Weekday Devotion With Pastor Chris

Quick: who discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill and started the California gold rush?  If you said James W. Marshall you would be right.  Now you would think that being the first he must have made a fortune in the years that followed, but he didn’t.  Thirty seven years later, after a number of failed ventures, Marshall died penniless in a small cabin in Kelsey, California.  What happened?

James Marshall was born in Hopewell Township, New Jersey in 1810.  He left New Jersey in 1834, and ten years later ended up in Missouri where he fell in love.  Unfortunately, his beloved did not reciprocate his feelings.  When he contracted malaria she, along with his doctor, suggested it might be best if he moved to Oregon (ouch!).  He arrived in Oregon in 1845 but continued on down to California where he was hired by a man named John Sutter to perform odd jobs around his trading post.

Marshall had just begun to establish a farm and cattle ranch when war broke out with Mexico.  When he returned a year later he found that his cattle had either strayed or been stolen.  Without a source of income, he lost his property.  That’s when Sutter hired him to build a saw-mill on the middle fork of the American River, forty miles above Sutter’s fort.

As the mill progressed, Marshall began using the power of the river to help excavate a ditch.  He was examining the ditch on the morning of January 24, 1848, when he saw an unusual glimmer in the sunlight.  He picked up a couple of pieces, and then smashed one between two rocks.  Instead of shattering (which sulphuret of iron would have done), the piece bent and flattened.  Marshall had discovered gold.  Not long after, the great gold rush began.

Marshall was in a perfect position to make a fortune.  Why didn’t he?  It is hard to say.  One venture after another ended in failure.  Even John Sutter did not fare well.  Both men were capable enough.  They just couldn’t seem to capitalize on this extraordinary opportunity that had come their way.

People dream about finding gold, but finding it is no guarantee that it will take us where we hope to go.  In fact, the most valuable things in life tend to be the things we can’t buy: friendship; love; compassion; a sense of purpose; a grateful heart; a relationship with God.  King David knew all about the pursuit of wealth and power, but ultimately he found something far more precious – the guidance of God which brings us life.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart… More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.” Ps. 19:7-10)


-Pastor Chris