Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-01-24
MOST GRAPHIC STORY.
How Gold was First Discovered I'm
NLs California;. asas
i. u =. a.. O. .;aaff R,,llatir "a IaEM

From the San francisco Bulletin, 3D. AZ Z
We have received from Henry W. Big
Ter, one of the men working at Sutter $
mill in l848, when gold was discovered
there, the following interesting letter,
headed as below, which is full of charac-
ter, and bears internal evidence Of per-
feet truth:
LIFE AsDlADrEsTUREs OF u W MARSHALL.
sFARMSoTox. DAVIS County, UTAH,
December 2S, 1870. !
Editor San Francisco Weekly Bulletin:
DEAR SIR: The above notice / saw
about three months since in the 23d
number and 18th volume Of your paper,
and as am there referred to as being one
Of the mill hands, who, if alive, could
substantiate the accuracy of'the nara
tive, / cheerfully give my testimony,
although it is at very late hour, be-
cause / feel it is duty | owe to Mr.. Mar
shall, and perhaps to the public. |
have not seen the work referred to,
neither have | seen any person who said
they had. q ENflE'l.f.l katEf
Y. / was one Of the men at work at Co
Iona ~ the time the gold was found by
Mr.. Marshall. Iwell remember when he
sent a young Indian for James Brown to
send him a plate. Brown was on the
top of saw pit; he jumped down, say
ing: 81 wonder what Marshall wants
with tin plate2" After we had quit
our days work, Mr.. Marshall came into
our shanty and told us he believed he
had found gold, and directed Brown and
myself TO shut down the head-gate early
in the morning, and throw in dirt and
leaves SO as to completely shut off the
water, which we did, while Marshall went
alone down in the tail race. In a few
minutes he came back with most pleas
ing smile ON his face, carrying his old
white hat in his arms, saying: Boys, l
believe / have found gold mine" AT
this his he sat his hat on the workbench
that stood in the, ,mill-yard, and the mil
hands all gathered around in an instant;
and there, sure enough, in the top of his
hat crown (the top knocked in a httle)
was the pure metal; how much do not
know-perhaps an ounce One of our
company, by the name of Azariah Smith,
pulled out FIVE dollar gold piece and
compared the coin with the particles.
There was difference in the looks, but
this we accounted for on account of the
alloy. in the coin. Any of, us would
have been unwilling to have sworn and
testified that what James W. Marshall
had lying on the top of his old hat crown
was gold, although none of us had ever
seen gold dust before. Some three or
four days after this Marshall went down
to Suffers Fort to see about grub and
to have the mineral tested. He was gone
four days. When he returned, and was
asked what he made out of the metal,
his reply was, oh, boys it is the pure
stuff. | and the old captain locked our
selves mp and was half a day trying it;
and the outsiders wondered what in h-ll
was up, and surmised that | had found
quicksilver mine, for you see there is
quicksilver mine found by woman down
towards Monterey; butwe let them sweat
We found it agreed with the encyclope-
dia, and we applied aquafortis, and it
has nothing to do with it, We then
weighed tin water by balancing the dust
against silver on pair of scales, in the
air, having basin Of water. We let the
scales down, and when it came in contact
with the water the gold went down
and the silver up riotioned it out
with his hands,, and that told the
story that it was clear stuff. " He
then said Sutter would be up in a
few days to look at and examine the
race, etc. In a few evenings afterward
Marshall came into our shanty and told
us that Sutterlhad come; that he was up
at the other house; "and now, boys"
said he, we have all got aNlittle gold
dust. motion that we all give Henry
myself some, and in the morning, when
you shut off the water, let him Henry
take it down and sprinkle it all over the
base rock. Not let on TO the old gentle
man (Sutter), and it will so. excite him
that he will set out his bottle and treat,
for he always carries his hottie with him.
So next morning early, before the old
gentleman came down, we did as Mar
shall proposed Just as the mill hands
were finishing breakfast, we saw the old
gentleman coming stpbbing along with
his cane in his hand Ia well dressed old
gentleman, too), Mr.. Marshall on one
side. and Mr.. Werner on the other, Sut-
ter in the middle As they neared our
shanty we went out and met him
After shaking hands and passing the
common salutations, we were all in
yited by Sutter and Marshall to 90
along and have a general time prospect
ing in the race. Just at this time one
of Mr.. Werner's little boys, not know
ing what was up, ran on ahead and
picked up nearly every particle and
came running back, nearly out of breath,
meeting us and exclaiming, See here.
how much have foundl having per
haps fifty dollars worth in his hands,
and we dare not say word lest the joke
would be found out and we lose our
li0uor. The old gentleman, as soon as
he saw what the boy had, thrust his cane
into the ground, saying, By 10, it is.
rich. However, we all went into the
race and found a number Of particles
and from that day forward gold began TO
he found in other places besides the tail
race. | advised Marshall to marry that
eirl who found the quicksilver mine #
she was single or not married, for, said
|. if this is what the tail turns ont to be,
/ wonder what the head will bef The
life and adventures of james W. Mar
shall. so far as he being the first diseoy-
erer of California gold, is all true, and
he found it as you represented in your
paper. If what ] have written is OF any
pse TO either you or Mr.. Marshall, you
are at liberty TO make use Of It.
HENRY W. BIGLER
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