The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-01-23

had set IL, n the snow soon disap-
peared. Searching every crevice and
Granny among the bare rocks, until at
last I began to aunt in the sand, near
the foot of the rocks, near the edge Of
the river. Here l found it more Dlen-
tiful, but in small particles, when at
last I picked out a nugget, round like
a bullet. worth between s. and Sc. AT
this spot l sat in one position, all bent
over. for hours, picking up the little
particles. when all at nee 1 could not
see. arc as 1 Strengthened myself 1
yelled with pain. 1 reeled and stagSer-
ed, and it seemed my back was broken,
but after a few severe groans and
grunts I was at ease.
Might had set in, and I made my
way uD the river. owe rocks and
through brush, until arriving al the
mill dam. l called for Brown, who
broughtSover the raft (three dry pine
logs pinned together), and took me
over. on reaching the shanty the boys
began to ask questions. n wanted to
know WHY / was out so late, and hi
luck, and where my game was, and
why I did not cross at the dam that
morning. etc. ] saw they had at last
suspected something of the kind. l then
called for the scales which We had
made. using a silver dollar for an
ounce weight. half dollars for half an
ounce, and so on. The scales We're soon
forthcoming, when 1 pulled out n cor
ner of my shirt tail, in which | had
tied up my days hunt, and weighed by
Alexander Stevens, who declared there
was 1929 Of pure gold. The secret now
being out, 1 told them all about it.
This find of mine was the first gold
foun away from the sawmin. And it
was about the time l had written a
few lines to the boys whO were my
messmates in the Mormon battalion.
hen at work below on Captain Suffers
Touring mill, what we had found at the
sawmill.
Sunday. Feb. p, 1 took the boys at
the sawmili to my gold mine; but the
river had risen so high that the spot
where / had found it so plentifully was
under water. That evening three of the
boys from Suffers Touring mill arrived
at our shanty, and it happened that Mr..
Marshall was in, and sat until d late
hour, talking and feeling first rate, and
quite jovial. as he most always vas
And as he was leaving TO go to his WI
quarters, MILFORD Hudson, one of the
three men. asked the privilege to pros
pect next morning in the tail races,
which waH readily granted. And in do
ing so, Hudson, with his butcher knife.
picked out a nugget worth about Sc. On
their return to labor below at the flour
ms MILL they followed the river pros
pecting, and at one place. afterwards
known as Mormon Island, about u
miles below the sawInill. they found
gold which proved to be one of the
best finds in California
Sam B%rannan, learning of this, pub
lished it in his paper. the California
Star, AID in this way the news first
abroad that the gold was found by
Mormons. He said he could receive
the mine as church property, and adj
vised all the Mormon boys to pay their
tithing. and in this way he got his
start, and became a rich man. but
died poor He never accounted for a
cent OF the tithing to the church, but
kept it all himself"
MR.. BROWNS NARRATIVE
James S. Brown. another of the sur
gives an interesting account of
the discovery, agreeing in the main
vita that of Mr.. Bigier, but describ-
ing additional incidents:
After the members of the Mormon
battalion were discharged from the ser
vice Of the United States they went
Immediately to Sacramento, and after
DVerhauIfur fbafr outfit found If uof+ !