Sutter's Mill
Sutter's Mill | |
---|---|
California Department of Parks and Recreation | |
Official name | Gold discovery site |
Designated | March 7, 1955[1] |
Reference no. | 530 |
Sutter's Mill was a
The mill was later reconstructed in the original design and today forms part of Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma, California. A meteorite fall in 2012 landed close to the mill; the recovered fragments were named the Sutter's Mill meteorite.
History
The territory of
On January 24, 1848, while working on construction of the mill, Marshall found flakes of gold in the
As news of the gold spread, settlers flocked to the new
Current status
The site of the mill is part of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, registered as California Historical Landmark number 530.[10]
On September 8, 1965, a groundbreaking was held to begin the construction of a replica of the original structure, based on Marshall's own drawings and a photograph of the mill taken circa 1850.[11] The replica was nearly completed by the following year, and while not built at the exact spot as the original, it was designed to be moved there if the river returned to its 1848 stream bed.[12] The newly completed replica was officially dedicated on January 21, 1968.[13][14] In 2014, the 1960s structure was replaced with a new replica, built closer to the original site.[15][16]
Meteorite
On April 22, 2012 a
In popular culture
The mill was the namesake and inspiration for a song by singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg.[18] The mill was also the namesake for a song by the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and for Herb Sutter's blog. In Beverly Cleary's novel Mitch and Amy, the protagonists build a model of Sutter's Mill out of toothpicks. The mill is referenced heavily in an episode of the Little House on the Prairie television series titled "At the End of the Rainbow," in which Laura Ingalls Wilder and a friend believe they have found gold in a stream near Walnut Grove.
See also
References
- ^ "Gold discovery site". California State Parks Office of Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
- ^ a b c d "Gold Nugget". National Museum of American History. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
This small piece of yellow metal is believed to be the first piece of gold discovered in 1848 at Sutter's Mill in California, launching the gold rush. James Marshall was superintending the construction of a sawmill for Col. John Sutter on the morning of January 24, 1848, on the South Fork of the American River at Coloma, California, when he saw something glittering in the water of the mill's tailrace. According to Sutter's diary, Marshall stooped down to pick it up and "found that it was a thin scale of what appeared to be pure gold." Marshall bit the metal as a test for gold.
- ^ "California Gold An Authentic History of the First Find With the Names of Those Interested in the Discovery". www.sfmuseum.org. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
- ^ "The Gold Discovery Journal of Azariah Smith". Brigham Young University. Archived from the original on 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
- ^ William G. Hartley (September 1997). "On the Trail in September". Ensign. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 40–41. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ Sutter, John (November 1857). "The Discovery of Gold in California". Hutchings' California Magazine.
The Mormons did not like to leave my mill unfinished, but they got the gold fever like everybody else. After they had made their piles they left for the Great Salt Lake. So long as these people have been employed by me they hav [sic] behaved very well, and were industrious and faithful laborers, and when settling their accounts there was not one of them who was not contented and satisfied.
- ^ "First gold found at Sutter's Mill, California, 1848". smithsonianlegacies.si.edu. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
- ^ García, Justine (2014). California Gold Rush. Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia. pp. 415–418.
- ^ Clay, Karen (2008). History of World Trade since 1450. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 328–339.
- ^ "Sutter's Mill Site". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
- ^ "Sutter Mill Rebuilding Is Started". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. September 9, 1965. p. D3.
- ^ "Coloma Replica Of Sutter's Mill Nears Finish". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. May 22, 1966. p. B4.
- ^ "Coloma Dedication of Sutter's Mill Will Highlight Gold Discovery Days Fete". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. January 19, 1968. p. B1.
- ^ "Gold Discovery Event Attracts 20,000 Persons". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. January 22, 1968. p. B1.
- ^ Lakey, Pat (December 15, 2014). "New mill ready to inspire new memories". Village Life. El Dorado Hills, California. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Sutter's Mill Reconstruction Project Moves Forward" (PDF) (Press release). California Department of Parks and Recreation. September 5, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- S2CID 206543838.
- ^ "Sutter's Mill by Dan Fogelberg". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
External links
- Discovery of Gold, by John A. Sutter, Hutchings’ California Magazine, November 1857. Sutter describes how he wanted a sawmill near the Sacramento and how Marshall told him of the gold.
- Early photographs, illustrations, and textual references to Sutter's Mill Archived 2008-09-07 at the Wayback Machine, via Calisphere, California Digital Library.
- Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park (California State Parks, official site)