John Sutter
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John Augustus Sutter
John Sutter, c. 1850
15 February 1803
Kandern, Margraviate of Baden,
Germany
Died
June 18, 1880 (aged 77)
Washington D.C., United States
Spouse( Annette Dübold
s)
Born
-born
Johann Augustus Sutter (February 15, 1803 – June 18, 1880) was a Swiss-born
pioneer of California known for his close association with the California Gold Rush. It
was a team of his employees, including James W. Marshall, at Sutter's Mill, that found
gold, and he was responsible for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would
eventually become Sacramento, the state's capital. The Gold Rush contributed to his
own hardship and financial ruin although others, including his elder son, John Augustus
Sutter, Jr., financially benefitted from the incident.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Early years
2 The New World
2.1 Beginnings of Sutter's Fort
2.2 Relationship with Native Americans
2.3 Beginning of the Gold Rush
2.4 Land grant challenge
2.5 Legacy
3 In literature
3.1 Scholarly studies
3.2 Fiction
3.3 Films
3.4 Music
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Biography[edit]
Early years[edit]
The birthplace of John Sutter in Kandern, Baden, Germany.
John Augustus Sutter was born Johann August Suter[2] on February 15, 1803 in
Kandern,[3] Baden, Germany, when his father came from the nearby town of Rünenberg
in Switzerland.
Johann went to school in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and later joined the Swiss army,
eventually becoming captain of the artillery. At age 23, Johann married Annette
Dübold,[4] the daughter of a rich widow. He operated a store but he was more interested
in spending money than making it. Because of family and mounting debts, Johann
faced charges that would have him placed in jail. So he decided to dodge trial and
ventured to America; he styled his name to Captain John Augustus Sutter.
In May 1834, he left his wife and five children behind in Burgdorf, Switzerland, and with
a French passport he boarded the ship Sully which travelled from Le Havre, France, to
New York City where it arrived on July 14, 1834.
The New World[edit]
In North America, la John Augustus Sutter (as he would call himself for the rest of his
life) undertook extensive travels. Before he went to the U.S., he had learned Spanish
and English in addition to Swiss French. Together with 35 Germans he moved from the
St. Louis area to Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory, then moved to the town of Westport,
Oregon Territory. On April 1, 1838, he joined a group of missionaries, led by the fur
trapper Andrew Drips, and traveled the Oregon Trail to Fort Vancouver in Oregon
Territory, which they reached in October. Sutter originally planned to cross the Siskiyou
Mountains during the winter, but acting chief factor James Douglas convinced him that
such an attempt would be perilous.[5] Sutter was charged £21 Douglas to arrange
transportation on the British bark Columbia for himself and his eight followers.[5]
The Columbia departed Fort Vancouver on 11 November and sailed to the Kingdom of
Hawaii, reaching Honolulu on 9 December. Sutter had missed the only ship inbound for
the Alta California, and had to remain in the Kingdom for four months.[6] Over the
months Sutter gained friendly relations with the Euro-American community, dining with
the Consuls of the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain,
John Coffin Jones and Richard Charlton along with merchants such as American
Faxon Atherton.[6] The brig Clementine was eventually hired by Sutter to take freight
provisions and general merchandise for New Archangel (now known as Sitka), the
capital of the Russian-American Company colonies in Russian America. Joining the
crew as unpaid supercargo, Sutter, 10 Hawaiian laborers and several other followers
embarked on April 20, 1839.[7] Staying at New Archangel for a month, Sutter joined
several balls hosted by Governor Kupreyanov; who likely gave help in determining the
course of the Sacramento River.[7] The Clementine then sailed for Alta California,
reaching Yerba Buena on July 1, 1839 (now San Francisco), which at that time was
only a small seaport town.
Beginnings of Sutter's Fort[edit]
Main article: New Helvetia
John Sutter, 1866
At the time of Sutter's arrival in California, Alta California was a province of Mexico, and
had a population of only about 1,000 Europeans[citation needed] and an estimated 100,000700,000 Native Americans. Sutter had to go to the capital at Monterey to obtain
permission from the governor, Juan Bautista Alvarado, to settle in the territory.
Alvarado saw Sutter's plan of establishing a colony in Central Valley as useful in
"buttressing the frontier which he was trying to maintain against Indians, Russians,
Americans and British."[8]
The governor stipulated however that for Sutter to qualify for land ownership, he had to
reside in the territory for year and become a Mexican citizen, which he did on August
29, 1840.[8] Construction on a fortified settlement was began in August 1839, which
Sutter named New Helvetia, or "New Switzerland," after his homeland, "Helvetia" being
the Latin name for Switzerland. Sutter often began to identify himself as 'Captain Sutter
of the Swiss Guard'. Completed in 1841, on 18 June, he received title to 48,827 acres
(197.60 km2) on the Sacramento River. The site is now part of the California state
capital of Sacramento.
Contemporaneous illustration of Sutter's Fort
A Francophile, Sutter threatened to raise the French flag over California and place New
Helvetia under French protection,[9] but in 1846 California was occupied by the United
States in the Mexican-American War. Sutter at first supported the establishment of an
independent California Republic but when United States troops under John C. Fremont
briefly seized control of his fort, Sutter did not resist because he was outnumbered.
Relationship with Native Americans[edit]
Sutter had to make peace with the local native Maidu people. Over time, the Maidu and
Sutter became friends, and they helped Sutter and his Kanakas build a fortified
settlement. Sutter called the place New Helvetia or “New Switzerland.” Sutter’s Fort
had a central building made of adobe bricks, surrounded by a high wall with protection
on opposite corners to guard against attack. It also had workshops and stores that
produced all goods necessary for the New Helvetia settlement.
Sutter employed Native Americans of the Miwok and Maidu tribes, the Hawaiians
(Kanakas) he had brought, and also some Europeans at his compound. He envisioned
creating an agricultural utopia, and for a time the settlement was in fact quite large and
prosperous. Prior to the Gold Rush, it was the destination for most imigrants entering
California via the high passes of the Sierra Nevada, including the ill-fated Donner Party
of 1846, for whose rescue Sutter contributed supplies.
Beginning of the Gold Rush[edit]
Main article: California Gold Rush
Sutter's Mill in 1850.
In 1848, gold was discovered in the area. Initially, one of Sutter’s most trusted
employees, James W. Marshall, found gold at Sutter’s Mill. It started when Marshall
and Sutter began the construction of his sawmill in Coloma, along the American River.
One morning, as Marshall inspected the tailrace for silt and debris, he noticed some
gold nuggets and brought them to Sutter's attention. Together, they read an
encyclopedia entry on gold and performed primitive tests to confirm whether it was
precious metal. Sutter concluded that it was, in fact, gold, but he was very anxious that
the discovery not disrupt his plans for construction and farming. At the same time, he
set about gaining legitimate title to as much land near the discovery as possible.
Sutter's attempt at keeping the gold discovery quiet failed when merchant and
newspaper publisher Samuel Brannan returned from Sutter's Mill to San Francisco with
gold he had acquired there and began publicizing the find. Large crowds of people
overran the land and destroyed nearly everything Sutter had worked for. To avoid
losing everything, Sutter deeded his remaining land to his son, John Augustus Sutter,
Jr. The younger Sutter, who had come from Switzerland and joined his father in
September 1848, saw the commercial possibilities of the land and promptly started
plans for building a new town he named Sacramento, after the Sacramento River. The
elder Sutter deeply resented this; he had wanted the town named Sutterville (for them)
and for it to be built near New Helvetia.
Sutter gave up New Helvetia to pay the last of his debts. He rejoined his family and
lived in Hock Farm (in California along the Feather River).
Land grant challenge[edit]
Camp Union, Sutterville (State Historical marker and fort pillar)
Camp Union, Sutterville (State Historical marker)
Sutter's El Sobrante (Spanish for leftover) land grant was challenged by the Squatter's
Association, and in 1858 the U.S. Supreme Court denied its validity.
Sutter got a letter of introduction to the Congress of the United States from the
governor of California. He moved to Washington D.C. at the end of 1865, after Hock
Farm was destroyed by fire in June 1865.
Sutter sought reimbursement of his losses associated with the Gold Rush. He received
a pension of US$250 a month as a reimbursement of taxes paid on the Sobrante grant
at the time Sutter considered it his own. He and wife Annette moved to Lititz,
Pennsylvania in 1871. The proximity to Washington, D.C. along with the reputed
healing qualities of Lititz Springs appealed to the aging Sutter. He also wanted three of
his grandchildren (he had grandchildren in Acapulco, Mexico, as well) to have the
benefits of the fine private Moravian Schools.
Sutter built his home across from the Lititz Springs Hotel, the present-day General
Sutter Inn. For more than fifteen years, John Sutter petitioned Congress for restitution
but little was done. On June 16, 1880, Congress adjourned, once again, without action
on a bill which would have given Sutter US$50,000. Two days later, on June 18, 1880,
John Augustus Sutter died in the Made's Hotel in Washington D.C.. He was returned to
Lititz and is buried in God's Acre, the Moravian Graveyard. Mrs. Sutter died the
following January and is buried with him.
Legacy[edit]
General Sutter grave in Lititz, PA Moravian Cemetery
In addition to the links found below, Sutter Street in downtown San Francisco,
California is named for John A. Sutter. Sutter's Landing, Sutterville Road, Sutter Middle
School, Sutter's Mill School, and Sutterville Elementary School in Sacramento are all
named after him. The Sutterville Bend of the Sacramento River is named for Sutter, as
is Sutter Health, a non-profit health care system in Northern California. The City of
Sutter Creek, California is also named after him. In Acapulco, Mexico, the property that
used to belong to John Augustus Sutter, Jr. became the Hotel Sutter, which is still in
service.
The Johann Agust Sutter House in Lititz, Pennsylvania was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1982.[10]
The 'Sutter's Gold' rose, an orange blend hybrid tea rose bred by Herbert C. Swim, was
named after him.[11]
Gov. Jerry Brown, elected to a third term in 2010, has a Welsh corgi named Sutter
Brown, affectionately referred to as the First Dog of California.