Let's imagine for a second that you have a vantage point from space so you can gaze back at Earth. And pretend you have a GPS system in your hands as you punch in coordinates, 38N 48' 00", 120W 53' 00." While you are being transported to the designated location, clock numbers are moving backward in time.
When the journey ends, you find yourself standing in a remote area of the South Fork of American River in a valley which the Southern Maidu Indian people know as "Cullumah,"
The date is January 24th 1848 and your name is James W. Marshall. You have just noticed several flakes of metal in the tailrace water of a sawmill that you have been building, AND you know the metal is GOLD.
What you don't yet know, is your discovery will act as catalyst to the greatest mass movement of people in the Western Hemisphere, and begin the growth of the West. "Cullumah" in the future will become known as "Coloma" - and your event will be logged in history as "The California Gold Discovery and Gold Rush."
In the year 2011, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, sits approximately 40 miles or so from Sacramento. A number of historical buildings are within the park, as well as the Marshall Sawmill pictured in the slideshow above. The Sawmill was a joint venture for the interests of James Marshall and John Sutter (Sutter's Fort). Sutter had obtained land grants which required lumber for building in Sacramento - downriver from Coloma. There were many tall pine trees to be milled in the vicinity of Coloma.
The life of James Marshall presented many facets in the coming years after his gold discovery at Coloma. He never "struck it rich." In the following year (1849), aggressive Oregon gold-miners entered into an ugly dispute with the native Indian Nisenan. The Indians were murdered, and Marshall had to flee for his life. After a number of years, he returned to Coloma, where in lived in a hillside cabin, raised grapes and made a little wine, but lived in poverty. He died in nearby Kelsey in 1885.
The area has easy parking, and delightfully shaded picnic grounds, which make for a perfect family outing.
For more information and history you can access: "California Parks Marshall Gold Discovery Brochure."