Comstock Lode
After being discharged, Prows, along with other Mormon Battalion veterans, traveled up to present-day Sacramento, California. In 1848, while working at Sutter's Mill on the American River, Prows was among the group of Mormon Battalion veterans that discovered the gold that sparked the California Gold Rush. Shortly thereafter, Prows left California for Utah. During his trek to Utah, Prows reportedly was the first man to wash gold on the Comstock Lode. The other principal candidate for discovering the Comstock Lode is Abner Blackburn.