Page:History of California (Bancroft) volume 6.djvu/53



Great discoveries  stand  more  or  less  connected  with accident; that  is  to  say,  accidents  which  are  sure  to happen. Newton was  not  seeking  the  law  of  gravi- tation, nor  Colunibus  a  new  continent,  nor  Marshall gold, when  these  things  were  thrust  upon  them. And had it  not  been  one  of  these,  it  would  have  been some one  else  to  make  the  discovery. Gold fevers have had  their  periodic  run  since  time  immemorial, when Scythians  mined  the  Ural,  and  the  desert  of Gobi  lured  the  dwellers  on  the  Indus;  or  when  Ophir, the goal  of  Phoenician  traders,  paled  before  the  splen- dor of Apulia. The opening  of  America  caused  a  re- vival which the  disclosures  by  Cortds  and  Pizarro turned into  a  virulent  epidemic,  raging  for  centuries,

the diaoovery  of  gold  in  California  would  be  of  no  practical  benefit  to  any  one. Next in  importance,  but  throwing  no  additional  light  upon  the  subject,  are thoae inAU'i  CtU.,  June  26,  1853,  May  5,  1872,  June  26,  1873,  and  Aug.  18 and 19,  1874;  Hayf$*  CoL  Mining  Cat, A.  1;  S.  F,  Bulletin,  Feb. 4, 1871,  Jan. 12,  1872,  Oct.  21, 1879,  May  12, 1880;  Scieniijic  Prem^  May  1 1, 1872;  Broume's BetOftrcrH^  14-15;  Balch*«  Mines  and  Minern,  78;  FanihanCs  Col.,  354-6; London Quarterlg  Review,  xcL  507-8;  California  Past  and  Present,  73-10r>; Weih, Cai. wie es  ist,  29^-51;  Brooks*  Hist.,  534;  Mason^s  Official  Kept;  Lar- kin's LeUem  to  Secy  State;  Robinson's  Gold  Region,  33-46;  Foster's  Gold Regions, 17-22;  Shinn's  Mining  Camps,  105-22;  Wiggins*  Rem.,  MS.,  17-18; Frost's Hisi. Col., 39-55;  Jenkins*  U,  8,  Expl. Ex., 431-2;  Oakland  Times, Mar. 6,  1880;  Revere*s  Tour  of  Duty,  228-52;  SchlagitUuyU,  Cat.,  216;  Wfst Shore Gaz,,  15;  San  Josi  Pioneer,  Jan,  19,  1878;  ^eiffer. Second Journey,  290, who in  as  accurate  as  excdrsionists  generally  are;  Frignel,  Hist. Cal., 79-80; Mfited People,  June  18,  1872;  Mining  Rev.  and  Slock  Ledger,  1878,  126; Barntow's Stat.,  MS.,  3;  B%fum*s  Six  Months,  67-8;  Tretistery  of  Travel,  92-4; Le ivUfs  Scrap-Book;  Nevada  Gazette,  Jan.  22,  1868;  Holinski,  La  Cat.,  144; (TrvfM Valley  union,  April  19,  1870;  Sacramento  TUust.,T;  Scucon'sFive  Tears within  the  Golden  Gate;  Auger,  Voyage  en  Cal^fomie,  149-56;  Annals  of  S.  F., 130-2;  CaL  Assoc,  Pioneer,  Ftrst  Annual,  42;  Capron*s  CctHfornia,  184-5; Bennetts  Rec,  MS.,  iL  10-13.  I  have  hardly  thought  it  worth  while  to notice  the  stories  circulated  at  various  times  questioning  MarshalVs  claim as  discoverer;  as,  for  example,  that  Wimmer,  or  his  boy,  as  before  mentioned, was  the  first  to  pick  up  gold;  or  that  a  native,  called  Indian  Jim,  observed the  shining  metal,  a  piece  as  larse  as  a  brass  button,  which  he  gave  to  one  of the  workmen.  Sailor  Ike,  who  showed  it  to  Marshall.  Even  men  away  from the  spot  at  the  time  do  not  decline  the  honor.  Gregson  writes  in  his  Stfite- ment,  MS.,  9,  'we,  the  discoverers  of  gold,'  and  in  his  History  qf  Stockton, 73, Tinkbam  says:  aptain  Charles  M.  Weber,  belong  the  honor  of  aiscoverins tlie first  gold^^elds  of  California,  and  to  them  the  state  owes  its  wonderful growth ai#d  prosperity.*  These  men  were  neither  of  them  the  discoverers  of flold  in  any  sense,  nor  were  they  the  builders  of  this  commonwealth. Some have claimed  that  the  Mormons  discovered  the  gold  at  Mormon  Island, before Marshall  found  it  at  Coloma. Bidwell says  that  Brigbam  Young  in 1864  assured  him  that  this  was  the  case. Cal. I84I-S, MS.,  214. Such man- ifest errors and  misstatements  are  unworthy  of  serious  consideratiou,  Tbti^ is not  the  »\ightett  doabt  tbMt  MsuishaU  was  the  discoverer.