History of California, Volume VI, Part 5

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

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23 The day on which Sutter followed Marshall to Coloma is questioned. In his Reminiscences, and his statement in Hutchings' Magazine, Sutter distinctly says that he left for the saw-mill at seven o'clock on the morning after Mar- shall's visit to the fort; but in his Diary is written Feb. Ist, which would be the fourth day after the visit. Bigler, in his Diary, says that Sutter reached the mill on the third or fourth day after Marshall's return. Marshall shows his nsual carelessness, or lack of memory, by stating that Sutter reached Coloma 'about the 20th of February.' Discovery of Gold, in Hutchings' Mag., ii. 201. Parsons is nearly as far wrong in saying that Sutter 'returned with Marshall to Coloma.' Life of Marshall, 86. Mrs Wimmer also says that 'Sutter came right up with Marshall.' This is indeed partly trne, as Marshall in his restlessness went back to meet Sutter, and of course came into camp with him. On the whole, I have determined to follow Sutter's words to me, as I know them to be as he gave them. If Sutter did not set out until Feb. Ist, then Marshall did not reach the mill until the 31st of January, else Sut- ter's whole statement is erroneous.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

started for the saw-mill. When half-way there, or more, he saw an object moving in the bushes at one side. " What is that ?" demanded Sutter of his attendant. " The man who was with you yester- day," was the reply. It was still raining. "Have you been here all night?" asked Sutter of Marshall ; for it was indeed he. "No," Marshall said, " I slept at the mill, and came back to meet you." As they rode along Marshall expressed the opinion that the whole country was rich in gold. Arrived at the mill, Sutter took up his quarters at a house Marshall had lately built for himself, a little way up the mountain, and yet not far from the mill. During the night the water ran in the race, and in the morning it was shut off. All present then proceeded down the channel, and jumping into it at various points began to gather gold.24 With some contributions by the men, added to what he himself picked up, Sutter secured enough for a ring weighing an ounce and a half, which he soon after exhibited with great pride as a specimen of the first gold. A private examination by the partners up the river disclosed gold all along its course, and in the tributary ravines and creeks. 25

Sutter regarded the discovery as a misfortune. Without laborers his extensive works must come to a stop, presaging ruin. Gladly would he have shut the knowledge from the world, for a time, at least. With the men at the mill the best he could do was to make them promise to continue their work, and say nothing of the gold discovery for six weeks, by which time he hoped to have his flour-mill completed, and

24 Bigler, Diary, MS., 65-6, gives a joke which they undertook to play on the Old Cap, as Marshall called Sutter. This was nothing less than to salt the mine in order that Sutter in his excitement might pass the bottle. Wim- mer's boy, running on before, picked up the gold scattered in the race for the harmless surprising of Sutter, and thus spoiled their sport.

23 Indeed, Sitter claims that he picked with a small knife from a dry gorge a solid lump weighing nearly an ounce and a half, and regarded the tributaries as the richer sources. The work-people obtained an inkling of their discovery, although they songht henceforth to dampen the interest. One of the Indians who seems to have worked in a southern mine published his knowledge. Pers. Rem., MS.

TREATY WITH THE CULUMAS.

his other affairs so arranged as to enable him to with- stand the result. The men, indeed, were not yet prepared to relinquish good wages for the uncertain- ties of gold-gathering.

If only the land could be secured on which this gold was scattered-for probably it did not extend far in any direction-then interloping might be prevented, mining controlled, and the discovery made profitable. It was worth trying, at all events. Mexican grants being no longer possible, Sutter began by opening negotiations with the natives, after the manner of the English colonists on the other side of the continent. Calling a council of the Culumas and some of their neighbors, the lords aboriginal of those lands, Sutter and Marshall obtained from them a three years' lease of a tract some ten or twelve miles square, on payment of some shirts, hats, handkerchiefs, flour, and other articles of no great value, the natives meanwhile to be left unmolested in their homes.26 Sutter then re- turned to New Helvetia, and the great discovery was consummated.

26 Biglers' Diary, MS., 66. Marshall speaks of this as the consummation of 'an agreement we had made with this tribe of Indians in the month of September previous, to wit, that we should live with them in peace on the same land.' Discovery of Gold, in Hutchings' Mag., ii. 200.

CHAPTER III.

THE SECRET ESCAPES. FEBRUARY, 184S.

BENNETT GOES TO MONTEREY-SEES PFISTER AT BENICIA-'THERE IS WHAT WILL BEAT COAL!'-BENNETT MEETS ISAAC HUMPHREY AT SAN FRANCISCO -UNSUCCESSFUL AT MONTEREY-SUTTER'S SWISS TEAMSTER-THE BOY WIMMER TELLS HIM OF THE GOLD-THE MOTHER WIMMER, TO PROVE HER BOY NOT A LIAR, SHOWS IT-AND THE TEAMSTER, WHO IS THIRSTY, SHOWS IT AT THE FORT-AFFAIRS AT THE MILL PROCEED AS USUAL- BIGLER'S SUNDAY MEDITATIONS-GOLD FOUND AT LIVE OAK BAR- BIGLER WRITES HIS THREE FRIENDS THE SECRET-WHO UNITE WITH THEM OTHER THREE TO HELP THEM KEEP IT-THREE COME TO COLOMA -DISCOVERY AT MORMON ISLAND-THE MORMON EXIT.

OCCASIONALLY instances occur where one's destiny, hitherto seemingly confined in the clouds, is let out in a flood, and if weak, the recipient is overwhelmed and carried down the stream by it; if he be strong, and makes avail of it, his fortune is secured; in any event, it is his opportunity.

Opportunity here presented itself in the first in- stance to a chosen dozen, none of whom appear to have taken due advantage of it. Having no realiza- tion of their situation, they left the field to after- comers, who by direct or indirect means drew fortune from it. The chief actors, Marshall and Sutter, with proportionately greater interests at stake, primarily displayed no more skill than the others in making avail of opportunity, the former drifting away without one successful grasp, the latter making a brief stand against the torrent, only in the end to sink amidst the ruins of his projects and belongings.

(42 )

BENNETT'S MISSION.

Sutter disclosed his weakness in several ways. Al- though enjoining secrecy upon all concerned, and show- ing extreme fear lest the discovery should be known by those about him, the inconstant Swiss could not him- self resist the temptation of telling it to his friends at a distance. Writing Vallejo the 10th of February, he says: "I have made a discovery of a gold mine, which, according to experiments we have made, is ex- traordinarily rich."1 Moreover, not wholly satisfied with his Indian title, Sutter determined to despatch a messenger to Monterey, for the purpose of further securing the land to himself and Marshall through Colonel R. B. Mason, chief representative of the United States government in California. For this mission was chosen Charles Bennett, one of Marshall's associates, and standing next to him in intelligence and ability at the saw-mill. The messenger was in- structed to say nothing about the discovery of gold, but to secure the land with mill, pasture, and mineral privileges, giving as a reason for including the last the appearance of lead and silver in the soil.2 The man, however, was too weak for the purpose. With him in a buckskin bag he carried some six ounces of the secret, which, by the time he reached Benicia, became too heavy for him. There, in Pfister's store, hearing it said that coal had been found near Monte del Diablo, and that in consequence California would assume no small importance in the eyes of her new owners, Bennett could contain himself no longer. "Coal!" he exclaimed; "I have something here which will beat coal, and make this the greatest country in the world." Whereupon he produced his bag, and passed it around among his listeners.3

1 The accomplished potentate writes every man in his own language, though his Spanish is not much better than his English. "Y he hecho un descubri- miento de mina de oro, qe sigun hemos esperimentado es extraordinarimente rica.' Vallejo, Docs, MS., xii. 332.

2 This on the authority of Bigler. Diary of a Mormon, MS., 66. Some say that Bennett held contracts with Marshall under Sutter. Hunt's Mer. Mag., xx. 59; but for this there is no good authority. He set out for Monterey toward the middle of February.

3 Several claim the honor of carrying the first gold beyond the precincts of

THE SECRET ESCAPES.

On reaching San Francisco Bennett heard of one Isaac Humphrey, who, among other things, knew some- thing of gold-mining. He had followed that occupa- tion in Georgia, but hardly expected his talents in that direction to be called in requisition in California. Bennett sought an introduction, and again brought forth his purse. Thus Sutter's secret was in a fine way of being kept ! Humphrey at once pronounced the contents of the purse to be gold. At Monterey Mason declined to make any promise respecting title to lands,4 and Bennett consoled himself for the failure of his mission by offering further glimpses of his treasure.

In order to prevent a spreading infection among his dependents, Sutter determined that so far as pos- sible all communication with the saw-mill should for the present be stopped. Toward the latter end of February, however, he found it necessary to send thither provisions.5 To a Swiss teamster, as a per-

the California Valley. Bidwell, California 1841-8, MS., 231, says he was the first to proclaim the news in Sonoma and S. F. 'I well remember Vallejo's words,' he writes, 'when I told him of the discovery and where it had taken place. He said, "As the water flows through Sutter's mill-race, may the gold flow into Sutter's purse."' This must have been after or at the time of Ben- nett's journey; I do not think it preceded it. Bidwell calls the chief ruler at Monterey Gov. Riley, instead of Col Mason; and if his memory is at fault upon so conspicuous a point, he might easily overlook the fact that Bennett preceded him. Furthermore, we have many who speak of meeting Bennett at S. F., and of examining his gold, but not one who mentions Bidwell's name in that connection. Sutter was adopting a singular course, certainly, to have his secret kept. Gregson, Stat., MS., 8, thinks that the first gold was taken by McKinstry in Sutter's launch to S. F., and there delivered to Folsom. Such statements as the following, though made in good faith, amount to little in determining as to the first. That first seen or known by a person to him is first, notwithstanding another's first may have been prior to his. 'I saw the first gold that was brought down to S. F. It was in Howard & Mellus' store, and in their charge. It was in four-ounce vial, or near that size.' Ayer's Per- sonal Adv., MS., 2.

Sherman, Memoirs, i. 40, states that this application was made by two persons, from which one might infer that Humphrey accompanied Bennett to Monterey. They there displayed 'about half an ounce of placer gold.' They presented a letter from Sutter, to which Mason replied ' that Califor- nia was yet a Mexican province, simply held by us as a conquest; that no laws of the U. S. yet applied to it, much less the land laws or preemption laws, which could only apply after a public survey.' See, further, Buffum's Six Months in Gold Mines, 68; Bigler's Diary of a Mormon, MS., 66; Bidwell's Cal- ¿fornia 1841-8, MS., 231; Browne's Min. Res., 14; Hittell's Hist. S. F., 125. Gregson, Stat., MS., says that Bennett died in Oregon.

5 ' We had salt salmon and boiled wheat, and we, the discoverers of gold,

THE DRUNKEN TEAMSTER.

son specially reliable, this mission was intrusted. The man would indeed die rather than betray any secret of his kind countryman and master; but alas! he loved intoxication, that too treacherous felicity. Arrived at Coloma, the teamster encountered one of the Wimmer boys, who exclaimed triumphantly, "We have found gold up here." The teamster so ridiculed the idea that the mother at length became some- what nettled, and to prove her son truthful, she not only produced the stuff, but gave some to the teamster. Returned to the fort, his arduous duty done, the man must have a drink. Often he had tried at Smith and Brannan's store to quench his thirst from the whis- kay barrel, and pay for the same in promises. On this occasion he presented at the counter a bold front and demanded a bottle of the delectable, at the same time laying down the dust. " What is that?" asked Smith. " Gold," was the reply. Smith thought the fellow was quizzing him; nevertheless he spoke of it to Sutter, who finally acknowledged the fact.6

About the time of Bennett's departure Sutter's schooner went down the river, carrying specimens of the new discovery, and Folsom, the quartermaster in San Francisco, learned of the fact, informed, it is said, by Mckinstry. Then John Bidwell went to the Bay and spread the news broadcast. Smith, store-keeper at the fort, sent word of it to his partner, Brannan; and thus by various ways the knowledge became gen- eral.

It was not long before the saw-mill society, which numbered among its members one woman and two

were living on that when gold was found, and we were suffering from scurvy afterward.' Gregson's Statement, MS., 9. An infliction this man might un- dergo almost anywhere, being, if like his manuscript, something of a scurvy fellow. Mark the 'we, the discoverers of gold,' before noticed. Gregson was not at the mill when gold was found.

6 ' I should have sent my Indians,' groaned Sutter 28 years afterward. It seems that the gentle Swiss always found his beloved aboriginals far less treacherous than the white-skinned parasites. See Sutter's Rem., MS., 171-3; Inter Pocula, this series; Hutchings' May., ii. 196; Dunbar's Romance of the Age, 114-15.

THE SECRET ESCAPES.

boys, found the matter, in common with the others, too weighty for them. For a time affairs here pro- ceeded much as usual. The men, who for the most part were honest and conscientious, had pledged their word to six weeks' work, and they meant to keep it. The idea of self-sacrifice, if any such arose, was tem- pered by the thought that perhaps after all there was but little gold, and that little confined within narrow limits; hence if they abandoned profitable service for an uncertainty, they might find themselves losers in the end. As a matter of course, they could have no conception of the extent and power of the spirit they had awakened. It was not necessary, however, that on Sundays they should resist the worship of Mam- mon, who was indeed now fast becoming the chief god hereabout.

The historic tail-race, where first in these parts be- came incarnate this deity, more potent presently than either Christ or Krishna, commanded first attention; indeed, for some time after gold had been found in other places, it remained the favorite picking-ground of the mill-men. Their only tools as yet were their knives, and with these from the seams and crevices each person managed to extract metal at the rate of from three to eight dollars a day. For the purpose of calculating their gains, they constructed a light pair of wooden scales, in which was weighed silver coin against their gold. Thus, a Mexican real de plata was balanced by two dollars' worth of gold, which they valued at sixteen dollars the ounce, less than it was really worth, but more than could be ob- tained for it in the mines a few months later. Gold- dust which balanced a silver quarter of a dollar was deemed worth four dollars, and so on.

On the 6th of February, the second Sunday after Marshall's discovery, while the others were as usual busied in the tail-race, Henry Bigler and James Bar- ger crossed the river, and from a bare rock opposite the mill, with nothing but their pocket-knives, ob-

THE GOLD-FIELDS.

tained together gold to the value of ten dollars. The Saturday following, Bigler descended the river half a mile, when, seeing on the other side some rocks left bare by a land-slide, he stripped and crossed. There, in the seams of the rocks, were particles of the pre- cious stuff exposed to view, of which the next day he gathered half an ounce, and the Sunday following an ounce. Snow preventing work at the mill, on Tues- day, the 22d, he set out for the same place, and ob- tained an ounce and a half. Up to this time he had kept the matter to himself, carrying with him a gun on pretext of shooting ducks, in order to divert suspi- cion. Questioned closely on this occasion, he told his comrades what he had been doing, and the following Sunday five of them accompanied him to the same spot, and spent the day hunting in the sand. All were well rewarded. In the opposite direction suc- cess proved no less satisfactory. Accompanied by James Gregson, Marshall ascended the river three miles; and at a place which he named Live Oak Bar, if we may believe Gregson, they picked up with their fingers without digging a pint of gold, in pieces up to the size of a bean.7 Thus was gradually enlarged the area of the gold-field

About the 21st of February, Bigler wrote to certain of his comrades of the Mormon battalion-Jesse Mar- tin, Israel Evans, and Ephraim Green, who were at work on Sutter's flour-mill-informing them of the discovery of gold, and charging them to keep it secret, or to tell it to those only who could be trusted. The result was the arrival, on the evening of the 27th, of three men, Sidney Willis, Fiefield, and Wilford Hud-

7 Statement of James Gregson, MS., passim. The author was an English- man, who came to California in 1845 and engaged with Sutter as a whip- sawyer. Lumber then cost $30 a thousand at Sutter's Fort. He served in the war, and after the discovery of gold went to Coloma, accompanied by his wife. Throwing up his engagement with Marshall, he secured that year $3,000 in gold-dust. Sutter appears to have, in February, already set some Indians to pick gold round the mill. His claim to this ground was long respected.

THE SECRET ESCAPES.

son, who said they had come to search for gold. Marshall received them graciously enough, and gave them permission to mine in the tail-race. Accord- ingly, next morning they all went there, and soon Hudson picked up a piece weighing six dollars. Thus encouraged they continued their labors with fair success till the 2d of March, when they felt obliged to return to the flour-mill; for to all except Martin, their informant, they had intimated that their trip to

FORK

Store

Z-

Sutter's Fort

Road to S

MORMON ISLAND.

the saw-mill was merely to pay a visit, and to shoot deer. Willis and Hudson followed the stream to con- tinue the search for gold, and Fiefield, accompanied by Bigler, pursued the easier route by the road. On meeting at the flour-mill, Hudson expressed disgust at being able to show only a few fine particles, not more than half a dollar in value, which he and his companion had found at a bar opposite a little island, about half-way down the river. Nevertheless the disease worked its way into the blood of other Mor-

THE MORMONS.

mon boys, and Ephraim Green and Ira Willis, brother of Sidney Willis, urged the prospectors to return, that together they might examine the place which had shown indications of gold. It was with difficulty that they prevailed upon them to do so. Willis and Hudson, however, finally consented; and the so lately slighted spot presently became famous as the rich Mormon Diggings, the island, Mormon Island, taking its name from these battalion boys who had first found gold there.

It is told elsewhere how the Mormons came to California, some in the ship Brooklyn, and some as a battalion by way of Santa Fe, and how they went hence to the Great Salt Lake, part of them, however, remaining permanently or for a time nearer the sea- board. I will only notice here, amidst the scenes now every day becoming more and more absorbing, bringing to the front the strongest passions in man's nature, how at the call of what they deemed duty these devotees of their religion unhesitatingly laid down their wealth-winning implements, turned their back on what all the world was just then making ready with hot haste and mustered strength to grasp at and struggle for, and marched through new toils and dangers to meet their exiled brethren in the desert.

It will be remembered that some of the emigrants by the Brooklyn had remained at San Francisco, some at New Helvetia, while others had settled on the Stanislaus River and elsewhere. A large detachment of the late Mormon battalion, disbanded at Los An- geles, was on its way to Great Salt Lake, when, arriv- ing at Sutter's Fort, the men stopped to work a while, no less to add a little to their slender store of clothing and provisions than to await a better season for the perilous journey across the mountains. It was while thus employed that gold had been discovered. And now, refreshed and better fitted, as spring approached their minds once more turned toward the original pur- HIST. CAL., VOL. VI. 4

THE SECRET ESCAPES.

pose. They had promised Sutter to stand by him and finish the saw-mill; this they did, starting it running on the 11th of March. Henry Bigler was still there.

On the 7th of April Bigler, Stephens, and Brown presented themselves at the fort to settle accounts with Sutter, and discuss preliminaries for their jour- ney with their comrades. The 1st of June was fixed upon for the start. Sutter was to be informed of their intention, that he might provide other workmen. Horses, cattle, and seeds were to be bought from him; also two brass cannon. Three of their number had to precede to pioneer a route; eight men were ready to start as an overland express to the States, as the loved land east of the Mississippi was then called. It was not, however, until about a month later that the Mormons could move, for the constantly increasing gold excitement disarranged their plans and drew from their numbers.

In the mean time the thrifty saints determined to improve the opportunity, that they might carry to their desert rest as much of the world's currency as possible. On the 11th of April, Bigler, Brown, and Stephens set out on their return to Coloma, camping fifteen miles above the flouring mill, on a creek. In the morning they began to search for gold and found ten dollars' worth. Knowing that others of their fraternity were at work in that vicinity, they followed the stream upward and came upon them at Mormon Island, where seven had taken out that day $250.8 No little encouragement was added by this hitherto unparalleled yield, due greatly to an improvement in method by washing the dust-speckled earth in Indian baskets and bowls, and thus sifting out also finer parti- cles. Under an agreement to divide the product of

8 The seven men were Sidney Willis and Wilford Hudson, who had first found gold there, Ira Willis, Jesse B. Martin, Ephraim Green, Israel Evans, and James Sly. In regard to the names of the last two Bigler is not positive. Diary of a Mormon, MS., 76. See also Mendocino Democrat, Feb. 1, 1872; Hittell's Mining, 14; Sherman's Mem., i. 51; Gold Dis., Account by a Mormon, in Hayes' Cal. Mining, iii. 8; Oregon Bulletin, Jan. 12, 1872; Antioch Ledger, Feb. 3, 1872; Findla's Stat., MS., 6; Ross' Stat., MS., 14.

EXODUS OF THE SAINTS. '

their labor with Sutter and Marshall, who furnished tools and provisions, Bigler and his associates mined for two months, one mile below the saw-mill.9 They stopped in the midst of their success, however, and tearing themselves away from the fascination, they started on June 17th in search of a suitable rendez- vous, where all the saints might congregate prior to beginning their last pilgrimage across the mountains. They found such a spot the next day, near where Placerville now stands, calling it Pleasant Valley. Parties arrived one after another, some driving loose horses into a prepared timber corral, others swelling the camp with wagons, cattle, and effects; and so the gathering continued till the 3d of July, when a gen- eral move was made. As the wagons rolled up along the divide between the American River and the Cosumnes on the national 4th, their cannon thundered independence before the high Sierra. It was a strange sight, exiles for their faith thus delighting to honor the power that had driven them as outcasts into the wilderness.

The party consisted of forty-five men and one woman, the wife of William Coory. It was by almost incredible toil that these brave men cut the way for their wagons, lifted them up the stony ascents, and let them down the steep declivities. Every step added to the danger, as heralded by the death of the three pioneers, Daniel Browett, Ezra H. Allen, and Henderson Cox, who were found killed by the Indians of the Sierra. And undaunted, though sor- rowful, and filled with many a foreboding, the survi- vors descended the eastern slope and wended their way through the thirsty desert; and there we must leave them and return to our gold-diggers.

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History of California, Volume VI, Part 5

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