THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA CUTTER 



15 



For years, John Sutter, grantee and almost feudal baron of a large 

 Mexican grant in the vicinity of present day Sacramento, desired to pro- 

 vide a supply of lumber for his own use and for sale. Consequently he 

 provided for the establishment of two mills, a sawmill at Coloma and a 

 gristmill at Xatoma. The latter mill was to use the products of the former 

 in its construction. In August 1847, Sutter signed a contract with Marshall 

 which provided that Marshall should erect and operate the mill and that 

 Sutter should supply the labor, tools, supplies and eqxiipment. After 

 they had determined the location for the proposed mill on the South Fork 

 of the American River, in a small valley which was later to be called 

 Coloma, they built two cabins, one to house the workers and the other the 

 boss Marshall. The work of construction of the mill advanced quite 

 rapidly after its commencement in September. Laborers, Indians, Mor- 

 mons and others were employed and the work on the mill was almost 

 finished by January of the following year (1848). This early completion 

 was due in considerable measure to the industry and abilities of the 

 Mormon workers who had been recently discharged from the Mormon 

 Battalion. 



The story of this group of soldiers and their part in the discovery of 

 gold in California is of considerable interest. The battalion, about 500 

 strong, volunteered for service in the United States Army for the Mexican 

 War. Besides desiring to aid their country, the Saints enlisted in order 

 to become the advance guard of the Mormon westward migration. The 

 termination of their one year enlistments found a considerable portion of 

 the original group in Southern California, after having opened a wagon 

 road to the "West. Some of the group, about 81 in number, re-enlisted for 

 an additional year of service. The remainder, some 240, were released 

 after exemplary service. By this time the Battalion had been informed 

 that the new headquarters for the faith was to be in Utah, and they began 

 to head for that destination. The soldiers were not, however, the only 

 Mormons in the Golden State at the time, for on July 31, 1846, a group 

 of homeseekers had arrived aboard the sailing ship Brooklyn led by Sam 

 Brannan as presiding elder. Late in 1847, this same Brannan met the 

 homeward bound group of ex-soldiers at Tahoe Basin. There he urged 

 the men to remain in California until the following spring since it was 

 already September. Brannan 's entreaties were of no avail but a bundle of 

 letters and an epistle from Brigham Young, which arrived the following 

 day, changed the minds of many. In the epistle they were advised by 

 their leader to remain in California until they had outfitted themselves, 

 unless their presence in Utah was essential. Thereupon most of the group 

 turned back and sought employment in California. About 40 of the 

 young ex-soldiers found work with John Sutter, some being sent to 

 Natoma, some to Coloma, and others remaining to work at Sutter 's Fort 

 at New Helvetia. Probably about nine of the Mormons were assigned to 

 Marshall at Coloma. this group entering into a contract with Sutter 

 whereby they agreed to remain in his employ until the completion of 



work on the sawmill. One of the Mormons. Henry Bigler, kept a diary 

 from which historians have drawn heavily in determining the details of 

 the discovery and the actual date thereof as January 24, 1848. In spite of 

 the discovery of gold the Mormons completed the provisions of their 

 contract with Sutter and engaged in mining only when they were off 

 duty at the mill. By March llth, the work on the sawmill was finished 

 and it was in operation. Presently the Mormons terminated their contract 

 with Sutter, were paid off at about $1.50 per day for work at the mill, and 

 set about digging gold on a full time basis at Mormon Island near the 

 confluence of the South and Main Forks of the American River. Here 

 many of the Saints joined in the enterprise, working the area until June 

 of the same year, at which time the members of the Battalion decided to 

 leave for the home in Utah which they had not yet seen. In July, forty-five 

 of them united and left the easy money of California for the alkaline 

 plains of Salt Lake Valley, because of their attachment to the faith. This 

 marked the first return of miners from the gold fields, and was a preview 

 of the role that California would play in the filling in of the West. 



Just as the date of the discovery has been a subject of discussion, the 

 accounts of the events leading up to Marshall's find and his actions there- 

 after conflict in different narratives. The main facts however are in 

 accord. The sawmill constructed by Marshall was operated by diverting 

 the water of the river through a headrace into the forebay of the mill, 

 whence it was directed to the waterwheel, flowed under the length of the 

 mill and escaped back into the river through a tailrace. It was determined 

 by test in December 1847. that the mill foundations had been set too low 

 and therefore the water did not escape sufficiently into the tailrace. This 

 necessitated the deepening and widening of the race to expedite the 

 run-off of the water. 



Leaving the mill in the same month, Marshall ordered that this work 

 should be accomplished in his absence. Upon his return to the mill, Mar- 

 shall found that his orders had been carried out, but the race was still 

 not sufficiently deep. Additional excavation was done during the daytime, 

 and at night the gates of the forebay were opened and the running water 

 assisted the work by clearing away the loose dirt. Boulders were blasted 

 out and the decomposed granite was being dug out manually by both the 

 Indian laborers and the Mormons. On the morning of Januai-y 24th, when 

 Marshall was making one of his frequent inspections of the tailrace, some- 

 thing glittering caught his eye. There, resting in a shallow depth of water, 

 was a yellow flake of what appeared to be metal. Testing its malleability, 

 he became hopeful ; he picked up some more flakes, placed them in the 

 crown of his hat and made his way to where the men were working. The 

 Mormons shared Marshall's interest and several elementary tests were 

 made, by which the group could not disprove the possibility that the 

 metal was gold. Work on the mill was halted temporarily while all went 

 to the tailrace to pick up these available flakes of metal. Use of the fingers 

 alone was found to be exceedinglv difficult, but the assistance of a knife 



