History
James Marshall arrived in the “Collumah”, valley home of the Nisenan, on May 8, 1847 to map the site for a sawmill he was to build in partnership with John Sutter. On August 18, Marshall returned with a crew, mostly Mormons, to build the mill. On Monday morning, January 24, 1848, while inspecting the tailrace downstream of the partially completed mill, Marshall picked up a flake of pure gold. The valley, the lives of Marshall and the Nisenan, and the land called California were forever changed.
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Coloma, California · United States
