Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/496

478 The continual search for gold which had been going on in the Oregon territory both before and after its division was being actively prosecuted at this time. An acquaintance with the precious metal in its native state having been acquired by the Oregon miners in California in 1848–9, reminded some of them that persons who had taken the Meek cut-off in 1845, while passing through the Malheur country had picked up an unfamiliar metal, which they had hammered out on a wagon-tire, and tossed into a tool-chest, but which was afterward lost. That metal they were now confident was gold, and men racked their brains to remember the identical spot where it was found; even going on an expedition to the Malheur in 1849 to look for it, but without success.

Partial discoveries in many parts of the country