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Ishmael · 04-21-10, 09:31 PM

As a Brother of Equal Indignity of the Ancient & Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_Clampus_Vitus

we have 170-year familiarity with the Latter-Day Saints. Also, in the interest of historical accuracy, we do not accept the official Church history as necessarily accurate. We invite our historically-minded friends to investigate the life of THIS man,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Brannan

a friend of Joseph Smith, an early LDS member and the leader appointed by Smith to bring a shipload of Mormon settlers by sea to the New Zion of California. We also invite you to investigate the other concurrent stories involving

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_Battalion

and this,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush

and this man,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...nnett_(soldier)

The original plan of the LDS, as our historians have found, involved a triple migration to California, Brannan's party by sea, Young's overland party and the Mormon Battalion under Col. Stephen Watts Kearney. It was only when Young's party emerged from the Wasatch range to see the Great Salt Lake that Young had his epiphany.

While this was going on, Brannan's party had already arrived in California with the Mormon Battalion arriving soon after. Many of Brannan's party had settled in the Sacramento area and Brannan had signed a deal to open a dry goods store there in addition to the one he had begun in San Francisco along with his paper, The Alta Californian. All but two of the people Marshall hired to build the sawmill at Coloma were Mormons from Brannan's party. This is where things get interesting.

Contrary to most historical accounts, Bennett was WITH Marshall and, some say, actually saw the gold in the millrace first. Because the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo had not yet been signed, both men were sworn to secrecy by Sutter and kept together until the discovery could be reported to Col. Mason, the military governor of California and his adjutant, Lt. William T. Sherman, who were in Monterey. The only towns between Sutter's Fort and Yerba Buena were in Vallejo, where David G. Farragut was organizing the Mare Island Shipyard, and the newly created town of Benicia, where the ferry landing to the newly-renamed San Francisco was located.

Now there are many historical accounts naming Brannan as the source of the News of the Gold Strike at Coloma, but almost no information on how he obtained it. Here is the answer to that riddle as I have gleaned from local Benicia historians.

On Brannan's trips from SF to Sacramento, he would often tend bar at Von Pfister's Saloon in Benicia. Captain Von Pfister had hired Brannan for the job due to the Mormon's teetotaling ways. So it was Brannan who was working the day Marshall and Bennett rode into town to catch the ferry and packet to Monterey for their report to Mason and Sherman. As they were sitting in the Saloon, with about 2 ounces of gold dust and nuggets in their pockets, Marshall and Bennett witnessed a whole group of Missouri boys who had just come in from Mt. Diablo with news of a coal strike there. This was a big deal since coal could be mined to supply the steamers bringing settlers west. So after about 3-4 hours of talk of the Coal strike, Bennett finally got fed up with it and stated the following:

"I'll show you the kind of "Coal" we're finding at Sutter's Mill!"

and slammed a bag of gold nuggets on the bar. Brannan, on seeing this, took the rest of the day off and spent it and the following day buying up every pick, pan and shovel in Benicia, Vallejo and SF that he didn't already own. Only then, when he owned every piece of mining equipment in Northern California, did he march down Market street yelling,

"Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!"

Meanwhile, all the Mormon work crew were all finding gold wherever they turned around so work on the sawmill came to a halt. After first holding Sutter up for higher wages, the Mormons finally quit and moved 1/2 mile down the American River to Mormon Island to pan out their piles. This was Brannan's destination after selling out his mining equipment in order to collect the 1/5 of the Mormons' gold as tithes to the church. Sherman's Journals have an amusing story of his and Mason's first encounter with Brannan at Mormon Island some weeks after.

And that's how the word of the gold discovery leaked out, why the Mormon Tabernacle is gilded with California Gold and why they live in Utah instead of California.

Now why should you believe any of this tale? Because one of our Clamper brothers, Samuel Clemens, based his tale, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" on a Clamper doins. Also, it was our Brotherhood that was responsible for the great Drake's Bay Plaque Hoax.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake%27s_Plate_of_Brass

Credo Quia Absurdum
ECV

04-21-10, 09:31 PM	#75
Ishmael Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Morro Bay, Ca. Posts: 659 Downloads: 79 Uploads: 0	As a Brother of Equal Indignity of the Ancient & Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_Clampus_Vitus we have 170-year familiarity with the Latter-Day Saints. Also, in the interest of historical accuracy, we do not accept the official Church history as necessarily accurate. We invite our historically-minded friends to investigate the life of THIS man, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Brannan a friend of Joseph Smith, an early LDS member and the leader appointed by Smith to bring a shipload of Mormon settlers by sea to the New Zion of California. We also invite you to investigate the other concurrent stories involving http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_Battalion and this, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush and this man, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...nnett_(soldier) The original plan of the LDS, as our historians have found, involved a triple migration to California, Brannan's party by sea, Young's overland party and the Mormon Battalion under Col. Stephen Watts Kearney. It was only when Young's party emerged from the Wasatch range to see the Great Salt Lake that Young had his epiphany. While this was going on, Brannan's party had already arrived in California with the Mormon Battalion arriving soon after. Many of Brannan's party had settled in the Sacramento area and Brannan had signed a deal to open a dry goods store there in addition to the one he had begun in San Francisco along with his paper, The Alta Californian. All but two of the people Marshall hired to build the sawmill at Coloma were Mormons from Brannan's party. This is where things get interesting. Contrary to most historical accounts, Bennett was WITH Marshall and, some say, actually saw the gold in the millrace first. Because the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo had not yet been signed, both men were sworn to secrecy by Sutter and kept together until the discovery could be reported to Col. Mason, the military governor of California and his adjutant, Lt. William T. Sherman, who were in Monterey. The only towns between Sutter's Fort and Yerba Buena were in Vallejo, where David G. Farragut was organizing the Mare Island Shipyard, and the newly created town of Benicia, where the ferry landing to the newly-renamed San Francisco was located. Now there are many historical accounts naming Brannan as the source of the News of the Gold Strike at Coloma, but almost no information on how he obtained it. Here is the answer to that riddle as I have gleaned from local Benicia historians. On Brannan's trips from SF to Sacramento, he would often tend bar at Von Pfister's Saloon in Benicia. Captain Von Pfister had hired Brannan for the job due to the Mormon's teetotaling ways. So it was Brannan who was working the day Marshall and Bennett rode into town to catch the ferry and packet to Monterey for their report to Mason and Sherman. As they were sitting in the Saloon, with about 2 ounces of gold dust and nuggets in their pockets, Marshall and Bennett witnessed a whole group of Missouri boys who had just come in from Mt. Diablo with news of a coal strike there. This was a big deal since coal could be mined to supply the steamers bringing settlers west. So after about 3-4 hours of talk of the Coal strike, Bennett finally got fed up with it and stated the following: "I'll show you the kind of "Coal" we're finding at Sutter's Mill!" and slammed a bag of gold nuggets on the bar. Brannan, on seeing this, took the rest of the day off and spent it and the following day buying up every pick, pan and shovel in Benicia, Vallejo and SF that he didn't already own. Only then, when he owned every piece of mining equipment in Northern California, did he march down Market street yelling, "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!" Meanwhile, all the Mormon work crew were all finding gold wherever they turned around so work on the sawmill came to a halt. After first holding Sutter up for higher wages, the Mormons finally quit and moved 1/2 mile down the American River to Mormon Island to pan out their piles. This was Brannan's destination after selling out his mining equipment in order to collect the 1/5 of the Mormons' gold as tithes to the church. Sherman's Journals have an amusing story of his and Mason's first encounter with Brannan at Mormon Island some weeks after. And that's how the word of the gold discovery leaked out, why the Mormon Tabernacle is gilded with California Gold and why they live in Utah instead of California. Now why should you believe any of this tale? Because one of our Clamper brothers, Samuel Clemens, based his tale, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" on a Clamper doins. Also, it was our Brotherhood that was responsible for the great Drake's Bay Plaque Hoax. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake%27s_Plate_of_Brass Credo Quia Absurdum ECV Last edited by Ishmael; 04-21-10 at 09:43 PM.