This event reminds us of the momentous events that occurred here in the 1800’s and changed the history of the world, and is at the root of our call to create a National Heritage Area, a program of National Parks providing funding and technical support to protect an area’s heritage; and the name we would suggest for it would be Rivers of Gold National Heritage Area.
In our 2005 report, in the historical time line section,(see our website: www.arpps.org) we looked at the impact of the discovery:
(1848) Gold discovered at Coloma on the American River.
An event of international proportion that while clearly tragic for many, was an epic time, as Brands (2002) has noted:
“Yet for all its sordid side, the new American dream [the wealth the gold rush created] was an enormously creative force. It unleashed the energies of the American people, and of the many millions of foreigners who, drawn by this compelling dream, chose to become Americans. (It also unleashed the energies of those who stayed in other countries—or in some important cases, returned to other countries from America—and emulated the Argonauts of California.) It raised the American standard of living beyond anything ever achieved so broadly. It afforded the most basic freedom—freedom from want—to more people than had ever enjoyed such release. And it gave unprecedented meaning to that really revolutionary idea of Thomas Jefferson: that humans have a right to the pursuit of happiness. (p. 443-444)”
A personal story: Several years ago while visiting Coloma, where gold was discovered in 1848, State Parks Ranger Sugarman related a story which resonated with me, and has always put the discovery of gold into the context I think it fully deserves.
He was guiding a group of Japanese tourists around the park, and while talking to them, a small group broke off and went to the specific site, on the American River South Fork, where gold was first taken out by James Marshall. They stood there for awhile, quietly talking among themselves, and then, while standing there, bowed very formally towards the river. Later, he asked them why they were bowing, and they told him that they were honoring, “the place where America found her power.” David H. Lukenbill, Founding President, ARPPS.
Event celebrates discovery of gold, park's renovation
Visitors view exhibits completed as first phase of major museum project.
By Melissa Nix - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, January 21, 2007
The campfire's smoke curled up to the gray sky hanging over Coloma. The scent of burning wood cut through the morning chill and enveloped the chattering crowd. Men in buckskin and coonskin caps mingled with women in calico and bonnets. A motorcycle rumbled by, and then a bugle call caught the crowd's attention.
More than 300 people -- some in costume -- gathered Saturday for the unveiling of the renovated museum at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park.
A new exhibit, complete with dioramas and mannequins, attempts to capture when James Marshall discovered gold at the site where the park now sits. That momentous day was Jan. 24, 1848.
The museum renovation is phase one of a two-phase plan to tell the whole story of the California Gold Rush, explained Mark Gibson, superintendent for the Marshall Gold Sector of California State Parks. This first phase cost $600,000.
The second phase depends on funds from Proposition 84, he added. The public approved the proposition last year to pay for park improvements, flood control and water projects.
Gibson said the complete renovation will total $3.6 million.
"We often tell the Sutter-Marshall pioneer story, but rarely do you hear what happened to the people who were here first," said Mark Michalski, a California State Park Ranger and the museum's collections manager.
