by Fred Rosen
It was known that mines of the precious metals existed to a considerable extent in California at the time of its acquisition. Recent discoveries render it probable that these mines are more extensive and valuable than was anticipated. The accounts of the abundance of gold in that territory are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by the authentic reports of officers in the public service who have visited the mineral district and derived the facts which they detail from personal observation.
Reluctant to credit the reports in general circulation as to the quantity of gold, the officer commanding our forces in California visited the mineral district in July last for the purpose of obtaining accurate information on the subject. His report to the War Department of the result of his examination and the facts obtained on the spot is herewith laid before Congress.
When he visited the country there were about 4,000 persons engaged in collecting gold. There is every reason to believe that the number of persons so employed has since been augmented. The explorations already made warrant the belief that the supply is very large and that gold is found at various places in an extensive district of country.
Information received from officers of the Navy and other sources, though not so full and minute, confirms the accounts of the commander of our military force in California. It appears also from these reports that mines of quicksilver are found in the vicinity of the gold region. One of them is now being worked, and is believed to be among the most productive in the world.
The effects produced by the discovery of these rich mineral deposits and the success which has attended the labors of those who have resorted to them have produced a surprising change in the state of affairs in California. Labor commands a most exorbitant price, and all other pursuits but that of searching for the precious metals are abandoned. Nearly the whole of the male population of the country have gone to the gold districts. Ships arriving on the coast are deserted by their crews and their voyages suspended for want of sailors. Our commanding officer there entertains apprehensions that soldiers can not be kept in the public service without a large increase of pay. Desertions in his command have become frequent, and he recommends that those who shall withstand the strong temptation and remain faithful should be rewarded.
This abundance of gold and the all-engrossing pursuit of it have already caused in California an unprecedented rise in the price of all the necessaries of life. That we may the more speedily and fully avail ourselves of the undeveloped wealth of these mines, it is deemed of vast importance that a branch of the Mint of the United States be authorized to be established at your present session in California.
Among other signal advantages which would result from such an establishment would be that of raising the gold to its par value in that territory. A branch mint of the United States at the great commercial depot on the West Coast would convert into our own coin not only the gold derived from our own rich mines, but also the bullion and specie which our commerce may bring from the whole west coast of Central and South America.
The West Coast of America and the adjacent interior embrace the richest and best mines of Mexico, New Granada, Central America, Chili, and Peru. The bullion and specie drawn from these countries, and especially from those of western Mexico and Peru, to an amount in value of many millions of dollars, are now annually diverted and carried by the ships of Great Britain to her own ports, to be recoined or used to sustain her national bank, and thus contribute to increase her ability to command so much of the commerce of the world.
If a branch mint be established at the great commercial point upon that coast, a vast amount of bullion and specie would flow thither to be recoined, and pass thence to New Orleans, New York, and other Atlantic cities. The amount of our constitutional currency at home would be greatly increased, while its circulation abroad would be promoted. It is well known to our merchants trading to China and the West Coast of America that great inconvenience and loss are experienced from the fact that our coins are not current at their par value in those countries.
The powers of Europe, far removed from the West Coast of America by the Atlantic Ocean, which intervenes, and by a tedious and dangerous navigation around the southern cape of the continent of America, can never successfully compete with the United States in the rich and extensive commerce which is opened to us at so much less cost by the acquisition of California.
The vast importance and commercial advantages of California have heretofore remained undeveloped by the Government of the country of which it constituted a part. Now that this fine province is a part of our country, all the States of the Union, some more immediately and directly than others, are deeply interested in the speedy development of its wealth and resources. No section of our country is more interested or will be more benefited than the commercial, navigating, and manufacturing interests of the Eastern States. Our planting and farming interests in every part of the Union will Be greatly benefited by it. As our commerce and navigation are enlarged and extended, our exports of agricultural products and of manufactures will be increased, and in the new markets thus opened they can not fail to command remunerating and profitable prices.
Invoking the blessings of the Almighty upon your deliberations at your present important session, my ardent hope is that in a spirit of harmony and concord you may be guided to wise results, and such as may redound to the happiness, the honor, and the glory of our beloved country.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bell, Horace. Reminiscences of a ranger; or, Early times in Southern California. California: Yarnell, Caystile, & Mathes, 1881.
Connell, S. Evan. Son of the Morning Star. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1984.
Delano, Alonzo. Life on the Plains and among the diggings; being scenes and adventures of an overland journey to California: with particular incidents of the route, mistakes and sufferings of the emigrants, the Indian tribes, the present and future of the great West. New York: Miller, Orton, 1857.
Hansen, Ron. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. New York: Ballantine Books, 1983.
Hobson, Jay. The Hobson Family Lineage. North Carolina: Ohio: Lofthouse, 1994.
Koeppel, Elliot H. The California Gold Country: Highway 49 Revisited. California: Malakoff, 1999.
Lake, Stuart. Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1931.
McNeil, Samuel. McNeil’s travels in 1849, to, through and from the gold regions, in California. Columbus, Ohio: Scott & Bascom, 1850.
Simpson, Henry. The Emigrant’s Guide to the Gold Mines. United Kingdom: Headframe, 1848.
Stiles, T.J. Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.
INDEX
Acapulco route to California, 97, 99
Act for the Government and Protection of the Indians (1850), 204, 205
agriculture in Southern California, 29–30
Alaska, 9, 247–48
Alcaldes, 85
“All the Gold in California” (Gatlin), 257
Alta California (newspaper), 178–79
Alvarado, Juan, 9
American Dream, 249
American Fur Co., 5
American History (Muzzey), 17
American Indians. See Native Americans
American River (California)
Larkin’s description of, 79–83
mining camps on, 150–51
panning for gold, 74–77
state park at sawmill site, 257–59
Sutter’s sawmill, 31–37, 38, 65, 68–69, 257–58
Americans. See also racism and class distinctions
get rich quick attitude, 224–25, 240, 247, 248
post-gold rush character, 224
pre-gold rush character, 73, 106–7
pursuit of wealth en masse, 106, 107–8
Andersen, “Bloody Bill,” 219
Anderson, Samuel, 160
Appotomax Courthouse, VA, 232
Arabian Night
s, California compared to, 101
Arizona, 245–47
Armour, John, 108
arson in San Francisco, 175
Baden, Germany, 3
Baja Peninsula, 42–43
Baton Rouge, LA, 122
Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794), xxii
Battle of the Little Big Horn, 242
the Bear Flag Revolt, 20
Bell, Horace, 194–99, 199–200, 201–2
Bennet (Sutter’s messenger to Mason), 62, 63, 65
Bigler, Henry W., 38–39, 40, 58–60
Bigler, John W., 201
Black Hills gold rush
Americans’ excuse for breaking treaty, 235–36
Custer and, 238–39, 242
Deadwood camp, 240
Homestake mine, 241, 243
Treaty of 1868 with Sioux, 234
Bodie, Cheyenne, 211
Book of Mormon (Smith), 52
Booth, John Wilkes, 232–33
Bowie knife vs. butcher knife, 291
Brannan, Sam, 65, 89–90
Brazos, TX, 125–26
Breen, Patrick, 28
Britain, 102–4, 108–9, 170–71, 175–76, 294
Brundage, E. F., 212, 213
Buchanan, James, 72
bullfight in Mexico, 138–39
Burnett, Peter H., 208
butcher knife vs. Bowie knife, 291
California. See also crime in California; specific cities
antislavery stand of, 188, 189
the Bear Flag Revolt, 20
Mexican American War, 18–19, 20–21, 29–31
Polk’s State of the Union speech about, 105–6, 207, 303–7
racism in, 189–91, 191–94
slavery of Indians, 203–5
state courts, Chinese and, 190
statehood, 43, 172
tourist attractions, 256
“The California Emigrant’s Song, 249–52
California Gold Rush. See also entries beginning with “gold”
American Indians and, 203–5
beginning of, 112–13
crime rate, 148–49, 169–71, 173–76
effect of deaths during, 221
effect on Indians, 138
as hope for family’s future, 107, 111, 118–19
Larkin’s description of, 79–83
quantities and value of, 75–76, 80, 88–89, 152, 153, 183, 249
religion and, 117–18
California guidebooks, 96–99
Californian (newspaper), 65
California Star (newspaper), 65, 86–89
Californios, 29–30, 95, 171, 192–94
Camp Salvado, 189–90
Camp Washington, 190–91
cannibalism of Donner Party, 25–26, 28
Cape Horn route to California, 97, 98
Carnahan, Smythe, 176–78
Castro, José, 19
Catholicism in Mexico, 139–40
Centralia, KS, 219
Chinese immigrants, 189–91
cholera, 103–4, 129, 132–33, 135, 199
Civil War, 229–32
Clanton and McLaury gang, 246–47
Clapp, Louise Amelia Knapp Smith, 151–52
class distinctions. See racism and class distinctions
Clay County, MO, xxi–xxii, 12–13, 207–8
Clements, Archie, 218
Clinkenbeard, Sam, 253–54
Clinkenbeard’s Road House, 200
Coloma, CA
Gooch-Monroe home, 188–89
Marshall’s cabin in, 226–27, 258
mining camps in and around, 151–52
route to, 256
Sutter and Marshall’s sawmill at, 31–37, 38, 65, 68–69, 257–58
Comanche Indians, 136–38
combines (gold mining equipment), 227, 228
commerce
gold mining equipment costs, 80, 81, 101, 151
Herald’s promotion of, 101–2
at mining camps, 80, 81, 101, 151
in San Francisco, 74–77
at Sutter’s Fort, 109
Comstock, Frank, 227–28
Comstock Lode, 228
Couray, Melissa Burton, 56
cradles, mining with, 80, 154–55
crime in California
1850–1851 increase in, 169–71, 173–76
lack of, 148–49
miner courts, 159, 171, 183, 184
mob violence against criminals, 176–78
punishment for, 159–60, 179–80, 184–85
resolutions for controlling, 181–82
vigilante justice vs., 179–83, 185–86
Cump. See Sherman, William Tecumseh “Cump”
Custer, George Armstrong, 237–39, 242
Cutting, Joseph H., 207
Dame Shirley, 152
Deadwood, Black Hills, 240
Delano, Alonzo, 169–71, 173–76
Delano, Columbus, 235
Denman (McNeil’s traveling companion), 141–42
Donner Party, 22–28
Douglas, Stephen A., 54
Dravat, Frank, 176–78
Dry Diggings, 183–86
Dubeld, Anna, 3
Earp, James, 246
Earp, Morgan, 246–47
Earp, Virgil, 246–47
Earp, Wyatt, 246–48
El Dorado, California compared to, 101
The Emigrant’s Guide to the Gold Mines (Simpson), 96–99
Ewing, Boyd, 113
Ewing, Thomas, 113
Far West, MO, 53
Feather River, 74, 79–81, 95, 151
Fennifrock, Benjamin, 140–41
Fighting Earps, 246
Fillmore, Millard, 173
Five Joaquins, 194, 200–201
Flores, José Marié, 31
flumes and trenches, 191
Foreign Miners License Tax (1850), 193, 199
Formal Church of Mormon, 52
Fort Ross, 10
Fort Vancouver, 5
49ers, 112–13
Frémont, John C., 19–20, 30–31, 261. See also Treaty of Cahuenga (1847)
Frenchman (free ride on steamship), 119–20
gambling aboard steamships, 116
Gatlin, Larry, 257
General Land Office, 300–301
Georgia, Sherman’s march across, 230–32
Gill, Jane, 209
Gillespie, Archibald, 20
Globe (steamship), 124–25
gold, discovery of. See also Black Hills gold
rush; California Gold Rush
in Alaska, 247–48
in California, 37–40, 43–45, 241
effect of, 248–49
Homestake mine, 241, 243
Larkin’s verification of, 74–77, 79–86
Mormons and, 38–39, 46, 57–58
news gets out, 61–62, 65, 105–6, 207
New York Herald on, 100–101
placer gold, 74, 78, 86, 154–55, 241
the placer (gold region), 74–75, 77, 79, 81–82, 88–89
Polk’s announcement about, 105–6, 303–6
Sutter’s reaction to, 43–49
Walnut Creek, 183–84
gold fever
Americans’ get rich quick attitude, 224–25, 240, 247, 248
from hope for family’s future, 107, 111
nondiscriminatory nature of, 78
gold miners
complaints of, 91, 160–63
description of, 79–83, 95, 148, 154, 157
gold mining
difficulty of, 153, 156–57, 292
Larkin’s description of, 79–84
quartz rock and, 91, 241
techniques for finding gold, 153–54
gold mining camps. See also entries beginning with “gold”
Camp Salvado, 189–90
Camp Washington, 190–91
Deadwood, Black Hills, 240
decline of gold and, 227
description of, 199, 205
Dry Diggings, 1
83–86
mortality rate in, 208
Rough and Ready, 210–14
Rough and Ready, CA, 210–14
short life of, 151–52
Sutter’s Creek, CA, 91
vigilante justice in, 185–86
gold mining equipment
combines, 227, 228
cost of, 80, 81, 101, 151
cradles, 80, 154–55
in dry areas, 183–86, 190–91
fingers and knives, 40
panning for gold, 68, 83–84, 155–57, 259
patented gold washers, 154
quartz rock gold, 241–42
shovels, pans, hoes, and picks, 68, 88
trenches and flumes, 191
woven Indian baskets, 68
Gold Rush widows, 214
Gouch, Nancy, 188–89, 248
Grant, Ulysses, 242
Great Republic of Rough and Ready, 212–13
Great Sioux Reservation, Dakota Territory, 234
Gulf of Mexico, storms from, 121–22
gunfight at the O.K. Corral, 247
Haggin, J. B., 241
Hangtown, story of, 183–86
Hearst, William, 241
Herold, David, 232
Hickman, Robert S. “Beau,” 119
Hickock, Wild Bill, 240
High Sierra (movie), 256
Hobson, A. D., 197–99
Hobson, James Cornelius, 197–99
Homestake mine, 241, 243
Honolulu, HI, 5
hotels and sleeping facilities
in San Francisco, 148
at Sutter’s Fort, 109
Hudson Bay Co. Pacific Headquarters, 5
Humboldt Sink (Nevada), 198
immigrants. See also racism and class distinctions
“The California Emigrant’s Song, 249–52
Chinese, 189–91
Irish, 120, 149–50, 158–59
Latin American, 191–94
post-gold rush, 224–25
Indians. See Native Americans
Industrial Revolution, 224–25
Irish immigrants, 120, 149–50, 158–59
Isthmus of Panama route to California, 97–98, 291–92
James, Frank, 215–16, 218
James, Jesse
Andersen, Bloody Bill, and, 219
auctioning of home after father’s death, 215–16
birth of, 32
father of (See James, Robert)
Union solders and, 218–19, 220
James, Robert