Marshall, James
Marshall, James Wilson
ACHIEVEMENTS:
Initiated California gold rush
NICKNAME:
None
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:
8 October 1810, Marshall's Corner, Mercer County, New Jersey, US
DATE AND PLACE OF DEATH AND AGE AT DEATH:
10 August 1885, Kelsey, California, US. Aged 75
DISCIPLINE:
Pioneer
FIELD:
Carpentry
LANGUAGE:
English
PARENTS:
Father: Philip Marshall
Mother: Sarah Wilson
SIBLINGS:
4 sisters: Abigail, Rebecca, Mary, Sarah
SPOUSE:
None
CHILDREN:
None
EDUCATION:
Local academies, Lamberville, New Jersey
MAJOR WORK:
None
LIFE AND TIMES:
In 1834 Marshall set out to make his fortune. He travelled via Indiana and Illinois, earning his living as an itinerant carpenter and when he reached Omaha he was employed as a wheelwright by the American Fur Company.
In 1837 local native Americans handed over land in north-western Missouri and when the news came through, Marshall rushed to select a tract of farm land on the East bank of the Missouri River in what is today Waldron Township, Platte County. Within months, fever forced him to leave the house he had built, and rent it out.
Although he had moved to higher ground, Marshall did not regain his health and when he heard reports from traders and fur trappers of a new country on the Pacific coast with a better climate he decided to go there. In 1844 he was able to buy the tract of land he had staked on the banks of the Missouri.
He immediately sold it on to a neighbour and joined a group of pioneers in the trek to Oregon with the intention of going on to California.
By the end of the year they had reached Fort Vancouver and Marshall wintered in the Willamette Valley where he took work as a carpenter, making farm instruments and rocking chairs.
In June 1845 he set out for California, then still a province of Mexico. The group arrived in the Sacramento Valley in July to find that the political situation between the settlers and the Mexicans was uneasy and jobs were hard to find.
In the hope of employment, Marshall joined a small group which set out for Sutter's Fort, the settlement established by Sutter* in 1839. He was employed by Sutter as a carpenter and wheelwright, and made looms, shuttles and spinning wheels, furniture, carts and wagons.
Marshall was paid in livestock and within a few months he bought a ranch, in the northern part of the Sacramento Valley, which he stocked with cattle. He built a cabin and planted grain and fruit trees before returning to Sutter's Fort for the winter of 1845/46.
When the Mexican authorities announced that no non-Mexican could own land in California, Marshall joined the rebels known as the Grizzly Bears who revolted against the Mexican government. When the situation escalated and the Stars and Stripes were
raised in California, he fought in the California Battalion.
He was honorably discharged after eight months unpaid service and given a certificate for due payment because there was no government money in California to make cash payments. He was able to cash his certificate in Los Angeles to fund his journey of around 800 miles back to his ranch.
On his arrival, he found that the ranch had been pillaged and most of his livestock were gone. He was practically penniless and could not afford to re-stock so he returned to Sutter's Fort where he was employed again in April 1847.
Sutter was expanding his enterprise and had a great need for lumber. The nearest suitable timber source was the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Marshall joined others in prospecting there for a suitable site. He recommended a site on the American River and Sutter made him his partner in the building of a sawmill on the South Fork of the American River in the Coloma Valley territory which was outside Sutter's Mexican land grant. Sutter provided the money while Marshall was in charge of the building and
operation of the mill.
He was the only millwright on site and each afternoon he inspected the Millrace being dug out, to see where it had silted up and needed deepening. He had already suggested that the composition of the local rocks could indicate that there was gold in the area. On 24 January 1848 he discovered gold in the millrace.
He carried what he had found in his hat and showed it to the workers, telling them to keep it a secret. A few days later he went to Sutter's Fort, told Sutter of his discovery and established that it was gold he had found. Marshall and Sutter staked their claim to the land, claims which were respected by the workmen who were allowed by Marshall to dig for gold on Sundays and holidays. But the secret was soon out and the rush to the area began in April.
Sutter sold his interest in the sawmill and Marshall formed a new partnership. In order to safeguard his claim, Marshall had built himself a house on his staked land but new arrivals continually encroached upon what he considered to be his territory.
The new settlers caused trouble with the local natives and many of the prospectors, believing that Marshall had powers of divination, used to demand he lead them to gold deposits. Eventually, fearing for his life, Marshall left the area for six months in 1849 and took refuge in the mining town of Kelsey. He left the management of the sawmill to his partners and spent much of his time prospecting.
Although the sawmill prospered, Marshall got into debt and failed to proved his title to the land. By 1857 he had become weary of prospecting. He bought 15 acres of land in the Coloma Valley where he built a cabin and planted orchards and a vineyard and became a successful grower of fruit and vines.
He began to make wine but in 1862 his cabin was destroyed in a fire together with vital papers which provided evidence of his claim to the discovery of gold at the sawmill. Marshall, who was already bitter about the lack of recognition he had received for his discovery, was convinced that the fire was the work of an arsonist who had also stolen his papers.
In 1865 he was granted a bounty land warrant for 160 acres, due to him as a veteran of the US-Mexican War. There was still plenty of fertile land available but Marshall did not find anywhere in California to settle.
At the end of the 1860's Marshall moved to Kelsey and began prospecting again. He became an eccentric local figure and grew progressively poorer. In 1871 he surrendered his land warrant to pay a hotel bill.
The state of California granted him a small pension the following year but withdrew it in 1878 on the grounds that Marshall spent too much of his time in bars.
(See also pioneering SCOTUS Chief Justice)
ASSESSMENT: Marshall is remembered for finding gold in California.
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: None
ONELINER: James Marshall, who found gold in California
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Gay, Theressa, James W Marshall, The Talisman Press, Georgetown, California, 1967