Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/69

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while he  and  others  "  were  in  the  lower  end  of  the mill-race,  Marshall  the  overseer  and  his  little  girl came  in,  and  the  child  picked  up  a  pretty  stone,  as she  called  it,  and  showed  it  to  her  father  who  pro- nounced it  gold.  He  was  so  excited  about  it  that  he saddled  his  horse  and  that  day  rode  to  Sutter's  fort to  tell  Captain  Sutter,  but  he  did  not  believe  it  worth mtice,  and  for  a  while  the  idea  died  away.  The Mormons  wishing  to  keep  their  discoveries  a  secret from  people  not  Mormons  worked  out  the  gold  and said  nothmg  more .  .  .  Marshall  died  either  four  days before  he  arrived  home  in  the  eastern  states  with  a barrel  of  gold,  or  four  days  from  the  coast." Amongst the falsehoods  so  thickly  scattered  here,  it  is  difficult to detect  a  particle  of  truth. Marshall never  went east never  had  a  barrel  of  gold ;  was  not  dead ;  the Mormons never  worked  out  the  gold ;  never  wished to keep  their  discovery  secret  from  all  who  were  not Mormons, nor  did  they  first  discover  gold;  Evans was not  present  when  the  first  gold  was  found  at  the saw-mill ; the  idea  with  Sutter  never  died  away ;  Cox and Beardsley  were  not  the  first  to  find  Mormon Island ; Sutter  did  believe  Marshall's  statement  backed by tne  evidence  worth  his  notice  ;  Marshall's  child  did not pick  up  the  gold ;  Marshall  had  no  child  present ; and so  on  back  to  the  beginning. I must  apologize for occupying  so  much  space  in  criticising  a  work  so unworthy  of  notice  as  that  of  George  M.  Evans; but if  this  for  myself  be  necessary,  I  should  apolo- gize in a  ten-fold  degree  for  the  many  journalists, here and  in  the  east,  who  published  his  Munch au- senisms as  facts,  and  thus  imposed  on  a  credulous public. One of  his  statements  Evans  concludes with the  oflensivo  intimation  that  he  would  not  ob- ject to a  gift  from  the  government  in  return  for  the inestimable benefit  conferred  by  him  on  mankind. Several attempts  have  been  made  to  rob  Marshall  of the  honor  of  the  discovery ;  but  so  far  from  the  exist- ence of extensive  gold  deposits  being  known  prior  to