The record-union., 1898-01-24
DISCOVERY OF GOLD.
TIE STORY or MARSHALL AND
THE NUGGET.
EIrs. WINNER and Fer Soap Ket-
tlc-MarshaIrs Life and
Death.

James w. Marshall, the diseoveTer Of
t gold at ColoEa. was born in Hope
| Township, Hunterdon County, New
Jersey, on May 10, 1912 In 1914 he
came across the plains, going first to
| Oregon, and remaining there for the
winter, and coming to California in
June, 1916. He made the acquaintance
Of General Sutter, and went to stock
farming, but while taking part in the
Bear Flag" episode his ranch was
devastated and his cattle taken. Dis
ocuraged, he came to Suffers Fort, and
as the immigrants who began to arrive
wanted lumber he recommended the
! building OF a saw and glist mill, and
entered into an agreement with Sutter
to build one
! He picked out a site at Coloma,
where water and wood were handy
and the lumber could be transported
to Suffers Fort by wagon Peter l..
WINNER and his wife Jennie also went
to Coloma, with ten Indians, the form
er as overseer and Mrs. WINNER as
housekeeper, all being under Marshall's
direction. Work on the mill progressed
slowly, and in December, the dam and
headgate being finished, Marshall
turned On the water to wash away the
sand and gravel dug by the men as the
easiest way to get rid of it, so that
it would not fall into the race He
often noticed shining specks in the bot
tom when the water had been flowing
in the night, and on January 10, 1SiS,
while he and WINNER were walking
! along by the tail race, after the water
had been shut off in the morning, Mar
shall noticed shining specimen lying
race. 1t attracted his attention more
from its queer shape and likeness to a
bear than from its probable value. and
| he picked it up. He handed it to
| WINNER, saying, What do you think
| of that2 The latter took it in his
| hand, felt Of its weight, and replied
That must be gold. l would take my
pay in that metal" Mrs WINNER had
often said that the shining specks that
| they had often seen were gold, and her
husband now believed that she was
| right.
| She was making soap that day, the
| two men having fixed her kettle of lye
| on the fire before they left the cabin,
| and Marshall said: We'll. Peter We
Will send that to Jennie and let her boil
| it in her soap kettle all day, and see if
| it will tarnish it," They did so, and
she declared positively that it was gold,
and threw it into the kettle to test it.
No further inquiry was made about it
| until at breakfast the next morning,
when the men began to chaff her and
asked what kind of soap her gold made,
and if it would DO away with the neces-
sity of using grease TO make soap with,
telling her that if SO there was plenty
| more Of it out among the sand and
gravel.
Confident that she had been right in
her kettle and poured out the soap into
! the trough made fer it. There, in the
| bottom of the kettle lay the nugget,
polished bright by the action of the
lye on it. She seized it, rushed into
before her husband and Marshall,
exclaimed: There is your nugget, and
| it is pure gold'
WINNER was convinced that his wife
was right, and Marshall, while he did
not say much, thought it might be gold
| in truth. Other nuggets were coll
lected, and q few days after Marshall
took them down to Suffers Fort and
showed them to Sutter Tests were
made, and as they proved that it really
was gold Sutter accompanied Marshall
| back to Coloma. where the news of the
successful test was received with great
joy, especially by Mrs. WINNER. She
loaded the table with everything good |
in the camp. and Marshall handed her
the nugget, saying: Here. Jennie, this
will make you d nice ring, and it shall
be yours" She always afterwards took
great pride in showing the first mug
get of gold found in the State.
How the news. spread and was carried
to the East and all over the world is
well known BY the spring of 1910
more than 3e,G00 hardy men had rem |
desvoued at Independence, st. Joseph. |
Leavenworth and Council Bluffs, and it |
is estimated that the year saw nearly |
S0,109 gold hunters come from various
parts Of the world to dig for the
precious metal.
Marshall died alone in his cabin at
KelSeys Diggings, El Dorado County |
in 1885. with not enough money to pay |
his burial ayuprSpS