The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-05-23
GOLD DISCOVERY.
Tho Disputed Date Established by Docu-
Inentary Evidence.

1ho AioPutcu bdte EStaDllSneu OOCu-
inentary Evidence.
The various societies Of California
pioneers are accustomed to celebrate
the 10th of January rs the date of the
discovery of gold by j. w. Marshall at
Coloma, but that it is an error is shown
by Mr.. John S. Hittel in the Century,
rs follows Ia fac-simile of tho entry in
Biglcr's diary being printed in the mag
azine as ocular evidcnce):
The first record of the discovery, and
the only one made on the day of it's oc-
currcnce, was in the diary of Henry w.
Bigler, one of the Mormon laborcrs ut
the mill. lie was an American by birth,
then young man, and now q respected
citizen Of st. George, u. Il. He was in
the habit of keeping n regular record of
his notable observations and expert
ences, selecting topics for remark, with
creditable Judgment. His journal kept
during his service in the Mormon bat
talon and his subsequent stay in Cali
fornia is one of tho valuable historical
documents of the State. On the oath of
January, in the evening, Bigler wrote
in his diary: 'This day some kind of
mettle was found in the tail-race that
looks like gold.'
Nothing was said In public about the
date of the discovery until 1856, eight
years after the event when Marshall
published n letter in which he said that
he found gold at Coloma .'about the
10th" of January, 1S4s. Neither then,
nor ut any subsequent time, did he
claim that his recollection of the day
was aided by written memorandum.
In ri, ~, 80,
the discovery was made on the 18th,
10Th or goth. His biography, prepared
under his direction, and printed in 1870,
fixed the 10Th as the precise day.
AS years elapsed he became more
exact, perhaps under the influence
of public opinion, which from 1856
to 1856 accepted the 10Th as the
day. On the 9th of September, 1855, at
the annual celebration of the adj
mission of the State into the Union, I
delivered an address on the gold dis
covery to the Pioneer society of San
Francisco, and sent copy of it in print
to MIR. Biglcr, of whom had heard as
one Of the survivors of the Coloma
party, and requested him to correct nv
errors, if he found any. He replied
that according to his diary the gold was
found on the cath. At my solicitation
he copied the entries of his book from
that day to the middle of May; and then
began an investigation which made
me familiar with the diaries of Azariah
Smith, n survivor of the Mormon
battalion and one of the mill builders
at Coloma, and with the diary of Suffer.
These three diaries agreed substantial
nd
shalls statement that four DAYS after
the discovery he took specimens of the
gold to Suffers Fort. Smith made his
entries on Sunday as rule; and on the
30th January he wrote that on the pre-
ceding week gold had been found Mt the
mill, and that Marshall had gone to
New Helvetia to have it tested. This
was probably written in the morning.
for Biglcr's entry made Oh the same
day mentions that the test was SUCCESS
full, implying that Marshall had re-
turned.
Suffers diary reports that on the 2Sth
January Marshall arrived ut the fort
ION important business" without men
tioning tho gold. The agreement of the
three diaries with Marshall's statement
that he went to New lIclvctia four DAYS
after the discovery, the superior value
OF documentary evidence as compared
with vague recollections, dimmed by
years of intervening events, and the I'M
certainty of Marshall in reference to
the date, left no room for doubt that the
oath was the true day, which gave to
the public for the first time in january.
1856.