Sutter's Mill was a water-powered

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

on the bank of the South Fork American River in the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

in California. It was named after its owner John Sutter. A worker constructing the mill, James W. Marshall, found gold there in 1848. This discovery set off 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 ...

(1848–1855), a major event in the history of the United States. The mill was later reconstructed in the original design and today forms part of Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in

Coloma, California Coloma (Nisenan language, Nisenan: ''Cullumah'', meaning "beautiful") is a census-designated place in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is approximately northeast of Sacramento, California. Coloma is most noted for being the site ...

. A meteorite fall in 2012 landed close to the mill; the recovered fragments were named the Sutter's Mill meteorite.

History

The territory of

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 ...

, which includes modern-day California, was settled by the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1683 onwards. It became part of an independent

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 1821. John Sutter, a German-Swiss settler, arrived in the region in 1839. He established a colony at New Helvetia (now part 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 ...

), in the Central Valley. The United States conquered the region during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

(1846–1848): California was overrun by US forces in 1846 and a ceasefire in the region was agreed in January 1847. A peace treaty for the wider war had not yet been completed when Sutter decided to begin construction of a sawmill in the forest about 30 miles northeast of his existing colony. Sutter employed James Wilson Marshall, a carpenter originally from New Jersey, to supervise construction of the new building. On January 24, 1848, while working on construction of the mill, Marshall found flakes of gold in the South Fork American River. On February 2, 1848, before news of the discovery had arrived, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in Mexico City. This peace treaty formally transferred sovereignty over the region to the United States. Two workers at the mill, Henry Bigler and Azariah Smith, were veterans of the Mormon Battalion and recorded their experience in journals. Bigler recorded the date when gold was discovered, January 24, 1848, in his diary. Sutter's claim to the US government for mineral rights was investigated by Joseph Libbey Folsom, who issued confirmation of the gold discovery in June. The first flake found by Marshall was shipped to President James K. Polk in Washington D.C., arriving in August 1848. It is now on display in the

National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center is a historical museum in Washington, D.C. It collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and m ...

, part of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. As news of the gold spread, settlers flocked to the new US territory of

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 ...

. The population expanded from 14,000 non-natives in 1848 to 224,000 in 1852. There were over 80,000 newcomers in 1849 and another 91,000 in 1850. Many settled at the new town of

, which sprung up close to Sutter's Mill. Numerous further discoveries of gold in California were made. During the next seven years, approximately 300,000 people came to California (half by land and half by sea) to seek their fortunes from either mining for gold or selling supplies to the prospectors. This

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 ...

permanently changed the territory, both through mass immigration and the economic effects of the gold. California became a US state in 1850.

Current status

The site of the mill is part of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, registered as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

number 530. On September 8, 1965, a groundbreaking was held to begin the construction of a replica of the original structure, based on Marshall's own drawings and a photograph of the mill taken circa 1850. The replica was nearly completed by the following year, and while not built at the exact spot as the original, it was designed to be moved there if the river returned to its 1848

stream bed A streambed or stream bed is the bottom of a stream or river and is confined within a Stream channel, channel or the Bank (geography), banks of the waterway. Usually, the bed does not contain terrestrial (land) vegetation and instead supports d ...

. The newly completed replica was officially dedicated on January 21, 1968. In 2014, the 1960s structure was replaced with a new replica, built closer to the original site.

Meteorite

On April 22, 2012 a

meteor A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...

entered the Earth's atmosphere and exploded, showering

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

fragments over parts of California and Nevada. The first samples of this meteorite fall were recovered close to Sutter's Mill, so it was named the Sutter's Mill meteorite. Several dozen fragments were eventually identified, with a total weight of about a kilogram(≈2.2 pounds). The meteorite is classified as a carbonaceous chondrite and contains some of the oldest known material in the Solar System.

In popular culture

The mill was the namesake and inspiration for a song by singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg. The mill was also the namesake for a song by the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and for Herb Sutter's blog. In Beverly Cleary's novel '' Mitch and Amy'', the protagonists build a model of Sutter's Mill out of toothpicks. The mill is referenced heavily in an episode of the television series '' Little House on the Prairie'' titled "At the End of the Rainbow," in which

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, teacher, and journalist. She is best known as the author of the children's book series ''Little House on the Prairie'', published between 1932 and 1 ...

and a friend believe they have found gold in a stream near Walnut Grove.

References

External links

Discovery of Gold
by John A. Sutter, '' Hutchings' California Magazine'', November 1857. Sutter describes how he wanted a sawmill near the

and how Marshall told him of the gold.
Early photographs, illustrations, and textual references to Sutter's Mill
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907190126/http://calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/browse/keyword/Sutter%27s%20Mill , date=2008-09-07 , via Calisphere, California Digital Library.
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
(California State Parks, official site) Buildings and structures in El Dorado County, California California Gold Rush California Historical Landmarks Companies based in El Dorado County, California History of El Dorado County, California

Mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...