thanks carl.  i'll check out the California Star as a primary source.

-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Barna <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, January 26, 2001 9:15 AM
Subject: Re: California gold rush citation needed


>More info on this..
>
>__________________
>
>Carl,
>
>James Marshall first reported the discovery to John Sutter in 1848 setting
>up Sutter's future relocation to Pennsylvania.
>
>As for Brannan, the following is interesting.  I obtained it from:
>http://www.jps.net/vitus/sambrannan.htm
>
>*************************
>
>History of Sam Brannan
>
>
>                                   Sam Brannan Born 1818, Passed 1889
>                                         Submitted by Frank Houdek, SGNH,
>-P
>
>
>
>
>   He died just about as far away from where he was born as it's possible
>to without leaving the country. He
>   created San Francisco in anticipation of it becoming the new Mormon
>capital only to have Brigham Young
>   stop short in Utah. He published San Francisco's first newspaper, the
>second in California, and used it to
>   orchestrate the Gold Rush of '49. He led the move to clean the scum out
>of 1851 boomtown San Francisco by
>   forming the Committee of Vigilance.
>
>   He was California's first millionaire and died penniless. He built the
resort town of Calistoga and reputedly
>   named it by slurring its' dedication speech while drunk on whisky from
the town's distillery. And he fell under
>   the sway of the lovely and notorious Lola Montez, as had many another
before and after him, with tragic
>   results.
>
>   He was Sam Brannan, one of California's most colorful and controversial
characters. Brannan was born in
>   Maine on March 2, 1819 to an alcoholic and abusive father and died an
alcoholic's death himself in San Diego
>   in 1889. He became Mormon when that religion was only five years old
after he moved to Ohio with his older
>   sister and her husband at age 14. He rose within the church and when
persecution of the sect became too
>   much, Sam was asked by Brigham Young to lead a New York contingent of
238 Saints to California by boat,
>   taking with him the sect's three-ton Acorn printing press. Young would
lead the rest of the contingent from
>   Ohio by land and join him in California later.
>
>   When the Brooklyn docked at the unappealing muddy shore of Yerba Buena
on July 31, 1846 with its 230
>   Mormon immigrants (during the trip, 10 had died and two were born),
Brannan set to work immediately to
>   build the unprepossessing place into what he hoped would be the new home
of Mormonism. The Mormons'
>   arrival had effectively doubled the size of the squalid site. He
collected the tithes from his followers and
>   invested the money in property and buildings. He and his followers
constructed nearly 200 buildings in their
>   first year at Yerba Buena.
>
>   He published the first issue of The California Star in January of 1847.
Brannan made visits to Stutter's Fort
>   and saw that there was a need for a provisioner to service the growing
population-a population that he would
>   encourage, when he was ready. Gold was discovered in 1848 but at first
little was made of it. Gold had been
>   discovered before in California. Sam Brannan saw a profit to he made if
gold-seekers were lured into
>   California. He could supply them in San Francisco and again in
Sacramento.
>
>   The supplies he'd ordered hadn't yet arrived. When he was ready with his
warehouses filled with the goods
>   gold miners would need, he borrowed some of the gold, put it into a
bottle, and traveled down the river to
>   San Francisco, where he made a big to-do about the discovery. A
discovery that he'd until then been
>   pooh-poohing. Naturally, he announced the strike in The California Star,
which boasted subscriptions at
>   Eastern newspapers where it was used as a source to provide bits and
pieces of Western news.
>
>   The news of the strike spread and in 1849 the Gold Rush became
history-and made Brannan rich. He used
>   the money to buy more and more property, turning San Francisco into a
boomtown. Without his influence,
>   gold seekers would have come through the Golden Gate and sailed right
past San Francisco and up the
>   Sacramento River.
>
>   A boomtown has its problems. San Francisco's came in the form of
hooligans and cutthroats. The town
>   became a cesspool unfit for its citizens to live in. Murder was rampant,
drunkenness everywhere, and
>   violence was out of control. What had been good for business was now not
only bad for business but
>   downright dangerous. Brannan met with other businessmen and civic
leaders and formed the Committee of
>   Vigilance which went out into the night, arrested murderers, gave them a
speedy trial, and an even speedier
>   execution by strangulation due to a fatal tightening of a necktie. To
make the point that the Committee was
>   serious, they let one murderer hang in pubic for several days with the
threat that anyone who cut him down
>   would come to enjoy the same fate. But Brannan ran afoul of the Mormons.
>
>   Young arrived in Utah a year later than Brannan arrived in San
Francisco. Brannan and his followers assumed
>   Young would establish the Mormons in San Francisco, but Young refused to
budge from Utah even after
>   Brannan visited him to urge him to continue west. Brannan was furious
and his followers blamed him for the
>   rift. They began to drift off to Utah, only to realize once they got
there that Brannan had kept their tithes over
>   the years. Young sent two "angels" to Brannan to collect the back-tithes
and Brannan reputedly sent them
>   away with the promise that he'd pay the money to Young "when they came
bearing a receipt from God." He
>   was excommunicated in 1851.
>
>   Undaunted, he proceeded to become California's first millionaire. But he
also ran afoul of his second wife,
>   which can be more dangerous. She resented Sam's independent lifestyle
and his extravagant ways with
>   women not his own. He carried on unashamedly with the infamous Lola
Montez during her visit to San
>   Francisco. His wife began looking into divorcing the scoundrel. Brannan
used some of his money to buy up
>   land in what is today Calistoga. He built an elaborate settlement there,
hoping to make it the Saratoga Springs
>   (New York) of California. He even built the Napa Valley Railroad in 1864
to bring visitors to his new resort.
>   Unfortunately, there was a distillery on the property. During the
dedication of the new town, Brannan weaved
>   to the podium and declared that this was going to be the "Calistoga of
Sarafornia," and the name stuck. So
>   says legend.
>
>   He began to lose his grip with business ventures, his second wife filed
for divorce and further tapped him,
>   and he fell too much in love with alcohol. He spiraled toward the drain,
sleeping on benches on the streets in
>   San Francisco he had once owned. He drifted to Mexico, where he sold
pencils on a street corner in Nogales.
>   Because of his notoriety, many history books written near the turn of
the century fail to mention Brannan or if
>   his name cropped up at all, it was carried as a footnote. More recent
scholars have raised him back to the
>   position he rightly deserves; a tainted and eccentric angel who founded
San Francisco, orchestrated the
>   Gold Rush of '49, created Calistoga, began one of California's first
newspapers, brought quick and violent
>   peace to San Francisco, and went over Brigham Young's head directly to
God to keep his ill-gotten fortune.
>
>*********************
>
>My guess is to look up the quote in the California Star archives, wherever
>they may reside.
>
>I guess we can blame the California gold rush on the Mormons.  They were
>the first to discover gold in the American River, and one of their own
>announced it to the world.
>
>A street in San Francisco (not on Yerba Buena) is named after Brannan.
>
>As for the gold, the real gold was in land speculation and transportation.
>Oh those railroads!!!!
>
>Hal