The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-12-22

mountains and approached only by
lonely, tedious journey through re-
gion inhabited by Indians and wild
beasts, more than offset to Brigham
Young's mind the brilliant inducements
offered by Brannan in favor of Cali
fornia.
Brannan went into Salt Lake valley
with the Mormon pioneers, and before
he left there to return to San Francisco
information came that the battalion
men, having received their discharge at
Los Angeles, Cal, were on their way
east to join their families. The church
authorities instructed Brannan to tell
these men when he met them on his
way back to California that only those
who had sufficient provisions to last
them until the next years harvest was
gathered should come on to Salt Lake
Brannan met the men on the Sierra
Nevada mountains and delivered his
message. A consultation was held, the
supplies were put together and only
those whose necessities could be pro-
vided for went on to Salt Lake. The
rest of the company returned to Cali
fornia and scattered about in the re-
gion around San Francisco bay seek
ing employment.
Some of the men went to Suffers
Fort General Suffer at this time was
building a Touring mill, and. with Ore
gon lumber. at $500 a thousand feet,
was anXiously5 considering the question
of putting up a sawmill in the foothills
and getting out his own lumber. But
he had no money, nor could be obtain
laborers suitable for the work. Neither
did he know the best place to build
the mill James Marshall, a practical
mechanic, had come to the fort after an
unsuccessful venture at farming, and
was ready to, undertake finding a To-
cation and building the mill for
share in the business if Suffer would
find the means.
1t was at this juncture that the bat
talon men appeared and supplied to
Suffer and Marshall the necessary link
that had been lacking to carry out
their project. These men were not only
good mechanics, but were willing to
wait for their wages until the mill
was finished and then take their pay IN
flour, jerked meat and ponies. Work
was begun on the mill, in due time
the mill race was dug, and the result
has made possible CALIFORNIA; golden
jubilee.
No painters brush has yet taken for
it's subject the decisive moment when
Suffer, Marshall and these nine bat
talon mechanics signed the contract
which resulted in the discovery OF Cali
fornias gold mines. Yet the splendor
the world. Mighty states have arisen
on this Pacific coast, transcontinental
railroads have been built, countless
steamers and merchant vessels sail
through the once solitary pathway of
the Golden Gate, hundreds of millions
of gold from the Californian gold mines
have poured into the Golfers of the
nations of the world, and the golden
CLEAN shining across the Pacific has
brought to light the treasures hidden
in Australian mines
With the great influx of newcomers
after the gold discovery, the Brooklyn
Mormons passed from public view as a
large and distinctive part of the Amer
lean population of San Francisco and
vicinity, and their history is almost I'M
known to those who walk the same
streets they trod but 50 years ago They
arrived at Yerba Buena too late to es-
tablish the mighty hierarchy their more
fortunate brethren founded at Salt
Lake. Not for them arose the magnifi-
cent temple or wonderful tabernacle.
We look in vain among the multitude
of photographed faces in the Jubilee
souvenir of the Utah Pioneers for one
! belonging to q member of the Brooklyn
expedition or the Mormon Battalion.
Apparently their mission ended in fail
ure. But had it not been for the
Brooklyn expedition, whose leader
turned back the battalion men from
their east bound journey, Suffer would
not have had the men to build his mill,
the mill race would not have been dug,
and the gold in California might have
remained undiscovered for scores of
years to come.
True, gold might have been discov-
cred in some other way and by some
other means. But while there is a
! world of speculation in the s',11ioIt
have BEEN" it is only the "has been
that we are really sure of. Let US
then, as our Golden Jubilee approaches
pay the tribute of remembrance and
Acknowledgement to these early set
tiers in California, who, through their
own failure, helped so materially to
make the history Of our state.