I'm just hanging out with my "golden" legs dangling and having some "reservations" about this blog now, Tom! I'm going in a different "vein" to tell you about the 1849 Gold Rush! You'll want to get real comfortable, too, because I'm in no "rush" to tell you the story.
James Marshall, a carpenter and wheelright, found the first trace of gold on the American River near Coloma, California, on January 24, 1848, but he never made the fortune he expected. In 1847, James Marshall and John Sutter decided to build a sawmill in the Sierra Nevada foothills, which was on the south fork of the American River near an Indian village called Cullumah (Coloma). The local Indians and Mormon veterans of the Mexican War helped build the mill, and every night Marshall would direct the river's flow through the millrace (man-made ditch) to carry away the debris from the previous day's work.
James Marshall, a carpenter and wheelright, found the first trace of gold on the American River near Coloma, California, on January 24, 1848, but he never made the fortune he expected. In 1847, James Marshall and John Sutter decided to build a sawmill in the Sierra Nevada foothills, which was on the south fork of the American River near an Indian village called Cullumah (Coloma). The local Indians and Mormon veterans of the Mexican War helped build the mill, and every night Marshall would direct the river's flow through the millrace (man-made ditch) to carry away the debris from the previous day's work. During his regular inspection on January 24, 1848, he spotted a gleam in the bottom of the ditch and found what appeared to be gold. He informed Sutter and after performing several tests, the partners were convinced that Marshall had indeed found gold. The workers were sworn to secrecy until he could obtain the official title to the mineral rights in Coloma. This land belonged to the Culluma Indians and had not been included in the 48,000-acre grant he received from Mexican Governor Alvarado a decade earlier. However, news leaked out and by May, the mine was flooded with 80,000 miners.
During 1848, Marshall and Sutter tried "in vain" to claim ownership of the Coloma property and charge a commission for any gold found by other miners. Only a few paid Marshall any money or respected his self-proclaimed property rights. By the end of 1848, he was forced to sell his sawmill and was forced from the site. Marshall then began to claim that he had supernatural powers that allowed him to locate the richest gold deposits. His refusal to reveal the location of these so-called locations angered the miners even more, who even threatened to lynch him if he did not lead them to this new gold. Marshall was forced to flee for his life and try to start over as just another prospector, but his identity was so well known, that miners hounded him wherever he went.
During 1848, Marshall and Sutter tried "in vain" to claim ownership of the Coloma property and charge a commission for any gold found by other miners. Only a few paid Marshall any money or respected his self-proclaimed property rights. By the end of 1848, he was forced to sell his sawmill and was forced from the site. Marshall then began to claim that he had supernatural powers that allowed him to locate the richest gold deposits. His refusal to reveal the location of these so-called locations angered the miners even more, who even threatened to lynch him if he did not lead them to this new gold. Marshall was forced to flee for his life and try to start over as just another prospector, but his identity was so well known, that miners hounded him wherever he went.
By 1853, Marshall decided to leave town and drifted all over California trying to find another rich strike. In 1872, at age 62, he was awarded a monthly $200 pension for his contribution to California's gold-crazed growth (In the most productive year, 1852, the amount of gold brought out of the "mother lode" amounted to more than $81 million. The California Mother Lode was one of the most productive gold-producing districts in the United States.) Marshall moved to Kelsey, a few miles east of Coloma, where he used the money to open a blacksmith shop. He worked there and lived in the Union Hotel until his death on August 10, 1885.
On May 3, 1890, a monument was officially dedicated in his honor as the man whose discovery was responsible for the California Gold Rush. The statue shows the former carpenter pointing at the spot where he allegedly found the first flakes of gold. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma also commemorates the gold discovery. An authentic replica of the sawmill still operates and a few old gold rush buildings remain intact from Coloma's glory days. Oddy enough, the first gold sent from California to the U.S. Mint did not come from Marshall or Coloma, but by Don Abel Stearns from Placerita Canyon.
By 1874, the gold rush was over. With the discovery of silver in Nevada's nearby Comstock Lode, miners moved on. In the early days of the gold rush, robberies and murders plagued the mining towns. After one such crime, a citizens' jury took justice into their own hands and hanged the three accused from a white oak tree. The name Hangtown was quickly attached to the town now called Placerville. When a miner who had just struck it rich, walked into a restaurant and ordered the most expensive meal the cook could make, he was served an omelet of eggs, bacon, and oysters, all ingredients hard to get in the gold rush country. The dish came to be known as Hangtown Fry. 
On May 3, 1890, a monument was officially dedicated in his honor as the man whose discovery was responsible for the California Gold Rush. The statue shows the former carpenter pointing at the spot where he allegedly found the first flakes of gold. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma also commemorates the gold discovery. An authentic replica of the sawmill still operates and a few old gold rush buildings remain intact from Coloma's glory days. Oddy enough, the first gold sent from California to the U.S. Mint did not come from Marshall or Coloma, but by Don Abel Stearns from Placerita Canyon.Miners made anywhere from $12 to $35 per ounce of gold. This may seem like it was a lot of money for one ounce of gold and it was in those days, but all of the supply prices were increased due to supply and demand, too. Check out these facts:
- Eggs could cost up to $3 an egg
- Pills cost $10 each without the advice from a doctor, and $100 with the advice from a doctor (things haven't changed, huh?)
- Sugar was $1.50 per pint
- Water could cost anywhere from $1, $5, $10, or $100 a glass
- Coffee was $1 per pint
Charles Bolton "Black Bart" was a self-styled highwayman and poet who held up 28 stagecoaches with an unloaded gun and always said "please" when taking people's belongings. He wasn't captured until 1883 and was sentenced to six years in San Quentin Prison. Juaquin Murietta has sometimes been romanticized as the Robin Hood bandit of the period.Take about some golddiggers! This song was originally performed by Spiral Staircase, but Goldfinger did a really good version. I know you'll dig this!
