In 1848, when gold was discovered in Calfornia, John Sutter was already one of the wealthiest people in the state. By 1850 he was a ruined man
A private empire
Sutter was a Swiss immigrant who came to California in 1839, intent on building his own private empire. At that time, the state was a distant outpost that only a handful of Americans had seen. San Francisco had just a few hundred residents. Sutter built a fort, and soon he had 12,000 head of cattle and hundreds of workers.
By the mid-1840s, more and more Americans were trickling into California by wagon and ship. Sutter welcomed the newcomers: he saw them as subjects for his new kingdom. But he had no idea that the trickle would become a flood, a deluge of humanity that would destroy his dream.
Discovery
At the beginning of 1848, Sutter sent James Marshall and about twenty men to the American River to build a sawmill. It was nearly complete when a glint of something caught Marshall's eye. Later he wrote, "I reached my hand down and picked it up; it made my heart thump, for I was certain it was gold. The piece was about half the size and shape of a pea. Then I saw another"
The forty-Niners
By the end of the year, whispers of a gold strike had drifted across the country - but few easterners believed it until President James Polk made a statement to Congress on December 5th 1848. The discovery, he declared, was a fact. Within days "gold fever" descended on the country
The news was telegraphed to every village, to every town. hundreds of thousands of people, almost all of them men, began to prepare for the epic journey west. They sold possessions, mortgaged farms, borrowed money, and banded together with others from their towns to form joint stock companies. They said their goodbyes and streamed west - thousands of young adventurers willing to take a chance on gold: a year of pain in return of a lifetime of riches. They were called Forty-Niners
because they left home in 1849. When they would return was another matter entirely.
By early 1849, gold fever was an epidemic. By the end of 1850 Sutter's grand empire had completely collapsed. Sutter did not have gold fever. He wanted an agricultural empire and refused to alter his vision. In the new California, he was simply in the way. The Forty-Niners trampled his crops and tore down his fort for the building materials. Disillusioned, he eventually left the state. The man who had had the best opportunity to capitalise on the discovery of gold never even tried.
A private empire
Sutter was a Swiss immigrant who came to California in 1839, intent on building his own private empire. At that time, the state was a distant outpost that only a handful of Americans had seen. San Francisco had just a few hundred residents. Sutter built a fort, and soon he had 12,000 head of cattle and hundreds of workers.
By the mid-1840s, more and more Americans were trickling into California by wagon and ship. Sutter welcomed the newcomers: he saw them as subjects for his new kingdom. But he had no idea that the trickle would become a flood, a deluge of humanity that would destroy his dream.
Discovery
At the beginning of 1848, Sutter sent James Marshall and about twenty men to the American River to build a sawmill. It was nearly complete when a glint of something caught Marshall's eye. Later he wrote, "I reached my hand down and picked it up; it made my heart thump, for I was certain it was gold. The piece was about half the size and shape of a pea. Then I saw another"
The forty-Niners
By the end of the year, whispers of a gold strike had drifted across the country - but few easterners believed it until President James Polk made a statement to Congress on December 5th 1848. The discovery, he declared, was a fact. Within days "gold fever" descended on the country
The news was telegraphed to every village, to every town. hundreds of thousands of people, almost all of them men, began to prepare for the epic journey west. They sold possessions, mortgaged farms, borrowed money, and banded together with others from their towns to form joint stock companies. They said their goodbyes and streamed west - thousands of young adventurers willing to take a chance on gold: a year of pain in return of a lifetime of riches. They were called Forty-Niners
because they left home in 1849. When they would return was another matter entirely.
By early 1849, gold fever was an epidemic. By the end of 1850 Sutter's grand empire had completely collapsed. Sutter did not have gold fever. He wanted an agricultural empire and refused to alter his vision. In the new California, he was simply in the way. The Forty-Niners trampled his crops and tore down his fort for the building materials. Disillusioned, he eventually left the state. The man who had had the best opportunity to capitalise on the discovery of gold never even tried.
