On January 24, 1848, gold was found by James Marshall at Sutter’s Mill. The sawmill was located roughly 40 miles from Sutter’s Fort on the south fork of the American River in “Cullumah,” the name given by the Yalesumney Nisenan village that inhabited the region. As the story goes, James Wilson Marshall, the foreman overseeing the construction of the sawmill, inspected the tail race that diverted water from the south fork of the American River to the mill to see if the water wheel that powered th