Q.David Bowers
Thomas Powell produced the necessary machinery for preparing the metal and striking the coin using as a source iron from wagon wheel rims. The Oregon Exchange Company paid him $1 a pound for all the iron he was able to obtain for this purpose from old wagons that had crossed the plains and other sources. Powell did the forging, and William Rector, one of the partners in the Oregon Exchange Co., did the lathe work.
Coinage amounted to approximately 6,000 of the $5 pieces and 2,850 $10 coins. These were accepted as legal tender throughout the Oregon Territory, which at that time included the present states of Oregon and Washington and all land toward the east reaching to the Rocky Mountains. Oregon City had approximately 1,000 white citizens, while the entire Territory comprised about 9,000 inhabitants.
Many of the Oregon issues were sent to California in payment for merchandise. Eventually nearly all were melted. By a decade after the original issue only a small number of Oregon coins existed.
Mormon Coinage.
In the autumn of 1848 Mormons returning from California brought large quantities of gold dust into the Great Salt Lake area. Mormon Island, located downstream from Sutter's Mill at Coloma on the American River, was one of the richest gold deposits. Mormons were among the most active miners during the early part of the era, and gold estimated to have been worth several millions of dollars was located by them.
In Utah, Dr. Willard Richards, an official of the Mormon Church, weighed the gold dust and distributed it in paper packages which contained from $1 to $20 in value. In November 1848 coinage designs were formulated. Each piece was to depict on one side the priesthood emblem, a 3-point phrygian crown over the all-seeing eye of Jehovah, with the phrase "Holiness to the Lord." The reverse was to bear the inscription "Pure Gold," clasped hands, and the denomination.
On December 10, 1848, Mormons with gold dust were invited to leave it for coinage. The first deposit was made by William T. Follett, who received a credit of $232 for 141/2 ounces at the rate of $16 per ounce. Soon thereafter 46 $10 gold pieces had been minted by John M. Kay, a Mormon who earlier had been employed with a private mint in Birmingham, England.
It is believed that the pieces struck in December 1848 were dated the following year. The ten-dollar coins were designed by Brigham Young, John Mobourn Kay, and John Taylor. They were dubbed "Valley Coin."
Problems developed, and by December 22, 1848, the equipment was inoperable.
Additional facilities for coinage were ordered through a church agent in St. Louis. Dies were prepared for $2.50, $5, and $20 pieces. Coinage at the church mint commenced on September 12, 1849. From that point through early 1851 about $75,000 face value in gold pieces was produced. Designs followed those suggested a year earlier, but the words "Pure Gold" were represented by the initials P.G., and for Great Salt Lake City the letters G.S.L.C. were added.
The coinage saw a ready acceptance in the church community. A reporter for the Deseret News wrote in the issue of October 5, 1850, that' 'we stepped into the mint, the other day, and saw two or three men rolling out the golden bars like wagon tires ready for the dies. That is what makes trade brisk."
The $10 issues were worth about $8.70 each. Apparently there was little understanding or interest in Salt Lake City concerning the fineness or purity of gold, and only the total weight was considered when the coins were made. This caused the Mormon coinage to be condemned in many areas, particularly in California where it became the subject of many vituperative comments in the press, which noted coins as being "spurious," "vile falsehoods," and "debased." In areas other than Salt Lake City they circulated only at a discount of 10% to 25 % from face value. Within Salt Lake City itself there were numerous questions raised, and in 1851 and 1852 many were reluctant to accept the pieces, but the church applied pressures which made the coins circulate. Eventually Brigham Young, the Mormon leader, closed the mint, and the pieces disappeared from circulation.
During the period of coinage it was proposed to in-crease the supply of Mormon gold by allowing members of the church to go to California to prospect. Many young' Mormon "missionaries" eventually participated.
In 1860 Albert Kuner, the prominent San Francisco engraver, cut dies for a new $5 Mormon piece. The obverse depicted a couchant lion facing to the left, with an inscription surrounding and the date 1860. The reverse showed a beehive behind which was an eagle. The legend DESERET ASSAY OFFICE PURE GOLD surrounded, and the denomination 5 D was below. Apparently a large number of pieces emanated from these dies.
Colorado Gold
During the early 19th century numerous scattered gold discoveries were made in the Territory of Colorado. Between 1832 and 1836 hunters and trappers occasionally brought small quantities of gold to the trading post located at the mouth of Clear Creek. One Rufus B. Sage reported that he found gold near the Vasquez Fork in the winter of 1843-4. During the early 1850s there were reports of gold discoveries on the Sweetwater and in South Park. In August 1849 gold bearing quartz ore was found along the Cache la Poudre. This resulted in a flurry of excitement which attracted several groups to travel to that river in search of the metal.
The first gold discovery in Colorado to create widespread public interest occurred in 1858. While it was said that John Cantrell, of Westport, Missouri reported the initial discovery, most historians believe the honor goes to William Green Russell, of Georgia, who, upon learning of gold in Colorado from some Cherokee Indians, formed a party in February of that year to explore for the metal. On June 24, 1858, they made a camp near the junction of Cherry Creek and the Platte River. The explorers, who numbered about 100, spread out and searched many square miles of the adjoining area. After many disappointments, gold was found in quantity. Several hundred dollars' worth of gold was obtained from one sandbar on the Platte, and in another area a spot yielded nearly $500 of the metal.
Word soon spread to the East, and a repeat of the California Gold Rush was staged, although with less intensity, with hundreds of miners traveling to the Rocky Mountains, some in wagons bearing inscriptions like "Pikes Peak or bust." Within the span of a few years Georgetown, Central City, and other towns to the west of Denver became thriving communities.