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To: E. Charters who wrote (81152)	1/26/2002 9:19:23 AM
From: E. Charters	Respond to of 116789

How it really happened. The testimony of Mrs. Gregson who was there and it doesn't sound like she made it up or got it wrong. ************ "It was about Dec 1847 when the mill stones were finished the grist mill was being built on the American river about 3 miles across in an easterly direction from the fort. At this time Sutter engaged my husband and I to go to Coloma. My husband to be the blacksmith for a saw mill which was being built by Capt Sutter and James Marshall. Myself to cook for the hands which were about 15 men. One man by the name of Bennet, the others I have forgotten. Well a day or two before we started which was about the last day of Dec. [Several lines have been erased here.] The weather was rather bad and it took us two days and a half to make the trip. We reached our destination just about 11 A.M. The Indians that were about had never seen a white child, and it was soon noised abroad that there was a white child on the place and the Indians came from a distance of 40 miles to see her. They would come to the door and look and then they would cover their faces with their hands, and were very much astonished at the sight. they even went so far as to pinch her shoulders pull her hair to see if she was a real human they were very fond of her one squaw wanted me to swap babes with her. after a week or two we heard that the mineral that was taken out of the tailrace of the sawmill [was gold] the hands would occasanale bring in a little gold dust after a while I got tired of seeing nothing but squaws I wanted to see a white woman again so they took me and my child about 15 miles to a place I think it was the dimond springs to see Mrs Wimmer her family I stayed two days nights then returned home. [Well I found her camping out and Sleeping in the wagon. she was very glad to see me and we did not sleep very much, but put in the time talking while I stayed, which was two days and nights, and then I returned home. She showed we while there a nugget of pure gold nearly as large as my thumb. William Scott who had been stopping with the wimmer family had found it the last of January 1848, and there was no gold excitement at that time. The exact date on which gold was really discovered, I am unable to state as it was some time before we could believe that it was real gold. In a few days however after we got settled at Coloma The work hands were digging the tail race at the mill, and one evening they had turned on the water so as to sluice out the dirt. The next morning Jas Marshall and Pete Wimmer were standing on the bank examining the work, when Marshall said to Wimmer, "What is that glittering down in the tail-race?" Wimmer jumped down and picked up some substance, which proved to be fine scale gold, and there was no other kind of gold found in that place, as we afterwards learned. The work hands would occasionally bring in a little gold dust. about this time there was a man named humphrys he was a minealoligist [mineralogist] so [when] the weathre opned out people began to come into the mines one man by the name of turner [came] brought his daughter Mary I persuaded him to leave her with me untill he went to bring the rest of his family he did so which pleased me very much She was about 16 years old. one day as our work was done we went down to the mill which was about half a mile down the hill. we thought we would wash out some dirt try to find gold well we saw something shining in the bottom of the tailrace so we got down gathered some. but turning to my companion I said this is too light if we take this up to the house the men will laugh at us so we went home no better than we was. by by her parents moved into the mines camped close by us. I must say here that for about 3 months we our liveing was very poor We had salt beef so poor salty that it looked like blue flint-- salt Salmon too salty oily that it was not fit to eat boild barley sometimes boiled wheat peas dried neither bread or Coffee or tea or sugar. 1 keg of Butter strong enough to run away of itself so that is the way we lived for about 3 months. about this time gold hunters began to arive with pans in A short time the new[s] began to spread far wide about the first of May some men came up from Sonoma told me that my little sister Mary Ann was married to a Doc. Ames an assistant Doc in the N.Y. Volunteers she being only a little past 13 years old. somewheres about this time old James Marshall J gregson went prospecting for gold a little further up the river than they had been and they found plenty of scale gold my husband asked Marshall to divide with him. he very quickly answered no you are working for me. Very well says gregson I will work no more I shall gather gold for myself which he did now the people were coming in from all parts of the of Call chili by by the oragononians commencing to arive early in the gold excitement Mr Gregson made the first pick afterwards made a good many picks drills for the miners. the men stopt working on the mill every thing was gold crazy run away sailors and solders came into the mines my mother two ..." That lady was from Derbyshire England. Mrs. Wimmer did the first test for gold after the find by dipping it in lye she had made. This is a sophisticated test as most anything will dissolve in lye, but gold will not. So the Wimmer's test fot the metal implies they had some knowledge. Others who evidently knew it to be gold were Mrs. Scott and Mr. Scott. Not mentioned for their part were the others, Willis, Barger, Stephens, Brown, Cunce, Persons, McLellan, Biger, Smith, Johnston, Evans, or the ten Indians. Interestingly the Indians knew about gold in the Sierras, and could have told the Whites. We know that. In addition Bennet was from Oregon, an already known area of gold and mining. It has been reported that one of the party was formerly a miner and from the names we may surmise that perhaps, Wimmer, Evans, Brown, Smith, Stephens, Barger, and Biger may have been Welsh or Cornish. EC<:-}

To: E. Charters who wrote (81152)	1/26/2002 3:08:40 PM
From: c.hinton	Respond to of 116789

Your raccount of the discovery of gold in California led me to look into the effects the gold discoveries of 49 and later the silver discoveries of the late 60's, had on the relationship between gold and silver.It caused severe disruptions.Gold became worth less relative to silver then, within 20 years and the discovery of lots of silver, silver lost value to gold.There was alot of arbitrage between face value and bullion value leading to hoarding and then disgorging( gold driving out silver,bad money driving out good, then silver driving out gold) At on point, after 1878 and the Bland Allison and Sherman Silver Purchase acts,silver mine owners nearly forced the treasury into bankrupcy by forcing the gov to buy silver at inflated prices, while being paid in treasury notes which were redeemed always for gold which was then systematicly witheld from the market to force an increase in its value .{The Genovese bankers (city not mafia)handeling Spains finances in the 16th century did much the same with spanish silver to great profit} .The result, gold was at a premium and the treasury ,by 1893 ,had no gold(only silver) to pay international debts which required payment in gold: the end result a gold squeeze leading to 419 failed banks and panic and depression .