| Show MORMONS AND california GOLD arsan jn francisco chronicle dec 19 tv two 0 of the most important events ahat led up to the discovery of gold in california were the arrival on july 31 1846 at san francisco then yerba buena bue na of the ship brooklyn from new york bringing over mormon colonists colonist and the organization at about the same time of the mormon battalion for service during the mexican war driven by POP popular ular persecution from new york to ohio thence to missouri and finally to illinois where the hostility to thern them culminated in the violent death of the prophet the mormons cormons realized that their only hope of building UP zion lay in a removal to unoccupied lands in some remote region of the rocky mountains in 1845 word was sent by the heads of the church to the saints throughout the country to prepare for an immediate migration tele ration their place of destination was iwas kept a secret as far as possible anany of the mormons cormons themselves not knowing the plans of their leaders 0 or r where the colony was to td be planted those who had not the means to go verland overland cereto were to go by sea to the pa cinc coast in a vessel to he be chartered tor for that purpose by their agents at 41 new york elder samuel brannan was kiven given charge of this expedition and under his leadership the ship brooklyn ached from new york on february 4 1846 16 carrying passengers mostly i at this time california was baill a 1 art of mexico but during the six months voyage of the brooklyn the mexican war had begun and one of the first acts of the war had been the seizure of california by the united states kon oj j adly ay esth three weeks before the lar arival rival of the brooklyn the american flair flag was raised at yerba buena although the stars and stripes floating in triumphant assertion from the low red tiled builder on portsmouth square proclaimed to the mormon leader of the brooklyn expedition the change of ownership that had taken take n place in the territory where he had hoped to establish his celany no premonitions ions of its future greatness had af yet stirred the sleepy little mexican town into busy life before the curious eye of the brooklyn passengers lay a sandy andy beach strewn with the skeletons of cattle slaughtered for their hides a succession of windswept wind swept hills bearing tangled growths of scrub oak and chapparal chap paral the home of the coyote and rabbit and a few adobe and frame houses an adobe barracks and temporary hide buildings scattered alonz alone the ibe shore A half dozen donkeys carrying large bundles of wood and a few listless loungers lazily observing the motions of the newcomers afforded the element of life to the novel scene upon coming ashore the emigrants Ui installed stalled themselves in tents and aher it ever they could find shelter industrious and chri thrift they soon found work some of their number going goin g to the san joaquin valley where they formed a settlement and planted crops tor for the use of the mormons cormons who were expected overland meanwhile the main body of mor mons had taken up their line of march overland to the west and had formed a temporary settlement near council bluffs la ia compelled to leave the most of their property behind them in their enforced flight they found themselves poorly prepared for a long uncertain journe yand applied to the government at washington for assistance in their migration the result was the organization of the mormon battalion the pay these soldiers would draw from the government was to be used in taking care of their families and transporting them to california where the members of the battalion were to be discharged elder brannan had been directed to go overland and meet the church au thorit les ties as soon as his own colony had found a place to settle carrying out i his instructions brannan left the spring after his arrival and met brigham young and his first company of utah pioneers on june just as they made camp near green river wyo at this meeting brannan tried to induce brigham young to go 90 on to california and settle instead of turning off at salt lake but california now belonged to the united states while utah was still a part of mexico and the isolation of salt lake valley shut in by high mount mountains dAns and approached pro ached only by a lonely tedious journey through a region inhabited by indians and wild beasts more than offset to brigham youngs mind the brilliant inducements offered by brannan in favor of california brannan went into salt lake bauley with the mormon pioneers and before he left there to return to san francisco information came that the battalion men having received their discharge at los angeles cal were on their way east to join their families the church authorities instructed brannan to tell these men when he met them on his way back to california that only those who had sufficient provisions to last them until the next years harvest was gathered should come on to salt lake brannan met the men on the sierra nevada mountains and delivered his i message A consultation was held the supplies were put together and only those whose necessities could be provided tor for wenton to salt lake the rest of the company returned to california and scattered about in the region around san francisco bay seeking employment some ot the men went to fort general sutter at this time was building a flouring floering flou ring mill and with oregon lumber at a thousand feet was putting up a sawmill in the foothills and getting out his own lumber but he had no money nor could he obtain laborers suitable for the work neither did he know the best place to build the mill james marshall a practical mechanic had come to the fort after an unsuccessful venture at farming and was ready to undertake finding a location and building the mill for a share in the business if sutter would find the means it was at this juncture that the battalion men appeared and supplied to to sutter and marshall the necessary link that had been lacking to carry out their project these men were not only good mechanics but were willing to wait for their wages until the mill was finished and then take their pay in flour flou r jerked meat and ponies work was begun on the min in due time the millrace was dug and the result has made possible Cali fornias golden jubilee no painters brush has yet taken for its subject the decisive moment when sutter marshall and these nine battalion mechanics chimics me signed the contract which resulted in the discovery of call cali fornias fornia 8 gold mines yet the splendor of that event has been beeh felt throughout the world mighty states have arisen on this pacific coast transcontinental railroads have been built countless steamers and merchant vessels sail through the once solitary of the golden gate hundreds of millions of gold from the californian gold mines have poured in the coffers of the nations of the world worl dand and the golden gleam shining across the pacific has brought to light the treasures hidden in australian mines with the great influx of newcomers after the gold discovery the brooklyn mormons cormons passed from public view as a 6 large and distinctive part of the american population of san francisco and vicinity and their history is almost unknown to those who walk the same streets they trod but fifty years ago they arrived at yerba buena too late to establish the mighty hierarchy their more fortunate brethren founded at salt lake not for them arose the temple or wonderful tabernacle we look in vain among the multitude of photographed faces faced in the jubilee souvenir of the utah pioneers for one belonging to a member of the brooklyn expedition or the mormon battalion apparently their ended in fal failure lure but had it not been for the brooklyn expedition whose leader turned back the battalion men meb from their eastbound journey sutter would not have had the men to build alif hl mill the millrace would not nave been dug and the gold in california might have remained undiscovered for or scores of years to come true gold might have been discovered in some other way and by some other means but while there to is a world of speculation an fn the might have been it is only the has been we are really sure of let us then as an our golden jubilee approaches pay the tribute of remembrance and acknowledgment to these early settlers in calls s fornia who through their own failure helped so materially to make the lili history try of our state |
