John Sutter

After a series of business failures in his native Germany, John Sutter decided to try his fortune elsewhere. Deeply in debt and besieged by creditors, he left his wife and four children behind in Europe in 1834 and made his way to America.

Sutter initially resided in Missouri, but dreams of establishing an agricultural empire in the west led him to California in 1839. After gaining approval from the Mexican authorities, he settled at the forks of the American and Sacramento Rivers. The following year he became a Mexican citizen, which qualified him for the land grant of almost fifty thousand acres he would receive in 1841.

Sutter christened his grant New Helvetia and began building his empire. He soon established successful operations in wheat farming, cattle and horse ranching, and trapping, and his fort, which was completed in 1844, served as a central trading post...