. He discovered what is know known
as Humboldt river. He called it Mary's river, from his Indian wife, Mary.
It has always been known as Mary's river by mountain men since -- a name
it should retain for many reasons.
"Smith pushed on down Mary's river,
and being of an adventuresome nature, when he found his road closed by
high mountains, determined to see what kind of a country there was on the
other side. It is not known exactly where he crossed the Sierra Nevada,
but it is supposed that it must have been not far from where the old
emigrant road crossed, near the head of the Truckee. He made his way
southerly after entering the valley of the Sacramento, passed through San
Jose and down as low as San Diego. After recruiting his party and
purchasing a large number of horses he crossed the mountains near what is
known as Walker's Pass, skirted the eastern shore of the mountains till
near what is now known as Mono Lake, whence he steered an east-by-north
course for Salt Lake. On this portion of his route he found placer gold in
quantities, and brought much of it with him to the encampment on Green
river.
"The gold that he brought with him,
together with his description of the country he had passed through, and
the large amount of furs, pleased the agent of the American Fur Company so
well that he directed Smith again to make the same trip, with special
instructions to take the gold fields on his return and thoroughly prospect
them. It was on this trip that he wrote the letter to Father Duran. The
trip was successful until they arrived in the vicinity of the gold mines,
east of the mountains, where, in a battle with the Indians, Smith and
nearly all his men were killed. A few of the party escaped and reached the
encampment on Green river. This defeat damped the ardor of the company so
much that they never looked any more for the gold mines.
"There are one or more men now living
who can testify the truth of the above statement, and who can give a
fuller statement of the details of his two journeys.
"The man, Smith, was a man of far more
than average ability, and had a better education than falls to the lot of
the mountain men. Few, or none of them, were his equals in any respect.
"Thomas
Sprague."
J. Ross Brown, in his report to Congress in
1867, says : "The existence of gold in California was known long
before the acquisition of that territory by the United States. Placers had
long been worked on a limited scale by the Indians, but the priests, who
had established the missionary settlements, knowing that a discrimination
of the discoveries thus made would frustrate their plans for the
conversion of the aboriginal races, discouraged by all means in their
power, the prosecution of this pursuit, and in some instances suppressed
it by force. As early as December, 1843, however, Manuel Castanares, a
Mexican officer made strenuous efforts to arouse the attention of the
Mexican government to the importance of this great interest."
At San Isidor, in San Diego county, gold
was discovered in 1828, and another discovery of the same metal followed
in the western limits of Santa Clara county, in 1833. Gold placers were
known as early as 1841 near the mission of San Fernando, about fifty-five
miles to the northeast of Los Angeles, by a French Canadian named Baptiste
Ruelle, for a many years a trapper. He had found his way into New Mexico
where he learned to work the placer mines. From there he continued his
trip to California, where he made the above mentioned discovery.
These mines, though worked by half a hundred men, did not prove rich
enough to attract attention. In rare instances nuggets were found weighing
an ounce, but the average wages did not exceed twenty-five cents a day per
hand. Those mines were still worked in 1845, when Dr. John Townsend and
General John Bidwell visited the camp, but the work was unprogressive ;
the gravel banks in three and one-half years constant work had been
penetrated little more then twenty-five feet. Baptiste Ruelle cam to
Sutter's fort in 1844, and stayed there until 1848. The gold excitement
drove him to the mines again where he, after Humphrey, was the first
experienced miner at Coloma, and hundreds of miners learned from him the
use of pan and rocker ; but after a short time he settled on Feather
river, above the Honcut and lived there till the time of his death.
In 1842, James Dana, the well-known
geologist visited the coast accompanying the Wilkes' Exploring Expedition,
and wrote about the discoveries as follows : "The gold rocks and veins of
quartz were observed by the author in 1842, near the Umpqua river, in
Southern Oregon, and pebbles from similar rock were met along the shores
of the Sacramento in California, and the resemblance to other gold
districts was remarked, but there was no opportunity of exploring the
country at the time."
And Mr. Greenhow, writing in 1844, says :
"The only mine as yet discovered in Upper California is one of gold,
situated at the foot of the great westernmost range of the mountains, on
the west, at a distance of twenty-five miles from Los Angeles, the largest
town in the country, it is said to be of extraordinary richness." This
undoubtedly refers to the above-mentioned mines near San Fernando, the
distance from Los Angeles having been given to the writer somewhat short.
In 1843, Sutter's fort was visited by a
young Swedish scholar, Dr. Santels, known as the "King's Orphan," on
account of having been educated at a government institution of Sweden,
which education bore with others the requirement of traveling in foreign
lands for a certain period of time, and to write out his observations,
etc., to be deposited in the library of that institution. In pursuance of
that duty the young Swede, by means of an ocean vessel, found his way to
California, made drawings of the Golden Gate, the town of Yerba Buena and
the old Presidio, from where he visited Sutter's fort and made a sketch
and description of the same ; but on his way home he died at New Orleans.
His papers fell into the hands of T. B. Thorpe, who reported them to the
Associated Pioneers of the territorial days of California. After having
finished his examination trip through the country this gentleman wrote in
1843 :
"The Californias are rich in minerals ;
gold, silver, lead, oxide of iron, manganese and copper ore are met with
throughout the country, the precious metals being the most abundant."
All these many discoveries and statements
of the existence of precious metals, however had not effect enough to
excite a single soul, and neither government nor private persons followed
the given hints to go to the trouble of any further exploration. This is
what was reserved to the final discovery of placer gold in the mill-race
at Coloma, on January 19, 1848, by James W. Marshall, which, spreading
like an epidemic disease, produced a new one--the gold fever-- that soon
revolutionized the whole civilized world ; and the name of California
heretofore almost unknown, found its way to the ear of almost every person
of culture in the old as well as in the new world.
James W. Marshall, the lucky discoverer of
gold at Coloma, came to California from Oregon in 1845, whither he had
gone overland from Missouri the year before. He came to Sutter's fort,
then the headquarters of all adventurers. Here he enlisted into the ranks
of the California battalion under Colonel Fremont and took part in the
American conquest and returned to Sutter's fort after this battalion was
discharged at Los Angeles, in early summer of 1847. On an excursion trip
from the fort up on the American river he came through the Culloomah
basin--now Coloma-- and the location, concerning the beautiful stand of
sugar-pine trees, and the pleasant water power on the South Fork of the
American river, found his consent and awakened his desire to build a
sawmill there. Returning to the fort he tried to persuade Captain Sutter
to enter into a partnership agreement by which the latter was to furnish
the means, while he (Marshall) was to superintend the erection and
operation of the mill. With a full equipment of workmen and tools he
started for the mill site at Coloma on the 28th of August, 1847. Here we
give the names of the men who were working at the mill : Peter L. Weimer,
William Scott, James Bargee, Alexander Stephens, James Brown, William
Johnson and Henry Bigler. Most of them were Mormons and returned afterward
to Salt Lake. The last name became an elder in the Mormon church. Besides
these white men there were some Indians employed also.
The mill was built over a dry channel of
the river which was calculated to the the tail race. Marshall, being a
kind of wheelwright, had constructed the "tub-wheel" and had also
furnished some of the rude parts of the machinery necessary for an
ordinary up-and-down sawmill. By January, 1848, the mill was about
finished, the tub-wheel set in motion, and after having arranged the
head-race and dam he let on the water to test the goodness of his
machinery. All worked very well until it was found that the
tail-race did not carry off the water fast enough, so he was compelled to
deepen and widen the tail-race. In order to economize labor he ordered his
men to scratch a kind of a ditch down in the middle of the dry channel,
throwing only the coarser stones out of the race, then letting on the
water again, it would run with velocity through the channel, washing away
all the lose dirt. This was done in the night so as not to interfere
with the work of the men in the daytime, and in the morning Marshall,
after closing the forebay gate, thus shutting off the water, used to walk
down the tail-race to inspect the work the water had done.
"On this occasion," says the "Life and
Adventures of James W. Marshall," "having strolled to the lower end of the
race, he stood for a moment examining the mass of debris that had washed
down, and at this juncture his eye caught the glitter of something that
lay lodged in the crevice of a riffle of soft granite, some six inches
under the water. His first act was to stoop and pick up the substance. It
was heavy, of peculiar color, and unlike anything he had seen in the
stream before."
This specimen, a pebble weighing six
pennyweights and eleven grains, after the best authorities, was found on
the memorable day 19th of January, in the presence of Peter L. Weimer and
William Scott. Marshall, after keeping it in his hand for a few minutes,
reflecting and endeavoring to recall all he had heard or read concerning
the various metals, but not being able to determine about its substance,
handed it over to Weimer, that it was closely examined by him and Scott,
and because, after some different conjectures, none of them could decide
about the quality of the mineral, Weimer was ordered to take it home and
have his wife boil it in saleratus water. He took the piece home with him,
handed it to his wife who, as she was engaged boiling soap at the time,
threw the specimen in the soap-kettle, where it remained twenty-four
hours, and came out so much brighter than before. The manner in which the
mineral had stood the test convinced them of its valuable properties,
whereupon Marshall, who had collected between the time two or three ounces
of the precious metal, was prevailed upon to mount the mule and start for
Sutter's fort to make the final test.
The following from the "Memoirs of General
W. W. Sherman" will give the reader an idea that Marshall was far more
excited than he would make believe :
"Captain Sutter himself related to me
Marshall's account, saying that as he sat in his room at the fort one day
in February or March, 1848, a knock was heard at the door, and he called
out, 'come in.' In walked Marshall, who was a half crazy man at best, but
then looked strangely wild. 'What is the matter, Marshall?" Marshall
inquired if any one was in hearing, and began to peer around the room and
look under the bed, when Sutter fearing that some calamity had befallen
the party up at the sawmill, and that Marshall was really crazy, demanding
of Marshall to explain what was the matter. At last he revealed his
discovery and laid before Captain Sutter the pellicles of gold he had
picked up in the ditch. At first Sutter attached little or no importance
to the discovery, and told Marshall to go back to the mill, and say
nothing of what he had seen, to his family or any one else.
"Yet, as it might add value to the
location, he dispatched to our headquarters at Monterey--as before
related--the two men with a written application for a pre-emption to the
quarter section of land at Coloma."
Captain John A. Sutter's diary, kept by
himself, gives on the same subject the highly interesting facts to be seen
out of the following extracts :
"January 28th, 1848, Marshall arrived in
the evening, it was raining very heavy, but he told me that he came on
important business ; after we were alone in a private room he showed me
the first specimen of gold, that is he was not certain if it was gold or
not, but he thought it might be ; immediately I made the proof and found
that it was gold. I told him even that most of all is 23 carat gold. He
wished that I should come up with him immediately, but I told him that I
have to give first my orders to the people in all my factories and shops.
"February 1st--Left for the saw-mill
attended by a vaquero (Olympio.) Was absent 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th. I
examined myself everything and picked up a few specimens of gold myself in
the tailrace of the saw-mill. This gold and other which Marshall gave to
me, (it was found while in my employ and wages), I told them I would a
ring got made of it so soon as the goldsmith would be here. I had a talk
with my employed people at the saw-mill, I told them that as they do now
know that this metal is gold, I wished that they would do me the great
favor and keep it secret for six weeks, because my large flour-mill at
Brighton would have been in operation in such a time, which undertaking
would have been a fortune to me, and unfortunately the people would not
keep it a secret, and so I lost on this mill at the lowest calculation
about $25,000."
While on this visit to Coloma Captain
Sutter, with Marshall, assembled the Indians and bought of the a large
tract of land about Coloma in exchange for a lot of beads and a few cotton
handkerchiefs. They used color of this Indian title, required one-third of
all the gold dug on their domain, and collected at this rate until the
fall of 1848, when a mining party from Oregon declined to pay "tithes," as
they called it.
Mr. John Hittell, in his "Mining in the
Pacific States," presents the following not enough known facts, on the
great discovery :
"Marshall was a man of an active,
enthusiastic mind, and he at once attached great importance to his
discovery. His ideas, however, were vague ; he knew nothing about
gold-mining--he didn't know how to take advantage of what he had found.
Only an experienced gold-miner could understand the importance of the
discovery, and make it a practical value to all the world. That
gold-miner, fortunately, was near at hand ; his name was Issac Humphrey.
He was residing in the town of San Francisco, in the month of February,
when a Mr. Bennett, one of the party employed at Marshall's mill, went
down to that place with some of the dust to have it tested ; for it was
still a matter of doubt whether the yellow metal really was gold. Bennett
told his errand to a friend whom he had met in San Francisco, and this
friend introduced him to Humprey, who had been a gold-miner in Georgia,
and was therefore competent to pass an opinion upon the stuff. Humphrey
looked at the dust, pronounced it gold at the first glance, and expressed
a belief that the digging must be rich. He made inquiries about the place
where the gold was found, and subsequent inquiries about the
trustworthiness of Mr. Bennett, and on the 7th of March, we find him at
the mill. He had tried to induce several of his friends in San Francisco
to go with him ; but all thought his expedition a foolish one, and he had
to go alone. At the mill he found that there was some talk about gold and
persons would go about looking for pieces of it, but no one was engaged in
mining and the work of the mill was going on as usual. On the 8th he went
out prospecting with a pan, and satisfied himself that the country in that
vicinity was rich in gold. He then made a rocker and commenced the
business of washing fold ; and thus began the business of mining in
California.
"Others saw how he did it, followed his
example, found that the work was profitable, and abandoned all other
occupations. The news of their success spread, people flocked to the
place, learned how to use the rocker, discovered new diggings, and in the
course of a few months, the country had been overturned by a social and
industrial revolution."
Mr. Humphrey had not been at work more than
a few days before Baptiste Ruelle, who had discovered gold at San Fernando
mission, near Los Angeles, came to the mill and joined Humphrey in the
work of the mines.
But Marshall anxiously guarding his
supposed treasure--after most all laborers had left their work--threatened
to shoot everybody attempting to dig and gather the gold on his and
Sutter's claim ; but these men had sense enough to know, or found it out,
that if placer gold was found at Coloma, it would also exist further down,
and the gradually prospected further on, until the reached what is now
known as Mormon Island, fifteen miles below, where they discovered the
richest placers on earth. ______Henderson, Sidney Willis and _______Fifield,
Mormons, were the first miners at Mormon Island. The Mormons employed by
Sutter in the erection of a grist-mill at Brighton, getting the news of
their brethren's result struck for higher wages to which Sutter yielded,
until they asked ten dollars a day which he refused, and the two mills on
which he had spent so much money were never built and fell into decay ;
but all the hands went to join the miners at Mormon Island, thus giving
the place the name.
The California press, consisting of the
Star and Californian, both published in San Francisco, did not
mention the discovery till some weeks after the event. It is hard to
believe that they did not hear of it, and we have to suppose that either
distrust in the news or lack of enterprise caused the neglect. The first
published notice of gold discovery appeared in the Californian on
the 15th of March, nearly two months after it took place. We give it here
:
Gold Mine Found.--In the newly-made raceway
of the sawmill recently erected by Captain Sutter, on the American fork,
gold has been found in considerable quantities. One person brought thirty
dollars' worth to New Helvetia, gathered there in a short time.
California, no doubt, is rich in mineral wealth ; great chances here for
scientific capitalists. Gold has been found in almost every part of the
country."
The following brief allusion appeared in
Sam. Brannan's paper, the Star, three days after :
"We were informed a few days since, that a
very valuable silver mine was situated in the vicinity of this place, and
again, that its locality is known. Mines of quicksilver are being found
all over the country. Gold has been discovered in the northern Sacramento
District, about forty miles from Sutter's fort. Rich mines of copper are
said to exist north of these bays."
The Star of March 25th, announces
the quantity of gold taken from the new mines so great that it had become
an article of traffic at New Helvetia.
The Californian on April 26th, says
:
"Gold Mines of the Sacramento.--From a
gentlemen just from the gold region, we learn that many new discoveries
have very recently been made, and it is fully ascertained that a large
extent of country abounds with that precious mineral. Seven men, with
picks and spades, gathered nine thousand six hundred dollars within
fifteen days. Many persons are settling on the lands with the view of
holding pre-emptions, but as yet every person takes the right to gather
all he can, without any regard to claims. The largest piece yet found is
worth six dollars."
The Star of April 1, 1848, writes :
"It would be utterly impossible at present
to make correct estimate of the mineral wealth of California. Popular
attention has been but lately directed to it. But the discoveries that
have already been made will warrant us in the assertion that California is
one of the richest mineral countries in the world. Gold, silver,
quicksilver, iron, copper, lead, sulphur, saltpeter and other mines of
great value have already been found."
Other articles containing description of
process and implements of gold mining, and the result of the discovery
followed.
The discovery of gold at Coloma was almost
a signal throughout the country, and soon it was answered by finding of
gold on many other streams. The circumstances accompanying the first gold
mining on the Calaveras, Mokelumne, Stanislaus, Yuba, Feather, Trinity,
Klamath and Scott rivers, which with the American, form the principal
streams along which mining has been carried on, are of historical
interest.
Don Adreas Pico, brother of ex-Govenor Pio
Pico, organized a company of Mexican miners, chiefly Sonorans, in the
spring of 1848, for the purpose of a prospecting tour through the
Sierras, to test the extent of Marshall's discovery of gold. The company
thus organized under the leadership of Don Andreas proceeded north to the
Yuba river, and from thence south to the Stanislaus river, traveling and
superficially prospecting all the since celebrated central mineral belt
known to the world as California's richest placer diggings. This company,
however, did not make any final location, but only stopped a short while
at most places.
Captain Charles M. Weber, of Tuleburg
(Stockton), fitted out another prospecting party, of which a number were
Si-yak-um-na Indians, and undertook the exploration of the mountains north
of the Stanislaus river. This party, composed of inexperienced miners,
likewise proceeded north from the Stanislaus river, but came nearer making
a failure than a success, until the Mokelumne river was reached. By
more deliberately searching here, the first gold was found in the region
of the country afterwards known as the "Southern mines," so called to
distinguish them from the mines more easily to be approached from
Sacramento. Prospecting further on brought to light, that gold was to be
found in every stream and gulch between the Mokelumne and American rivers
; but no location was made until reaching the divide of the latter stream,
where they commenced work in earnest on what is since known as Weber
creek. As soon as the Indians accompanying the expedition had learned how
to prospect, Captain Weber sent them back to their chief Jose Jesus, the
Captain's friend, with instructions to prospect the Stanislaus and
neighboring rivers for gold and report the results to Major Domo at
Tuleburgh. Not a long time after the captain was informed with the
exciting news that his Indians had found gold in quantities everywhere
between the Calaveras and Stanislaus rivers. He immediately returned home,
fitted out the Stockton Mining Company, and inaugurated the working of
those afterward famous mines : Murphy's Camp, Sullivan's Diggings,
Sansovina Bar, Woods Creek and Angel's Camp all derived their names from
members of that pioneer company.
The discoverer of gold on the celebrated
Yuba river was Jonas Spect, who on the 24th of April, 1848, encamped at
Knight's Landing, on the Sacramento river, on his way from San Francisco
to Johnson's ranch to join a party being made up for an overland journey
to the States. He, like every one, supposed gold was confined to the
Coloma basin, went there first, started from here north to Johnson's
ranch, prospected without any success on Bear river, and after that on
Yuba river, tried at Long Bar and Rose Bar with very little success ; and,
nearly discouraged, took a last chance on the Yuba a little above
Timbucktoo ravine, where he struck gold in paying quantities.
Major Pearson B. Reding, the old trapper
and pioneer Californian, now being at Reading's ranch, Butte county, has
to be looked to as the first discoverer of gold in the northern region of
the State ; with an organized party of thirty men and one hundred head of
horses, he had started from Sutter's fort in the spring of 1845, for the
purpose of trapping the waters of the upper California and Oregon ; and
after having been successful in this, returned to his starting place late
in the fall. Crossing the Coast Range mountains at the head of Middle
Cottonwood creek in July, 1848, on another trip, he struck the Trinity
river on what is now called Reading's Bar, prospected for a few days and
found the bars rich in gold. This result caused him to return home on
Cottonwood, where he fitted out and expedition for mining purposes.
The following interesting passages are from
"Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman," giving the most accurate explanation
how the highest official authorities of the United States in the Territory
of California got the first news of the discovery of gold, their
inspection trip, and the forwarding of the news to Washington ; by the
way, showing the difficult communication between California and the
Atlantic States before the golden era opened up the routes :
"I remember one day in the spring of 1848,
that two men, Americans, came into the office of Colonel R. B. Mason, the
military commander and ex-officio governor, stationed at Monterey, and
inquired for the governor. I asked their business, and one answered that
they had just come down from Captain Sutter's on special business, and
they wanted to see the governor in person. I took them in to the colonel,
and left them together. After some time the colonel came to his door and
called to me. I went in, and my attention was called to a series of papers
unfolded on his table in which lay about half an ounce of placer gold.
Mason said to me : "What is that?" I touched it and examined one or two of
the larger pieces, and asked : "Is it gold?" Mason asked if ever I had
seen native gold. I answered that in 1844, I was in Upper Georgia, and
there saw some native gold, but it was much finer than this, but I made
the proposition to test it by its maleability first, and next by acids. I
took a piece in my teeth, and the metallic lustre was perfect. I then
called to the clerk, Baden, to bring an axe and a hatchet. When these were
brought, I took the largest piece and beat it out flat and beyond doubt it
was metal, and a pure metal. Still, we attached little importance to the
fact, for gold was known to exist at San Fernando, at the south, and yet
was not considered of much value.
"Colonel Mason then handed me a letter from
Captain Sutter, addressed to him, stating that he (Sutter) was engaged in
erecting a saw-mill at Coloma, about forty miles up the American Fork
above his fort, New Helvetia, for the general benefit of the settlers in
that section ; that he had incurred considerable expense, and wanted a
"pre-emption" on the quarter section of land on which the mill was
located, embracing the trail-race in which this particular gold had been
found. Mason instructed me to prepare a letter, in answer, for his
signature. I wrote off a letter, reciting California was yet a Mexican
province, simply held by us as a conquest ; that no laws of the United
States yet applied to it, much less the land laws, or th pre-emption laws,
which could only apply after a public survey. Therefore it was impossible
for the governor to promise him a title to the land ; yet as there were no
settlements within 40 miles, he was not likely to be disturbed by
trespassers. Colonel Mason signed the letter, handed it to one of the
gentlemen, who had brought the sample of gold, and they departed.
"Toward the close of June, 1848, the gold
fever being at itss height, by Colonel Mason's orders, I made preparations
for his trip to the nely discovered gold mines at Sutter's Fort. I
selected four good soldiers, with Aaron, Colonel Mason's black servant,
and a good outfit of horses and pack animals ; we started by the usually
traveled route for Yerba Buena (San Francisco)> There Captain Folsom and
two other citizens joined our party. The first difficulty was to cross the
bay to Saucelito. Folsom, as quarter-master, had a sort of scow with a
large sail, and by means of her and infinite labor we managed to get the
load of horses, etc., safely crossed to Saucelito. We followed in a more
comfortable schooner. Having safely landed our horses and mules we packed
up and rode to San Rafael mission, stopping with Don Timateo Murphy. The
next day's journey took us to Bodega, where a man by the name of Stephen
Smith lived, who had the only steam saw-mill in California. We spent a day
very pleasantly with him, and learned that he had come to the country some
years before, at the personal advice of Daniel Webster, who had informed
him, that sooner or later the United States would be in possession of
California, and that in consequence it would become a great country. From
Bodega we traveled to Sonoma, and spent a day with General Vallejo. From
Sonoma by the way of Napa, Suisun, and Vaca's ranch, crossing the tules,
we reached the Sacramento river opposite to Sutter's embarcadero. The only
means of crossing over was by an Indian dugout canoe. After all things and
persons were safely crossed, the horses were driven in the water, being
guided ahead by a man in the canoe. Of course, the animals at first
refused to take to the water, and it was nearly a day's work to get them
across ; and even then, the trouble was not over, some of the animals
escaped in the woods and think undergrowth that lined the river, but we
secured enough to reach Fort Sutter, three miles back from the embarcadero
; where we encamped at the slough or pond near the fort. On application,
Captain Sutter sent some Indians back into the bushes who recovered and
brought back all our animals.
"At that time there was not the sign of a
habitation there or thereabouts, except the fort, and an old adobe house
east of the fort, known as the "Hospital." The fort, itself, was of adobe
walls, about twenty feet high, rectangular in form, with two-story
block-houses at diagonal corners. The entrance was by a large gate, open
by day and closed by night, with two iron ship's guns near at hand. Inside
there was a large house, with a good shingle roof, used as a store house,
and all around the wall were ranged rooms, the fort-wall being the
outer-wall of the house. The inner wall, also, was of adobe. These rooms
were used by Captain Sutter himself, and by his people ; he had a
blacksmith's shop, a carpenter's shop, etc., and other rooms where the
women made blankets. He had horses, cattle and sheep, and of those he gave
liberally and without price to all in need. He caused to be driven into
our camp a beef and some sheep, which were slaughtered for our use.
"July 5th, 1848, we commenced our journey
toward the mines, and reached, after a hot and dusty ride, Mormon Island.
"When Colonel Mason and party reached
Mormon Island, they found about three hundred Mormans there at work ; most
of them were discharged soldiers from the Mexican was. General Robert
Allen raised a battalion of five companies of Mormons at Kanesville, Iowa,
now Council Bluffs, early in 1846 ; Allen died on the way and was
succeeded by Cooke ; these were discharged at Los Angeles early in the
summer of 1847, and most of them went to their people at Salt Lake, but
some remained in California--as soon as the fame of the discovery of gold
spread, the Mormons naturally went to Mormon Island. Clark, of Clark's
Point, one of the elders, was there also, and nearly all of the Mormons
who had come out in the sailing vessel Brooklyn, which left New York in
1845, with Sam Brannan as leader. Sam Brannan was on hand as the
high-priest, collecting the tithes. As soon as the news spread that the
governor was there, persons came to see us, and volunteered al kinds of
information, illustrating it by sample of the gold, which was of a uniform
kind--scale gold, bright and beautiful. I remember that Mr. Clark was in
camp talking to Colonel Mason about matters and things generally, when he
inquired : 'Governor, what business has Sam Brannan to collect the tithes
here?' Clark admitted that Brannan was the head of the Mormon church in
California. Colonel Mason answered : 'Brannan has a perfect right to
collect the tithes, if you Mormons are fool enough to pay the tax.'
'Then,' said Clark, 'I, for one, won't pay any longer.' And Colonel Mason
added : 'This is public land, and the gold is the property of the United
States ; all of you are trespassers, but as the government is benefitted
by your getting out the gold I do not intend to interfere.' I understand
afterward, that from that time the payment of the tithes ceased, but
Brannan had already collected enough to hire Sutter's hospital and to open
a store there, in which he made more money than any merchant in California
during that summer and fall.
"The next day we continued our journey and
reached Coloma, the place where gold had been first discovered, about
noon. Only few miners were at work thee, by reason of Marshall and
Sutter's claim to the site. There stood the saw-mill unfinished, the dam
and tail-race just as they were left when the Mormons ceased work.
Marshall and his family of wife and half a dozen tow-headed children were
there, living in a house made of clapboards.
"Here, also, were were shown many specimens
of gold, of a courser grain than that found at Mormon Island. We crossed
the American river to it's north side, and visited many small camps of men
in what were called the 'dry diggings.' Some of these diggings were
extremely rich ; sometimes a lucky fellow would hit on a 'pocket,' and
collect several thousand dollars in a few days ; and then again would be
shifting about from place to place 'prospecting,' and spending all he
made. Little stores were being opened at every point, where flour, bacon,
etc., were sold--everything being a dollar a pound, and a meal usually
cost three dollars. Nobody paid for a bed, for he slept on the ground,
without fear of cold or rain.
"As soon as we had returned from our visit
to the gold mines, to Monterey, it became important to send home positive
knowledge of this valuable discovery. The means of communication with the
United States was very precarious, and I suggested to Colonel Mason that a
special courier out to be sent ; that Second-Lieutenent Loeser had been
promoted to first-Lieutenant, and was entitled to go home. He was
accordingly detailed to carry the news. I prepared with great care the
letter to the adjutant-general, of August 17th, 1848, which Colonel Mason
modified in a few particulars ; and, as it was important to send not only
the specimen which had been presented to us along our route of travel, I
advised the colonel to allow Captain Folsom to purchase and send to
Washington a large sample of the commercial gold in general use, and to
pay for the same out of the money in his hands, known as the 'Civil fund,'
arising from the duties collected at the several ports in California. He
consented to this, and Captain Folsom bought an oyster can full, at ten
dollars an ounce, which was the rate of value at which it was then
received at the custom-house. Folsom was further instructed to contract
with some vessel to carry the messenger to Sough America, where he could
take the English steamer as far east as Jamaica, with a conditional
charter, giving increased pay if the vessel would catch the October
steamer. Folsom chartered the bark La Lambayecana, owned and navigated by
Henry D. Cooke, who has since been the governor of the Districk of
Columbia. In due time this vessel reached Monterey, and Lieut. Loeser,
with his report and specimens of gold, embarked and sailed. He reached the
South American continent at Payta, Peru, in time, took the English steamer
of October to Panama, and thence when on to Kingston, Jamaica, where he
found a sailing vessel bound for New Orleans. On reaching New Orleans, he
telegraphed to the War Department his arrival ; but so many delays had
occurred, that he did not reach Washington in time to have the matter
embraced in the President's regular message of 1848, as we had calculated.
Still, the President made it the subject of a special message, and thus
became official what had before reached the world only in very indefinite
shape. Then began that great development and the emigration to California,
by land and by sea, of 1849 and 1850."
The estimated production of gold in the
United States from 1848 to 1873 is $1,240,750,000, of which California
contributed $1,083,075,000, as the following table shows in detail :
| From 1848 to 1852 |
$147,000,000 |
| In 1852 |
59,000,000 |
| " 1853 |
68,000,000 |
| " 1854 |
64,000,000 |
| " 1855 |
59,000,000 |
| " 1856 |
63,000,000 |
| " 1857 |
61,000,000 |
| " 1858 |
59,000,000 |
| " 1859 |
59,000,000 |
| " 1860 |
52,000,000 |
| " 1861 |
50,000,000 |
| " 1862 |
51,500,000 |
| " 1863 |
50,000,000 |
| " 1864 |
35,000,000 |
| " 1865 |
35,000,000 |
| " 1866 |
26,000,000 |
| " 1867 |
25,000,000 |
| " 1868 |
22,000,000 |
| " 1869 |
22,000,000 |
| " 1870 |
25000,000 |
| " 1871 |
20,000,000 |
| " 1872 |
19,049,000 |
| " 1873 |
18,025,722 |
| " 1874 |
20,300,531 |
| " 1875 |
17,753,151 |
| " 1876 |
18,615,807 |
| " 1877 |
18,174,716 |
| " 1878 |
18,920,461 |
| " 1879 |
18,190,973 |
| " 1880 |
18,276,166 |
Blake gives the following table of the gold-yield
of the world, for the year 1867 :
| California |
$25,000,000 |
| Nevada |
6,000,000 |
| Oregon & Washington Territory |
3,000,000 |
| Idaho |
5,000,000 |
| Montana |
12,000,000 |
| Arizona |
500,000 |
| New Mexico |
300,000 |
| Colorado |
2,000,000 |
| Utah & Appalach |
2,700,000 |
|
Total for the United States |
$56,500,000 |
| British Columbia |
$ 2,000,000 |
| Canada & Nova Scotia |
560,000 |
| Mexico |
1,000,000 |
| Brazil |
1,000,000 |
| Chili |
500,000 |
| Bolivia |
300,000 |
| Peru |
500,000 |
| Venezuela, Columbia, Cuba, St. Domingo |
3,000,000 |
| Australia |
31,000,000 |
| New Zealand |
6,000,000 |
| Russia |
15,000,000 |
| Austria |
1,175,000 |
| Spain |
8,000 |
| Italy |
95,000 |
| France |
80,000 |
| Great Britain |
12,000 |
| Africa |
900,000 |
| Borneo and East India |
5,000,000 |
| China, Japan, etc. |
5,000,000 |
|
Great Total
|
$130,180,000 |
|
