Q.David Bowers
Hudson and Willis followed the river downstream looking for gold, and Fiefield, accompanied by Bigler from the sawmill, went by road back to the flour mill. On regrouping at the flour mill, Hudson showed a few particles not worth more than a half dollar in value which had been found on a bar opposite a small island halfway down the river. Other Mormons became interested in the tale, and a group of them returned to the downstream sand bar, hoping to find more. Later, this became famous as the very rich Mormon Diggings, and the sand bar, made of gravel and earth about a half mile long and a quarter mile wide, cut by a canal across the neck, was known as Mormon Island.
Earlier many Mormons had arrived in California on the ship Brooklyn. Others came overland by way of Santa Fe. Some remained at San Francisco, others went to New Helvetia to settle with Sutter, and still others settled on the Stanislaus River. Many of the Mormons, especially those associated with the Mormon battalion which had earlier disbanded in California, were on their way to Great Salt Lake. They stopped at Sutter's Fort to work for a time in order to add to their supplies and provisions and to wait for a more favorable season to journey across the high mountains. It was during this winter period that gold was discovered at Coloma. With the arrival of spring the Mormons intended to resume their journey eastward to Great Salt Lake.
On March 11, 1848, Sutter's sawmill was complete and in operation. The employees fulfilled their promise to finish the project. On April 7th Bigler, Brown, and Stevens went to Sutter's Fort to settle their accounts and to discuss their journey to Great Salt Lake. June 1st was selected as the starting date. Sutter was informed of this so he could make preparations to have others employed in their stead. The Mormons sought to buy supplies and provisions, including cattle, horses, seed, and two brass cannon.
Bigler, Brown, and Stevens started their return to Coloma on April 11th. Camping overnight on a stream 15 miles above the flour mill, they found $10 worth of gold. They later continued to Mormon Island where seven of their friends in one day had extracted $250. Drawing closer to Coloma, they found a site on the river below the sawmill. An arrangement was made with Sutter and Marshall, who furnished provisions and tools in exchange for a percentage of the gold found. This agreement was continued for a short time, then payments to Sutter and Marshall were discontinued. It was reported that at one time Samuel Brannan, a Mormon merchant at Sutter's Fort, obtained 10% of the gold found by certain Mormons on the pretext of it being a tithe to the church.
Later in July, their migration delayed due to the gold fever, 45 Mormon men and one woman started eastward to Great Salt Lake.
More and more people returned from Coloma with gold particles and nuggets. One trader offered a half pound of gold at a store in exchange for supplies. At the time gold was usually accepted at the rate of about $8 an ounce, less than half of its true value. The storekeepers showed the metal to other visitors and created additional excitement. Person by person, tale by tale, rumor by rumor, the news continued to spread.
In the early months the news of gold was mainly confined to Sutter's Fort and those associated with it. There were some believers and many skeptics in San Francisco. Further away there was no news or interest. Gold had been mentioned many times earlier as a possible attraction in California, just as the precious metal had often been given as a reason for going to many other distant lands, whether or not gold actually existed.
Semple, a Benicia man, was told of the gold discovery in the early days and said, "I would pay more for a good coal mine than for all the gold mines in the universe." Capt. J. L. Folsom, quartermaster at San Francisco, saw some gold flakes and declared they were mica. Later a man came in with 20 ounces of gold which he claimed to have gathered in eight days on the American River, and Folsom expressed disbelief. In April, Folsom wrote to Col. R. B. Mason, Jr., in Monterey and mentioned casually that there was a rumor of gold existing in the Sutter's Fort area. In May, Bradley, a friend of Folsom, journeyed to Monterey and was asked by Mason if he knew anything of gold on the American River. "I have heard of it. A few fools have hurried to the place, but you can be sure there is nothing in it," was the reply.
On Wednesday, March 15th, The Californian, one of two weekly newspapers published at the time, carried the first printed notice:
Gold Mine Found. In the newly made raceway of the sawmill recently erected by Capt. Sutter on the American fork, gold has been found in considerable quantities. One person brought $30 to New Helvetia, gathered there in a short time. California no doubt is rich in mineral wealth; great chances here for scientific capitalists. Gold has been found in every part of the country.
On March 18th the other weekly paper, The California Star, carried a brief notice that gold had been found 40 miles above Sutter's Fort.
No particular excitement was created by these notices, as other natural wealth was thought of with equal interest-including quicksilver, coal, silver, and to even a greater extent, agriculture and fruit growing.
On March 25th The California Star noted that "so great is the quantity of gold taken from the mine recently found at New Helvetia that it has become an article of traffic in that vicinity." His interest piqued, E. C. Kemble, editor of the newspaper, set off to inspect the situation for himself. Reaching New Helvetia he was accompanied by Sutter who journeyed with him to Coloma. Arriving at the mill in the middle of a working day, Sutter was pleased to find that the employees were busily tending to the lumber business. Gold seekers who had come to the area had moved up or down the American River and were not looking for gold at the mill site. Kemble returned to San Francisco to report that from his personal experience reports of gold at Sutter's mill were false.
Certain business interests in San Francisco who hoped to increase the return on their investments in land and commerce commissioned Dr. Victor J. Fourgeaud to write a monograph which was subsequently called The Prospects of California. Believing that Missouri in particular represented a fertile source for investors in San Francisco, thebusiness interests there, who had no connection with the new gold discoveries, dispatched a courier overland in April with 2,000 copies to distribute in Missouri. It was planned that a second edition, to be printed as an extra and to contain expanded information, would be issued on June 1st.
While Fourgeaud did not give the gold discovery undue prominence or speculate on its future impact to California, he did state the following:
We saw a few days ago a beautiful specimen of gold from the mine newly discovered on the American fork. From all accounts the mine is immensely rich, and already we learned that gold from it, collected at random and without any trouble, has become an article of trade at the upper settlement. This precious metal abounds in this country. We have heard of several other newly discovered mines of gold, but as these reports are not as yet authenticated, we shall pass over them. However, it is well known that there is a placero [Spanish term for placer, pronounced "plasser," a sand and gravel deposit containing gold flakes] of gold a few miles from Ciudad de Los Angeles, and another on the San Joaquin.