The herald., 1896-04-26
EARLY CALIFORNIA GOLD
What the Franciscan Monks
Knew About II
AS SHOWN BY THEIR RECORDS
The Yellow Metal Discovered Before
the F0rties
Bnt the Monks Were Opposed to Letting the
AS SHOWN BY THEIR RECORDS
Bnt the Monks Were Opposed to Letting the
World Know Of CaIifornia's Min.
eraI Wealth

A correspondent to the New York
Times writes as follows from Los An
geles:
The recent big convention in San
Francisco of the gold miners of the Pa
cific coast has been the cause of an
unusual revival of the history of the
finding of the first gold in California.
Several papers were read at the conven-
ton showing that the Indians had some
knowledge of the presence of the pre-
cious metal in the mountains and cam
yons of the coast range as far back as
1920
State Senator S. n. Androus of Po-
mona valley has made an exhaustive
study of the evidences of a knowledge
of the gold deposits in this state prior to
Marshalfs discovery at Suffers MILL
north of Sacramento, in 1S4S AT meet
ing of the pioneers in this city the other
evening he said:
Il am perfectly satisfied that the pres
ence of gold in California was known by
the Franciscan monks, who came to this
coast to convert the Indians, at least a
half century before Marshalls find oc
cured There are several records or
diaries from the old adobe mission at
San Diego that prove this, and there
are a few lines in Latin in the letters
written at the san Gabriel mission in
1902 to the brother monks g the mission
at Santa Cruz that tell of the Chris
tianized savages having brought in
small specimens of a metal found in the
old river beds and that appeared to be
pure gold.
1.-The Franciscans. who We're the
first whites that settled in California
came from Spain and the larger Medi-
teranean islands. They were pastoral
people. and as missionaries they gained
a marvellous influence over the native
Indians, and gradually stocked the
e Il
cattle that roamed over ranges thou
sands of acres in extent. These herds
the Indians tended, and it was therefore
the policy Of the priests to keep the In
dians in subsection. The priests
brought with them from Spain grape
sought to bring peace and plenty to
the new land. They were wise, long
headed men, and surely knew of the
existence of gold. but they also knew
the avariciousness of the Spanish peo-
pie. They reasoned that if the presence
of the yellow metal should become
known in Spain hordes of greedy adven-
lures would rush in, robbing. killing and
ravishing. Their peaceful relations
with the Indians would be broken off,
the great herds would be scattered,
and the supremacy of the priests would
be lost.
This supremacy was at its highest in
Diego a chain of twenty-four missions
was extended northWard. iunipero
Sera was priest president of all the mis-
sions in California and was an intelli-
gent, perseVering man. He was not
only instrumental in founding mission
after mission, but he added to the herds
thousands of sheep and cattle The
Spanish and Mexican priests still in
the old missions say there is abundant
evidence in the papers and parchments,
not to be seen by secular eyes that
Father Junipero knew not only that
gold was to be found In the mountains
near San Jose and the Santa CIar
valley but he had information it was
there in surprisingly large quantities.
The monk was truly a holy man and
a sagacious officer we'll. SO he sur
pressed an information possible about
the mineral wealth, and kept the say
ages in ignorance as TO the tremend-
Gus worldly value of that yellow metal
among the pale faces.
1T is claimed the world over that the
first discoveries We're in 1S4S, when the
whole world was turned topsy turvy
with the astonishing news. | came to
California in 1S43, and l can positively
say that gold was known here then, for
I have seen it in Monterey. ON Sundays
the Indians would come into town.
naked except for a cloth around their
mddles, and exchange a little pinch of
gold for drink of aguadiente or native
rum. No one knew where they got the