Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-23
The Sorrow of Suffer.
THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD WAS AN ACTUAL N
FORTUNE TO HIM

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD WAS AN ACTUAL MIS-
FORTUNE TO HIN.
From the Salt Lake Tribune
When Marshall in his excitement rode from
the tailrace of the famous mill down to Suffer 8
fort. and taking the old Switzer into a private
room and locking the door, producing from his
pocket the first few ounces of gold washed from
the placers Of California, Bancroft tells how
the old man did not sleep at all that night, so
torn was he with excitement and unrest And
to his life's end he declared he looked upon the
news when it was told him and upon the gold
when it was shown him as a misfortune. We
suspect, too, that it was true. He had made a
home in the beautiful Sacramento valley: he
had great tracts Of land and vast herds;
he was a king among his rude neigh
bors, and was content with his kingdom. He
knew enough of the character Of the eager
men who would rush to California under the
excitement of gold hunting to know that soon
his rule would end, and he might justly have
felt premonitions that he would be despoiled
of his fair possessions. if not by open rapine by
Just as certain an agency, the turning of the
exact science Of the Law upon the titles which
he honestly held, but through conveyances so
irregular that the law could easily pick flaws in
their integrity. He knew, too that without
any of these agencies he was not equipped
with the kind of brain that would hold Its own
in competition with the race that was to come.
All his forebodings were realized. For the
first few years he was given peculiar distinc-
ton, and his home at Hook farm on Feather
river was one of the attractions OF the new
state. In the ample one-story adobe he pre-
sided with perfect ease and with a stately,
gentle dignity with much became thim In
those DAYS he was generous to fault and was
necessarily preyed upon by sharpers to whom
he steadily lent ere dulous ear.
As he grew steadily poorer he tried with
more and more recklessness to recover some
portion of his fortune. and finally went down
in poverty to the grave. There never was a
rise, the decline, and the fall of John A. SUIT
ter. His soul was full of longings generous.
and high; he had q bodily endurance and phy-
steal courage sufficient for any call that for
tune might make, but he lacked sagacity and
executive ability. and was but child in the
hands of the intensely acute race that swarmed
in upon him, and while yet he was dreaming Of
what he would do changed and TRANSPORTED
everything around him; laid the foundation
of a state; rang the JOY bells as that state
was made part Of the Union; startled
built thriving cities all around him;
opened trails and then smoothed roads to and
through the blue Sierras; within eight years
startled the quiet Of the spot on which he had
built his fort for safety with the whistle of the
brought over the track of iron the trains from
that east which he had turned his steps from
and had never looked back toward until he had
placed 1900 miles Of wilderness between him
and il. No wonder he was swept away in that
whirli no wonder he was lost in that upheaval,
and that the sadness which drove sleep from
his pillow on the night that be heard Of the
great discovery Swallowed his life ever after,
and finally closed around him In clouds of
gloom which never lifted until the final rest
foinf ra.oluf;ou nas.ed fsoxh houses ~ xha