Page:History of California (Bancroft) volume 6.djvu/71



information scattered  by  the  Swiss  and  his  dependents had been  further  disseminated  in  different  directions by others. Nevertheless, while  a  few  like  Hum- phrey, the Greorgia  miner,  responded  at  once  to  the iDlluence, as  a  rule  little  was  thought  of  it  at  first, particularly by  those  at  a  distance. The nature  and extent of  the  deposits  being  unknown,  the  significance or importance  of  the  discovery  could  not  be  appre- ciated. It was  not  uncommon  at  any  time  to  hear  of gold  or  other  metals  being  found  here,  there,  or  any- where, in America,  Europe,  or  Asia,  and  nothing come of  it. To emigrants,  among  other  attractions, .gold had  been  mentioned  as  one  of  the  possible  or  prob- able resources of  California;  but  to  plodding  agricul- turists or mechanics  the  idea  of  searching  the  wilder- ness for gold  would  have  been  deemed  visionary,  or the  fact  of  little  moment  that  some  one  somewhere had found  gold.^  When  so  intelligent  a  man  as  Seni- ple at  Benicia  was  told  of  it  he  said,  "I  would  give more  for  a  good  coal  mine  than  for  all  the  gold  mines in  the  universe." At Sonoma,  Vallejo  passed  the matter by  with  a  piece  of  pleasantry.

The first  small  flakes  of  gold  that  Captain  Folsoni examined at  San  Francisco  he  pronounced  mica;  he did  not  believe  a  man  who  came  down  some  time  after with twenty  ounces  when  he  claimed  to  have  gathered it in  eight  days. Some time  in  April  Folsom  wrote to Mason  at  Monterey,  making  casual  mention  of  the existing rumor  of  gold  on  the  Sacramento,  In  May Bradley, a  friend  of  Folsom 's,  went  to  Monterey,  and was asked  by  Mason  if  he  knew  anything  of  this  gold discovery on  the  American  River. **I have  heard  of

1 'The  people  here  did  not  believe  it,'  says  Findla,  '  they  thonght  it  was  a hoax. They had  fottod  in  Tarious  places  about  8. F., notably  on  Pacific  Street, •pecimens of  different  minerals,  gold  and  silver  among  them,  but  in  very  small qnantitiea; and  so  they  were  not  inclined  to  believe  in  the  discovery  at  Sut- ter's mill. ' Gillespie  testifies  to  the  same. He did  not  at  all  credit  the  story. Three samples  in  qnillsand  vials  were  displayed  before  the  infection  took  in  the town. OUleMpie'8 Vig,  Com,,  MS.,  4;  Fmdla^s  Stat,,  MS.,  4-6;  WilUy'9  Thirty YeoTM, l»-aO.