John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Swiss immigrant of Mexican and American citizenship, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, California, the state's capital.
Those of his elder son, John Augustus Sutter Jr., were more successful. ==Earlier Years== Johann August Sutter was born on February 23, 1803, in Kandern, Baden (present-day Germany).
He styled his name as 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== In North America, John August Sutter (as he would call himself for the rest of his life) undertook extensive travels.
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.
Joining the crew as unpaid supercargo, Sutter, 10 Native Hawaiian laborers, and several other followers embarked on April 20, 1839.
The Clementine then sailed for Alta California, arriving on July 1, 1839, at Yerba Buena (now San Francisco), which at that time was only a small seaport town. ===Beginnings of Sutter's Fort=== At the time of Sutter's arrival, Alta California was a province of Mexico and had a population of only about 1,000 Europeans and an estimated 100,000-700,000 Native Americans.
I sympathized with the Americans while they hated them.” Construction was begun in August 1839 on a fortified settlement which Sutter named New Helvetia, or "New Switzerland," after his homeland.
Theodor Cordua, a German immigrant who leased land from Sutter, wrote: “When Sutter established himself in 1839 in the Sacramento Valley, new misfortune came upon these peaceful natives of the country.
When the settlement was completed in 1841, on June 18, he received title to on the Sacramento River.
Waseurtz af Sandels, a Swedish explorer who visited California in 1842-1843, also wrote about Sutter's brutal treatment of Indian slaves in 1842: “I could not reconcile my feelings to see these fellows being driven, as it were, around some narrow troughs of hollow tree trunks, out of which, crouched on their haunches, they fed more like beasts than human beings, using their hands in hurried manner to convey to their mouths the thin porage [sic] which was served to them.
Micheltorena’s army was described as descending on California “like a plague of locusts, stripping the countryside bare.” Californians complained that the army was committing robberies, beatings and rapes. In late 1844, the Californios revolted against Micheltorena.
Soon they filed off to the fields after having, I fancy, half satisfied their physical wants.” These concerns were even shared by Juan Bautista Alvarado, then Governor of Alta California, who deplored Sutter's ill-treatment of indigenous Californians in 1845: “The public can see how inhuman were the operations of Sutter who had no scruples about depriving Indian mothers of their children.
However, Sutter gave Marsh a choice: either join the army or be arrested and put in jail. In 1845, Sutter’s forces met the Californio forces at the Battle of Providencia (also known as the Second Battle of Cahuenga Pass).
The site is now part of the California state capital of Sacramento. A Francophile, Sutter threatened to raise the French flag over California and place New Helvetia under French protection, but in 1846 California was occupied by the United States in the Mexican–American War.
Prior to the Gold Rush, it was the destination for most immigrants entering California via the high passes of the Sierra Nevada, including the ill-fated Donner Party of 1846, for whose rescue Sutter contributed supplies. In order to build his fort and develop a large ranching/farming network in the area, Sutter relied on Indian labor.
American explorer and mountain man James Clyman reported in 1846 that: “The Capt.
In August 1846, an article in The Californian declared that in respect to California Indians, "The only effectual means of stopping inroads upon the property of the country, will be to attack them in their villages." On February 28, 1847 Sutter ordered the Kern and Sutter massacres in retaliation. Much of Sutter's labor practices were illegal under Mexican law.
In August 1846, an article in The Californian declared that in respect to California Indians, "The only effectual means of stopping inroads upon the property of the country, will be to attack them in their villages." On February 28, 1847 Sutter ordered the Kern and Sutter massacres in retaliation. Much of Sutter's labor practices were illegal under Mexican law.
The defeated Micheltorena took his army back to Mexico, and Californian Pio Pico became governor. ===Beginning of the Gold Rush=== In 1848, gold was discovered in the area.
Lienhard finally accepted Sutter's flock of sheep as payment. 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.
However, in April 22, 1850, following the annexation of California by the United States, the California state legislature passed the "Act for the Government and Protection of Indians," legalizing the kidnapping and forced servitude of Indians by White settlers.
In 1851, the civilian governor of California declared, "That a war of extermination will continue to be waged ...
An 1851 legislative measure not only gave settlers the right to organize lynch mobs to kill Indians, but allowed them to submit their expenses to the government.
By 1852 the state had authorized over a million dollars in such claims. In 1856, a San Francisco Bulletin editorial stated, "Extermination is the quickest and cheapest remedy, and effectually prevents all other difficulties when an outbreak [of Indian violence] occurs." In 1860 the legislature passed a law expanding the age and condition of Indians available for forced slavery.
By 1852 the state had authorized over a million dollars in such claims. In 1856, a San Francisco Bulletin editorial stated, "Extermination is the quickest and cheapest remedy, and effectually prevents all other difficulties when an outbreak [of Indian violence] occurs." In 1860 the legislature passed a law expanding the age and condition of Indians available for forced slavery.
He rejoined his family and lived in Hock Farm (in California along the Feather River). ===Land grant challenge=== Sutter's El Sobrante (Spanish for leftover) land grant was challenged by the Squatter's Association, and in 1858 the U.S.
By 1852 the state had authorized over a million dollars in such claims. In 1856, a San Francisco Bulletin editorial stated, "Extermination is the quickest and cheapest remedy, and effectually prevents all other difficulties when an outbreak [of Indian violence] occurs." In 1860 the legislature passed a law expanding the age and condition of Indians available for forced slavery.
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 and wife Annette moved to Lititz, Pennsylvania in 1871.
John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Swiss immigrant of Mexican and American citizenship, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, California, the state's capital.
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, Sutter died in the Made's Hotel in Washington D.C.
After having prospectors destroy his crops and slaughter cows leaving everything but his own gold, John Sutter spent the rest of his life trying to get the government to pay him for his losses, but he never had any luck. Sutter built his home across from the Lititz Springs Hotel (renamed in 1930 to be the General Sutter Inn and subsequently renamed to be the Lititz Springs Inn & Spa).
The Sutter Buttes, a mountain range near Yuba City, California, and Sutter County, California (of which Yuba City is the seat) are named after him as well. The Johann Agust Sutter House in Lititz, Pennsylvania was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The 'Sutter's Gold' rose, an orange blend [tea rose] bred by Herbert C.
Jerry Brown, elected to a third term in 2010, had a Welsh corgi named Sutter Brown, affectionately referred to as the First Dog of California.
Sutter died in late 2016 from cancer. On June 15, 2020, amid the Black Lives Matter protests and the removal of many statues deemed to be racist, the statue of John Sutter outside the Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, CA, was removed, "out of respect for some community members' viewpoints, and in the interest of public safety for patients and staff." ==Pop culture== ===Scholarly studies=== Albert L.
Sutter died in late 2016 from cancer. On June 15, 2020, amid the Black Lives Matter protests and the removal of many statues deemed to be racist, the statue of John Sutter outside the Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, CA, was removed, "out of respect for some community members' viewpoints, and in the interest of public safety for patients and staff." ==Pop culture== ===Scholarly studies=== Albert L.
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