The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-02
THE FIRST GOLD MINERS.
DISCOVERY or THE YELLOW NET
AL IN CALIFORNIA 80 YEARS AGO.


Survivor Tells the story of How
Marshall Found Gold aud How He
Threw Away His Chance to Make
Millions by THAT Discovery.
Los Angeles Letter jim New York Times.
The preparations throughout this state
for the celebration of Che nfdeth anniver-
sary Of the first discovery Of gold in cali
fornia, TO begin Jan. "a. has turned public
attention on the pacific coast to ending
what persons now alive were participants
in the very earliest scenes attending the
finding of the first golden nuggets by
James Marshall in the slu.ce that led to
Gen. John a. Suffers saw mill at Coloma,
In El Dorado county, on Jan. o. 1918
Gen. John Bidwell Of Chico, the prohibi-
ton party candidate for President in 1892,
says he believes but nine persons are liv-
ing who saw the beginning of god mining
ON the Pacific coast lie is one of them.
but old-tlmers on the coast generally say
that Adam Wicks is the only person now
alive who was present at the very earliest
scenes attending the finding Of the first
yellow metal nuggets MIR. Wicks himself
knows no one now living who was on the
scene of the gold find as early as himself.
He lives with a granddaughter in Ven
tura county. and is a decrepit old man.
Ills mind, however, is as clear as ever,
and, concerning the history of the picking
up OF the first gold by Marshall. his MEM
DRY Is particularly active. Talking of 1t
the other day he said
IL was y years old when came to Cal
tfornia on a schooner that arrived In San
Francisco harbor June T. 1877 1 was
charmed with the wild new country, and
decided TO stay ana I've never been out
of the state from that time, Along in
October. 1877. / went with several young
fellows up the Sacramento river to SUIT
terS fort, at what Is now the city of Sac
ramento. There were about twenty-five
white people az Suffers fort, which was
merely a stockade of timbers as protec-
ton from assault by Indians. Suffer was
the richest American in Central California
al the time, but he had no money. II was
all in land, timber horses and cattle. He
was about Is years old, and was fun of
schemes for making money by selling his
timber to the United States government,
which had just then come into possession
of California. That Is why he was having
Marshall build a sawmill up in Columale
Qater known as Colonial.
Il knew James Marshall, the discoverer
of gold, very well. He was an ingenious,
!
an expert millwright out from New Jer-
sey Marshall was always finding fault
with the way Suffer wanted the sawmill
built | remember that few weeks before
he stumbled on the gold, he was on the
point of quitting Suffers employ and go
ing down TO San Francisco. A good deal OF
| speculation may be done as to what course
! history would have taken if Marshall had
! quit and gone away
/ ON the latter mart Of January. 1913 / was
at work with a gang of avqueros for Gen.
| Sutter ] remember as clearly as If it were
| yesterday when / first heard of the gold
! discovery. 1T was on Jan. 26, 1913, forty
! eight hours after the event. We had driven
/ a drove Of cattle to a fertile grazing SPOT
| on the American river and We're on our
way back 20 Columale for more orders. A
nephew-a lad Of fifteen years-of Mrs.
! WINNER. the cook at the lumber camp,
met us on the road. ] gave him lift on
my horse, and as we joGged along the boy
told me that Jim Marshall had found some
| pieces of what Marshall and Mrs. WINNER
| thought We're gold. The boy told this in
| the most matter-of-fact way, and did
| not think Of it again until ! had put the
horses in the corral and Marshall and |
! had sat down for a smoke. | suddenly re-
| called what the boy said.
What's this that Jake's been telling
me about your finding gold in the mill
race" said 1, between the puffs Of my
| pipe
Why what did you hear?' replied
| Marshall, irritahly. | saw that he was dis
pleased
Then I told Marshall what the boy Jake
| had said. and ! believe I carelessly made
| some remark that such barren-looking
| mountains didn't seem favorable for gold.
| That vexed Marshall, who always wanted
| to air his knowledge
Now, look here said he laying down
his pipe If you'll swear you won't tell
any one, III show you how far you miss
your calculations. II you keep this secret,
why we fellows here can make more mon
| ey al picking up gold than we can at nerd
ing cattle ana lumbering'
Marshall went into the kitchen OF the
building, and came back with tin match-
box. He lit the candle, and slowly and ST.
lently opened the box I watched him in
tently. He produced from the box four bits
of gold.
Now, by --, what do you call that?'
said he. as he laid them on the redwood
table before me. The largest nugget was
the size Of a hickory nut; the others we're
the size OF black beans All had been
hammered. ana were very bright from
| boiling and acid tests. Those were the
| first evidences Of gold.
81 have wondered a thousand times since
how we took the finding of the gold so
coolly. why, it did not seem to us a big
thing 1t appeared only an easier way OF
making a living for a few of us. We had
/ never heard Of a stampede of gold-crazy
men in those days Besides, we were
| green backwoodsmcn None Of us had
| ever seen natural gold before. We went
| to bed at the usual hour that night, and
so little excited were we about the dlscov-
erv that neither OF US lost a moment s
| sleep over the stupendous wealth that lay
all about us. We proposed to 80 out and
| hunt at odd times and on Sundays for gold
| nuggets. Two weeks or so later Mrs.
WINNER went to Sacramento. There she
showed at Suffers Fort some nuggets she
| had found along the American river. Even
! cant Suffer himself had not known oil
/ the finds Of gold on his land until them.
'"The earliest rush to the mipes was IN
April. There were twenty men from San
Francisco in the party. Marshall was SC
mad at Mrs. WINNER that he vowed he
| would never treat her decently again. Al
| first IL was thought the gold was only &c
be found within a radius Of "a few miles
Of the sawmin at Columale, but the new
comers spread out, and every day brought
| news of localities along the American river
that were richer in gold than where We
had been quietly working for a few weeks
Then gold was found on the Feather ant
| Yuba rivers. The very maddest man oil
| all was Cant. Suffer when men began e
| come from San Francisco San Jose Mon