John Sutter: A Life on the North American Frontier

JOHN SUTTER A Life on the North American Frontier BY ALBERT L. HURTADO UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS 2006, 412 PAGES, $34.95

Most persons know about John Sutter largely in connection with the California '49er gold rush. In a much deeper sense, though, he was a man for all seasons--good and bed. Certainly, he was a central figure in the history of California, involved in land grants, business speculations, and politics. He provided a welcoming post to westward Americans fulfilling the dream of Manifest Destiny. He gave help to rescue the Donner Party who were starving and freezing in the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains, furnishing much needed supplies to John Fremont and his exploring party. He and his son founded the city of Sacramento, which became the capital of the state.

This biography of Sutter is a tour de force, covering all the periods of his life from his birth in Switzerland and his travels to New York, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Santa Fe, Mexican California, and Hawaii. Sutter embodied the virtues of generosity and amiability and the vices of hubris, dishonesty, and gullibility. He always thought on a grand scale and was an optimist in the extreme.

Sutter knew where the wind blew and made friends in high places. He kept up with the machinations in California of the politicians and generals and the in-fighting among Mexicans, Californians, British, Russians, and Americans. He was a con man, but often was conned himself. He made excessive use of credit, but built an empire based on it. He used the technique parallel to the modern practice of using one credit card to pay off another. Gregarious, well-mannered, and always a distinguished dresser, he was more interested in status and respect than he was in wealth. Of course, the latter was one way to achieve the former.

He became a Mexican citizen, claiming he was a Catholic as required for that privilege, although he was raised a Lutheran. Labor and security were important needs if he wanted to exploit his property and he found both in putting local Indians to work. He also loaned out Indian workers to others to help pay his debts. He boasted that, in his establishment, he was "patriarch, priest, father, and judge." Indeed, he himself was able to issue passports, give land grants, marry Indians, and punish criminals.

In his youth, he was a member of the Swiss militia (he loved military pomp) and married into an upper class family. His desire for fame was overpowering and he decided to go and find it in America. He left his wife and five children behind, promising that he would send for them as soon as possible, although almost 20 years elapsed before they came. He knew German, French, and Spanish, but all of his life struggled with English. In his later years he became a bit of a problem drinker. He raised grapes on his land and constructed a distillery and no doubt used alcohol to secure deals. He always was in and out of the money and running from creditors--in the old country and the U.S. After gold was discovered at Sutter's mill, his son August joined him, and was of immense help in clearing up his father's business woes. August also raised the $12,000 needed to bring Sutter's wife and other children to America.

The governor made John a Major General in the Militia and Sutter gloried in the title. The state also gave him a pension, as he was virtually without funds other than his wife's inheritance. Sutter sought further financial help from the Federal government as well, based on his help to Americans coming to California. He and his wife retired to the Moravian community at Litiz, Pa. He died on June 18, 1880 at age 77. It is no exaggeration to say that he lived a full life.

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