Present at the Discovery of Gold at Sutter's Mill

Henry William Bigler was present at Sutter's Mill in California in 1848 when the first gold was discovered, becoming one of the earliest witnesses to the California Gold Rush. He kept a detailed journal documenting this historically significant event. His providential presence at this pivotal moment in American history connected him to one of the most transformative economic events of the 19th century.

Bigler's diary settled the date of the discovery for history. His entry for 24 January 1848 reads: "Monday 24th this day some kind of mettle was was found in the tail race that that looks like goald." (The doubled words are Bigler's own, as transcribed by scholars from the original journal.) Bigler was a veteran of the Mormon Battalion who, after his discharge, had found work at Sutter's Mill on the American River alongside his fellow Battalion veterans. For many years the precise date of the gold discovery was debated; Bigler's carefully kept journal ended the controversy, and his entry is the reason January 24 is celebrated as the date of the discovery that transformed California.