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James S. Brown California Gold 1894

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Title: California Gold: An Authentic History of the First Find With the Names of Those Interested in the Discovery
Author: Brown, James S[tephen]
Description: 20 pp. Woodcut portrait frontispiece. 7¼x4¾, original tan printed wrappers, staple bound. First Edition.Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 85a: "Eberstadt notes: 'Of vital historical importance being the only printed relation - aside from that of Marshall himself - by an eyewitness of and participant in the gold discovery.' Brown's recollection described his employment by Sutter to work with Marshall on building the mill on the American River. His account features a lively dialogue between Marshall and himself concerning the discovery. On January 24, 1848, after Marshall gathered several flakes, Brown related: "I picked up the largest piece, worth about fifty cents, and tested it with my teeth; as it did not give, I held it aloft and exclaimed, 'Gold, boys, gold!'" Brown told how six Mormons found gold an hour later, how the news spread, and how various early techniques were used to find gold. With a tinge of bitterness, he recalled how Sutter never paid him for his work and how Sutter cursed Marshall and his discovery. Brown concluded with letters from John S. Hittell and Bancroft's History Company 'showing the relation of the writer to the gold discovery' and an affidavit by five fellow members of the Mormon Battalion. Brown's story was published on the occasion of a visit to San Francisco's Midwinter Fair in 1894. [Howes claims] only fifty-five copies were printed although the number of copies that continue to surface suggest a larger printing. Cowan I, p. 25; Cowan II, p. 77; Flake 899; Graff 425; Howes B848; Rocq 1809; Streeter Sale 3018; Wheat, Gold Rush 22 (note); Kurutz 85.
Heading: Place Published: Oakland
Publisher: Pacific Press Publishing Company
Date Published: 1894