Pioneer; born in
Kandern, Baden, Feb. 15, 1803; graduated at the military academy at
Berne in 1823, and entered the Swiss Guard as lieutenant.
He served in the
Spanish campaign of 1823-24, and remained in the Swiss army until 1834, when he emigrated to the
United States, settled in
Missouri, and became a naturalized citizen.
There he engaged in a thriving cattle-trade with
New Mexico by the old
Santa Fe trail.
Speaking French, German, Spanish, and English fluently, he became one of the best known and most popular of frontiersmen.
Hearing of the beauty and fertility of the
Pacific coast, he set out from
Missouri with six men in 1838, and crossed 2,000 miles of a region which had rarely been trodden by civilized men. He went to
Oregon, and descended the
Columbia River to
Vancouver.
Thence he proceeded to the
Sandwich Islands.
There he bought and freighted a ship, and in her proceeded to
Sitka, the capital of
Alaska, then a Russian possession.
The venture was suecessful, and he sailed to the
Bay of San Francisco in July, 1839.
On the banks of the
Sacramento River, Cal., he established himself, gathered a little colony there, put various industries in motion, and accumulated an immense fortune.
Within two years after his arrival in
California he possessed 1,000 horses, 2,500 horned cattle, and 1,000 sheep; and he became a formidable rival of the Hudson Bay Company as a trader in furs with the Indians.
Sutter's Fort became a hospitable resort of explorers on the
Western coasts, and
Sutter rendered valuable assistance to those in distress.
Fremont experienced his kindness, and at the close of the war with
Mexico Sutter was the leading man in wealth and influence in
California.
He had experienced some trouble with the
Mexican authorities, who tried to drive him out of the country.
In the midst of his annoyances
Fremont arrived with troops, hoisted the
American flag over
Sutter's Fort, and so took the
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first step towards making
California a State of the
Union.
It is agreed that to no man was the
United States more indebted for the conquest of
California than to
Captain Sutter.
On Jan. 19, 1848, gold was first discovered in
California on his estate.
This discovery was a great misfortune to
Captain Sutter.
As a consequence of that discovery he lost his land grant of thousands of acres made by
Mexican governors as a reward for military services.
He was stripped of his magnificent estate and reduced to poverty.
In 1864 the legislature of
California granted him a pension of $3,000 a year, when he and his wife visited
Europe.
The latter years of his life were spent at Litiz,
Lancaster co., Pa. He anxiously but unsuccessfully importuned Congress to grant him some indemnity for his losses.
He died in
Washington, D. C., June 17, 1880.
