r story. They were called up next, and, of course,
saw the precious metal. P.L. Weimer and Charles Bennett were at the old
double log cabin (where Hastings and Company afterward kept a store).

"In the mean time we put in some wheat and peas, nearly five acres,
across the river. In February the Captain (Captain Sutter) came to the
mountains for the first time. Then we consummated a treaty with the
Indians, which had been previously negotiated. The tenor of this was
that we were to pay them two hundred dollars yearly in goods, at Yerba
Buena prices, for the joint possession and occupation of the land with
them; they agreeing not to kill our stock, viz., horses, cattle, hogs,
or sheep, nor burn the grass within the limits fixed by the treaty. At
the same time Captain Sutter, myself, and Isaac Humphrey entered into a
copartnership to dig gold. A short time afterward, P.L. Weimer moved
away from the mill, and was away two or three months, when he returned.
With all the events that subsequently occurred, you and the public are
well informed."

This is the most precise and is generally considered to be the most
correct account of the gold discovery. Other versions of the story have
been published, however, and the following, from an article published in
the Coloma _Argus_, in the latter part of the year 1855, is one of them.
The statement was evidently derived from Weimer, who lives at Coloma:

"That James W. Marshall picked up the first piece of gold is beyond
doubt. Peter L. Weimer, who resides in this place, states positively
that Marshall picked up the gold in his presence; they both saw it and
each spoke at the same time, 'What's that yellow stuff?' Marshall, being
a step in advance, picked it up. This first piece of gold is now in the
possession of Mrs. Weimer, and weighs six pennyweights eleven grains.
The piece was given to her by Marshall himself. The dam was finished
early in January, the frame for the mill also erected, and the flume and
bulkhead completed. It was at this time that Marshall and Weimer adopted
the plan of raising the gate during the night to wash out sand from the
mill-race, closing it during the day, when work would be continued with
shovels, etc.

"Early in February--the exact day is not remembered--in the morning,
after shutting off the water, Marshall and Weimer walked down the race
together to see what the water had accomplished during the night. Having
gone about twenty yards below the mill