He found it was gold.

He then gave one of the "yellow pebbles" to a Mrs.Wimmer, of his camp, to be boiled in saleratus water.

She threw it into a kettle of boiling soap, and after several hours it came out bright and shining.

It is yellow gold, California gold, there can be no mistake! Next, we see Marshall, all excitement, hastening to Sutter's Fort, and informing his employer, in a mysterious way, that he has found gold.

Sutter goes to the mill the next day, and Marshall is impatiently waiting for him.