The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-04
v~ARSHALE'S GOLDEN FIND.
.,T UICKs SAW THE FIRST HIM.
IDA mo IN CALIFORNIA.

...cpees OF an old wan who was Work.
- ON suffers Ranch when Marshall
"a the First NuEEet-scenes DuriuE the
Ss,s vcver or lsA7-1Iep who Lost Chances.
o.. ANGELES, juno Tho proposition that
.n,ornla shall celebrate next January tho
.s,.,b anniversary Of tho finding Of gold in the
,nns OF Gen. Suffers snwmm ut Coloma, In
nS " county. is turning public attention 10
nIo.r.ons now alivo who wero associated in
mop.v or another with tho finding of tho first |
~ nugget by James w. Marshall. The last
C I'm, four witnesses present was Henry Mason, |
w aied In Sacramento nine years ago. Mar
s hlr,.olt died at Coloma, CAL, in August, |
~. .Sas and Gen. suffer died In Washington, ID. c., |
- Inns. 1850. Adam Wicks, a dccrepit old man. |
- =, lives with his children on q little honey
~. ,anch on Santa Inez River in Santa
nS.,.ra county, is ono of tho few persons now
nei.s-indecd he is possibly the only one-who
- nm the scene u fow days after Marshall
-. -, tho value Of his discovery. Wicks was ut
800 mill The second day after the discovery,
"a want with Marshall and two other mon to
,rn, for gold nuggets along the stream that
Al m, mill humc. That was practically the
A., mining for gold in California. Mr.. Wicks
..0s. Of no one living but himself who was with
MARSHALL in those first few days Of excitement.
81 oame to California in May. 1s47." said Mr..
v,cs. As he sat in the shade of the porch ut his
.na.stlittle home the otherday. =" Iva % years
.S ,hsn and a sailor. l had been fascinated by
s,alne Dana's Two Years Before the Mast
,Shad walked from my native town Of Adams,
Mass. to Gloucester, where 1 shipped as a sailor
=, VOYAGE around the Horn. over the Same
ooprss that Dana sailed ten years before. When
90 coached San Francisco smallpox broke out
!, onr ship as it lay in the harbor, and 1 do
1890 tho craft. The life that 1 saw in the
v,t,s ety Of San Francisco at that time was
a .ntirely different from anything l had ever
- before that l resolved never to leave
II II was the last days Of the Spanish regime
IN California. The territory had been surren-
a,rcd TO the Americans q few weeks before. and
Can Fremont and Commodore Stockton held 1t
9TH their armed forces. The Territory was
ormally coded In the following February. The
sn,nish hospitality and the beautiful, black-eyed
sn,nish young ladies at the haciendas out In the
rural regions. the dancing, the fandangos, and
,be music had q charm for me. Besides, I
y,pted to see the Spanish rural life that I had
Rad and rc-read about so many times In Two
Years Before the Mast
aWhen l had spent nearly all thu wages saved
ua sailor I went out into the country. That
vas In the fall Of ls47. I got to Suffers fort,
or. more properly bpOdhihBt o SoSAou
rsaramento, in the early days Of November.
There were about forty whites in Sacramento
then. Half OF them were employed by Capt.
Suffer, who had made money for several years
previous by furnishing supplies to the soldiers
that had come across the plains under Gens.
Kearny and Fremont. Suffer was a mar Of 45
than. and had big ideas as to the wonderful
crops OF fruits and grain he was going to grow
On his Is, 900 acres Of land along the American
River. He had some 5000 head OF cattle, and
he reckoned that IL the Indians did not kill oil
too many of his steers. and the Spanish,
who were angry at him for ~favoring
the American aggressions in California
did not seek to divest him Of his land lain
he would be q rich man. I went to work fol
Suffer- as the boss of a squad OF half-breed In
dams, who were rounding up the cattle for the
annual rodeo. Capt. Suffer- and / were in eact
others company for nearly q week in December
lsi7, while We were hunting mavericks ant
rado county. suffer then had great hopes tina
would simulate building by the United STATE
nishtsel his timber at his own prices. He wa
working on his sawmfl then. and hurrying tn
stock Of ready for Uncle SANS use:
"Imet James ". Marshall some time befor
be foupd the first golden nugget. Our gang Q
NelucIp5 Z W SoStok . -
COlumale lAfterward known as Colomal to &c
orders from Capt. Suffer. OF course. We wen
e e meals is The at en nnS camp NJ c sHokhs sasssr foF Marsha Ms Tsl
was there. He was a sort Of carpenter, an
when he found that I was from Massachqsett
be became chummy. He came from New Jerse
eoast in months. In the course Of the next fe,
bad been 50 M much u Of a Wandereer that he couI
SS : i seen w d4HP su Hsfg f foaF years. ss' and iDda was res
sss: % sr get sw sSyS sna ~ Just sat thPss w wee aiM i"ts
be picked up the first golden nugget. and fos
discovered a locality where enormous fortune
might be washed from the hills and cahons.,
remember the day ! first heard thel
were yesterday. The Ralf.breed Indians and
were in our saddles on Jan. 20, 1913. It was
driven a drove Of cattle to a fertile grazing sp
On the American River and were on our va
esk 3, 70 &C cG y y Hnassf for More no. %fm%., a the nep sne
At the lumber camp, by chance met US on Il
road Sss:s aF gave him q, li G6fm n ny horse .Ss bo and io "a y y
hat jim Marshall had found some pieces
what Marshall and Mrs. WINNER though: we
goIa; The beg told this In the most mater
eurence. Ibid not hin OF It again until b,
put the horses in the corral and Marshall and
sSd sai Town for a smoke. suddenly recall
What's this that Jake's been telling, I
s6out your finding gold In the millraoe = said
a pun IL phRO.
why what did you hear z replied Marsh'
rritably. / saw that he was diapleased:
Then ! told Marshall what the boy JAKE h
tlsld, and believe l carelessly made some rema
mat such barren-looking mountains didn't SEE
nvorable for gold. That vexed Marshall. W
Always wanted TO air his knowledge.
Now, look here said he. laying down
Rlpe. II you'll swear you won't tell any OF
~ show you how far you miss your caicu
lions. II you keep this secret, why, We 1ello
aefe can mako more money at picking up 81
than we can at herding cattle and numbering;
Marshall went into the kitchen OF the bui
Mg and came back with a tin matchbox. He
{ me candle and slowly and silently opened
po1, l watched him i~ntently. He produced fr'
the boH four bits of gold.
Now, by what do you call that 9
~. as he laid them on the redwood table bel
ne. The largest nugget was the size OF a M
eIy nut the others were the size of black bea
~ had been hammered and were very orl
ron boiling aud acid tests. Those were the II
evidences OF the gold. 49,,
81 was young then, and Marshall was thir
III; We were green and simple. We sat tn
ina talked for an hour about how mnch ear
would be TO get rich by digging gold than
WORKING for days wages. but neither OF US
any idea there would ever be anything more
gold seeking for any one there than possi6l.
lew thousand dollars a year. We went to be:
se usual hour that night, and SO little exec
we're we about the discovery that neither OF
tQsta moments sleep over the s~tupendous wes
snst lay all about us. There were but SIX