San Francisco-Sacramento County CA Archives Biographies.....Sutter, John Augustus February 15, 1803 - June 17, 1880
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 3, 2006, 12:16 am

Author: Eric Howard

California and Californians, Pages 37-38

	JOHN AUGUSTUS SUTTER.  To one man at least the discovery of gold in 
California brought nothing but disaster.  That man was John Augustus Sutter, 
upon whose land the epochal discovery took place.  Ironically enough, he lost 
rather than profited by the event that revealed to the world the richness of 
California.
	Sutter was born in Kandern, Germany, February 15, 1803, of Swiss 
parentage.  In 1834 he came to America and settled first in St. Louis.  After 
a short time he proceeded on to Santa Fe, where he became a trader.  He was a 
stalwart, hardy pioneer, with a zest for adventure.  In 1838 he crossed the 
Rocky Mountains, sailed down the Columbia River to Fort Vancouver and thence 
to the Sandwich Islands.  There he bought a vessel, in which he ventured to 
Alaska.
	Cruising down the Pacific coast from Alaska he was stranded at the 
site of San Francisco in July, 1839.  Thus he was ten years ahead of most of 
the settlers in the new country.  In the same year, proceeding inland, he 
established the first white settlement on the present site of Sacramento.  
This he called New Helvetia, but it became generally known as Sutter’s Fort.  
In 1841 he obtained a large grant of land from the Mexican government, and 
because of his isolation and skill in dealing with the Indians he became 
wealthy.  He was made governor of the northern district of California under 
the Mexican rule.
	A few years later an adventurous American from New Jersey, James W. 
Marshall, was employed by Sutter.  While engaged in building a saw mill on the 
north branch of the American River, in February, 1848, Marshall discovered 
gold.  Sutter endeavored to keep it secret, but the news leaked out, and a 
soon as the actual metal was displayed in proof of its existence tremendous 
excitement swept the country.
	At this time Sutter owned thousands of head of cattle, much land and 
other property.  But his land was overrun by gold diggers, his workmen left 
him to dig gold and he couldn’t get others.  As a result, he was financially 
ruined.  He appealed to the Supreme Court, but was not sustained, and all he 
ever got out of the discovery was a pension of $250 a month granted by the 
California Legislature.
	Before this Sutter had incurred the enmity of the Mexican authorities 
by his friendly feelings toward the United States and by the aid he extended 
to Fremont, who for a time made his headquarters at Sutter’s Fort.
	In 1873 Sutter left the country where he had been the first settler 
and became a resident of Pennsylvania.  During the rest of his life he 
endeavored to establish his legal right to the property he had owned, but 
without success.  The work he had done in laying the foundation for American 
control of northern California went unrewarded except for the Legislature’s 
pension.
	Sutter died in Washington, D. C., June 17, 1880.  To his adventurous 
spirit and to his work as a settler California owes much of its early 
development.  Had he not established Sutter’s Fort it is doubtful if the 
United States would have acquired control of California without a long and 
ruinous struggle.  His name will always be associated with the earliest 
recognition of California’s vast wealth. – By Eric Howard.


Additional Comments:
California and Californians, Volume IV, Edited by Rockwell D. Hunt, A.M., 
Ph.D., Assisted By An Advisory Board, The Spanish Period, By Nellie Van de 
Grift Sanchez, The American Period, By Rockwell D. Hunt, California Biography, 
By a Special Staff of Writers, Issued in Four Volumes, The Lewis Publishing 
Company, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, 1932.

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