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Return to The Adventure Begins: Paths to El Dorado
View Large Image of Henry W. Bigler, "Autobiography"
Henry W. Bigler, "Autobiography "
Marshall had been in the habit of going down every afternoon to see how.his Indians were progressing for they had struck the bed rock mostly of rotten granite yet the work was slow but this time when he went down towards the lower end of the race his eye caught the glitter of something laying in a crevice on the bare rock a few inches under water....Before we went to bed Marshall came in and began to talk and said he believed he had found a gold mine near the lower end of the tail race and if I remember right he said he had been trying to melt some of the particles and could not and before leaving for his own quarters he directed Brown and me to "shut down the headgate in the morning, throw in some sawdust and rotten leaves and make it tight and we will see what there is. "The next morning we did as he directed and while doing so we see him pass through the mill yard and on down the race. We went in for breakfast and had scarcely commenced our day's work in the mill yard — when Marshall came carrying in his arms his old white hat with a wide grin and said, "boys I believe I have found a gold mine," at the same time setting his hat on the work bench that stood in the mill yard. In an instant all hands gathered around and sure enough on the top of his hat crown, the crown knocked in a little, lay the pure stuff how much I know not perhaps the most part of an ounce for the size of very small particles up to the size of a grain of wheat."
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  California 150
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