Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-11-17
CALIFORNIA GOLD AGAIN.
A Statement From an Intimate Friend 0
James W. Marshall.

Statement From an Intimate Friend OF
James W. Marshall.
The SUNDAY UNION has recently pub
lished several articles relative to the con-
troversy over the facts concerning the dis
covery of gold in this State. The follow
ing is by Julius F. Bekeart, correspondent
of the San Francisco Call:
"They have robbed me of my land, and
now they would flch from me the empty
honor of the first gold discovery" These
were the words addressed to me by James
W. Marshall about two years before his
death. The first was an alluSion 20 the
fact that he posted notices along the Coloma
valley in May, 1S49, warning settlers that
he claimed the entire valley by virtue of
prior residence and location Of the Suffer
sawmill, which he acquired by purchase
from General John A. Suffer. Notwith-
standing the notices, which l saw pinned
to many trees, the settlers from many lands
poured in and settled about the old mill,
organizing the town of Coloma, without
saying, by your leave, Mr.. Marshall"
treating the gold-fnder with most frigid
Indifference, and thus matters stood even
to this day, so far as Marshall was con-
cerned. His poverty and hopeless idea of
combating the squatters prevented him
land.
An Oregonian says, besides other errors,
that Bennett discovered the first gold. That
is all bosh, for Bennett himself told me
two or three times in April or May 1919,
that Jim Marshall discovered the first piece
of gold, but that he (Bennett) gathered
some almost Immediately afterward.
The fact is, Bennett and the other hands
were at breakfast when Marshall went
down to the mill to shut off the water that
had been running all night through the
unfinished tail-race, preparatory to the
men resuming their labors after their morn
ing meal. Then it was that Marshall So
the little yellow flakes on some bare re "a,
as the waters receded. Marshall, as first
discoverer, was acknowledged in my pres
ence about April 10, 1S49, by Mr.. and Mrs.
Peter Weimer, a laborer on the mill at the
time of discovery, to Mr.. Holden, editor of
HOLden's Dollar Magazine and correspondent
of the New York Sun and Tribune: also,
Henry Bates, erstwhile Treasurer of this
State, companions of mine to California.
Mrs. Weimer was the only white woman
in the valley at the time of discovery, and
did the cooking for some OF the hands;
and hers was the task TO Immediately test
the yellow stuff by means of lye, vinegar,
etc. Her efforts were futile to discover its
nature. Particles were hammered to ex-
treme thinness, proving its ducdlity. Mar
shall believed it to be gold, and proceeded
in haste to Suffers Fort, now Sacramento,
where all appliances were at hand, and
Suffer decided it to be gold. The idea of
going to Monterey, as the Oregonian says,
to test it, is preposterous and funny, when
Suffer had fair laboratory at the fort,
forty-one miles from the mill. / can
name others who confirmed Msrshalrs
discovery, who were employed on the mill
at the time, but the few who toiled at that
famous sawmill are now scattered or dead.
During a seventeen-year residence at Suffer
Mill (now Colonial l never heard MsrshalPs
claim of discovery disputed, and as be was
a warm intimate of mine since 40, and q
guest at my home whenever be visited San
Francisco, am familiar with mis- history
and story of finding the little orsnge-col-
ored specks that set the world agog and
we're the means of building up our beauti-
fu! State, which but for the md might
have been yet almost an ultima thule or
moderately settled territory to this day.
Our mountain sides and fertile valleys,
now resplendent with the vine, the fig, the
orange and olive, joined to the golden
leagues of waving grain, would yet be the
haunt of the grizzly, the panther and
coyote.
In conclusion, would say that in few
score years hence the fame and author of
the gold discovery may be as prolific of
dispute as the question of the birthplace of
Homer, hence | wish to add my knowledge
for the benefit OF future disputants ere 1
pass over the river.
JULIUS F. BEKEART.