My dad told stories, really great stories.

One story that he told consistently was a tale about a gold prospector and his animal companions a bull and a burro. I remember many nights when we would have what we called bull and burro nights. My dad would fry some potatoes and make some pinto beans because these were the meals the gold prospector would make for himself.

He would talk about the rugged terrain they traveled, what the gold prospector carried and how the bull and burro came to be the prospectors companions. I never really paid that much attention as a child so a lot of the stories have left my memory over the years since his death but here I am going to tell them as well as I can with factual history as I go along.

I didn’t know or remember where the prospector started his travels, so, I am starting from Texas. I know my dad had mentioned that he was born in Georgia so in my story the prospector leaves Georgia for Texas and from there heads to California in 1849 becoming one of the 49ers.

To the best of my knowledge I will recount the story of the prospector and his adventures with all of the historical knowledge I can find from that era.

I will also name him Robert in memory of my late father.

California in the 1800’s was known as Baja California It was part of Mexico and the Spaniards thought it was a large island.

When the Spaniards ventured further inland they discovered that California was not an island at all, it was in fact connected to a larger land mass that later would become the United states.

In 1847 American troops fought Mexico for California and won making the territory part of the United States.

Johann Sutter had established a fort which he named Sutters Fort in 1848 and began to make plans to start his own town he was going to call Sutterville.

Sutter realized he would need a sawmill that he could use to process lumber to build homes for all the settlers who he knew were coming to California.

He asked his business partner James Marshall to find a suitable site where a sawmill could be built and very soon Marshall found a suitable place in an area named Coloma. It was here in a river in January of 1848 that Marshall found gold. Soon many would come to the gold fields of California it would take time for word to spread but in 1849 settlers from all across the newly formed Americas would venture through this new land. These settlers would become part of the Gold Rush of 1849 and be known as the 49ers.

Congress, L. O. (n.d.). Early California History: An Overview. Www.loc.com. Retrieved July 12, 2025, from https://www.loc.gov/collections/california-first-person-narratives/articles-and-essays/early-california-history/turn-of-the-century-in-california/

** The story * *

In 1845 Robert worked in cotton fields in the area known as The Republic of Texas.

 Unrest with Mexico and more Union Soldiers entering the area filled him with fear and dread. Robert enlisted in the Army and joined in the fight against Mexico but by 1849 the fighting had ended and Robert became restless.

He began to hear rumors of gold being found in an area called California, Robert had no family in Texas. He had lived there and worked and fought collectively for about 15 years. He felt it was time to go, so he collected what little – possessions he had by rolling them up in his blanket, tied them to his back with rope and began his journey to California.

A Fellow soldier told Robert to start in Independence.

The town of indepen­dence, the soldier told him, is where settlers go to travel west. He told Robert he had never been there but knew of a trail called The California trail, the soldier said all trails to the west began in Independence and Roberts journey would be somewhat safe.

So Robert headed North with the fellow soldier by his side. The soldier was not going to California. He had a wife and child that he had lost during the war so when the pair reached Independence he was going to take another path to New York. The soldier said that was the last place he knew his wife and child had been and he needed to know if they were still alive.

Robert had a mother and father of course but he had vague memories of them. He had left them in Georgia when he was 16. He had no Idea of the month or the year just that he felt it was time for him to leave. He ended his journey from Georgia on a cotton plantation in Texas where he was regularly beaten and starved.

His salvation came in the form of Army requitement. Then he had spent his time at various forts across Texas. Always fighting either Indians or Mexicans. Then when fighting ended his sergeant told him his service was over and to be on his way. Now he found himself traveling to another state.

Robert didn’t know the month or the day but he knew the year, 1849. If he was lucky it would still be 1849 when he reached California, but Robert knew it wouldn’t be an easy journey. He also knew he may not make it at all. He could die before he even sees a field of gold. All Robert was sure of was he was going on an adventure in to the Wilds of America.