Sutter's Fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican ''

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

'' province. Established in 1839, the site of the fort was originally part of a utopian colonial project called

New Helvetia New Helvetia ( Spanish: Nueva Helvetia), meaning "New Switzerland", was a 19th-century Alta California settlement and rancho, centered in present-day Sacramento, California. Colony of Nueva Helvetia The Swiss pioneer John Sutter (1803–1880 ...

(''New Switzerland'') by its builder

John Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Switzerland, Swiss immigrant who became a Mexican and later an American citizen, known for establishing Sutter ...

, though construction of the fort proper would not begin until 1841. The fort was the first non-Indigenous community in the California Central Valley, and saw grave mistreatment of Indigenous laborers in plantation or feudal style conditions. The fort is famous for its association with the

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California interim government, 1846-1850, California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent ...

, the

California gold rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

, and the formation of the city of

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, surrounding the fort. It is notable for its proximity to the end of the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and Siskiyou Trails, which it served as a waystation. In modern times, the

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

structure has been restored to its original condition () and is now administered by

California Department of Parks and Recreation California State Parks is the state park system for the U.S. state of California. The system is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, a department under the California Natural Resources Agency. The California State ...

. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1961.

History

To build his colony, John Sutter secured a 50,000-acre land grant in the Central Valley from the Mexican governor. The main building of the fort, a two-story

structure built between 1841 and 1843, was constructed using Indigenous forced labor. It is the only original surviving structure at the reconstructed Sutter's Fort State Historic Park. On January 28, 1848, James Marshall met privately with John Sutter inside this building to show him the

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

found during the construction of Sutter's sawmill along the

American River The American River is a List of rivers of California, river in California that runs from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range to its confluence with the Sacramento River in downtown Sacramento. Via the Sacramento River, it ...

four days earlier. Sutter built the original fort with walls thick and between 15 and high. Pioneers began settling at Sutter's Fort around 1841. Following the start of the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

, the fort was largely deserted by the 1850s and fell into disrepair.

Construction

The party led by John Sutter landed on the bank of the American River in August 1839. The group included three Europeans and a Native American boy, probably to serve as interpreter. Some of the first people brought to the colony were

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

workers, called

Kanakas Kanakas were workers (a mix of voluntary and Blackbirding, involuntary) from various Pacific Islands employed in British Empire, British colonies, such as British Columbia (Canada), Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Queen ...

. Sutter had entered a contract with the

governor of Hawaii The governor of Hawaii () is the head of government of the U.S. state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Hawaii State Constitution Article V, Sections 1 through 6. It is a directly elected position, votes bei ...

to import and use the labor of these eight men and two women for three years. Once the first camp was set up, Sutter used local

Miwok The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native Americans in the United States, Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok lan ...

Nisenan The Nisenan are a group of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and an Indigenous people of California from the Yuba River and American River watersheds in Northern California and the California Central Valley. According to a ...

, and "missionized" Native Californians to build the first building, a three-room adobe.

Agricultural colony

Once the fort was built, Sutter established an agricultural colony with labor structures similar to Southern plantations and European feudalism. The colony relied on

ranching A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

and growing

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

crops. European colonists oversaw Native Californian and Native Hawaiian workers, who were often gravely mistreated. Sutter employed a

caste system A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (endogamy), foll ...

to ensure that the minority European settlers maintained control over the colony. Although some of the laborers worked voluntarily, many were subjected to brutal conditions that resembled

enslavement Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

Decline

After gold was discovered at

Sutter's Mill Sutter's Mill was a water-powered sawmill on the bank of the South Fork American River in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California. It was named after its owner John Sutter. A worker constructing the mill, James W. Marshall, found go ...

(also owned by John Sutter) in Coloma on January 24, 1848, the fort was abandoned.

Preservation

In 1891, the

Native Sons of the Golden West The Native Sons of the Golden West (NSGW) is a fraternity, fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation and documentation of the state's historic structures and places, the pla ...

, who sought to safeguard many of the landmarks of California's pioneer days, purchased and rehabilitated Sutter's Fort when the City of Sacramento sought to demolish it. Repair efforts were completed in 1893 and the fort was given by the Native Sons of the Golden West to the State of California. In 1947, the fort was transferred to the authority of

California State Parks California State Parks is the state park system for the U.S. state of California. The system is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, a department under the California Natural Resources Agency. The California State ...

as Sutter's Fort State Historic Park. Most of the original neighborhood structures were initially built in the late 1930s as residences, many of which have been converted to commercial uses such as private medical practices. The history of the neighborhood is largely residential.

Geography and hydrology

Sutter's Fort is located on level ground at an elevation of approximately above mean sea datum. The slope elevation decreases northward toward the American River and westward toward the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...

. Slope elevation gradually increases to the south and east, away from the rivers. All surface drainage flows toward the Sacramento River. Groundwater in the vicinity flows south-southwest toward the Sacramento Delta. However, after peak rainfall, the Sacramento River swells and the

groundwater flow In hydrogeology, groundwater flow is defined as the "part of streamflow that has infiltrated the ground, entered the phreatic zone, and has been (or is at a particular time) discharged into a stream channel or springs; and seepage water."Cho ...

can actually reverse away from the river.

Sutter's Landing

Sutter's Landing is the spot the Captain John A. Sutter landed in August 1839 at the

after coming up the Sacramento River from Yerba Buena at . After landing, Sutter built a base camp, then Sutter's Fort. The site of the landing is California Historical Landmark #591 that was listed on May 22, 1957.

Coloma Road

The old Coloma Road opened in 1847, it ran from Sutter's Fort to the city of Coloma. Marshall traveled the road to tell of his gold find to Captain John A. Sutter. During the 49ers gold rush thousands of miners traveled the road heading out to look for gold and claims. Coloma Road at Sutter's Fort is a California Historical Landmark No. 745. There are two other Coloma Road California Historical Landmarks: Coloma Road, Rescue California Historical Landmark, No. 748, in Coloma and California Historical Landmark No. 747 at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. California's first stage line, California Stage Company, traveled the road starting in 1849, the line was founded by James E. Birch.Hubert Howe Bancroft, ''History of California''
Volume 24, The History Company, 1890. pp. 151–152 and notes 46, 47, 48]

References

External links

John Bidwell (Sutter's Fort Pioneer Collection), 1841–1902. Collection guide, California State Library, California History Room.

Sutter's Fort State Historic Park official site

Virtual Sutter's Fort Virtual Web Site

Library of Congress, Americas Memory
{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1839 California Gold Rush

Fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

California State Historic Parks Museums in Sacramento, California History museums in California Forts in California Military and war museums in California Parks in Sacramento County, California History of Sacramento, California Adobe buildings and structures in California Buildings and structures in Sacramento, California California Historical Landmarks National Historic Landmarks in California Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Sacramento, California 1839 establishments in Alta California Donner Party Landmarks in Sacramento, California Houses in Sacramento County, California