History of California, Volume VI, Part 4

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885-1890
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 816

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Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

13 Original form of name appears to have been Weimer, corrupted by Eng-

THE MILL MEN.

sistant of Marshall, and occupied in superintending the Indians digging in the race. Henry W. Bigler was drilling at its head; Charles Bennett and William Scott were working at the bench; Alexander Stephens and James Barger were hewing timber; Azariah Smith and William Johnson were felling trees; and James O. Brown was whip-sawing with a savage.14

They were a cheerful set, working with a will, yet with a touch of insouciance, imparted to some extent by the picturesque Mexican sombrero and sashes, and sustained by an interchange of banter at the sim- plicity or awkwardness of the savages. In Marshall they had a passable master, though sometimes called queer. He was a man fitted by physique and tem- perament for the backwoods life, which had lured and held him. Of medium size, strong rather than well developed, his features were coarse, with a thin beard round the chin and mouth, cut short like the brown hair; broad forehead and penetrating eyes, by no means unintelligent, yet lacking intellectuality, at times gloomily bent on vacancy, at times flashing with impatience.15 He was essentially a man of moods; his mind was of dual complexion. In the plain and lish pronunciation to Wimmer. Bigler, Diary, MS., 60, has Wemer, which approaches the Weimer form.

14 Among those who had set out with Marshall upon the first expedition of construction were Ira Willis, Sidney Willis, William Kountze, and Ezekiel Persons. The Willis brothers and Kountze returned to the fort in Septem- ber 1847, the two former to assist Sutter in throwing a dam across the Amer- ican River at the grist-mill, and the latter on account of ill health. Mention is made of one Evans, sent by Sutter with Bigler, Smith, and Johnson, Ben- nett and Scott following a little later; but whether Evans or Persons were on the ground at this time, or had left, no one states. Bigler, Stephens, Brown, Barger, Johnson, Smith, the brothers Willis, and Kountze had formerly be- longed to the Mormon battalion.

15 Broad enough across the chest, free and natural in movement, he thought lightly of fatigue and hardships. His complexion was a little shaded; the mouth declined toward the corners; the nose and head were well shaped. In this estimate I am assisted by an old daguerreotype lying before me, and which reminds me of Marshall's answer to the editor of Hutchings' Magazine in 1857, when asked for his likeness. 'I wish to say that I feel it a duty I owe to myself,' he writes from Coloma the 5th of Sept., 'to retain my like- ness, as it is in fact all I have that I can call my own; aud I feel like any other poor wretch, I want something for self. The sale of it may yet keep me from starving, or it may buy me a dose of medicine in sickness, or pay for the funeral of a dog, and such is all that I expect, judging from foriner kind- nesses. I owe the country nothing.'

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

proximate, he was sensible and skilful; in the obscure and remote, he was utterly lost. In temper it was so; with his companions and subordinates he was free and friendly; with his superiors and the world at large he was morbidly ill-tempered and surly.16 He was taciturn, with visionary ideas, linked to spiritualism, that repelled confidence, and made him appear eccentric and morbid; he was restless, yet capable of self-denying perseverance that was fre- quently stamped as obstinacy.17

Early in the afternoon of Monday, the 24th 18 of

16 For example, Bigler, who worked under him, says of him, Diary, MS., 57, 'An entire stranger to us, but proved to be a gentleman;' and again, 72, 'in a first-rate good humor, as he most always was.' He was a truthful man, so far as he knew the truth. 'Whatever Mr Marshall tells you, you may rely on as correct,' said the people of Coloma to one writing in Hutchings' Mag., ii. 201. This is the impression he made on his men. On the other hand, Sut- ter, who surely knew him well enough, and would be the last person to malign any one, says to the editor of the Lancaster Examiner: 'Marshall was like a crazy man. He was one of those visionary men who was always dream- ing about something.' And to ine Sutter remarked; 'He was a very curious man, quarrelled with nearly everybody, though I could get along with him.' Pers. Rem., MS., 160.

17 Passionate, he was seldom violent; strong, he was capable of drinking deeply and coming well out of it; but he did not care much for the pleasures of intoxication, nor was he the drunkard and gambler that some have called him. He was not always actuated by natural causes. Once in a restaurant in San Francisco, in company with Sutter, he broke out: 'Are we alone ?' 'Yes,' Sutter said. 'No, we are not,' Marshall replied, ' there is a body there which you cannot see, but which I can. I have been inspired by heaven to act as a medium, and I am to tell Major-General Sutter what to do.' But though foolish in some directions, he was in others a shrewd observer. Sutter, Pers. Rem., MS., 160, and Bidwell, Cal. 1841-8, MS., 228, both praise him as a mechanic; and though in some respects a fool, he is still called 'an honest man.' Barstow's Stat., MS., 14; S. F. Alta Cal., Aug. 17, 1874. To dress, naturally, he paid but little attention. He was frequently seen in white linen trousers, buckskin leggings and moccasons, and Mexican sombrero.

18 The 19th of January is the date usually given; but I am satisfied it is incorrect. There are but two authorities to choose between, Marshall, the discoverer, and one Henry W. Bigler, a Mormon engaged upon the work at the time. Besides confusion of mind in other respects, Marshall admits that he does not know the date. 'On or about the 19th of January,' he says, Hutchings' Magazine, ii. 200; 'I am not quite certain to a day, but it was between the 18th or 20th.' Whereupon the 19th has been generally accepted. Bigler, on the other hand, was a cool, clear-headed, methodical man; more- over, he kept a journal, in which he entered occurrences on the spot, and it is from this journal I get my date. If further evidence be wanting, we have it. Marshall states that four days after the discovery he proceeded to New Helvetia with specimens. Now, by reference to another journal, N. Helvetia Diary, we find that Marshall arrived at the fort on the evening of the 28th. If we reckon the day of discovery as one of the four days, allow Marshall oue

IN THE TAIL-RACE.

January, 1848, while sauntering along the tail-race inspecting the work, Marshall noticed yellow particles mingled with the excavated earth which had been washed by the late rains. He gave it little heed at first; but presently seeing more, and some in scales, the thought occurred to him that possibly it might be gold. Sending an Indian to his cabin for a tin plate, he washed out some of the dirt, separating thereby as much of the dust as a ten-cent piece would hold; then he went about his business, stopping a while to ponder on the matter. During the evening he remarked once or twice quietly, somewhat doubtingly, "Boys, I believe I have found a gold mine." "I reckon not," was the response; "no such luck."

Up betimes next morning, according to his custom, he walked down by the race to see the effect of the night's sluicing, the head-gate being closed at day- break as usual. Other motives prompted his investi- gation, as may be supposed, and led to a closer exam- ination of the debris. On reaching the end of the race a glitter from beneath the water caught his eye, and bending down he picked from its lodgement against a projection of soft granite, some six inches below the surface, a larger piece of the yellow sub- stance than any he had seen. If gold, it was in value equal to about half a dollar. As he examined it his heart began to throb. Could it indeed be gold! Or was it only mica, or sulphuret of copper, or other ignis fatuus! Marshall was no metallurgist, yet he had practical sense enough to know that gold is heavy and malleable; so he turned it over, and weighed it in his hand; then he bit it; and then he hammered it between two stones. It must be gold! And the mighty secret of the Sierra stood revealed !

Marshall took the matter coolly; he was a cool enough man except where his pet lunacy was touched. On further examination he found more of the metal.

night on the way, which Parsons gives him, and count the 28th one day, we have the 24th as the date of discovery, trebly proved ..

HIST, CAL., VOL. VI. 3

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

He went to his companions and showed it to them, and they collected some three ounces of it, flaky and in grains, the largest piece not quite so large as a pea, and from that down to less than a pin-head in size. Half of this he put in his pouch, and two days later mounted his horse and rode over to the fort.19

19 The events which happened at Coloma in January 1848 are described by four persons who were actually present. These are Bigler, Marshall, and Wimmer and his wife. Of these Bigler has hitherto given nothing to the public except a brief letter published in the San Francisco Bulletin, Dec. 31, 1870. To me, however, he kindly presented an abstract of the diary which he kept at the time, with elaborations and comments, and which I esteem as one of the most valuable original manuscripts in my possession. The version given in this diary I have mainly followed in the text, as the most complete and accurate account. The others wrote from memory, long after the event; and it is to be feared too often from a memory distorted by a desire to exalt their respective claims to an important share in the discovery. But Bigler has no claims of this kind to support. He was not present when the first parti- cles were discovered, nor when the first piece was picked up in the race; hence of these incidents he says little, confining himself mostly to what he saw with his own eyes. Marshall claims to have been alone when he made the discovery. It is on this point that the original authorities disagree. Bigler says Marshall went down the race alone. Mrs Wimmer and her husband de- clare that the latter was with Marshall, and saw the gold at the same moment, though both allow that Marshall was the first to stoop and pick it up. Later Mrs Wimmer is allowed to claim the first discovery for her children, who show their findings to their father, he informing Marshall, or at least enlightening him as to the nature of the metal. Marshall tells his own story in a com- munication signed by him and published in Hutchings' Mag., ii. 199-201, and less fully in a letter to C. E. Pickett, dated Jan. 28, 1856, in Hittell's Hand- Book of Mining, 12; Wiggins' Rem., MS., 17-18; and in various brief accounts given to newspapers and interviewers. Parsons' Life of Marshall is based on information obtained directly from the discoverer, and must ever constitute a leading authority on the subject. P. L. Wimmer furnished a brief account of the discovery to the Coloma Argus in 1855, which is reprinted in Hittell's Mining, 13. Mrs Wimmer's version, the result of an interview with Mary P. Winslow, was first printed in the S. F. Bulletin, Dec. 19, 1874, though the substance of a previous interview with another person in 1852 is given in the Gilroy Advocate, April 24, 1875. Another class of authorities, as important as the foregoing, is composed of those who were the first to hear of the dis- covery, and appeared on the ground immediately afterward. Foremost among these is Sutter. This veteran has at various times given accounts of the event to a number of persons, the best perhaps being those printed by J. Tyrwhitt Brooks in his Four Months among the Gold-finders, 40-71, in the Gilroy Advo- cate ot Apr. 24, 1875, and in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, July 17, 1875, the latter taken from the Lancaster Examiner. Sutter's most complete printed narra- tive appears, however, in Hutchings' Mag., ii. 194-8. But more important than any of these, because more detailed and prepared with greater care, is the version contained in the manuscript entitled Sutter's Personal Reminis- cences, which I personally obtained from his lips. The same may be said of those given in the manuscripts of John Bidwell, California 1841-8, and of Gregson, Historical Statement, both of whom were at New Helvetia when the news first reached there, and at once visited Coloma. Provoked by an article in the Oregon Bulletin, with not very flattering reflections, Samuel Brannan made a statement in the Calistoga Tribune, which changed matters in no im- portant particular. To attempt to give a list of all who have touched upon

1216898

ANCIENT GOLD-FIELDS.

Great discoveries stand more or less connected with accident; that is to say, accidents which are sure to happen. Newton was not seeking the law of gravi- tation, nor Columbus a new continent, nor Marshall gold, when these things were thrust upon them: And had it not been one of these, it would have been some one else to make the discovery. Gold fevers have had their periodic run since time immemorial, when Scythians mined the Ural, and the desert of Gobi lured the dwellers on the Indus; or when Ophir, the goal of Phoenician traders, paled before the splen- dor of Apulia. The opening of America caused a re- vival which the disclosures by Cortés and Pizarro turned into a virulent epidemic, raging for centuries,

the discovery of gold in California would be of no practical benefit to any one. Next in importance, but throwing no additional light upon the subject, are those in Alta Cal., June 26, 1853, May 5, 1872, June 26, 1873, and Aug. IS and 19, 1874; Hayes' Col. Mining Cal., i. 1; S. F. Bulletin, Feb. 4, 1871, Jan. 12, 1872, Oct. 21, 1879, May 12, ISSO; Scientific Press, May 11, 1872; Browne's Resources, 14-15; Balch's Mines and Miners, 78; Farnham's Cal., 354-6; London Quarterly Review, xci. 507-8; California Past and Present, 73-105; Weik, Cal. wie es ist, 29 -- 51; Brooks' Hist., 534; Mason's Official Rept; Lar- kin's Letters to Secy State; Robinson's Gold Region, 33-46; Foster's Gold Regions, 17-22; Shinn's Mining Camps, 105-22; Wiggins' Rem., MS., 17-18; Frost's Hist. Cal., 39-55; Jenkins' U. S. Expl. Ex., 431-2; Oakland Times, Mar. 6, ISSO; Revere's Tour of Duty, 228-52; Schlagintwrit, Cal., 216; West Shore Gaz., 15; San Jose Pioneer, Jan. 19, 1878; Pfeiffer, Second Journey, 290, who is as accurate as excursionists generally are; Frignet, Hist. Cal., 79-80; Merced People, June 18, 1872; Mining Rev. and Stock Ledger, 1878, 126; Barstow's Stat., MS., 3; Buffum's Six Months, 67-8; Treasury of Travel, 92-4; Le.wvitt's Scrap-Book; Nevada Gazette, Jan. 22, 1868; Holinski, La Cal., 144; Grass Valley Union, April 19, 1870; Sacramento Illust., 7; Saxon's Five Years within the Golden Gate; Anger, Voyage en Californie, 149-56; Annals of S. F., 130-2; Cal. Assoc. Pioneer, First Annual, 42; Capron's California, 184-5; Bennett's Rec., MS., ii. 10-13. I have hardly thought it worth while to notice the stories circulated at various times questioning Marshall's claim as discoverer; as, for example, that Wimmer, or his boy, as before mentioned, was the first to pick up gold; or that a native, called Indian Jim, observed the shining metal, a piece as large as a brass button, which he gave to one of the workmen, Sailor Ike, who showed it to Marshall. Even men away from the spot at the time do not decline the honor. Gregson writes in his State- ment, MS., 9, 'we, the discoverers of gold,' and in his History of Stockton, 73, Tinkham says: 'To those two pioneers of 1839 and 1841, Captain John A. Sutter and Captain Charles M. Weber, belong the honor of discovering the first gold-fields of California, and to them the state owes its wonderful growth and prosperity.' These men were neither of them the discoverers of gold in any sense, nor were they the builders of this commonwealth. Some have claimed that the Mormons discovered the gold at Mormon Island, before Marshall found it at Coloma. Bidwell says that Brigham Young in 1864 assured him that this was the case. Cal. 1841-8, MS., 214. Such man- ifest errors and misstatements are unworthy of serious consideration. There is not the slightest doubt that Marshall was the discoverer.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

ever stimulated by advancing exploration and piratical adventure. Every step northward in Mexico con- firmed the belief in still richer lands beyond, and gave food for flaming tales like those told by Friar Marcos de Niza.

Opinions were freely expressed upon the subject, some of them taking the form of direct assertions. These merit no attention. Had ever gold been found in Marin county, we might accredit the statement of Francis Drake, or his chaplain, Fletcher, that they saw it there in 1579. As it is, we know they did not see it. Many early writers mention gold in California, referring to Lower California, yet leading some to confound the two Californias, and to suppose that the existence of the metal in the Sierra foothills was then known. Instance Miguel Venegas, Shelvocke, and others of the seventeenth and eighteenth centu- ries, and early encyclopædia makers. It has always been a favorite trick of navigators to speak of things they either greatly feared or greatly desired as exist- ing. Vizcaino, Knight, and fifty others were certain that the mountains of California contained gold. The developments along the Colorado River led to the same conviction; indeed, it was widely assumed that the Jesuits knew of rich mines within and beyond their precincts. Count Scala claims for the Russians of Bodega knowledge of gold on Yuba River as early as 1815, but he fails to support the assertion. Dana and other professional men of his class are to be cen- sured for what they did not see, rather than praised for the wonderful significance of certain remarks. The mine at San Fernando, near Los Angeles, where work was begun in 1842, is about the only satisfactory instance on record of a knowledge of the existence of gold in Alta California prior to the discovery of Mar- shall. And this was indeed a clew which could not have failed to be taken up in due time by some one among the host of observant fortune-hunters now pouring in, and forced by circumstances into the for-

UNSUPPORTED PRETENSIONS.

ests and foothills in quest of slumbering resources. The Sierra could not have long retained her secret.20

The discovery by Marshall was the first that can be called a California gold discovery, aside from the petty placers found in the southern part of the state. It is not impossible that white men may have seen gold in the Sierra foothills before him. This region had been traversed by trappers, by emigrants, and even by men of science; but if they saw gold, either they did not know it or they did not reveal it. No sooner was the discovery announced than others claimed to have been previously cognizant of the fact; but such statements are not admissible. Most of them are evident fabrications; as for the rest, not one has been proved. They were made in the first in- stance, as a rule, to deprive Marshall of the fame of his discovery, and they failed.

20 Conspicuous among those not before mentioned are the opinions general of Arthur Dobbs, Samuel Hearne, Jonathan Carver, Duflot de Mofras, Catalá, Pickett, Bidwell, Larkin, Bandini, Osio; the statements of Antonio de Alcedo, Alvarado, Vallejo, Jedediah Smith, Blake, Hastings, and others. Herewith I give a list of authorities on the subject. Osio, Historia de California, MS., 506; Cal. Dept. St Pap., viii. 6, 16, etc .; Larkin's Off. Cor., MS., i. 96; Ban- dini, Hist. Cul., MS., 17-18; Bidwell's Cal. 1841-8, MS., 214; Vallejo, Doc., MS., i. 140-1; Dep. Rec., MS., ix. 136; Vallejo, Notas Históricas, MS., 35; Clyman's Diary, MS .; Davis' Glimpses, MS., 149-50; San Diego, Arch. Index, MS., 92; Castañares, Col. Doc. Cal., MS., 23; Alvarado, Hist. Cal., MS., i. 77, and iv. 161; Galindo, Apuntes, MS., 68-9; Sutter's Pers. Obs., MS., 171; Hail's Sonora, MS., 252; Castroville Argus, Sept. 7, 1872; Robinson's Life in Cul., 190; Browne's Min. Res., 13-16; Monterey Herald, Oct. 15, 1875; Bry- ant's Cal., 451; Mex., Mem. Rel., 1835, no. 6; Mofras, Or. et Cal., i. 137; S. F. Alta ('al., Mar. 28, 1837, and Jan. 28 and May 18, 1878; S. F. Herald, June 1, 1855; Hesperian Mag., vii. 560; Drake's Voy .; Shelvocke's Voy .; Dobbs' Hudson's Bay; Hardy's Travels in Mex., 331-2; Dunbar's Romance of the Age, 93-4; Hughes' Cal., 119; Mendocino Democrat, Feb. 1, 1872; Lake County Bee, Mar. 18, 1873; Venegas, Ilist. Cal., i. 177-8; Antioch Ledger, Feb. 3, 1872; Hittell's Mining, 10-11; Buffum's Six Months, 45-6; Walker's Nar., 11; Merced Argus, Sept. 2, 1874; Cronise's Nat. Wealth, 109; Hayes' ('ol. Mining Cal., i. 1; S. F. Bulletin, July 12 and Oct. 1, 1860, Aug. 14, 1865; Tuthill's Hist. Cal., 231; Gray's Hist. Or., 364; Dana's Two Years, 324; Red Bluff Ind., Jan. 17, 1866; Hutchings' Mag., v. 352; Hunt's Mer. Mag., xxiv. 768, xxxi. 385-6, xxxiv. 631-2; Cal. Chronicle, Jan. 28, 1856; Dwinelle, Ad., 1866, 28; Reese Riv. Reveille, Aug. 10, 1865, and Jan. 29, 1872; Carson's State Reg., Jan. 27, 1862; Elko Independent, Jan. 15, 1870; Sac Union, June 7, 1861; Scala, Nouv. An. des Voy., clxiv. 388-90; Quarterly Rev., no. 87, 1850, 416; Gomez, Lo que Sabe, MS., 228-9; Hughes' California, 119; Carson's Rec., 58-9; Roberts' Rec., MS., 10; Valle, Doc., MS., 57; Dept. St Pap., MS., xii. 63-5; Requena, Doc., MS., 4-5; Los Angeles, Arch., MS., v. 331.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

It was late in the afternoon of the 28th of January when Marshall dismounted at New Helvetia,21 entered the office where Sutter was busy writing, and abruptly requested a private interview. The horseman was dripping wet, for it was raining. Wondering what could have happened, as but the day before he had sent to the mill all that was required, Sutter led the way into a private room. "Are you alone ?" demanded the visitor. " Yes," was the reply. "Did you lock the door ?" "No, but I will if you wish it." "I want two bowls of water," said Marshall. Sutter rang the bell and the bowls were brought. " Now I want a stick of redwood, and some twine, and some sheet copper." " What do you want of all these things, Marshall ?" "To make scales." " But I have scales enough in the apothecary's shop," said Sutter; and he brought a pair. Drawing forth his pouch, Marshall emptied the contents into his hand, and held it before Sutter's eyes, remarking, "I believe this is gold; but the people at the mill laughed at me and called me crazy." Sutter examined the stuff atten- tively, and finally said: "It certainly looks like it; we will try it." First aquafortis was applied; and the substance stood the test. Next three dollars in silver coin were put into one of the scales, and balanced by gold-dust in the other. Both were then immersed in water, when down went the dust and up the silver coin. Finally a volume of the American Encyclopedia, of which the fort contained a copy, was brought ont, and the article on gold carefully studied, whereupon all doubts vanished.22

21 Dunbar, Romance of the Age, 48, dates the arrival at the fort Feb. 2d, and intimates that the discovery was made the same morning. According to Parsons, Marshall reached the fort about 9 o'clock in the morning, having left Coloma the day before, and passed the preceding night under a tree. On the journey he discovered gold in a ravine in the foothills, and also at the place afterward called Mormon Island, while examining the river for a lumber-yard site. Life of Marshall, 84. Sutter, however, both in his Diary and in his Rem- iniscences, says that Marshall arrived at the fort in the afternoon. Marshall himself makes no mention of discovering gold on the journey.

22 Sutter's Pers. Rem., MS., 163-7. In my conferences with Sutter, at Litiz, I endeavored to draw from him every detail respecting the interview here

MARSHALL AND SUTTER.

Marshall proposed that Sutter should return with him to the mill that night, but the latter declined, saying that he would be over the next day. It was now supper-time, and still drizzling; would not the vis- itor rest himself till morning ? No, he must be off immediately; and without even waiting to eat, he wrapped his sarape about him, mounted his horse, and rode off into the rain and darkness. Sutter slept little that night. Though he knew nothing of the magni- tude of the affair, and did not fully realize the evils he had presently to face, yet he felt there would soon be enough of the fascination abroad to turn the heads of his men, and to disarrange his plans. In a word, with prophetic eye, as he expressed himself to me, he saw that night the curse of the thing upon him.

On the morning of the 29th of January 23 Sutter

presented in a condensed form. Some accounts assert that when Marshall desired the door to be locked Sutter was frightened, and looked about for his gun. The general assured me this was not the case. Neither was the mind of Marshall wrought into such a fever as many represent. His manner was hurried and excited, but he was sane enough. He was peculiar, and he wished to despatch this business and be back at the mill. Barstow, in his Statement, MS., 3, asserts that he did not rush down to the fort, but waited until he had business there. All the evidence indicates that neither Marshall nor Sutter had any idea, as yet, of the importance of the discovery. How could they have ? There might not be more than a handful of gold-dust in the whole Sierra, from any fact thus far appearing. See Bidwell's California 1841-8, MS., 230; Bigler's Diary, MS., 64; Brooks' Four Months, 40-3; Parsons' Life of Marshall, 84-5; Hutchings' Mag., ii. 194. Gregson, Statement, MS., S, blacksmithing for Sutter when Marshall arrived, saw the gold in a greenish ounce vial, about half filled. Bigler gives Marshall's own words, as repeated on his return to the mill. In every essential particular his account corresponds with that given to me by Sutter.

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History of California, Volume VI, Part 4

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe Publication date: 1885-1890 Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers Number of Pages: 816

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885-1890
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 816