James Marshall's discovery of gold at
Sutter's Mill in California in 1848
started the California Gold Rush.
Born in 1810, Marshall followed in his father's
footsteps by becoming a skilled carpenter and wheelwright. When his father died
in 1834, he headed westward, spending some time in Illinois and Indiana before
in 1844 settling in Missouri in an area created
by the Platte Purchase. There he began farming along the Missouri River where
he contracted malaria, a common affliction in the area. On the advice of his
doctor, Marshall left Missouri in the hopes of improving his health.
Marshall
joined an emigrant train heading west and arrived in Oregon's Willamette Valley
in the spring of 1845. He left Oregon in June 1845 and headed south along the Siskiyou
Trail into California, eventually reaching Sutter's Fort, California in
mid-July. The founder of Sutter's Fort, an agricultural settlement. Sutter was
also the alcalde of the area, as California was still a Mexican
possession in 1845. Sutter hired Marshall to assist with work at the sawmill,
and around the fort (carpentry, primarily). He also helped Marshall to buy two leagues
of land on the north side of Butte Creek, which is a tributary of the Sacramento
River, and provided him with cattle. It was here that Marshall began his second
stint as a farmer.
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| Replica of Bear Flag Revolt flag |
Soon after this, the Mexican-American
War began in May 1846. Marshall volunteered and served under Captain John C.
Frémont's California Battalion during the Bear Flag Revolt. When he left the
battalion and returned to his ranch in early 1847, he found that all his cattle
had either strayed or been stolen. With his sole source of income gone,
Marshall lost his land.
Marshall soon entered into
a partnership with Sutter for the construction of a sawmill. Marshall was to
oversee the construction and operation of the mill, and would in return receive
a portion of the lumber. After scouting nearby areas for a suitable location,
he eventually decided upon Coloma, located roughly 40 miles (64 km)
upstream of Sutter's Fort on the American River. He proposed his plan to
Sutter, and construction began in late August. His crew consisted mainly of
local Native Americans and veterans of the Mormon Battalion on their way to Salt
Lake City, Utah.
The caption with this photo at
the Library of Congress claims that this was Marshall in front of the mill in
1850. However, it was not. The historians at Marshall Gold State Historic Park
have concluded that it is not Marshall and believe it to be the photographer's
assistant put in the photo to show scale.
It was at the sawmill that, on January 24, 1848, he
discovered gold in the water flow through the mill’s tail race. The following
is Marshall’s account:
I picked up one or
two pieces and examined them attentively; and having some general knowledge of
minerals, I could not call to mind more than two which in any way resembled
this, sulphuret of iron, very bright and brittle; and gold, bright, yet
malleable. I then tried it between two rocks, and found that it could be beaten
into a different shape, but not broken. I then collected four or five pieces
and went up to Mr. Scott (who was working at the carpenter's bench making the
mill wheel) with the pieces in my hand and said, "I have found it."
"What is it?" inquired Scott.
"Gold," I answered.
"Oh! no," replied Scott,
"That can't be."
I said,--"I know it to be nothing
else."
The metal was confirmed to
be gold after members of Marshall's crew performed tests on the metal—boiling
it in a lye solution and hammering it to test its malleability. Marshall, still
primarily concerned with the completion of the sawmill, permitted his crew to
search for gold during their free time.
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| Sutter's Fort |
By the time Marshall
returned to Sutter's Fort, four days later, the war had ended and California
was about to become an American possession. Marshall shared his discovery with
Sutter, who performed further tests on the gold and told Marshall that it was
"of the finest quality, of at least 23 karat, or 96% pure.
The following is John Sutter’s account:
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; and then, I
sent up to Coloma a number of teams with provisions, mill irons, etc., etc. He
told me then that he had some important and interesting news which he wished to
communicate 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 door;
I complied, but I told him at the same time that nobody was in the house except
the clerk, who was in his office in a different part of the house; after
requesting of me something which he wanted, which my servants brought and then
left the room, I forgot to lock the doors, and it happened that the door was
opened by the clerk just at the moment when Marshall took a rag from his
pocket, showing me the yellow metal: he had about two ounces of it; but how
quick Mr. Marshall 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 had left I was told, "now lock the
doors; didn't I tell you that we might have listeners?" I told him that he
need fear nothing about that, as it was not the habit of this gentleman; but I
could hardly convince him that he need not to 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 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 experiments, and read the long article "gold" in the
Encyclopedia Americana, I declared this to be gold of the finest quality, of at
least 23 carats. After this Mr. Marshall had no more rest nor patience, and
wanted me to start with him immediately for 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 travel
with him, but this would not do: he asked me only "will you come tomorrow
morning?"
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 my necessary orders to my
numerous laborers, and left the next morning at 7 o'clock, accompanied by an
Indian soldier, and vaquero, in a heavy rain, for Coloma.
About half way on
the road I saw at a distance a human being crawling 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 that he would have done better to remain with me at the fort than to
pass such an ugly night here but he told me that he went up to Coloma, (54
miles) took his other horse and came half way to meet me; then we rode up to
the new Eldorado.
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 clean out the gravel which had been made loose,
for the purpose of widening the race; and 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 bottom of the
clean washed bed rock. I went in 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 that 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 cost of arms engraved on the outside, and on the inside
of the ring is engraved, "The first gold, discovered in January,
1848." Now if Mrs. Wimmer possesses a piece which has been found earlier
than mine Mr. Marshall can tell, as it was probably received from him. I think
Mr. Marshall could have hardly known himself which was exactly the first little
piece, among the whole.
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| Marshall's Discovery Site Today |
The next day I went
with Mr. Marshall on a prospecting 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 that I would consider it as 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
from 24 to 25,000 dollars - 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 expected.
As word quickly spread, some 80,000 miners flooded
the area, extending up and down the length of the Sacramento Valley, and
overrunning Sutter’s domain. Ironically, neither Sutter nor Marshall ever
profited from the discovery that should have made them independently wealthy.
Though Marshall tried to secure his own claims in the gold fields, he was
unsuccessful. His sawmill also failed, as every able-bodied man took off in
search of gold. Soon, the area surrounding Sutter's Mill became the first
mining boom town in California - Coloma.
Embittered, Marshall left the area, drifting from
place to place in California, looking for yet another rich strike. In 1857, he
returned to Coloma and started a vineyard in the early 1860's. Initially
profitable, his endeavors as a vintner would also fail when, by the end of the
decade, increased competition and less demand put him out of business once
again.
Marshall then returned to prospecting and wandering
about the state. He soon partnered up with another miner in a gold mine near
Kelsey, California. However, the development of the mine proved expensive and
yielded nothing, leaving the unlucky Marshall once again close to bankruptcy.
In 1872, Marshall had a turn of luck when the
California State Legislature awarded him a two-year pension in recognition of
his role in an important era in California history.
The pension was renewed in 1874 and 1876, but
lapsed in 1878. According to the legend, Marshall then went to visit the
legislature assembly in person to get the pension renewed again. However, when
a brandy bottle dropped from his pocket and rolled on the floor, no additional
pension was awarded.
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| Marshall cabin in Coloma |
Marshall
continued to live in Kelsey, in a spartan homesteader's cabin, earning money
from a small garden until his death on August 10, 1885. His body was then taken
to Coloma and buried on the property where he had owned his vineyard.
In
1886, the members of the Native Sons of the Golden West, Placerville Parlor #9
felt that the "Discoverer of Gold" deserved a monument to mark his
final resting place. In May 1890, five years after Marshall's death,
Placerville Parlor #9 of the Native Sons of the Golden West successfully
advocated
the idea of a monument to the State Legislature, which appropriated a total of
$9,000 for the construction of a monument and tomb which can be seen today, the
first such monument erected in California. A statue of Marshall stands on top
of the monument, pointing to the spot where he made his discovery in 1848. The
monument was rededicated October 8, 2010 by the Native Sons of the Golden West,
Georgetown Parlor #91 in honor of the 200th Anniversary of James W. Marshall's
birth.
Sources:
Wikipedia
