The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1848-12-27

% 5sy sss
3 lnte eresting Desp patch ffo1
I d Ss Jalif0
Among the doan ts Fec elVed sby the
ssSecretarY :of wv ar, and communicate ted N@itill
ssthe President nessnge, is the blowing let.
ster from Col. Mason, tho military comman-
aiit of fddriia,3 who presents fhesfiIle
tsse fiption we lave seen Of tho gold lplaccrs'
Of that distant region
5ii gs.: [N &. 81
'HEADoUARrERs ] Orr NiII1rA ARY.sD DErT,
" ~ 2 Monterey, Ca lifornia: 81 q, ls4s.
Sin: i have the honor to inform you that,
accompanied by Lieut.. wv. 7. s Sherman, 3D.
artillery, "A. A., a.. General, Issstartel on the
l2th OF June last, to make a tour through the
northern part of Californin. u principal
purpose, howe was to visit the newly dis;
covered gold pldcer. in the valley Of the
Sacramento. L had proceeded about forty
miles, whom 1was 'overtakcn hysan express,l
bringing inc cgintelligcnce 5of the arrival at;
Monterey Of tho United States ship South
ampton, with important letters from. .Comno-
dore Shubrick and Lieut. Col. Burton. I re-
turned at once to Monterey, and despatched
what business was most important, and OH
the 18th resumed my journey. w. reached
San Francisco on tho 2CU,, and found thatall,
or nearly all its male inhabitants had gone to
tho mines. The town, which a; few months
before was so busy and thriving was then
almost deserted Onthe evening OF the 2ith,
the horses OF tho escort were crossed to Sou
asolcto in a lounch, and on the following day
we resumed the journey by way Of. Bolerni
and Sonoma to Sutter's fort, whereswe arriy-
cd on the morning of'thei 2d Of July. Along
the whole rout, mills were lying idlc,: fields
OF wheat were open To cattleiiand li5rses,
houses vacant, and farms going to waste. AT
Suffers there was more life and busiucssi
Launches wero dscharging their;cargoes Mt
the river, and carts were hauling goods to the
tort. where a'ready;wero. established several
stores, a hotel, &c. Captain Sutter had only
two mechanics inh;s employ, a lsagon-ma-
ker and black-smitb,) whom he was then
paying ten dollars nsdhy. Merchants pay
him monthly rent of 800 per room; and
whilst was there, atwo-story house in the
fortwns rented as hotel for $500 d month.
AT the urgent solicitation OF many gentle
men,l delayed there to Participate in the first
public celebration of our national anniversary
at that forty but on, the 9th resumed the Jour
ney, and proceeded twenty-five miles up tho
American fork to n point oni now known as
The lower Mines, or Mormon Diggings. The
hill-sides were thickly strewn with canvass
tents aud bush arbors; a 81 ore was erected,
and several boarding. shanties IN operation.
The day was intensely hot, yet about two
hundred men were at work in the full glare
OF the sun; washing for gold--som with tin
pans, some with close-woven Indian baskets,
abut the greater part had rude machine,
known as the cradle. This is 81. focks sFss six
or eight feet long open at the foot ard at It's
head has coarse crate, or sieve; the bottom
is rounded, with small elects nailed across.
-Four men are required to work this machine:
one digs the ground in the bank close by the
stream; another carries it to the cradle and
cmptles it orthe CRATE; third gives violent
rocking motion to the machine; whilst fourth
das!lcs on water from the stream itself The
sieve keeps the coarse stones from entering
the cradle, the current of water washes olfthe
ear:hy mater and the gravel is gradually
carried out at the foot Of the machine, lcav-
ing tho gold mixed with heavy fine black
sand above the first elects. The sand and
gold mixed together are then drawn off through
auger holes into a pan below, nre dried in the
sun, and afterwards separated by blowing off
The sand. A party of four mon illus employ
cd at the lower mines averaged 800 a dny.
The Indians, and those who have nothing but
pans or willow baskets, gradually wash out
the earth and separate the gravel by hand,
leaving nothing but the gold mixed with sand,
which is separated in the manner before dc.
scribed. The gold in the lower mines is in
fine bright scales, of which send several
specimens.
As we asccndcd the south branch OF the
American fork, the country became more
broken and mountainous, and the sawmil, %
miles above the lower washings, or 80 miles
from Suffers, the hills rise to about n thou
sand feet above the level of the Sacramento
PLAIN. Here a species Of pine occurs which
led TO the discovery Of the gold. Capt Su,-
ter feeling the great want of lumber, contract
cd in september last with a Mr.. Marshall
to build sawmil ut that place. 1t was cr-
ected III the course OF the past winter and
spring-a dam and race constructed: but
when the water was let on the wheel, the
tail-race was found 10 be too narrow TO permit
the water to escape with sufficient rapidly.
MIR. Marshall, to save labor, let the water
directly into the race with strong current
SO as to wash it wider and deeper. lie effect.
cd his purpose, and large bed Of mud and
gravel was carried to the foot of the race.
One day MIR. Marshall, as he was walking
down tho race TO this deposite of mud, obscr-
ved some glittering particles Mt it's upper
edge; he gathered a few, examined them, and
became satisfied Of their value. Ho then
went to the fort, told Capt. Sn,ter of his dis
covcry, and they agreed to keep it secret un-
til certain grist-mll o. Suffers was finish
ed. 1t, however, got out, and spread like
mngic. Remarkable success attended the
labors OF the first explorers, and in a few
weeks hundreds Of men were drawn thither.
At the time of my visit, but little moro than
three months after its first discovery, it was
toL fI,,k ~ r., 4