People/prospector

James Marshall

James Marshall (1812–1885), prospector, from United States. Linked to gold.

The lucky break

On 18 January 1848, while superintending the building of a mill race at Coloma for Sutter, he found a nugget of gold.1

The downfall

Adventurers seized his property and stock, disputed the title to his land, and he was reduced to extreme poverty.1

Legacy

His discovery brought a great influx of people to California. A bronze statue of him stands at Coloma, according to Appletons.1

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1848James Marshall finds gold at Sutter's sawmill2
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Where next

People

Partner ofJohn SutterA nugget in a mill race made one man famous and ruined his employer.1,3

Events

DiscoveredJames Marshall finds gold at Sutter's sawmillHe spotted the nugget on 18 January 1848 at Coloma.1

Sources

  1. Marshall, James Wilson Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1900 (public-domain text on Wikisource)
  2. The California Gold Rush (California National Historic Trail) US National Park Service
  3. Sutter, John Augustus Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1889 (public-domain text on Wikisource)

Pictures on this page: John A. Sutter Oval Crop Edit Desat.png, Unknown author (Public domain).

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).