Page:Sherman - Memoirs of Gen. William T. Sherman, 1891, Volume 1.djvu/52

 we made the upper room in the centre our o&#xfb03;ce; and another side-room, connected with it by a door, was Colonel Mason’s private o&#xfb03;ce.

I had a single clerk, a soldier named Baden; and William E. P. Hartnell, citizen, also had a table in the same room. He was the government interpreter, and had charge of the civil archives. After Halleck’s return from Mazatlan, he was, by Colonel Mason, made Secretary of State; and he then had charge of the civil archives, including the land-titles, of which Fremont &#xfb01;rst had possession, but which had reverted to us when he left the country.

I remember one day, in the spring of 1848, that two men, Americans, came into the o&#xfb03;ce and inquired for the Governor. I asked their business, and one answered that they had just come down from Captain Sutter on special business, and they wanted to see Governor Mason in person. I took them in to the colonel, and left them together. After some time the colonel came to his door and called to me. I went in, and my attention was directed to a series of papers unfolded on his table, in which lay about half an ounce of placer-gold. Mason said to me, “What is that?” I touched it and examined one of two of the larger pieces, and asked, “Is it gold?”  Mason asked me if I had ever seen native gold. I answered that, in 1844, I was in Upper Georgia, and there saw some native gold, but it was much &#xfb01;ner than this, and that it was in phials, or in transparent quills; but I said that, if this were gold, it could easily be tested, &#xfb01;rst by its malleability, and next by acids. I took a piece in my teeth, and the metallic lustre was perfect. I then called in the clerk, Baden, to bring an axe and hatchet from the backyard. When these were brought, I took the largest piece and beat it out &#xfb02;at, and beyond doubt it was metal, and a pure metal. Still, we attached little importance to the fact, for gold was known to exist at San Fernando, at the south, and yet was not considered of much value.

Colonel Mason then handed me a letter from Captain Sutter, addressed to him, stating that he (Sutter) was engaged in erecting a saw-mill at Coloma, about forty miles up the American Fork,