The herald., 1895-09-01

variety of pyrites supposed 70 indicate
the presnce of gold, made by the Mexican
mineralogist. Don ndres Castellero.
with the real discovery OF gold by Fran
cisco Lopez year or two later.
Alfred Robinson, pioneer of 1928. in
his book. Life in California. published
in 1916, two years before Marshall's dis
covery. mentions a mine at Alisal. near
Monterey. from which considerable
quantities of silver ore had been taken.
This he says, was the first mine dis
covered in California. At one time. 'he
a Ids. 'the mania for mining was so great
that every old woman had her specimen
of what she called ore. Finally" he says,
rich mines OF placer gold were dlscov-
cred near the Mission San Fernando"
Evidently the gold fever had been epi-
demic in California long before the days
OF 1919. Robinson does not fix the date
exactly, but from dates of events given
IN this connection | infer he intends to
locate the event in 1S42. Cornise, in bis
Natural Wealth of California. reputed to
be standard work on the resources Of
the Golden state, informs his readers that
the first golu known to have been found
in the state was obtained in 1888 in the
valley of Santa Clara Los Angeles conn
ty. Historically and geographically Cor
Mise is years and miles distant from the
truth. Powell, in his Mineral Resources
OF the Golden State. another standard
work, evidently has never heard of the
discovery of go.u in Southern California.
He gives the story OF Marshall's find with
few sensational companlments not
given by others. In the dialogue between
Sutter and Marshall, Sutter remarks:
James, you are lying and James,
with none OF the spirit OF an old-time
Californian. neither shoots the top OF
Suffers head off nor offers to bet his pile
that Sutter cannot prove him liar, put
coldly pulls his sack of gold dust instead
faf 49,
eostasies instead of eternity
0 From this mass of contradictory data it
Is impossible to evolve the correct one.
Nor is it probable that the exact date will
ever be known. The strongest evidence
seems to incline towards March l842.
1t is said that repy blics are ungrateful.
whether this be- true or not, it is true
that they are often unjust in the bestowal
OF their favors. Lopez, the real discover
er of gold in California. lived in obscur-
ity, died In poverty anu sleeps b last
sleep in nameless grave. Marshall, the
reupted first discoyererr. obtained celeb
rity- -wide-fn his latter years drew
pension of $4,000 year from the state.
and after his death the grateful republic
erecteda statue of bronze to his memory.
Very little merit attaches to the discov-
cry in either case. In both cases it was
purely accidently; but whatever does, be.
longs to Lopez, not to Marshall.
Both Sutter and Marshall, in all proba-
bliity, had heard of the gold discoveries
in the south. The incredulity with
which Sutter tells us he received Mar
shall s story was probably an afterthought
to give dramatic effect to his narrative.
II had been in Southern California with
Micheltorena in lS45. and was present at
the bloodless battle of Cahuenga when the
governor was forced to abdicate. Mar
shall was a m lem ber of Frem ont sbatallion.
He was one of Captain Gillespie's garri-
son. and claims to have unspiked he
cannon. with which Gillespie repulseu the
assault of the Californans during the
siege of Los Angeles by Flores IN Septem-
ber, 1876 He spoke the Spanish language
and no DOUBT heard OF the discovery of
gold in the mountains near San Fernan-
do. From the published "reminiscences of
pioneers, | should judge that every in
teligent resident of California in the
early 40's had heard of the discovery.
AS to the yield of the San Feliciano dig
gings, it is i'm possible to obtain any deti-
mite information. Don A bel Stearns puts
it at from 5000 to $4,000 a year. up to
the American occupation in lS47. Will
lam Heath Davis gives the am cunt at
$50, 900 to $l00, 900 for the first two years
after the discovery. He states that Mellus
at one time shipped $4,000 worth of dust
to Boston 1.-the ship Alert. Bancroft
states that "by December, 1S43, 1000
ounces of gold (worth about $3s, ,000) had
been taken from the San Fernando mines,
the greater portion of which was shipped
co the United States. There was a great
scarcity of water in the mines. The pro-
cesses used in extracting the gold from
the earth were crude and wasteful. Pam
ming, washing out with bateas, or close
woven Indian baskets, was one of the
methods used To pay even $2 a day
with such process the mines must have
been quite rich. Ii 1854 it was stated
that Francisco Garcia took out of the San
Feliciano placers in one season $50, 900
in gold One nugget worth $1,000 was
found in this gold belt.
Los Angeles is not cassed among the
mineral counties of the state, yet the
yield of her placers has amounted to
considerable sum.
The San Gabriel placers were very rich.
AS late as 1876 two companies were work.
ing them. O.le company reported yield
of $l365 for run of twenty-six days,
working five men, an average of 5000 to
the man. In all the mountain creeks
tributary to the Santa Clara and San
Gabriel rivers prospects can be found. In
1854 the Santa Anita digglngs paid $5
day to the man. The great drawback to
successful mining in Los Angeles county
is the scarcity OF water. Ben Truman, in
his Semi Tropical CALIFORNIA; book writ
ten in 1874, says:
During the past eighteen years Messrs.
pucommun IL Jones, merchants of Los
Angeles, have purchased in one way and
another over 81, 900 900 worth of gold dust
taken from placer claims of the San
Gabriel river, while it is fair to presume
that among other merchants and to par
ties in San Francisco mas been distributed
at least like amount. The statistics of
the San Francisco mint show that in one
year nearly $40, 600 worth of gold was
sent from Los Angeles county for coin
ing purposes"
There are few specimens of gold taken
from the San Feliciano placers in 1912
still preserved(in jewelry and ornaments)
by some of the native Californians of Los
Angeles. The state should procure
specimen to put with the famous Mar
shall nugget in the state neurological
museum.
Copyright. 1885, by R.Garner Curran }
A SUSPECTED BURGLAR