James Marshall, an itinerant carpenter, discovered gold in California, launching the largest mining rush in American history.
Marshall arrived in California in 1845, settling at Sutter’s Fort in New Helvetia (now Sacramento). John A. Sutter employed him as general handyman, with a special commission to cooper and wright an undershot water sawmill some 40 miles up the American River from the Fort. Marshall dug the races, erected the wheel and, on January 24, 1848, let loose the water. There was a problem with some unanticipated earth wash, so he shut down the system and walked down the tailrace. His eye caught the glitter of something lodged in a crevice and, when he picked up the substance, found it to be quite heavy and peculiar in color. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen in the river before. He sent an Indian boy for a tin plate on which he collected several small cubical crystals and sparkling flakes. Marshall appears to have had no doubt about what he had found, but ran several tests to confirm his suspicions. He had the camp cook boil the flakes and crystals in the lye of her soap kettle and, by the next morning, the grains showed no discoloration. He then had the blacksmith beat some flecks on his anvil and was pleased to note the crystals would flatten but not break. Marshall returned to the mill, collected more of the metallic nuggets and headed down to the Fort to show Sutter his discovery. Together they tested the nuggets with aquafortis (nitric acid) and weighed them with an equal amount of silver. Their tests proved beyond a doubt—Marshall’s find was pure gold.
Both men desperately attempted to keep their discovery a secret but, by the spring of 1849, over 50,000 Americans were headed for California. The greatest gold rush in history had begun.
James Marshall was a tragic figure of the California Gold Rush for, though he was the true discoverer of the gold, thereafter the metal eluded him. He became so cantankerous that he was driven from every mining camp and spent his final years prospecting for—not gold—but tin! Neither he nor John Sutter ever shared in the fortune found at the world-famous Sutter’s Mill.
