First Miners of California Gold

This is the most precise and is generally considered to be the most correct account of the gold discovery.

Continuing Gold Discovered in California,
our selection from Mining in the Pacific States of North America by John S. Hittell published in 1861. The selection is presented in four easy 5 minute installments. For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Previously in Gold Discovered in California.

Time: 1848
Place: Sutters Mill in Colomal, California

This is the most precise and is generally considered to be the most correct account of the gold discovery. Other versions of the story have been published, however and the following, from an article published in the Coloma Argus, in the latter part of the year 1855, is one of them. The statement was evidently derived from Weimer, who lives at Coloma:

That James W. Marshall picked up the first piece of gold is beyond doubt. Peter L. Weimer, who resides in this place, states positively that Marshall picked up the gold in his presence; they both saw it and each spoke at the same time, ‘What’s that yellow stuff?’ Marshall, being a step in advance, picked it up. This first piece of gold is now in the possession of Mrs. Weimer and weighs six pennyweights eleven grains. The piece was given to her by Marshall himself. The dam was finished early in January, the frame for the mill also erected and the flume and bulkhead completed. It was at this time that Marshall and Weimer adopted the plan of raising the gate during the night to wash out sand from the mill-race, closing it during the day, when work would be continued with shovels, etc.

Early in February — the exact day is not remembered — in the morning, after shutting off the water, Marshall and Weimer walked down the race together to see what the water had accomplished during the night. Having gone about twenty yards below the mill, they both saw the piece of gold before mentioned and Marshall picked it up. After an examination, the gold was taken to the cabin of Weimer and Mrs. Weimer instructed to boil it in saleratus-water; but she, being engaged in making soap, pitched the piece into the soap-kettle, where it was boiled all day and all night. The following morning the strange piece of stuff was fished out of the soap, all the brighter for the boiling.

Discussion now commenced and all expressed the opinion that perhaps the yellow substance might be gold. Little was said on the subject; but everyone each morning searched in the race for more and every day found several small scales. The Indians also picked up many small thin pieces and carried them always to Mrs. Weimer. About three weeks after the first piece was obtained, Marshall took the fine gold, amounting to between two and three ounces and went to San Francisco to have the strange metal tested. On his return he informed Weimer that the stuff was gold.

All hands now began to search for the ‘root of all evil.’ Shortly after, Captain Sutter came to Coloma and he and Marshall assembled the Indians and bought of them a large tract of country about Coloma, in exchange for a lot of beads and a few cotton handkerchiefs. They, under color of this Indian title, required one-third of all the gold dug on their domain and collected at this rate until the fall of 1848, when a mining party from Oregon declined paying ‘tithes’ as they called it.

During February, 1848, Marshall and Weimer went down the river to Mormon Island and there found scales of gold on the rocks. Some weeks later they sent Mr. Henderson, Sydney Willis and Mr. Fifield, Mormons, down there to dig, telling them that that place was better than Coloma. These were the first miners at Mormon Island.”

Marshall was a man of an active, enthusiastic mind and he at once attached great importance to his discovery. His ideas, however, were vague; he knew nothing about gold-mining; he did not know how to take advantage of what he had found. Only an experienced gold-miner could understand the importance of the discovery and make it of practical value to all the world. That gold-miner, fortunately, was near at hand; his name was Isaac Humphrey. He was residing in the town of San Francisco, in the month of February, when a Mr. Bennett, one of the party employed at Marshall’s mill, went down to that place with some of the dust to have it tested; for it was still a matter of doubt whether this yellow metal really was gold. Bennett told his errand to a friend whom he met in San Francisco and this friend introduced him to Humphrey, who had been a gold-miner in Georgia and was therefore competent to pass an opinion.

Humphrey looked at the dust, pronounced it gold at the first glance and expressed a belief that the diggings must be rich. He made inquiries about the place where the gold was found and subsequent inquiries about the trustworthiness of Mr. Bennett and on March 7th he was at the mill. He tried to induce several of his friends in San Francisco to go with him; they all thought his expedition a foolish one and he had to go alone. He found that there was some talk about the gold and persons would occasionally go about looking for pieces of it; but no one was engaged in mining and the work of the mill was going on as usual. On the 8th he went out prospecting with a pan and satisfied himself that the country in that vicinity was rich in gold. He then made a rocker and commenced the business of washing gold and thus began the business of mining in California.

Others saw how he did it, followed his example, found that the work was profitable and abandoned all other occupations. The news of their success spread; people flocked to the place, learned how to use the rocker, discovered new diggings and in the course of a few months the country had been overturned by a social and industrial revolution.

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