A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today, Part 11

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1000

USA > California > A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today > Part 11

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

be taken up wherein there is not a reasonable quantity of gold or silver." At this day we know that this statement must have been un- trne, and was doubtless written for the purpose of attracting attention to the importance of the expedition of Sir Francis Drake. California was then a comparatively unknown country. It had been visited only by early explorers, and its characteristics were merely conjectured. When Hakluyt wrote there could hardly be a " hand- ful of soil taken up wherein there is not a rea- sonable quantity of gold or silver;" in the light of the present the statement was absurd, for neither gold nor silver has ever been found in the vicinity of the point where Drake must have landed.

Other early explorers stated that gold had been found long before the discovery by Mar- shall; and there is no doubt that a well-founded surmise prevailed that gold existed in California. The country had been explored at times since the sixteenth century, by Spanish, Russian and American parties. It was visited by Commo- dore Wilkes, who was in the service of the Uni- ted States on an extensive exploring expedition; and members of his party ascended the Sacra- mento River and visited Sutter at the fort, while others made explorations by land.

James D. Dana, a celebrated anthor of several works on mineralogy, was the mineralogist of this expedition and passed by land through the upper portion of California. In one of his works he says that gold rock and veins of quartz were observed by him in 1842 near the Umpqua River, in Southern Oregon; and again, that he found gold near the Sierra Nevada and on the Sacramento River; also, on the San Joaquin River and between those rivers. There is, in the reports of the Fremont exploring expedition, an intimation of the existence of gold.

It has been said that in October and Novem- ber, 1845, a Mexican was shot at Yerba Buena (San Francisco) on account of having a bag of gold dust, and when dying pointed northward and said, " Legos! Legos!" (yonder), indicating where he had found the gold dust.

It has been claimed, and with a considerable degree of probability, that the Mormons who arrived in San Francisco on the ship Brooklyn found gold before the famous discovery of Co- loma. The circumstances in connection with this discovery are somewhat romantic. The Mormon people had established themselves at Nauvoo, Illinois, a point where they believed themselves to be beyond the reach of perse- cution. However, the country there became populated by those not of their faith, and the antagonisin against the Mormons resulted finally in bloodshed, and the founder of the church, Joseph Smith, was shot by a mob and killed. The Mormons then determined to remove farther west, and into a section of conntry beyond the reach of the Government of the United States. They selected California as their future home. Their land expedition started across the plains, and a ship named the Brooklyn carried from the eastern side of the continent a number of the believers. Samnel Brannan, who was prominent in the early history of Sacramento, San Fran- cisco and the State, was one of their leading men who came with the sea voyagers. When the Brooklyn emigrants landed at Yerba Buena (San Francisco) they found that the United States forces had taken possession of California, and that they had landed upon soil possessed by the nation from which they were endeavoring to flee. Couriers were sent overland to inter- cept the land party, and it is said that they found them at the place where Salt Lake City is now located. The overland party determined to locate at that place, although it was then sterile and unpromising. Those who came on the Brooklyn dispersed in California, and some of them located at Mormon Island, in Sacra- mento County; and it is claimed that they found gold long before the discovery at Coloma, but that they kept their discovery a secret. How- ever that may be, it is a fact that mining was prosecuted by them about the time of Marshall's discovery.

At a banquet of the Associated Pioneers of the Territorial days of California, held in the

SUTTER'S MILL, COLOMA, CAL. (Site of the discovery of gold by Marshall.)

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

city of New York, on January 18, 1878, Colonel T. B. Thorpe, a veteran of the Mexican War, who had been on the staff of General Zachary Taylor, stated that while he had been employed as a journalist in New Orleans, several years before the discovery of gold at Coloma, a Swede, evidently far gone into consumption, called upon him and represented that he was what in his country was called a " king's orphan;" that he had been educated at a governmental institution, on condition that after he had received his edu- cation he should travel in foreign lands, observe and record what he had seen, and deposit his records with the government. He stated that he had visited California, remained several days at Sutter's Fort, enjoying the hospitality of Sutter; that while there he closely examined the surrounding country and became convinced that it abounded richly in gold. Colonel Thorpe stated that the Swede gave him this opinion in writing. At that banquet General Sutter was present, and Colonel Thorpe called upon him to say whether he had any recollection concerning the Swedish visitor. Sutter replied that he did recollect the visit, which had occurred about thirty-four years before; and he also remem- bered that the Swede expressed himself re- garding the presence of mineral wealth in the neighboring hills; " but," added the General, " I was too much occupied at the time with other concerns to devote any time or attention to it. My crops were ripe, and it was imperative that they should be gathered as quickly as possible; but I do recollect the scientific Swedish gen- tleman."

The report of the remarks delivered at that banquet were published, and in it is contained a copy of the manuscript to which Colonel Thorpe referred, in which the " king's orphan " wrote: "The Californias are rich in minerals. Gold, silver, lead, oxide of iron, manganese and copper ore are all met with throughout the country, the precious metals being the most abundant."

There is another account of an early gold dis- covery, which was published in the New Age,

in San Francisco, the official organ of the Odd Fellows, in September, 1865. It purports to have been an extract written by the Paris cor- respondent of the London Star, who wrote that in the city of Paris he visited a private museum, and that its owner exhibited to him a nugget of gold, and stated that twenty-eight years before a poor invalid had presented himself and took ont of his tattered coat a block of quartz, and asked the proprietor of the museum if he would purchase it, assuring him that it was full of gold. The stranger said: " I have come to you to apply to the Government to give me a vessel and a crew of 100 men, and I will promise to return with a cargo of gold." The proprietor of the museum presumed that the man was mad, and gave him a napoleon as a matter of charity, but retained a piece of the quartz. Afterward the quartz was analyzed, and it was proved to contain pure gold. Fifteen years elapsed, and a parcel and a letter were left at his door. The parcel was wrapped in a handkerchief, and was heavy. The letter was worn and almost illegi- ble. On deciphering it, it proved to be the dying statement of the poor traveler, which, through the neglect of the lodging-house keeper where he had died after the interview referred to, had never been delivered. The package contained a block of quartz, and the letter was thus worded:

" You alone listened to me; you alone stretched out a helping hand to me. Alas! it was too late! I am dying. I bequeath my secret to you. The country from whence I brought this gold is called California."

THE GREAT GOLD DISCOVERY OF 1848.

The credit, however, for the practical discov- ery of gold in California is due to James W. Marshall. It is true that a gold mine had been worked in 1841 in the lower part of the State, and that gold from that mine had been sent to the Philadelphia mint for coinage as early as July, 1843. The mine, however, proved un- profitable and was abandoned. The story of the discovery by Marshall, at Coloma, in Janu-

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

ary, 1848, is confused, and the precise date upon which it was made can perhaps never be settled. Marshall was employed by Captain Sutter, and was in charge of a party of men erecting a saw-inill at the present site of Coloma. in El Dorado County. A race-way was dug and the water turned in. In examining the race after- ward, Marshall's attention was attracted by a shining object. He picked it up. It was gold. Other particles of the metal were collected, and Marshall came with them to Sutter's Fort and exhibited them to his employer, Sutter. They were tested in a crude way, and Sutter became convinced that the metal was gold. Afterward specimens were sent to Monterey, then the cap- ital of the Territory, and exhibited to General R. B. Mason, the military governor, and to W. T. Sherman, at that time an obscure officer of the United States army, but who has since risen to national notoriety. The integrity of the metal was established, the news of the discovery sent forth, the world was electrified, and immi- gration poured in from every civilized country.

James W. Marshall was born in Hope Town- ship, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, October 8, 1810. On arriving at man's estate he re- moved to Indiana, afterward to Illinois and Missouri, and arrived in California in 1844. In 1845 he came to Sutter's Fort, and was em- ployed by Captain Sutter. He took an active part in the California revolution of 1846. After his discovery of gold the Legislature of the State pensioned him for a time. Subsequently he settled on a small piece of land at Coloma, near where he had discovered the gold, and made his living by farming. About 5 o'clock on the morning of August 10, 1885, he was found dead in his cabin, and was buried near the spot where gold was first found by him. He was never married.

A fine statue of Marshall has recently been erccted by the State at the point where he made his famons discovery.

We add Sutter's account here, as it gives so many interesting details in connection with the discovery of gold:

It was on the first of January, 1848, when the gold was discovered at Coloma, where I was building a saw-mill. The contractor and builder of this mill was James W. Marshall, from New Jersey. In the fall of 1847, after the mill seat had been located, I sent up to this place Mr. P. L. Wimmer [Weimer], with his family, and a number of laborers from the disbanded Mormou battalion ; and a lit- tle later I engaged Mr. Bennett, from Oregon, to assist Mr. Marshall in the mechanical labors of the mill. Mr. Wimmer had the team in charge, assisted by his young sons, to do the teaming, and Mrs. Wimmer did the cook- ing for all hands. I was very much in need of a saw- mill to get lumber to finish my flouring-mill, of four run of stones, at Brighton, which was commenced at the same time and was rapidly progressing; likewise, for other buildings, fences, etc., for the small village of Yerba Buena, now San Francisco. In the City Hotel (the only one) this enterprise was unkindly called "another folly of Sutter's," as my first settlement at the old Fort near Sacramento city was called by a good many " a folly of his;" and they were about right in that, because I had the best chances to get some of the finest locations near the settlements; and even well stocked ranches bad been offered me, on the most reasonable conditions. But I re- fused all these good offers and preferred to explore the wilderness and select a territory on the banks of the Sac- ramento.

It was a rainy afternoon when Mr. Marshall arrived at. my office in the fort, very wet. I was somewhat surprised to see him, as he was down a few days previous, when I sent up to Coloma a number of teams with provisions, mill irons, etc. He told me then that he had some im- portant and interesting news which he wished to com- municate secretly to me, and wished me to go with him to a place where we should not be disturbed, and where no listeners could come and hear what we had to say. I went with him to my private rooms. He requested me to lock the room; I complied, but told him at the same time that nobody was in the house except the cleik, who was in his office in a different part of the house.

After requesting something of me which he wanted, which my servants brought and then left the room, I for- got to lock the door, and it happened that the door was opened by the clerk just at the moment when Marshall tonk a rag from his pocket, showing me the yellow metal. He had about two ounces of it; but how quick Mr. Mar- shall put the yellow metal in his pocket again can hardly be described. The clerk came to see me on business, and excused himself for interrupting me; and as soon as he left I was told, " Now Jock the door. . Did'nt I tell you that we might have listeners ?" I told him he need fear nothing about that, as it was not the habit of this gentle- man; but I could hardly convince him that he need not be suspicious.

Then Mr. Marshall began to show me this metal, which consisted of small pieces and specimens, some of them worth a few dollars. He told me that he had expressed his opinion to the laborers at the mill that this might be gold; but some of them were laughing at him and

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

called him a crazy man, and could not believe such a thing.

After having proved the metal with aqua fortis, which I found in my apothecary shop, likewise with other experi- ments, and read the long article "Gold " in the Encyclo- pedia Americana, I declared this to be gold of the finest quality-of at least twenty-three carats. After this Mr. Marshall had no more rest or patience, and wanted me to start with him to Coloma; but I told him I could not leave, as it was late in the evening and nearly supper time, and that it would be better for him to remain with me till the next morning, and I would then travel with him. But this would not do; he asked me only, " Will yon come'to- morrow ?" I told him Yes, and off he started for Coloma, in the heaviest rain, although already very wet, taking nothing to eat. I took this news very easy, like all other occurrences, good or bad, but thought a great deal during the night about the consequences which might follow such a discovery. I gave all the necessary orders to my numerous laborers, and left the next morn- ing at seven o'clock, accompanied by an Indian soldier and a vaquero, in a heavy rain for Coloma. About half way on the road I saw at a distance a human being crawl- ing out from the brushwood. I asked the Indian who it was. He told me, " The same man who was with you last evening." When I came nearer I found it was Marshall- very wet. I told him he would have done better to re, main with me at the Fort than to pass such an ugly night here; but he told me that he went to Coloma, fifty- four miles, took his other horse and came half way to meet him. Then we rode up to the new El Dorado.

In the afternoon the weather was clearing up, and we made a prospecting promenade. The next morning we went to the tail-race of the mill, through which the water was running during the night, to clear out the gravel which had been made loose, for the purpose of widening the race; after the water was out of the race, we went in to search for gold. This was done every morning. Small pieces of gold could be seen remaining on the sur- face of the clean-washed bed-rock. I went into the race and picked up several pieces of this gold. Several of the laborers gave me some which they had picked up, and from Marshall I received a part. I told them I would get a ring made of this gold as soon as it could be done in California; and I have had a heavy ring made, with my family's coat of arms engraved on the outside; and on the inside of the ring is engraved " The first gold, dis- covered in January, 1848." Now, if Mrs. Wimmer pos- sesses a piece which had been found earlier than mine, Mr. Marshall can tell, as it was probably received from him. I think Mr. Marshall could have hardly have known himself which was exactly the first little piece among the whole.

The next day I went with Mr. Marshall on a prospect- ing tour in the vicinity of Coloma, and the following morning I left for Sacramento. Before my departure, I had a conversation with all hands. I told them I would consider it a great favor if they would keep this discovery secret only for six weeks, so that I could finish my large

flour-mill at Brighton, which had cost me already about $24,000 or $25,000. The people up there promised to keep it secret so long. On my way home, instead of feeling happy and contented, I was very unhappy, and could not see that it would benefit me much; and I was perfectly right in thinking so, as it came just precisely as I ex- pected. I thought, at the same time, that it could hardly be kept secret for six weeks; and in that too I was not mistaken; for, about two weeks later after my return, I sent up several teams, in charge of a white man, as the teamsters were Indian boys. This man was acquainted with all hands up there, and Mrs. Wimmer told him the whole secret; likewise the young sons of Mrs. Wimmer told him that they had gold, and that they would let him have some too; and so he obtained a few dollars' worth of it, as a present. As soon as this man arrived at the Fort he went to a small store in one of my outside buildings kept by Mr. Smith, a partner of Samuel Brannan; he asked for a bottle of brandy, for which he would pay the cash. After having the bottle he paid, with the small pieces of gold. Smith was astonished, and asked if he meant to insult him. The teamster told him to go and ask me about it. He reported it to Mr. Brannan, who came up immediately to get all possible information, when he returned and sent up large supplies of goods, leased a larger house from me, and commenced a very large and profitable business. Soon he opened a branch house at Mormon Island.

So soon as the secret was out my laborers began to leave me, in small parties at first, but then all left, from the clerk to the cook; and I was in great distress. Only a few mechanics remained to finish some necessary work which they had commenced, and about eight invalids who continued slowly to work a few teams, to scrape out the mill-race at Brighton. The Mormons did not like to leave my mill unfinished; but they got the gold fever, like everybody else. After they had made their piles they left for the great Salt Lake. So long as these people had been employed by me they have behaved very well and were industrious and faithful laborers; and when settling their accounts there was not one of them who was not contented and satisfied.

Then the people commenced rushing up from San Francisco and other parts of California, in May, 1848. In the former village (San Francisco) only five men were left to take care of the women and children. The single men locked their doors and left for "Sutter's Fort," and thence to the El Dorado. For some time the people in Monterey and further south would not believe the news of the gold discovery, and said it was only a ruse de guerre of Sutter's, because he wanted to have neighbors in his wilderness. From this time on I got only too many neighbors, and some very bad ones among them.

What a great misfortune was this sudden gold discov- ery to me! It has just broken up and ruined my hard, industrious and restless laborers, connected with many dangers of life, as I had many narrow escapes before I became properly established. From my mill buildings I reaped no benefit whatever; the mill-stones, even, have

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

been stolen from me. My tannery, which was then in a flourishing condition and was carried on very profitably, was deserted. A large quantity of leather was left unfin- ished in the vats, and a great quantity of raw hides be- came valueless, as they could not be sold. Nobody wanted to be bothered with such " trash," as it was called. So it was in all the other mechanical trades which I had carried on ; all was abandoned, and work commenced, or nearly finished, was left, at an immense loss to me. Even the Indians had no more patience to work alone, in har- vesting and threshing my large wheat crop; as the whites had all left, and other Indians had been engaged by some white men to work for them, and they commenced to have some gold, for which they were buying all kinds of articles at enormous prices at the stores. When my Indians saw this they wished very much to go to the mountains and dig gold. At last I consented, got a num- ber of wagons ready, loaded them with provisions and goods of all kinds, employed a clerk and left with about 100 Indians and about fifty Sandwich Islanders, which had joined those which I brought from the Islands. The first camp was about ten miles from Mormon Island, on the south fork of the American river. In a few weeks we became crowded, and it would no more pay, as my people made too many acquaintances. I broke up the camp and started on the march further south, and located my next camp on Sutter Creek, now in Amador County, and thought that I should there be alone. The work was going on well for a while, until three or four traveling grog shops surrounded me, at from one-half to ten miles distance from the camp. Then, of course, the gold was taken 10 these places, for drinking, gambling, etc., and then the following day they were sick and unable to work, and became deeper and more indebted to me, particularly the Kanakas (Sandwich Islanders). I found it was high time to quit this kind of business and lose no more time and money. I therefore broke up my camp and returned to the Fort, where I disbanded nearly all the people who had worked for me in the mountains digging gold. This whole expedition proved to be a heavy loss to me.

At the same time I was engaged in a mercantile firm at Coloma, which 1 lett in January, 1849, likewise with many sacrifices. After this, I would have nothing more to do with the gold affairs. At this time the fort was the great trading place, where nearly all the business was transacted. I had no pleasure to remain there and moved up to Hock farm, with all my Indians who had been with me from the time they were children. The place was then in charge of a major-domo.

It was very singular that the Indians never found a piece of gold and brought it to me, as they very often did other specimens found in the mountains. I requested them continually to bring me some curiosities from the mountains, for which I always recompensed them. I have received animals, birds, plants, young trees, wild fruits, pipe-clay, red ochre, etc., but never a piece of gold. Mr. Dana, of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, told me that he had the strongest proof and signs of gold in the vicinity of Shasta Mountain and further south. A short

time afterward, Dr. Sanderson, a very scientific traveler, visited me and explored a part of the country in a great hurry, as time would not permit him to make a longer stay. He told me likewise that he found some signs of gold, and was very sorry that he could not explore the Sierra Nevada. He did not encourage me to attempt to work and open mines, as it was uncertain how it would pay and would probably be only profitable for a govern- ment. So I thought it more prudent to stick to the plow, notwithstanding I did know the country was rich in gold and other minerals. An old attached Mexican servant, who had followed me from the United States, as soon as he knew that I was there, and who understood a great deal alout working in placers, told me he found sure signs of gold in the mountains on Bear Creek, and that we would go right to work after returning from our cam- paign in 1845; but he became a victim to his patriotism and fell into the hands of the enemy near my encamp ment, with dispatches for me from General Micheltor- ena, and he was hung as a spy, for which I was very sorry.

EARLY MINING.

As would naturally be expected, the first devices adopted for washing and collecting gold would, in a great measure, be imperfect and unsatisfactory, and improvements would be con- stantly made. The first eager rush for the shin- ing treasure hurried the seeker on in so great haste that he could hardly take time to invent apparatus or machinery. Therefore numbers of experiments were introduced by thoughtful immigrants, but nearly all devised withont practical knowledge. Many excellent ideas were, however, obtained from men conversant with the methods of other countries, and these suggestions assisted in unfolding one method after another.

In 1850 the " long tom" began to supplant the cradle, of which it formed practically an ex- tension, with a capacity five- fold and upward greater. This apparatus was an inclined, stationary, wooden trough or box from ten to thirty feet in length, a foot and a half wide at the upper end and widening at the lower end, where perforated sheets of iron were let into the bottom, under which was placed a shallow, flat riffle-box four or five feet long, with cross- bars to catch the running gold. Such bars were sometimes nailed also across the bottom of the upper box to assist in catching the gold. Upon the mass of dirt shoveled into this trough a

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A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today, Part 11

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1000

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1000