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Return to The Adventure Begins: Paths to El Dorado
View Large Image of John Sutter's Letter Sheet
John Sutter's Letter Sheet
An 1850 Gold Rush letter sheet reproducing Sutter's account of Marshall's news, a portrait of James W. Marshall, and a small view of the saw mill.
"I was sitting one afternoon," said the captain. "Just after my siesta, writing a letter to a relation of mine at Lucerne, when I was interrupted by Mr. Marshall, a gentleman with whom I had frequent business transactions — bursting hurriedly into the room. From the unusual agitation in his manner I imagined that something serious had occurred, and, as we involuntarily do in this part of the world, I at once went to see if my rifle was in its proper place. You should know that the mere appearance of Mr. Marshall at that moment in the Fort, was enough to surprise me, as he had but two days before left to make some alterations in a mill for sawing pine planks, which he had just run up for me, some miles higher up in the Americanos. When he had recovered himself a little, he told me that, however great my surprise might be at his unexpected reappearance, it would be much greater when I heard the intelligence he had come to bring me. Intelligence, he added, which if properly profited by, would put both of us in possession of unheard-of-wealth, millions and millions of dollars in fact. His first impression was, that this gold had been lost or buried there, by some early Indian tribe — perhaps some of those mysterious inhabitants of the west, of whom we have no account, but who dwelt on this continent centuries ago, and built those cities and temples, the ruins of which are scattered about these solitary wilds. On proceeding, however, to examine the neighboring soil, he discovered that it was more or less auriferous. This at once decided him. He mounted his horse, and rode down to me as fast as it would carry him with the news.
At the conclusion of Mr. Marshall's account, and when I had convinced myself, from the specimens he had brought with him, that it was not exaggerated, I felt as much excited as himself. I eagerly inquired if he had shown the Gold to the workpeople at the mill and was glad to hear that he had not spoken to a single person about it. We agreed not to mention the circumstances to any one and arranged to set off early the next day for the mill. On our arrival, just before sundown, we poked the sand about in various places, and before long succeeded in collecting between us more than an ounce of gold, mixed up with a good deal of sand. I stayed at Mr. Marshall's that night, and the next day we proceeded some little distance up the South Fork, and found that gold existed along the whole course, not only in the bed of the main stream, but in every little dried-up creek and ravine. Indeed I think it was more plentiful in these latter places, for I myself, with nothing more than a small knife, picked out from the dry gorge, a little way up the mountain, a solid lump of gold witch weighed nearly an ounce and a half.
Notwithstanding our precautions not to be observed, as soon as we came back to the mill, we noticed by the excitement of the working people, that we had been dogged about, and to complete our disappointment, one of the Indians who had worked at the gold mine in the neighborhood of La Paz cried out in showing to us some specimens which he picked up by himself, — Oro!-Oro-Oro!!! [gold! gold! gold!]
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  California 150
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