Gold Rush Saints : California Mormons and the Great Rush for Riches

by Owens, Kenneth N.

• ISBN13: 9780870623363
• ISBN10: 0870623362
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-08-01
• Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr

Summary

From 1846 to 1857 Mormons played a crucial role in shaping events in California and the West. They were the first American settlers of San Francisco, and without them, John Sutter might not have built his sawmill and thus discovered gold in 1848. In Gold Rush Saints, Kenneth N. Owens combines narrative history and documentary accounts to reveal a hidden wealth of California and Mormon history. The first-person accounts of pioneer Mormons, both men and women, offer new perspectives on myths and realities of gold rush California.

Author Biography

Kenneth N. Owens is Professor Emeritus of History and Ethnic Studies at California State University, Sacramento

Table of Contents

Contents	7	(3)
Illustrations	10	(1)
Foreword	11	(5)
Acknowledgments	16	(5)
Editorial Procedures	21	(2)
Introduction	23	(8)
I. "FOR THE COMING OF THE CHURCH": THE BROOKLYN SAINTS ARRIVE IN CALIFORNIA	31	(26)
Samuel C. Damon: California is Now to be the Grand Central Rendezvous
William Glover: We Thanked God for What We Had
Edward Kemble: A New Civil and Ecclesiastical Dominion
James Skinner: There Was Plenty for All, But the Big Fish Got It
William Glover: There Was Continual Improvement in the City
Addison Pratt: There Was Much Dissatisfaction among the Brooklyn Brethren
Isaac Leigh: Aplenty of First Rate Beef Stake
Brigham Young: We Have No Business in San Francisco
William Glover: The Company Was Broken Up
Francis Hammond: I Did Not Feel It My Duty to Remain There and Go into Speculations
2. "RETURN TO CALIFORNIA AND GO TO WORK": THE BATTALION VETERANS FOLLOW CHURCH COUNSEL.	57	(34)
Jefferson Hunt: We Are a Much Superior Race to the Americans
Zadock Judd: I Wanted to Get Home or Back to the Church
James and William Pace: We Parted with Those Returning to Calafornia
Samuel Miles: Here We Found Our Brethren and Employment
Brigham Young: Not That We Wish to Depopulate California of All the Saints
John Borrowman: Elder Brannan Delivered a Lecture
Bring With You All That You Can of Things That Will Be of Value
Henry W. Bigler: We Made a Bargain with Sutter
Robert Pixton: We Couldn't Help Each Other to a Drink of Water
John A. Sutter: The Mormons Are the Best Workers I Have
3. "GOLD, BOYS, GOLD!": MORMON BEGINNINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH.	91	(34)
John Sutter: Made a Contract and Entered into Partnership with Marshall
James S. Brown: The Great and Memorable Discovery of the California Gold
James S. Brown: To Wait upon Mr. Sutter
James W. Marshall: My Men Were Great With the Ax
James S. Brown: He Was Rather a Notional Man
Henry W Bigler: His Eye Caught the Glimmer of Something
James W. Marshall: They Were All a Good Deal Excited
Henry W Bigler: O Boys, It Is The Pure Stuff!
Henry W. Bigler: By Joe! It Is Rich!
Samuel Brannan: I Hear You Are Finding Gold
James W. Marshall: Soon The Whole Country Was In a Bustle
4. "I CERTAINLY NEVER MADE MONEY SO FAST": MINING AT MORMON ISLAND AND NATOMAS DIGGINGS	125	(32)
Nathan Hawk: It Was Mining in a Primitive Way
James S. Brown: The Search for Gold Was Commenced in Earnest
David Campbell: A Hand-saw, Draw-knife, Hatchet, Pick and Shovel
John Borrowman: Elder Brannan Called a Meeting and Informed Us of a Gold Mine
Addison Pratt: Strong Accusations against Brannan
William Glover: All Agreed to Protect Each Other's Claims
Francis A. Hammond: A Wild, Mad Rush to Get to The Mines
John Borrowman: Arranging Our Labour in the Mines
Addison Pratt: Enough of Brannan's Tricks
Zadock Judd: A Hundred Dollars Worth of Gold, or More, in a Day
Francis A. Hammond: I Had Not Lost All Love for Gold
John Borrowman: A Party with Pack Mules Started for Salt Lake
James S. Brown: A Higher Object Before Me Than Gold
Elijah Elmer: Gold Is Not A Going To Stop Me
5. "WE LEFT THE GOLD FIELDS OF CALIFORNIA": OPENING THE CARSON PASS WAGON ROAD	157	(44)
Samuel H. Rogers: The Snow Falling Fast, We Turned Back and Camped
Robert Pixton: Someone Should Go Ahead and Look Out a Road
Samuel Rogers: They Ware Taken By Surprise
Tragedy Spring
Henry W. Bigler: A Monument to All Who May Chance to Pass
Elijah Elmer: The Roads Worse than Ever
Crossing West Pass
Samuel H. Rogers: Down the Back Bone
Over Carson Pass
Henry W. Bigler: We Began to Have Hope
Into Carson Valley
Richard M. May: The Glowing Stories of the Mormons of the Gold Mines
John Borrowman: The Roughest Road I Ever Saw
Joseph Bates: Reached Salt Lake City in Thirty-two Days
The Packers
Addison Pratt: Dances Proceeded and Continued Till Five Oclock
Melissa Coray: The Worst Night I Ever Spent
6. "GREEDY AFTER THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD": BRIGHAM YOUNG'S CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH POLICY	201	(44)
Nathan Hawk: I Do Not Want My People to Go Digging for Their God
Brigham Young: It Would Ruin Us
Brigham Young and Gold
Got Ready and Started for California: Levi Ricer's 1848 California Trip
Francis A. Hammond: Against All Human Foresight
Brigham Young: Go and Be Damned
Myron Tanner: The Saints Who Wandered Off
Brigham Young: A Present of Twenty Thousand Dollars
Amasa Lyman: Labor Has Been Wasted Leaving No Traces
William Glover: The Lord Put a Hook in Their Jaws
Amasa Lyman: To Procure Gold Requires Economy and Labour
Henry W. Bigler: A Complete Shower of Tears
Albert K. Thurber: Fit Us Out and Get 1/3 of What Each Made
A Man Having the Spirit of God is a Rare Treat in California
Brigham Young: Did You Get Rich?
Asa Call: As Successful as Heart Could Desire
Brigham Young: The Wisdom of the Lord in Opening the Gold Mines
Brigham Young: The Giddy, Vain, Foolish Vanities of the World
Brigham Young: Poor, Ignorant Pusillanimous Creatures!
7. "THE WHOLE COUNTRY WAS AGOG WITH EXCITEMENT": MORMON MINING, FARMING, TRADE, AND TRAVEL IN THE GOLD COUNTRY	245	(54)
James H. Skinner: A Most Lovely Country
A Gods Country
Robert Perch: A Pocket Full Of Rocks
Emeline Lane Sirrine: All Kinds of People Collecting Here
Mary Ann Fisher Cheney: We Shall Stay Here Some Time
W.W. Riter: Turned His Attention to Digging for Gold
Abner Blackburn: We Took Out in About Five Hours About Four Hundred Dollars in Coarse Gold
James Sly: All Sorts of Bad Luck Attended Us
James S. Brown: They Expected To Scoop Gold by Shovelfuls
Albert K. Thurber: The Gold Was Beautiful, Mostly Nuggets
Thomas Morris: I Soon Possessed Myself of Five or Six Dollars, So I Was a Miner
Goudy E. Hogan: Farewell to My Brethern on the Old Claim
Edwin Pettit: We Were Not Very Successful at the Mines
George W. Hickerson: Still Looking for the Main Pile
Solomon Chamberlain: Gold Digging Was Cried Up Very Much
Thomas Orr, Jr.: Possibilities in the Hotel Business
8. "TO DEFEND YOURSELVES AGAINST ALL OUR FOES": THE LDS REFORMATION, THE UTAH WAR, AND THE SUMMONS TO ZION	299	(52)
Nelson Slater: Indignant at the Treatment They Received
George Q. Cannon: Neither Unconstitutional Nor Unscriptural
Frederick W. Hurst: I Never Want to Be in a Greater Hell
Frederick W Hurst: We Might Get Mobbed Out
Brigham Young: Secure As Much Ammunition As You Can
O.B. Huntington: On Gods Business for His People & Kingdom
Peter Conover: Determined to Take the Ammunition
Frederick W. Hurst: I Can Shoulder My Rifle With as Good Grace as to Get Up and Preach
Eli Bell: The Returning Missionary Company
9. "WE ARE THE MEN THAT DEVELOPED THE RESOURCES OF THE PACIFIC COAST": THE FORGOTTEN HERITAGE OF CALIFORNIA'S GOLD RUSH SAINTS	351	(22)
Brigham Young: Some of You Will Be Off to California
George A. Smith: We are the Pioneers of the Great West
Orson Pratt: Where Would Have Been the Gold Mines?
Brigham Young: California, California, California, California
Abner Blackburn: We Started an Empire in the West
The Richest People on Earth: History, California, and the Mormons
Bibliography	373	(12)
Secondary Sources: Books	373	(5)
Secondary Sources: Articles and Book Chapters	378	(1)
Published Primary Sources	379	(3)
Unpublished Primary Sources	382	(3)
Index	385	(12)
The Editor	397