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| Washington Telegraph advertisement, 1849, courtesy of the Arkansas State Archives |
James W. Marshall was working Jan. 24, 1848, at his sawmill in
Coloma, California, when he saw a glint in a nearby stream. Curious, Marshall
walked over to investigate and discovered gold.
As news about the gold spread,
people across the country, including in Arkansas, packed up their belongings
and started the arduous trip across the U.S. to California.
Many Arkansans packed up their earthly goods to seek their
fortunes. Others began seeking gold in their own state.
For those heading to the West Coast, a popular starting point for
going to California was Van Buren in Crawford County. The westward route was about
1,300 miles of rugged terrain, and travelers would face many challenges along
the way. The Comanche and Apache nations were hostile toward travelers encroaching
on their lands. Even if travelers avoided attacks, it was impossible to avoid
the arid desert and high altitude landscape of the Colorado Plateau and the
Rocky Mountains. Only the most prepared travelers would be able to make it to
California.
Van Buren merchants made sure their stores were stocked with items
for the trip. Fort Smith and Van Buren benefited financially from the gold rush
because they were located on the main road that headed west. As the first town
on the route, Van Buren seemed to profit the most from the travelers. Outfitting
businesses sprang up overnight. The towns’ hotels also saw a modest gain in
business.
After all, this would be the last hotel on the trail until Santa Fe,
New Mexico. The editor of the Fort Smith Weekly Herald remarked, “If gold is to
be found on them as plentiful as represented, we shall expect to see our town
continually filling with persons going there in quest of gold as we are
situated on the right road to those mountains.”
Because of difficulties in traveling, some gold hunters hoped
there would be a gold deposit closer to home. It was not long before rumors of
gold deposits surfaced.
One story had it that a Native American man visiting Louisiana
presented a large lump of gold. When inspected, it was revealed to be authentic.
The Van Buren Intelligencer reported the man saw the look of surprise from
people inspecting his gold and boasted that “If they called that gold, he could
show them a household of it.” He said the gold came from the shores of the
Arkansas River near an unincorporated area called Walnut Creek in the Wichita
Mountains in Indian Territory.
Another story held two men living near Walnut Creek discovered
gold dust on the creek bank. After further exploration, the two men announced
to the public that their find was massive.
Those who gathered at Van Buren chose Col. William Black, a long-time
resident of Northwest Arkansas, to lead the expedition. Black had traveled to
Walnut Creek in 1826 and claimed he recalled the shores of the creek were
shining with gold sands. At the time, he and his traveling companions decided
that sifting through the sand would be too time consuming and vowed to return
to see if they could mine the area. Now he was getting his chance. “I certainly
believe,” he promised, “if we go prepared with a proper outfit and not be in
too great a hurry as we were before, we will get gold enough to pay us well for
our trouble.”
Eighty prospectors set out Aug. 15, 1849, from Van Buren with dreams
of gold and riches. They arrived in the Wichita Mountains two weeks later and
set to work. They toiled for weeks with little to no success at finding gold,
and soon, people in the company became disillusioned with the enterprise.
C.W. LeGrand, who traveled from Franklin Parish, Louisiana, to
join the group, left the expedition in November. When asked about his time in
the mountains, he told the Van Buren Intelligencer, “Though the trip has not
been altogether an unpleasant one, I feel that I would have enjoyed myself more
at home.”
Black could not account for the gold sand he claimed to have seen
in 1826. Some in the camps grumbled it was not gold he saw, but mica, a mineral
that can glitter like gold. As 1850 dawned, those still in the camp began to
slowly drift either back to Arkansas or onward to California. Despite this, over
the next 70 years, prospectors took the trip to the Wichita Mountains in search
of Col. Black’s lost gold. Today, the region is dotted with ghost towns and the
remains of failed mining operations.
Even though expeditions to the Wichita Mountains failed, the
promise of gold in California continued to bring travelers through Arkansas. The
town of Van Buren went from sleepy to bustling, full of energy, and vibrant.
For more information about Arkansas history, visit the Arkansas
State Archives at 1 Capitol Mall, Suite 215, email state.archives@arkansas.gov or
call 501-682-6900.
