~John Sutter, founder of what is now the city of Sacramento, partnered with James W. Marshall to start a lumber business. A spot was chosen in the foothills approximately 50 miles east of Sutter's Fort because it had a river to supply power and a large amount of ponderosa pine trees for lumber.
Construction of the mill began in the fall of 1847. This construction included the building of a small dam across the river to guide the water through a channel that would provide power to the mill. In January of 1848 the mill was ready to be tested. Things didn't go quite as planned when if was found that the tailrace was too shallow and prevented the wheel from properly turning. Work began again to loosen and the rock so water could wash away the dirt and debris could be washed away by the current.
In January of 1849, Marshall noticed shiny flecks in the bed of the tailrace. After some inspection he realized that these small shiny flecks were pure gold. Even though he and Sutter decided to keep the find a secret, it was not long before Sutter began bragging about the discovery. Once the rumor of gold was confirmed by President James K. Polk thousands of people began one of the largest human migrations in history to 'Gold Country'.
The area, including most of the town of Coloma, is now known as the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. This park includes many historic buildings, a full size replica of the of Sutter's sawmill, a museum, hiking, picnicking and other exhibits.
After exploring the area and attending a wedding at a nearby resort it was time to begin our travels back to SIU. For the trip home we took the same route, just in reverse. Coloma to Sacramento to Dallas/Fort Worth to St. Louis, to Marion, to Eldorado then finally back to SIU. Over the course of the entire trip we traveled a distance of 4,472.8 miles. Richard has now completed a total of 6,063.8
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