{"id":93217,"date":"2023-07-25T08:43:35","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T12:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=93217"},"modified":"2024-08-16T10:59:13","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T14:59:13","slug":"our-ancestors-the-california-gold-rush-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/our-ancestors-the-california-gold-rush-part-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Our Ancestors & the California Gold Rush (part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her story about the California Gold Rush, focusing on John Sutter. <\/em>Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a><\/em>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today I continue with my story about the California Gold Rush (1848-1855), a mania which incited over 300,00 persons to make the journey to seek their fortune in gold (known as the \u201c49ers\u201d because 1849 was the peak year for arrivals).<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: the discovery of gold at Sutter\u2019s Mill, California, on 24 January 1848. Credit: Valoy Eaton. Courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To recap: James Wilson Marshall discovered gold on 24 January 1848 in the South Fork of the American River, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, while erecting Captain John Sutter\u2019s Mill in Coloma, California. His boss tried to contain the treasure trove strike.<\/p>\n

Mormon elder Samuel Brannan, who ran a local mercantile store nearby, was tipped off on the discovery and could not keep quiet. Brannan, owner of the California Star<\/em> newspaper in San Francisco, helped leak the story.<\/p>\n

The military governor of the district, Colonel Richard Barnes Mason<\/a>, along with his aide Lt. William Tecumseh Sherman<\/a>, made a trip up the river to see for themselves.<\/p>\n

Brannan saw this discovery as a golden opportunity. First, he stockpiled plenty of supplies in his store needed to go after the gilt, and any other necessities that a miner needed. Next, he visited some Mormons in the area who had made a rich strike and claimed a slice of the pie from each one \u2013 because, he said, as an elder he was supposed to collect \u201cthe Lord\u2019s tithe.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not long before his devoted flock started to question why their saint leader was skimming from their pot. When they discovered Brannan was just lining his own pockets, the drama was heightened.<\/p>\n

Alfred D. La Motte wrote an article about Brannan\u2019s adventures for the San Diego Union<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
San Diego Union (San Diego, California), 12 January 1930, page 26<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is the dish about Brannan\u2019s tithe collecting, from La Motte\u2019s article:<\/p>\n

One of the men asked Colonel Mason if Brannan, as their high priest, had a legal right to take the Lord\u2019s money from them. Mason is said to have replied that he most certainly did have that authority as long as they were fools enough to pay.<\/p>\n

Sam\u2019s tithe collections ceased after that, but it was by no means the end of the matter. Somehow the information about the Lord\u2019s money reached the ears of [Mormon leader] Brigham Young in Salt Lake, and he promptly dispatched an apostle to Sam with the request that the Lord\u2019s money be turned over to him. Brannan told the apostle: \u201cGo back and tell Brigham that when he presents me with a receipt, signed by the Lord in person, I will gladly turn over the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mormon history tells us that about this time Sam Brannan was dropped from the church.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Brannan had a get-rich scheme that didn\u2019t rely on tithes: help spread the word and start a gold rush that would drive more and more eager prospectors into the area \u2013 all needing supplies from his store. La Motte called Brannan the Pied Piper of gold and wrote in his article:<\/p>\n

\u2026Brannan landed in Yerba Beuna cove [San Francisco] and rushed to Portsmouth Square where he shouted in his great voice, \u201cGold, gold, gold from the south fork of the American River!\u201d And held over his shaggy head a flask filled with nuggets of gold.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile Colonel Mason and Lt. Sherman sent a message to the president with 230 ounces of California gold to confirm the rumors.<\/p>\n

The report prompted President Polk to make an announcement of the gold strike in his State of the Union message to Congress on 5 December 1848. This official confirmation of the news triggered a mass exodus to California the next year. The \u201cForty-Niners\u201d were on their way.<\/p>\n

In 1935 an article was published in the Carbon County News<\/em> with more information about the gold discovery, citing diary entries.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Carbon County News (Red Lodge, Montana), 13 March 1935, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The article reported how this gold discovery caused the downfall of Captain Sutter\u2019s settlement, which he had named \u201cNew Helvetia\u201d after his homeland in Switzerland. He had dreamed of having an agricultural empire in the Sierra Nevada foothills, but instead the area became overrun with gold prospectors.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: John Augustus Sutter (1803-1880), born in Kandern (a town in present-day Germany). Gold was discovered at the site of his California lumber mill in 1848. Courtesy of the Legends of America website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New Helvetia was ruined. Before its decline, however, it had hosted many notables such as Col. John C. Freemont, Kit Carson, Gen. Stephen Kearney, and Joseph Warren Revere, the grandson of Paul Revere, \u201cwho inherited some of his ancestor\u2019s talent for drawing and who made the sketch of the fort [shown in the above article].\u201d<\/p>\n

Sutter\u2019s diary entries shortly before the gold was discovered recorded that, in August of 1847, \u201ca host of Mormons here to buy provisions and have blacksmith work done.\u201d Also, \u201cMade a contract with James Wilson Marshall for a sawmill to be erected on the American Fork [the South Fork of the American River].\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: James Wilson Marshall (1810-1885), discoverer of gold at Sutter\u2019s Mill, California. Courtesy of U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Library, California.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A diary entry from the next day remarked on many more Mormons coming to have horses shod, and Sutter \u201cemployed nearly all of them to work here since they seem uniformly honest, honorable, and hard working.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marshall, along with Peter Wimmer, found a good location for the mill site. They began construction and later made the gold discovery, an event Sutter wanted kept quiet.<\/p>\n

Enter Sam Brannan, described in Sutter\u2019s diary as \u201cthe Mormon with a booming voice.\u201d Here are a few added tidbits on how he got the skinny on the gold find.<\/p>\n

It came by word of mouth, like a game of telephone. It was reported that a teamster named Jacob Wittmer, who was bringing provisions to Sutter\u2019s Mill, was informed of the discovery of the gold from one of Peter Wimmer\u2019s \u201cchattering\u201d sons who in turn slipped the news to Brannan. The rest is history.<\/p>\n

The gold rush was indeed on! The prospect of golden riches hijacked the entire country. So much so that a warning was issued in many newspapers, such as this one published in the Vermont Gazette<\/em> on 26 December 1848.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Vermont Gazette (Bennington, Vermont), 26 December 1848, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article raised warnings about the financial risk and personal safety issues involved in the pursuit of California gold, as well as the detrimental effect the new gold would have on the gold standard, lessening its value. The article recalled how the gold mines in South America ruined Spain.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for more!<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> river mining for gold on the North Fork of the American River, California, ca.1853. Credit: George H. Johnson; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n

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