Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/123

Rh Oregonian Discovered Gold in California. "The discovery of gold in California one of the events which lifted the United States above all other nations, was made by James W. Marshall, who came to Oregon as a settler in 1844. Two years later he went to California. Soon he became the partner of Captain John A. Sutter, who had visited Oregon in 1839 and going to California had built Sutter's Fort on the present site of Sacramento City. Marshall was sent up from Sutter's Fort into the Sierra Nevada Mountains to select a site and build a saw mill. He chose the point at Coloma, on the south fork of the American River, and built the mill. After turning on the water January 24, 1848, he discovered in the tail race shining particles of gold which the water had washed from the sand. Two other Oregonians who had been employed by Marshall—Charles Bennett and Stephen Staats of Polk County—were called to look at the gold in the water and confirm the discovery."

Significance of Marshall's Gold Discovery The significance of the Gold Discovery in California by James W. Marshall, is described by Gaston as "one of the greatest industrial events of the world." In his history of Oregon, he adds,—"A careful survey of the whole field of enterprise, the commerce of the world, and the standard of living in the United States, will show that the discovery of