Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/83

 given my

men orders  and  arranged  the  affairs  of  the  day.'  Mar.ihall  would  not  wait for supper  or  anytiiiug  elie,  but  mounted  and  rode  off  in  the  rain. The Spanish serapes  were  very  good  to  keep  the  rain  off.

At once,  and  during  the  night,  the  cur^e  of  the  thing  burst  upon  my mind. I saw  from  the  beginning  how  the  end  wouhl  be,  and  the  next  day  I liad  a  mehvncholy  ride  of  it  to  the  saw-mUL  Of  course  I  knew  nothing  of the  extent  of  the  discovery,  but  I  was  satisfied,  whether  it  amounted  to much  or  little,  that  it  would  greatly  interfere  with  my  plans.

Attended by  my  sergeant  and  one  of  my  soldiers — both  Indians — I  set out next  morning  for  the  mill. When about  half  way  there  I  discovered  an object  moving  about  in  the  bushes  naar  the  road. Turning to  my  attendant I asked,  'What  is  that?'  He  replied,  'It  is  the  same  man  who  wa? with you last  night.'  Riding  up,  I  found,  sure  enough,  it  was  Marshall. It was t'.ien raining  hard. 'Rave yovi  been  here  all  night?'  I  a  ;ked. 'No, 'he replied, 'I  spent  the  night  at  the  mill,  and  came  l)ack  thus  far  to  meet  you.'

During our  ride  to  the  mill,  Marshall  was  still  very  restlesc. He said  he believed  the  whole  country  round  v»'asrich  with  gold. When we  arrived  he went  with  me  to  the  mill-race. People wei-e  at  M^ork  widening  and  deepen- ing the race. Then he  told  them  to  quit  work  and  let  the  water  through. After it  had  run  a  while  he  ordered  it  stopped  again. Meanwhile the  water had washed  the  gravel  and  dirt  away,  and  then  we  went  in  hunt"  g  for  the little  pieces  such  as  Marshall  had  brought  down.  I  picked  S'  .le  up,  and then  each  of  the  Mormons  gave  nie  some,  and  Marshall  gave  is  some,  too. Then  I  said,  '  This  all  must  be  made  into  a  finger-ring,  as  soon  as  we  can get  a  goldsmith,'  and  later  this  was  done,  and  I  have  this  ring  now.  Here it  is.  It  weigh  5  about  an  ounce  and  a  half,  and  bears  the  inscription,  '  The  first gold  discovered,  in  January  1818.'     I  had  my  coat  of  arms  engraved  on  it.

I told  the  people  there  that  it  was  gold,  that  there  was  no  mistake,  and that I  only  asked  that  its  discovery  should  he  kept  a  secret  for  six  weeks until I  got  my  flour-mill  ready,  and  they  all  were  very  willing  to  do  so.

But J;his  was  not  to  be. The men  could  not  get  along  M'ithout  provisions, and I  sent  some  up  by  a  Swiss  teamster. I should  have  sent  my  Indians. Mrs Weimer  had  some  boys,  who  said  to  the  teamster,  'We  have  g  )t  some gold. '  Tiie  man  laughed  at  them,  when  the  mother  exclaimed,  '  Well,  you need  not  laugh.  It  is  true  we  have  found  gold.  Look  here,  what  do  you call  that?'  This  woman  little  knew  the  consequences  to  me  of  this  thought- less wagging  of  her  tongue.

Ihe teamster  secured  some  of  this  gold  and  returned  to  the  fort. At that time Sam  Brannan  and  George  Smith,  a  relative  of  the  great  Mormon prophet, now  high  in  the  Utah  church,  kept  a  store  in  one  of  my  outhouses near the  fort. This was  the  first  store,  except  my  own,  started  in  the  valley. There were  then  a  good  many  settlers  in  the  valley,  and  they  brought  to  this INIormon store  hides,  tallow,  and  skins,  and  took  away  manufactured  articles. McKinstry, who  was  with  me  then,  called  it  a  shirt-tail  store,  for  every  time I wanted  a  few  things  for  my  Indians,  the  proprietors  exclaimed,  '  O,  you will break  the  assortment ! ' Nevertheless,  this  store  assumed  great  impor- tance a3 soon  as  gold  was  discovered.

Women and  whiskey  helped  the  thing  along. It was  a  fundamental  and unalterable law  of  the  shirt-tail  store  that  credit  should  not  be  given  for whiskey. This was  altogether  too  valual:)le  a  commodity  to  be  trusted  out. The  Swiss  teamster  was  universally  thirsty.  He  wanted  now  a  bottle  of brandy.  At  the  counter  where  he  had  been  so  often  refused,  he  presented hi  nself,  called  for  his  poison,  and  at  the  same  time  proudly  came  down  with the  dust.

'What is  that? You know  very  well  liquor  means  money,' exclaimed brother Smith.

' That  is  money, '  replied  the  teamster. ' It  is  gold. '

' Yes,  yes,  that  will  do, '  said  Smith. ' I  have  no  time  for  your  pleasant- tries. '

' Go  to  the  fort  and  ask  the  captain  if  you  don't  bel