Coloma: a town built on the gold rush

In 1839 John Sutter, a German emigrant of impressive enterprise, began his business ventures in California at the junction of the Sacramento and American Rivers. The first task he set for himself was to build a large adobe fort, eighteen feet high and three feet thick. Two years later, Sutter expanded his territory by purchasing a nearby deserted Russian stronghold for a note of thirty thousand dollars, which he never honored.

By 1847, Sutter had attained the success he had so long sought; among his assets were ten-acres of orchards, two acres of Castile roses, and thousands of acres of grain. Hundreds of Americans, on the move to San Francisco, stopped at Sutter’s Fort for supplies after the arduous crossing of the Sierra Nevada pass. One of the most often requested building materials was pine lumber. Sutter, never one to pass up an opportunity, contracted with millwright James Marshall* to scout out the site on which to build a sawmill.

Construction on the sawmill began in the fall of 1847. The river would be diverted to a water wheel beneath the main structure, which in turn would power the saw blades. By January of 1848, with the mill nearly completed, Marshall noticed the tailrace – the ditch carrying water away from the wheel – was far too shallow. To correct this one impediment to the mill’s completion, Marshall decided to open the floodgates that night and let the action of the fast moving water scour the ditch wider and deeper. Early the next morning, he walked alone down to the mill to check on the flow of water through the run. As he bent low over the ditch, several shining objects gleamed at him from beneath the cold water. Plucking the objects from the race, Marshall examined them closely. He knew of only two substances that were as bright: sulphuret of iron, a bright but brittle metal, and gold, equally as bright, but malleable.

Excited by the find, Marshall decided to put the nuggets through a number of tests. First, he beat them between two rocks: they changed shape, but did not break. Gathering up about four or five more nuggets from the water, he boiled them in lye - sulphuret of iron would dissolve in the strong soap; the nuggets did nothing. As a final test, Marshall weighed three silver pieces with an equal amount of the nuggets and placed them both in a bucket of water. The density of the nuggets caused them to drop faster than the coins, thereby convincing James Marshall that his remarkable find was truly gold.

Marshall reported the discovery of gold immediately to John Sutter. Amazed by the news, Sutter tried desperately to keep the find secret until he could legally secure the land in his name. It was not to be. Word quickly leaked out and within a few weeks the cries of “Gold!” reached to the far corners of the land. Thousands of pioneers sold their homes in the east and flocked to California in the hopes of striking it rich. Sutter not only lost his claim to the land, but his workers soon deserted him in their hunt for wealth.

The first small town sprang quickly from the valley floor with the influx of fortune hunters. Its name originally was Culluma – ‘beautiful’ in the local Native American language – but misspelling and mispronunciation eventually caused the name to be changed to Coloma.

Extraordinary numbers of people flocked to Coloma and the town grew rapidly. By 1849 numerous stores, hotels, saloons, casinos, and banks lined the town’s Main St. The first bridge across the North Fork of the American River was built. When gold was discovered farther afield in the valley, Coloma became a trading post and local merchants began to accumulate larger fortunes than the few lucky miners by supplying optimistic gold seekers with all manner of food and equipment – regardless of their true need. A ferry was built across the South Fork of the river, carrying miners to camps that sported enigmatic names like Hangtown, Murderer’s Bar, and Georgia Slide. When El Dorado County was established in 1850, Coloma became the count seat – over strong objections by the nearby towns of Hangtown (Placerville) and Diamond Springs - and a mayor was elected.

Captain Shannon had built and operated one of Coloma’s first general stores. A well-liked and respected man, Shannon was a shoo-in for the mayoral position. The town had no judicial system to speak of, so when miners had disputes they looked to Mayor Shannon for settlement. Shannon’s punishments for transgressions varied, the lightest sentence being banishment and the most severe – death by hanging. In between those two extremes, the sentences could include whipping, branding, and cropping (loss of one or both ears). Justice was swift and the sentences were carried out immediately.

By 1852, the gold had played out near Coloma and the town faded into the background.

James Marshall, the man whose discovery populated the state, began a number of ill-fated business ventures including a vineyard, quartz mines, and a blacksmith shop. He died in 1885 at the age of seventy-five; his grave was placed overlooking the gold discovery site. In 1890, a monument was commissioned and built beside his final resting-place.

Today, seventy percent of Coloma is included in the California Marshall Gold Discovery State Park***. Many of the old buildings have been renovated; a replica of Sutter’s Mill stands a few hundred yards from the site of the original. The Gold Discovery Museum houses a number of artifacts from the era as well as films on early gold mining techniques.

Coloma no longer lures men in search of fortunes, instead, the river’s swift rapids attract adrenaline junkies. But the town will forever be remembered as the catalyst that inspired the largest movement of people in history.

*James Marshall’s own account of the discovery: http://www.malakoff.com/marshall.htm

**Map of the American River water shed: http://coloma.com/arc/region.html

***Marshall Gold Discovery State Park: http://www.windjammer.net/coloma/mindex.htm