Morning journal and courier., 1881-09-19

of Palacios arrived in Los Angeles from Ct
 aymas, State of Sonora who also brough
 with him considerable amount of bullion
 which was in large bars or bricks of silver
 and in grain gold from the gold fields of Sc
 nora These two lots of grain gold, amount ing to about SIC, 900 in value, went into tn
 hands of few merchants, and were mostl
 exported from the country prior to the dis
 covery of any gold in California consid
 erable portion, and probably the larger par
 of it, was taken hence by the ships trading
 on this coast from Boston. This will accoun
 for the testimony of Boston merchants il
 this matter. Some considerable quantity o1
 this gold was worked into various articles oi
 use and ornament in Los Angeles and some
 other places by silversmiths and other arti- | sans. Some of it was also wasted in the | manufacture of counterfeit Columbian doub looms.
 'No record, tradition, or even legend of the promulgation by any person of the belief or suspicion that any part of Alta California was of auriperous character prior to 1841 can, the judgment of the writer, be produced. In the early part of that year Don Andres Castilleres, native of Mexico, a man of edu- cation and of considerable scientific attain ments and mineralogical knowledge, travel ing from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, saw and gathered up near the rancho of Las Vir- genes some mineral specimens, which he exhibited in Santa Barbara, and said that generally, if not invariably, placer gold exist ed wherever this class of pebbles was found
 ''In the mounth of June, 1841, two vaque- ros (herdsmen) of neighboring ranch, while riding over the lands of the ranch of San Francisquito, dismounted from their horses by the side of a rivulet, to give them breathing spell, and seeing bed of wild oni- ons they engaged in gathering some of them. While so doing one of them, who had been present and saw the pebble which Castilleres had said was an indication of gold placers noticed one of these pebbles, and said to his companion Look at this there is gold here for heard Don Andres Castilleres say that there was gold to be found wherever these little stones exist .and immediately scooping up handful of the sand and gravel which had been loosened by pulling up the onions he rubbed it with his other hand, and, sure enough, he found in his handful of sand a grain of gold.
 "On their return to Santa Barbara they took with them few dollars worth of gold which they had obtained from the ground. The news of the discovery of gold soon spread from Santa Barbara, and people from San Diego to San Luis Obispo hurried to the diss covered placers. Although few or none of the Californians had any practical Knowledge of the gold-washing process, there were, at the time of this discovery, quite number of natives of Sonora and other parts of Mexico scattered over California, and especially in the southern part of it, who had seen and worked in placers. A large part of the exten- sive country drained by the Santa Clara riv- CT (Ventura county was prospected, and gold obtained in many places. During the first two rainy seasons following the discovery some hundreds of people were proitably en- gagged in mining, and gold was brought into Los Angeles by rainers and sold there, every year, from 1S41 to the discovery of the rich and broader gold fields of Central California in 1S4S, which caused the abandonment of ths less productive placers of this part of the 
 ''The late Abel Stearns, then a resident of this place, bought good deal of this gold He sent small part of it to the mint at Philadelphia. The original receipt or certificate of it's deposit was some years ago donated to q believe) the California Pioneers society, at whose rooms presume 1t can be seen.''