Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/60



which he  fancied  were  copper. He showed  them  to his  companion,  who  said  they  looked  Uke  gold,  and then scraped  up  some  earth,  and  rubbing  it  between his hands,  found  more  of  the  metal. Both decided  to take  the  dust  to  Los  Angeles,  and  ask  the  opinion  of some  of  their  friends  who  had  worked  in  the  mines  of New  Mexico. It was  not  until  some  days  later  that they arrived  there,  and  showed  it  to  certain  Sonorans who were  then  at  the  settlement. They declared  that it was  placer  gold,  and  asked  Francisco  Lopez — for that was  the  name  of  the  man  who  found  it — to  take them at  once  to  the  locality. Soon afterward  they set forth,  with  a  number  of  their  friends,  for  the  San Fernando valley,  guided  by  the  two  vaqueros.

Another version  of  the  discovery  is,  that  in  the early part  of  1840  Don  Andres  Castillero,  a  Mexican mineralogist, picking  up  a  pebble,  called  tepustete  by Mexican  placer  miners,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Las Virgenes rancho,  remarked  that  wherever  these  stones were found  gold  must  exist. Francisco Lopez,  the discoverer, overheard  the  observation  and  remembered it, when,  some  months  later,  while  plucking  wild onions, a  similar  pebble  was  found  in  the  soil  around the roots. He set  to  work  examining  the  earth,  and found a  grain  of  gold. Juan Manuel  Vaca,  owner  of the  rancho  on  which  was  built  the  town  of  Vacaville, was the  first  to  carry  the  news  to  Governor  Alvarado  at Monterey,  presenting  him  with  an  ounce  of  gold  con- tained in quills,  from  which  was  made  a  pair  of  ear- rings for his  wife  and  a  ring  for  his  eldest  daughter.

In 1842,  these  mines  were  worked  for  a  distance  of ten  leagues,  and  in  1844  for  thirty  leagues. The gold was of  the  best  quality,  and  many  representations were made  to  the  supreme  government  urging  the necessity of  thorough  surveys,  and  of  developing  the mineral resources  of  California. In the  Coleccion  de documentos  relativos  al  departameiito  de  Californias, Manuel M.  Castanares  writes,  "this  branch  ought  to be  considered  less  worthy  of  attracting  attention  than