need be no cause for contention and discord, where as yet, we are gratified to know, there is harmony and good feeling existing. We really hope no unpleasant occurrences will grow out of this enthusiasm, and that our apprehensions may be quieted by continued patience and good will among the washers.
California Star
Saturday, July 10, 1848
Four days later, on July 14, the California Star ceased operations. There was no one left to publish the paper because all of its employees had migrated to the gold fields. In San Francisco, people had heard of the discovery and some had already started for the gold fields. Yet most had hung back out of careful reconnaissance; they would wait until people they knew had gone and confirmed before they, too, left their lives for the lure.
Sam Brannan, the San Francisco merchant who waspartners with Jed Smith at Sutterâs Fort, decided to rid San Francisco of that indecisiveness. Certain to profit if the rush to the gold fields included the residents of the clapboard and tent town, on May 12, 1848, Brannan did the âpitchâ of his life: he arrived in San Francisco with gold samples and ran through the town brandishing them and shouting of the discovery of gold in Coloma.
âGold, gold on the American River!â Brannan shouted, waving a bottle of the yellow particles.
Brannan claimed to have just come from the gold fields. He had seen unimaginable wealth there accumulated in just days! Anyone could get wealthy, anyone, just by scooping up the ground. What Brannan didnât know was the scope of the gold discovery. No one did; it could only be suspected. Brannon was only looking to drum up interest for his business. Instead, he ignited a rush to the gold fields. As for San Francisco, the city became a ghost town overnight as everyone, every able bodied man, fled for the gold fields.
Sutter wasnât a fool. He knew he would be one if he didnât at least try his hand in the gold fields, when it appeared to be so plentiful and all around him. Maybe the governor wouldnât give him his sawmill, but he could file a claim like anyone else. He had been unable to stop the gold seekers from pursuing their dreams at the expense of his own. He therefore decided to try his hand at the mines.
In the summer of 1848, he set out from his fort with Indians and other hired labor. He went south ofColoma, following a creek, until he found a likely-looking spot and began panning for gold. Eventually word got out that Captain Sutter of the Swiss Guard was himself mining. Figuring the captain was enriching himself, men flocked around him to do the same.
A town grew up around a muslin tent where the miners gathered on rainy Sundays. Looking for a name, someone proposed using the name of its most famous citizen. That seemed like a good idea, and the town was dubbed âSutterâs Creek.â Unfortunately, John Sutter wasnât a miner. He had brought his hired help with him to do the hard work, and that did not stand well with the other prospectors. If a man did the work, he should get the spoils. It wasnât right for others to profit on another manâs labor.
It made no difference. Sutterâs workers werenât good miners either. None of them ever hit pay dirt. Sutter returned to his fort, never to mine again. But the town named after him stayed. By 1850, the placer gold had petered out and Sutterâs Creek was in danger of becoming a ghost town. Then in 1851, quartz, another valuable mineral, was found in the vicinity. Quartz mining began and saved the town, though Sutter never set foot there again.
Sutterâs Fort
November 11, 1848
Friend â¦
Have contrived to borrow a sheet of paper from an officer attached to Colonel Masonâs command.I embrace this opportunity of communicating to you some idea of the excitement at present pervading in this district.
About the discovery of such great quantity of the precious ore gold, when I wrote last to
California Star
Saturday, July 10, 1848
Four days later, on July 14, the California Star ceased operations. There was no one left to publish the paper because all of its employees had migrated to the gold fields. In San Francisco, people had heard of the discovery and some had already started for the gold fields. Yet most had hung back out of careful reconnaissance; they would wait until people they knew had gone and confirmed before they, too, left their lives for the lure.
Sam Brannan, the San Francisco merchant who waspartners with Jed Smith at Sutterâs Fort, decided to rid San Francisco of that indecisiveness. Certain to profit if the rush to the gold fields included the residents of the clapboard and tent town, on May 12, 1848, Brannan did the âpitchâ of his life: he arrived in San Francisco with gold samples and ran through the town brandishing them and shouting of the discovery of gold in Coloma.
âGold, gold on the American River!â Brannan shouted, waving a bottle of the yellow particles.
Brannan claimed to have just come from the gold fields. He had seen unimaginable wealth there accumulated in just days! Anyone could get wealthy, anyone, just by scooping up the ground. What Brannan didnât know was the scope of the gold discovery. No one did; it could only be suspected. Brannon was only looking to drum up interest for his business. Instead, he ignited a rush to the gold fields. As for San Francisco, the city became a ghost town overnight as everyone, every able bodied man, fled for the gold fields.
Sutter wasnât a fool. He knew he would be one if he didnât at least try his hand in the gold fields, when it appeared to be so plentiful and all around him. Maybe the governor wouldnât give him his sawmill, but he could file a claim like anyone else. He had been unable to stop the gold seekers from pursuing their dreams at the expense of his own. He therefore decided to try his hand at the mines.
In the summer of 1848, he set out from his fort with Indians and other hired labor. He went south ofColoma, following a creek, until he found a likely-looking spot and began panning for gold. Eventually word got out that Captain Sutter of the Swiss Guard was himself mining. Figuring the captain was enriching himself, men flocked around him to do the same.
A town grew up around a muslin tent where the miners gathered on rainy Sundays. Looking for a name, someone proposed using the name of its most famous citizen. That seemed like a good idea, and the town was dubbed âSutterâs Creek.â Unfortunately, John Sutter wasnât a miner. He had brought his hired help with him to do the hard work, and that did not stand well with the other prospectors. If a man did the work, he should get the spoils. It wasnât right for others to profit on another manâs labor.
It made no difference. Sutterâs workers werenât good miners either. None of them ever hit pay dirt. Sutter returned to his fort, never to mine again. But the town named after him stayed. By 1850, the placer gold had petered out and Sutterâs Creek was in danger of becoming a ghost town. Then in 1851, quartz, another valuable mineral, was found in the vicinity. Quartz mining began and saved the town, though Sutter never set foot there again.
Sutterâs Fort
November 11, 1848
Friend â¦
Have contrived to borrow a sheet of paper from an officer attached to Colonel Masonâs command.I embrace this opportunity of communicating to you some idea of the excitement at present pervading in this district.
About the discovery of such great quantity of the precious ore gold, when I wrote last to
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