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拍品专文
A vivid and richly detailed eyewitness account penned in the immediate aftermath of the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill on 24 January 1848. Written by John Augustus Sutter, the man whose land became the epicenter of the gold frenzy, this letter offers an incredibly rich narrative of the earliest days of the gold rush. When last offered for sale in 1988, it was the centerpiece for the Gold Rush in Estelle Doheny’s renowned collection of Western Americana.
Sutter writes with urgency and astonishment at the scale of the gold finds, describing a rapidly expanding gold region stretching over forty miles, with rich placers and yielding unprecedented returns. The letter captures the feverish atmosphere of the moment: partnerships forming, towns springing up, and laborers abandoning their posts to join the rush.
In part, in translation: "... Mr. Leinhard wrote you a few lines at the time gold was discovered near my saw mill. From that time on, many considerable discoveries have been made. Gold is found now twenty miles from here and extends up to the saw mill in the width of twenty to thirty miles and about forty miles in length: that is as far as we have traced it ... I am strongly convinced that the gold region extends as far as San Fernando and upwards from here to the end of the Sacramento Valley. It seems almost unbelievable how rich these plazeros [placers] and mines have proved to be. Nothing equalling them has ever been found in Mexico, in Peru or in Chile. The workers make at least an average of $4 to $5 a day. Where the Mormons are operating, one has found in one single washing $60. Business in the stores is quite active. Mr. Smith has received in three days thirty ounces of gold and has only a few men working for him. ...
Messrs. Abeck and Schmidt Zimmerman have formed a partnership and they start tomorrow for the mountains for washing gold. Abeck has been there before and has made out very well. You shall see that Sutterville will immediately become a town and another small town will spring up near the saw mill, which will give me a splendid market for my boards. My flour mill would have been finished by this time had not every one of the workers gone after gold, but it will be ready within three weeks time. I do not need to look now for another market for my flour, as within six months at least three thousand souls will be hereabouts. I expect my family here in about five months."
Sutter's letter was prophetic. By the close of 1848, current estimates are that 4000 would-be miners had arrived in the region. In the whole Gold Rush there were about 300,000 forty-niners, arriving from around the globe and more than tripling the population of California. Sutter, born in Baden of Swiss parentage, writes this letter in German but uses the Spanish plazeros for placers and writes "Uncle Sam" in English. The German for "gold" is "gold."
Sutter writes with urgency and astonishment at the scale of the gold finds, describing a rapidly expanding gold region stretching over forty miles, with rich placers and yielding unprecedented returns. The letter captures the feverish atmosphere of the moment: partnerships forming, towns springing up, and laborers abandoning their posts to join the rush.
In part, in translation: "... Mr. Leinhard wrote you a few lines at the time gold was discovered near my saw mill. From that time on, many considerable discoveries have been made. Gold is found now twenty miles from here and extends up to the saw mill in the width of twenty to thirty miles and about forty miles in length: that is as far as we have traced it ... I am strongly convinced that the gold region extends as far as San Fernando and upwards from here to the end of the Sacramento Valley. It seems almost unbelievable how rich these plazeros [placers] and mines have proved to be. Nothing equalling them has ever been found in Mexico, in Peru or in Chile. The workers make at least an average of $4 to $5 a day. Where the Mormons are operating, one has found in one single washing $60. Business in the stores is quite active. Mr. Smith has received in three days thirty ounces of gold and has only a few men working for him. ...
Messrs. Abeck and Schmidt Zimmerman have formed a partnership and they start tomorrow for the mountains for washing gold. Abeck has been there before and has made out very well. You shall see that Sutterville will immediately become a town and another small town will spring up near the saw mill, which will give me a splendid market for my boards. My flour mill would have been finished by this time had not every one of the workers gone after gold, but it will be ready within three weeks time. I do not need to look now for another market for my flour, as within six months at least three thousand souls will be hereabouts. I expect my family here in about five months."
Sutter's letter was prophetic. By the close of 1848, current estimates are that 4000 would-be miners had arrived in the region. In the whole Gold Rush there were about 300,000 forty-niners, arriving from around the globe and more than tripling the population of California. Sutter, born in Baden of Swiss parentage, writes this letter in German but uses the Spanish plazeros for placers and writes "Uncle Sam" in English. The German for "gold" is "gold."