Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-08-23
SAW THE FIRST GOLD
HE TELLS ABOUT THE MARSHALL
DISCOVERY AT SUFFERS.
Another Account of That Oft Told Impor-
tant Evcnt-Janes Brown Says the In
ducements Were Not Enough to Keep
Him From Going to Meet His Friends.

James Brown He is nearly 40 years of
age and makes his home wish grandchild
in Pomona valley He is the only man
living who was present when Marshall
washed the yellow grains in the camp
doughpan, and he is the man who first
tested the flaky scales with fire, and going
forth from the shanty to where the men
We're at work on the mill race cried, Boys,
here's goldr
Il am the Oldest miner alive in Califor-
mia today" said he the other day. II don't
mean the Oldest in years, but l was the
first miner. There were about 100 of us
building Captain Suffers mill on the
American river. We had come upon the
rock when wc were digging the race and
were afraid that it would interfere with
our making an even channel for the wa
ter. Then it was that Marshall came to
mo and told me about the books about
gold and mines he had been reading, and
on the afternoon of Jan. 23, 1S4S, he de-
termined to do a little prospecting. He
asked me to bring him the pan. 1t was
common, ordinary pan that we baked
bread in and the like. He spent all the
afternoon with that pan trying to find
gold, but he hadn't got any thing by sup
per.
1.-THE next morning early he started out
with tho pan again. We boys were exca-
waiting in the ditch when he came up from
the hole where he was working and told
us he had found some mineral. He had
it in his hat-a whole lot of little flake
like scales. They were all small bits, and
all scaly, and he wasn't sure what they
were. He handed tho hat to me, and 1
Df4 ho l. - 7
tell by biting it that it was gold, but l
wasn't sure. So took it into the cabin,
where a log fire was burning, and tested
it in the fire to see if it would melt. But
it wouldn't melt, and then knew it was
gold sure. Then I came out with it to
where the men were working, ard, Boys,
said 1, 1T is gold!'
"That was the first announcement Of
the discovery of gold in California, and
was the first man to test the metal and the
first man to proclaim it.
Neither Brown nor Marshall nor any
of the other mill builders went to Coloma to
look for gold. They wero working with
the vaguest hope of receiving pay for their
labor. AS tho old pioneer put it, "Old
Captain Sutter owes mo 800 cold cash yet
for the work put in on that mill race,
L IL
is dead.
"But we made no kick" he went on.
"Wc had agreed to accept cattle, horses
and grub in part payment for our work.
Moreover, we picked up enough gold be-
fore we left the place to square our ac-
counts with the captains Coloma enter
prise. We had como with bigger mission
than that of seeking gold. We were Nor
- q; 7 To-
been serving with my battalion, and after
our disbandmcnt was marching with the
rest of our people to Utah. At Coloma we
| found that we had not enough provisions
and stock for the rest of the journey over
| the Wilderness, so we decided to send the
older people and men of family ahead with
supplies enough to carry them through,
while over 100 of us decided to wait over
another year and work for old Captain
Sutter in the meantime.
money was scarce in those days, and
though Captain Sutter was very well fixed
he had but little ready cash. We only
wanted stool. and provisions, and these we
agreed to accept in lieu of ready ypaymcnt for
any services VIC might render. At that
time the old captain was anxious to build
| grist mill and lumber mill on the
| fore our arrival was very timely for him.
We had wheclwrights, smiths, carpenters
and masters of every other trade in our
company, and he was able to secure our
services without tho expenditure of q cent
of ready money.
"Whcn the discovery had once been
made, we tried for awhile to keep quiet,
and Sutter, who wanted to see his mill
| keep the secret close. The workmen com
pleted both the grist and the lumber mill
| and did net desert their posts or the work
| they had originally contracted to do to
seek the yellow metal.
"Though had tested the first grains of
gold in the fire and with my teeth never
| thcless to bo sure about matters, we sent
them to Sacramento to make certain.
They tested them there and finally decided
that they really were gold. Then they
sent on the news to san Francisco, where
| the announcement was published for tho
first time BY a man named Sam Brannan,
| who had brought II lot of type and a press
and everything around the Horn.
did / stay long at Coloma after the
completion of the mill, you ask? No, sir.
| Only a few of us did Myself and most of
| our pcOpIc oiily remained lonS enough TO
| dig up enough gold to equip ourselves for
marching back over the plains to meet
those of our people who We're coming out
to join u.s.
"And was not the promise of an easily
| made fortune inducement enough to keep
you at Coloma?"
Glow could it be? Had we not our
friends Oh the plains, and had we not to
| meet them?''
"And aboUt how much did you all
| make"
"Oh, it was all accordingto luck-some
made more, somo made less-some made
| $500 or $500; somc made 81 600 or IS, 900.
] guess | had something like 81, 500 in
dust Marshall, who found it first, had
none at all. Marshall was not lucky any
how. He was one of the original bear flag
men-onc of the fllibustcrs who thought
he owned the country. They had selected
the bear flag as their banner because bears
were so abundant out here in those days.
| The first bear flag was nothing but an old
strip of canvas, on which the men daubed
q picture of /, bear with tar, their paint
brush being their own fingers. Pomona
| (Cal.) Letter.