Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-06-13
SAW THE FIRST GOLD FOUND.
But One Survivor of the Men Wht
Were with Marshall

But One Survivor OF the Men Who
We're with Marshall.
Pomona Call correspondence New
York Sun: There is alive today but
one of the men who worked for Suffer
in the mime at Coloma, where, on Jan.
24, 1913, James w. Marshall diScov-
cred gold. That survivor is James
Brown. He is nearly 20 years of age,
and makes his home with a grand
child 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 f1aky scales
with fire, and going forth from the
shanty to where the men were at work
ON the millrace cried: Boys, here's
gold
Il am the oldest miner alive in Cali
fornia today" said he the other day.
Il don't mean the oldest in years, but
l was the first miner There We're
about a hundred Of us building Cap
river. We had come upon the rock
when we were digging the race, and
were afraid that it would interfere
with our making a channel for the
water. Then it was that Marshall
came to me and told me about the
books about gold and mines he had
been reading, and on the afternoon Of
Jan. %. 1913, he determined to do a
little prospecting. He asked me to
bring him the pan. 1t was a common,
ordinary pan that we baked bread in
and the like. He spent all the after
noon with that pan trying to find gold,
but he had not got anything by supper.
THE next morning early he started
out with the pan again. We boys were
eXcavating in the ditch when he came
up from the hole where he was work
ing and told us he had found some
mineral. He had it in his hat; whole
lot of little fiake-like scales. They
were all small bits and all Scaly, and
he wasn't sure what they were. He
handed the hat to me, and l took one
of the scales and bit it. l could tell
by biting that it was gold, but | wasn't
sure. SO l took it into the cabin where
the fire to see if it would melt. But it
wouldn't melt, and then l knew it was
gold sure. Then l came out with it
where the men were working, and,
Boys, said l, it is goldD
THAT was the first announcement Of
! the discovery of gold in California, and
l 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 Co
Iona to look for gold. They were
working with the vagueSt hope of re-
ceiving pay for their labor. AS the old
pioneer put it, ''Old Captain Suffer
owes me 500 cold cash yet for the
work l put in ON that millrace, and
know I'll never get it, seeing as he is
dead.
But we made no kick he went on.
1--WE had agreed to accept cattle,
! horses, and grub in part payment for
our work. Moreover, we picked up
enough gold before we left the place
to square our accounts with the cap
tain's Coloma enterprise. We had
come with a bigger mission than that
of seeking gold. We were MormOns
Many of us were soldiers. / had been
serving with my battalion, and after
our disarmament was marching with
the rest of our people pr 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
to carry them through, while over 100
Of us decided to wait over another
year and work for old Captain Suffer
in the meantime.
Money was scarce in those days,
and though Captain Suffer was very
we'll fixed, he had but very little ready
cash. We only wanted stock and pro-
visions, and these we agreed to accept
in lieu of ready payment for any SER
vices we might render. AT that time
the old captain was anxious to build
oriSt mill and a lumber mill on the
American river Labor was scarce.
Therefore our arrival was very timely
with him. We had wheelwrights,
smiths. carpenters, and masters of
every other trade in our company, and
he was able to secure our services
without the expenditure of a cent Of
ready money.
''WAen the discovery had once been
made we tried for a while to keep it
quiet, and Suffer, who wanted to see
his mill completed, was particularly
anxious to keep the secret close. The
workmen completed both the grist and
the lumber mill, and did not desert
their posts or the work they had orig
inally contracted to do to seek the yell
low metal
L