THE WEST SHORE.
to whomever tL'-y might find dwelling in
.1. t t 1 4 II 1 1 i 1 - ?
MM unknown laiA. Alter much uarusuip me pious
mifciojihry, lather Juriinero Horra, founded a mis
ion hi Hun Diego in 1'iJ'J. This was followed by
Ah-tn hi Iftt'-r duU-s to the number of twenty-two.
KoMi'- wre fcfut to prot'-ct the missions, and as the
t rra ef hemcd of these expired they generally sct
tll in the country. The jwwer and wealth of the
amnion Ix-carne ho great that in 1821 the Mexican
government lgan a series of hostile legislative acts,
n-ftultmp, in is 1.1, in their complete secularization,
the lwn of all their jwwpr and nearly all their great
wealth. I!y this time California had a largo Mexican
Ij-u!fttion, lHMfHed the dignity of a governor, and
htvl enjo) n the pleasure of several of those " revolu
tion " which hf(.M to form such a necessary portion
of Mexican iK)litiCftl life. One year later, in 1810,
i Miiorma was wrested from Mexico by Lieutenant
i'remonl and Commodore Stockton, and became a ter
nary or the United States. Following almost upon
the M (,f this great event came tli Ai t
gM at butter mill and tho great rush of adventur-
ti u mo verdant hlope of the Sierras.
(old had previoudly been disown,! ;n ni;f.
wj, -ut U existence i quantity was not known; or,
If LtiOVtl kt kll ,..,1.. i ll . '
" ... .. UIJ K, lu(, I)ru8ul wll0 kppt it Becret
' . , 11 "'"lces to their missions, a fear
" r:rui justified, oou was
""""i in -mall rjuantitioa in Southern Califor.
Ma n ur v mi IVN .! i i-
, - ncuTAi discoveries we
- .U ln,1,,tUooK.ito1e0t prevai l a"
l'.-)"l.l.a.,ffi,I. No oi.. w f,, M i. i .
; ti-m!,..l I.I... .1 . uu
.',"M Z M:"' woii known
Hnnth m . ,U iD Mxliah S.
Smith ,r,, r it - ' d(Wian
Mmth, lo f the pftrtn,TH of the American V
lmuy wlrilo returning from a fr,7
lion ttr,.Kh ilif.mu ".V rW 8 expec
Motmian .i;.. ' V" 1 lUQ terras near
tu,'r, ..oof , v ;mtVlh
Mirli.. 1. .
-uiu uimin. In ISIl 1 i it-1 .. v' oli.
" . IU Scr.mf CU, v,l, 1 ra""m' ""a-
ci It. few AtDrif, i hf l- U '
a nrosnefttinr? triD. bnt tho Mp.TiVnn 00u :i
r. r o. -tr, DQiU " was me.
less to attempt mining without a batea. and ...
would be necessary to send to Mexico to secure the
required implement In his ignorance, Bidwell J
sumed that what the man told him was corrpf ti
afterward learned that the wonderful batea was sun
ply a wooden bowl, and that almost any kind nf u
or pan would have served as a substitute. This was
three years before the American conquest Had
well made the discovery, as he undoubtedly would
have done but for the Mexican's positive asHnrr,a
that nothing could be accomplished without a batea.
the subsequent history of California mieht have hn
different In compliance with the request of Mr
Bidwell, Gutierez agreed to keep the matter a secret
until such time as the supposed necessary imolement
could be secured. The next winter the Mexican
came to an untimely end. The Castro rebellion m
then convulsing the province, and Gutierez was cap
tured by Castro's men, while beariner disDatchea f
Sutter to Micheltoreno, and was promptly executed.
With him died Bidwell's hope of finding golden rich
ea in the mountains.
As has been said, gold was mined in Rnnihtm
California for a number of years, but the Mexican.,
were indolent, careless and unambitious, and the
great secret of the Sierras remained undiscovered hv
them. It remained for the energetic and adventure
some, the hated and despised Americanos to discover
and develop the great El Dorado of tho Paeifie. Pro.
vious to the American conauest a number of Ameri.
cans had settled in the Sacramento valley, and at that
critical time, with their countrymen in other portions
of the state, helped Fremont and RtvM nndna
the Mexicans and gain possession. The most import
ant settlement was that of Cantain John A. Sutter.
near the junction of the American and Sacramento
nvers, where the citv of Rnnrnmn
Captain Sutter was not a Tmti Aor.um hM,
torn in Baden, Germany, of Swiss parents, and so- .
cured his title in the fiwiRfl
lived in the United States several years before he
came to the coast in lftss ti;,, fiDi;suAnfirM
. " -vv. JULIO CQtaUUOUUlbUli "
known as "Sutter's Fort," and was a rallying point
for settlers in the valW "n nrinr I Vi n (urn Troorfl ffll.
lowing the conquest, trains of immigrants added con
siderable numbers in ui.Vn nf
California and to the settlers in the Sacramento val
P) P18 increasing settlement was what led direct
0' to the discovery of gold.
Among the AmenVo i. t w.
Marshall, who had Pmmrci wr: : u OrA.
.M?' and had ge to California the next year,
"e took part m the conquest of the state, and at the
U 01 Q war turned to Sutter's Fort, where he