Many desertions, too, have taken
place from the garrisons within the influence of these mines;
twenty-six soldiers have deserted from the post of Sonoma, twenty-four
from that of San Francisco, and twenty-four from Monterey. I have no
hesitation now in saying, that there is more gold in the country
drained by the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers than will pay the cost
of the present war with Mexico a hundred times over. No capital is
required to obtain this gold, as the labouring man wants nothing but
his pick and shovel and tin pan, with which to dig and wash the gravel,
and many frequently pick gold out of the crevices of rocks with their
knives, in pieces of from one to six ounces.
"Gold is also believed to exist on the eastern slope of the Sierra
Nevada; and, when at the mines, I was informed by an intelligent Mormon
that it had been found near the Great Salt Lake by some of his
fraternity. Nearly all the Mormons are leaving California to go to the
Salt Lake; and this they surely would not do unless they were sure of
finding gold there, in the same abundance as they now do on the
Sacramento.
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