[7] At Sutter's saw-mill, from which the Culloma valley takes its second name, Mr Johnson saw and conversed with Mr Marshall, a proprietor of the mill, and one of the first discoverers of the gold. The discovery was made when cutting out the mill-race, across a portion of the former bed of a stream. "He pointed out to us the particular location of the first discoveries. This is some fifty yards below the mill, where a large fir-tree extends across the race. He stated that they threw up a good deal of gold, mixed with the sand and clay, before they seriously examined it, or ascertained its character." It must have struck many as singular, that gold mines so near the surface should so long have been unobserved. California was explored as far back as the year 1700 by the Jesuit Eusebio Kino, who first ascertained it to be part of the great American continent, and not an island, as was previously believed: Soon afterwards, missionary stations were established there, paving the way for the Spanish conquest of the country. Some of the _padres_ still remain, but their mission-houses are dilapidated, and their influence is gone. To them Mr Johnson attributes the long concealment of the metallic wealth of California. "That these priests were cognisant of the abundance of the precious metal at that period, (a century ago,) is now well known; but they were members of the extraordinary society of the Jesuits, which, jealous of its all-pervading influence, and dreading the effect of a large Protestant emigration to the western, as well as to the eastern shores of America, applied its powerful injunctions of secrecy to the members of the order; and their faithful obedience, during so long a period, is another proof both of the strength and the danger of their organisation."--_Sights in the Gold Regions_, p. 111. [8] "This '_placer_,' or _bar_, is simply the higher portion of the sandy and rocky bed of the stream which, during the seasons of high water, is covered with the rushing torrent, but was now partially or entirely exposed. This is covered with large stones and rocks, or, on the smooth sand, with clumps of stunted bushes or trees."--_Sights in the Gold Regions_, 177.