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John Sutter

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John Sutter was a Swiss immigrant to America. He was born in 1803 in Europe and left to seek his fortune in the New World. After traversing the continent and visiting Hawaii and Alaska, he reached the site of present-day Sacramento in 1839. Receiving a land grant from the Mexican government, he began building an economic empire of agriculture and cattle.

In 1848, James Marshall, a carpenter working for Sutter on his mill at Coloma discovered gold. When word got out, the California Gold Rush began. By the 1850's, Sutter's Fort, which had been the central building for Sutter's operations, were all that remained of his holdings in Sacramento.



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