John Augustus Sutter, born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Swiss immigrant who became a Mexican and later an American citizen, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, California, the state's capital. His employee James W. Marshall discovered gold, leading to the founding of the mill-making team at Sutter's Mill. Sutter, however, saw his own business ventures fail during the California Gold Rush, though those of his elder son, John Augustus Sutter Jr., were more successful.
Sutter's Mill was a water-powered sawmill on the bank of the South Fork American River in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California. It was named after its owner John Sutter. A worker constructing the mill, James W. Marshall, found gold there in 1848. This discovery set off the California gold rush (1848–1855), a major event in the history of the United States.
Sutter's Fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican Alta California province. Established in 1839, the site of the fort was originally part of a utopian colonial project called New Helvetia by its builder John Sutter, though construction of the fort proper would not begin until 1841. The fort was the first non-Indigenous community in the California Central Valley, and saw grave mistreatment of Indigenous laborers in plantation or feudal style conditions. The fort is famous for its association with the Donner Party, the California Gold Rush, and the formation of the city of Sacramento, surrounding the fort. It is notable for its proximity to the end of the California and Siskiyou Trails, which it served as a waystation.
The California gold rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy; the sudden population increase allowed California to go rapidly to statehood in the Compromise of 1850. The gold rush had severe effects on Native Californians and accelerated the Native American population's decline from disease, starvation, and the California genocide.
Placerville is a city in and the county seat of El Dorado County, California, United States. The population was 10,747 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,389 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Native Sons of the Golden West (NSGW) is a fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation and documentation of the state's historic structures and places, the placement of historic plaques, and other charitable functions in California. In 1890 the organization placed California's first marker honoring the discovery of gold, which gave rise to the state nickname, "The Golden State". U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and Chief Justice Earl Warren served terms as presidents of the NSGW.
Coloma is a census-designated place in El Dorado County, California, US. It is approximately 36 miles (58 km) northeast of Sacramento, California. Coloma is most noted for being the site where James W. Marshall found gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills, at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848, leading to the California Gold Rush. Coloma's population is 529.
State Route 49 is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush and it is known as the Golden Chain Highway. The highway's creation was lobbied by the Mother Lode Highway Association, a group of locals and historians seeking a single highway to connect many relevant locations along the Gold Rush to honor the 49ers. One of the bridges along SR 49 is named for the leader of the association, Archie Stevenot.
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is a state park of California, United States, marking the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in 1848, sparking the California Gold Rush. The park grounds include much of the historic town of Coloma, California, which is now considered a ghost town as well as a National Historic Landmark District. The park contains the California Historical Landmarks: a monument to commemorate James Marshall (#143), the actual spot where he first discovered gold in 1848 (#530) and Coloma Road (#748). Established in 1942, The park now comprises 576 acres (233 ha) in El Dorado County.
Pierson Barton Reading was a California pioneer.
The history of Sacramento, California, began with its founding by Samuel Brannan and John Augustus Sutter, Jr. in 1848 around an embarcadero that his father, John Sutter, Sr. constructed at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers a few years prior.
Mormon Island was once a mining town, which had an abundance of Mormon immigrants seeking gold in the American River during the California Gold Rush. Its site is in present-day Sacramento County, California.
The James W. Marshall House, located at 60 Bridge Street in the city of Lambertville in Hunterdon County, United States, was the boyhood home of James W. Marshall. Marshall's discovery of gold in the American River in California in January 1848 set the stage for the California Gold Rush. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1970, for its significance in architecture and history. It now serves as the headquarters for the Lambertville Historical Society, and is open to the public as an historic house museum.
The Sutter's Mill meteorite is a carbonaceous chondrite which entered the Earth's atmosphere and broke up at about 07:51 Pacific Time on April 22, 2012, with fragments landing in the United States. The name comes from Sutter's Mill, a California Gold Rush site, near which some pieces were recovered. Meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens assigned Sutter's Mill (SM) numbers to each meteorite, with the documented find location preserving information about where a given meteorite was located in the impacting meteoroid. As of May 2014, 79 fragments had been publicly documented with a find location. The largest (SM53) weighs 205 grams (7.2 oz), and the second largest (SM50) weighs 42 grams (1.5 oz).
Swansboro Country; a subdivision within the community of Mosquito, is a residential area northeast of Placerville, the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was approximately 1,000 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Charles Brown's saw mill was the first saw mill in Woodside, California in San Mateo County, California. MCharles Brown's saw mill site is a California Historical Landmark No. 478 listed on November 9, 1950. San Mateo County's First Sawmill was built on the banks of Alambique Creek in 1847. San Mateo County's First Sawmill powered by the creek was built by Charles Brown. Also in 1847, a second mill was built on San Francisquito Creek by Dennis Martin. The sawmill design was similar to the famous sawmill at Sutter's Mill at Coloma. Sutter's Mill became famous when James W. Marshall found gold in 1848 at the mill. The find stated the California Gold Rush. Brown's adobe house, built in 1839, still stands today.
Nancy Gooch was an early African American settler in California and one of the state's most successful 19th-century black female landowners. Gooch gained her freedom when California entered the Union as a free state in 1850.
Coloma Road in Rescue, California is a historical road in El Dorado County, California. A Historical Landmark was built at 4222 Green Valley Road in Rescue, California at the Rescue Junction General Store. The old Coloma Road opened in 1847, it ran from Sutter's Fort to the city of Coloma. James W. Marshall traveled the road to tell of his gold find to Captain John A. Sutter. During the 49ers miners gold rush thousands of miners traveled the road heading out to look for gold and claims. California's first stage line, California Stage Company, traveled the road starting in 1849, the line was founded by James E. Birch.
Marshall's Blacksmith Shop is a California Historical Landmark No. 319, now on the private property in Kelsey, California. The Blacksmith Shop was built in 1872 off of what is now California State Route 193 in El Dorado County, California at Gray Eagle Mine. James W. Marshall was a Blacksmith, a carpenter and sawmill operator. The Gray Eagle mine and ore mill is a lode gold mine on 13.2 acres of land in the Mother Lode Country, just south of Kelsey. Marshall was part owner of the Gray Eagle mine.
