The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1892-06-17

The history of the discovery of gold
in IS4S in California has been so
frequently told and the facts are SO
we'll established that there is nothing
of interest to be added to the we'll
known and familiar account of the
Coloma Mill, the finding of the parti-
cles of gold in the tail-race, and the
subsequent operations Of General
Sutter, Marshall and the others who
were present or were at once apprised
Of the discovery The story has been
told thousand times and is familiar
the world over.
1t is not so we'll known, however,
that, while Marshal's discovery was
unquestionably the one that produced
the most wonderful migration and
subsequent development of an un.
known region that the world has ever
seen, he is by no means entitled to
the honor Of having been the first
person to find the precious metal in
California.
Nothing can be more assured than
the fact that from almost the first ex-
ploration of the Pacific coast by the
hardy navigators Of the sixteenth CEN
tury the idea in some way gained a
foothold that gold existed !:ere in
abundance. Sir Francis Drake, who
visited this region in 1870, asserts it,
and so do other writers who have
other sources of information. The
Spanish conquerors Of Mexico were
persuaded Of the existence Of rich gold
deposits in country far to the north
west, corresponding exactly with the
location Of our State, but were unable
to verify their belief, though sending
out frequent expeditionsto to do so.
That the founders Of the missions
knew Of the existence Of gold here
there is good ground for believing, as
well as for believing that they profited
by that knowledge.
In 1878 gold was discovered near
the Colorado river, in the vicinity of
Yuma, by Mexicans, and half a cen
tury later deposits were found near
San Ysidro, in San Diego county. In
1883 places which are still being sue
cessfully worked were found in the
mountains to the northwest Of Los
Angeles, and from them were taken
considerable quantities of the precious
metal. Some Of the product of these
mines found its way from the Atlantic
seaboard long before Marshall was
ever heard of, and the knowledge of
the existence Of gold on the Pacific
coast was quite general even then.
This fact was known to the Mexican
authorities as early as 1874, as shown
by documents found in the archives OF
that government. In one communl-
cation, dated September 1, 1874, it
was said that fully 1000 ounces OF
gold dust, taken from the placers of
the Santa Clara, were in circulation at
one time in Los Angeles, and in the
same letter the existence Of silver
mines is also mentioned, though their
exact location is not given,
In March, 1876, nearly two years
before the discovery at Coloma,
Thomas Larkin, Consul at Monterey
wrote to his superiors that he had no
doubt that mines of gold, quicksilver,
copper, ETC., would be found all over
California. Five years before that
J. ID. Dana, who accompanied the
Wilkes expedition and made an over
land trip from Oregon to San Fran
cisco, reported that he found indica-
tons of the existence of gold in South
ern Oregon and in the Sacramento
Valley. Many other facts might be
cited, all tending to establish the
certainty that the discovery OF Mar
shal was no discovery at all in the real
sense of the word, though, by 4 for
tuitous combination of circumstances,
his lucky (or rather unlucky tor him
self find set the world in 4 blaze OF
excitement.
Not only were the people of every
civilized land carried away by the
tales of great fortunes to be made in
day, but the financial and monetary
world was appalled, and shaken to the
base by California's extraordinary out
put OF the precious metal Europe
became alarmed, A plethora OF the
noble metal was feared, and for a
time the idea was strongly entertained
of demonetizlng gold.