James Wilson Marshall
And the Coloma Valley
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.
Marker can be reached from State Highway 49.
Courtesy hmdb.org
