The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-03-15

started the mad gold rush which ruined John
Suffer-
One other fateful entry in Suffers diary de-
serves quoting. On Friday, January %, 1S4S,
he recorded ''Mr. Marshall arrived from the Mts.
on very important business" The important
business" was to show Suffer some yellow
fakes he had discovered in the taiIrace of the
sawmin he was building In the beautiful vale"
of Coloma 40 miles away. They tested the
fakes. 1t was gold!
Four days later Suffer visited the sawmiI
Marshall had diverted the water from the chan
mel where he had made his great discovery
Walking down this channel, "Sutter stopped
often, picking up yellow fakes. In fifteen min
utes he had an ounce and half of gold. La
ter a goldsmith fashioned that metal into
ring. On it was inscribed The first gold dis
covered in California, January 1s4s.' That ring
never left John Suffers finger In life :"
Soon after California passed under the Amer
lean flag, Suffer had begun to have difficulties
with some of his Mexican land titles. He was
heavily in debt and some of his creditors were
pressing him for payment. II the news of the
gold discovery became known, he felt certain
that his men would desert him to gather the
golden fakes for themselves. Another six
weeks must elapse before the mill could be
called finished. The -four mill incomplete, also
Without men to work for him. he could
he had fought for. +. -. He called the labor
ers together. He doubled their wages. Then
he bound them to solemn secrecy for six weeks
They, in turn, assured him they would COM
plete the mill"
Despite Suffers efforts to keep the discov-
cry a secret the news leaked out A teamster
named Wittmer, hauling provisions to the
mill, learned the news from one Of Peter VIM
mer's chattering sons. WINNER In turn let slip
the secret to Samuel Brannan, a Mormon elder
who had led colony from the East TO Califor-
MIA In 1916, had published one of Callfornia's
first newspapers In Yerba Buena for a short
time and was now running a store near Suffers
fort. Brannan a crafty person If news
of the gold discovery in the Sacramento valley
became known, it might start gold rush there
The gold-seekers would need supplies They
could obtain them from Elder Samuel Bran
mans store. Therefore .
So. one day in May, 1S4S, a horseman gal
Hoped through the main street of San Francisco
I'm his right hand he carried a bottle of gilt
tering yellow grains.
"'Gold Goldp he cried, Gold from the
American riverr"
1t was Elder Samuel Brannan.
Col r. B. Mason American military COM
mander at San Francisco paid little heed TO the
first news Of the gold discovery. But the
mors increased, his young adiutant Lieut.. W. T.
Sherman, urged him to investigate. So Mason
gave Sherman permission TO visit Suffers fort
and learn the truth of these rumors From that
visit grew a friendship which had an interesting
aftermath for both Sherman and Suffer. Dur
ing his visit Sherman collected $1,000 worth OF
gold nuggets and hurried back to San Fran
CISCO Then he wrote a long report which Ma
son signed and this, with the nuggets packed
in a tea caddy, was sent by special courier to
Washington When President Polk a little Ia
ter startled the world with the announcement
of the gold discovery in California ii was Sher-
mans words that he quoted.
What followed is a familiar story-the lust
for the golden metal which swept the whole
world and sent thousands by land and by sea
to California Suffers empire of New Helvetia
crumbled under the onrush Of the gold-hungry
fortune-seekers. In 1850 California became a
state and Suffer believed that now his prop
erty rights would win recognition. But he was
disappointed In 1851 he realized long-de-
ferred ambition-that of bringing his wife and
children to join him in mis- new home (his eld-
est son. John Suffer. Jr, had arrived in August
1S4S).
But the years which followed were sad ones