Friday, June 28, 2019 12:08:22 AM
Lost Treasure Tales "California" John A. Sutter
MMMGYS*Lost treasure by state series
In this "California" Lost Treasure segment series were taking a brief stop at Sutter's Mill. We have plenty of information to breeze through below. EnJoy
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John A. Sutter – Boom & Bust in California
The undisputed founder of California, pioneer Johann Augustus Sutter owned the land where gold was first discovered, beginning the famous California Gold Rush.
Sutter was born in Kandern, Germany, a few miles from the Swiss border, on February 15, 1803. He went to school in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and later joined the Swiss army, eventually becoming captain of the artillery.
After military service, he worked as an apprentice in a print shop, before clerking in a draper’s shop, where he met his wife, Annette D’beld. The two were married in Burgdorf on October 24, 1826 and the couple would eventually have four children. Dabbling in a number of businesses, Sutter was unsuccessful and decided to seek his fortune in the United States. In May, 1834, he left his family destined for New York, promising to bring them later once he was settled.
He arrived in the United States in July, and soon made his way to St. Louis, Missouri. While there, he made two trading trips to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1835 and 1836. In 1838, he traveled with a group of missionaries on the Oregon Trail to Fort Vancouver in Oregon Territory and the following year made his way to San Francisco.
At this time, California was a Mexican territory and, wanting to obtain a land grant, Sutter became a Mexican citizen in 1840. In June, 1841, he was granted nearly 50,000 acres by Mexican governor, Juan Bautista Alvarado at the junction of the Feather and Sacramento Rivers. Sutter began to a build a settlement on his land which he called New Helvetia, or “New Switzerland,” with dreams of creating an agricultural utopia.
Employing members of the Miwok, Maidu, and Kanakas tribes, he began to build the settlement and, to protect it, also established Sutter’s Fort, which included 18 foot walls which surrounding shops, houses, mills, and craftsmen. Completed about 1843 and strategically situated on the Oregon-California Trail and near the inland waterways from San Francisco, it soon became the primary destination for most California-bound immigrants, including the ill-fated Donner Party, whom Sutter attempted to rescue.
Sutter’s settlement rapidly grew and prospered as immigrants; trappers and traders traveled through or settled in the area. Within just a few years, Sutter was the wealthiest and most influential man in the region and even he would later admit: “I was everything, patriarch, priest, father and judge.” Somewhere along the line, Sutter’s family also joined him in California.
In 1847, California became part of the United States and though Sutter first supported the establishment of an independent California Republic, when U.S. troops briefly seized control of his fort, Sutter did not resist.
Sutter’s life would change dramatically when one of his employees, James Marshall, discovered gold at his sawmill in what would later become the town of Coloma in January, 1848. Marshall immediately advised Sutter of his find, who swore all his employees to secrecy. But, the “news” was just too big, and in no time it leaked out.
As word quickly spread, some 80,000 miners flooded the area, extending up and down the length of the Sacramento Valley, and overrunning Sutter’s domain. Sutter’s employees also joined the Gold Rush and he was unable to protect his property. In no time, his sheep and cattle were stolen and his land was occupied by squatters.
As almost everything Sutter had worked for was destroyed, John deeded everything that was left to his son, John Augustus Sutter Jr., in order not to lose it. The younger Sutter saw the commercial possibilities of the land and promptly made plans for building a new city he named Sacramento, after the Sacramento River.
Sutter's Fort today, Kathy Weiser
The elder Sutter deeply resented this because he had wanted the city to be named Sutterville and be built near his New Helvetia domain.
Ironically, neither John Sutter nor James Marshall ever profited from the discovery that should have made them independently wealthy. Though Marshall tried to secure his own claims in the gold fields, he was unsuccessful. The sawmill where the gold was found also failed, as every able-bodied man took off in search of gold.
By 1852 John Sutter was bankrupt and his land was filled with squatters. In 1857, the squatters took Sutter to court over the legality of his titles and the U.S. Land Commission decided in Sutter’s favor.
However, a year later, the Supreme Court declared portions of his title invalid. Sutter then sought reimbursement of his losses associated with the California Gold Rush, but received only $250 per month from the State of California in 1864. The final blow came on June 7 of 1865, when a small band of men set fire to his house, completely destroying the structure.
Sutter and his wife, Nanette, then moved to Lititz, Pennsylvania and John continued to fight the U.S. Government for compensation for his losses. For the next 15 years, the undisputed founder of California petitioned Congress for restitution but little was done. On June 16, 1880, Congress adjourned, once again, without action on a bill which would have paid Sutter $50,000. Two days later John Augustus Sutter died in a Washington D.C. hotel. He was returned to Lititz and is buried in the Moravian Cemetery. Mrs. Sutter died the following January and is buried with him.
In the meantime, his elder son, John Augustus Sutter Jr., who had stayed behind in California prospered.
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Sutter’s Fort, California
Arriving in California in 1839, John A. Sutter applied for a land grant from the Mexican government and two years later received almost 50,000 acres in what is now present-day Sacramento. Envisioning an agricultural utopia, Sutter began to build a settlement, which he called New Helvetia, or “New Switzerland.” And to protect his new property, he built what became known as Sutter’s Fort.
Employing members of the Miwok, Maidu, and Kanakas tribes, the fort included 18-foot walls which surrounding shops, houses, mills, and craftsmen.
Surrounding the fort the land was filled with crops such as grapes and wheat, along with vast herds of cattle. Completed about 1843 and strategically situated on the Oregon-California Trail and near the inland waterways from San Francisco, it soon became the primary destination for most California-bound immigrants, including the ill-fated Donner Party who Sutter attempted to rescue.
Sutter’s settlement rapidly grew and prospered as immigrants; trappers and traders traveled through or settled in the area. Within just a few years, Sutter was the wealthiest and most influential man in the region and even he would later admit: “I was everything, patriarch, priest, father, and judge.”
But, for John Sutter, his life was to come crashing down around him when James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in January 1848. As word quickly spread, some 80,000 miners flooded the area, extending up and down the length of the Sacramento Valley and overrunning Sutter’s domain. Sutter’s employees also joined the Gold Rush and he was unable to protect his property. In no time, his sheep and cattle were stolen, his land was occupied by squatters and he lost possession of the fort.
By the 1850s, all that was left of Sutter’s Fort was the central building and by 1860, its outer walls and rooms lay in ruin. Ironically, neither John Sutter nor James Marshall ever profited from the discovery that should have made them independently wealthy.
In 1890, the State of California acquired the site and began restoration, which was completed in 1893. Sutter’s Fort became a part of the California State Park System in 1947 and today stands as the oldest restored Fort in the United States.Of the original buildings, the two-story central structure, made of adobe and oak, remains preserved and provides exhibits and living history interpretive services.
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Coloma – Gold Town to Ghost Town
The roads were so wretched that supplies could be got to the mines only by pack-animals. A dollar per pound was the customary rate to Coloma and to Hangtown, which were about the same distance from Sacramento.
Gold dust was the universal currency, and the “blower” and the scales were a fixture in every place of business. The weights were often home-made, and of very dubious specific gravity.”
— David Leeper, 1849
Coloma, California in 1857.
Settled along the banks of the South Fork River between Sutter’s Mill and Mormon Island is Coloma, California — the first important mining town of the 1848 gold rush days. It was here, on the South Fork River, that James Marshall first found the gold that started the great California Gold Rush. News spread quickly and by the time it reached San Francisco, thousands began to flood the area.
James Marshall was a construction foreman for Johann (John) Augustus Sutter, who operated Sutter’s Mill on the banks of the American River. Sutter had come to California from his native Switzerland in 1834. By 1839, he had settled in the heart of the Sacramento Valley, where he wanted to establish a “great colony.”
He began to “build” his colony when he was granted 50,000 acres of prime land by Governor Alvarado, the Mexican governor of California. He then purchased a number of properties that were moved to the area and began raising a herd of cattle. Calling his new colony “New Helvetica,” he used Indian labor to build a “fort,” from which he oversaw his new settlement.
However, he was badly in need of lumber for his buildings. In 1845, he contracted with James Marshall to build a sawmill in the Coloma Valley, about 40 miles east of New Helvetia and Sutter’s Fort. However, it would be two more years before construction on the sawmill would begin. In January, 1848, when the mill was nearing completion, Marshall was inspecting the water flow when he discovered a pea-sized gold nugget. Gold had been discovered in California! Ironically, neither Sutter nor Marshall ever profited from the discovery that should have made them independently wealthy.
As word quickly spread, Sutter’s sawmill was overrun by gold miners, around which, a gold camp born. Named for the valley in which it was situated, called Cullumah, meaning “beautiful” to the native Nisenan Indians, the new “town” was called Coloma.
By the summer of 1848, some 80,000 miners had flooded the area, spreading up and down the length of the Sacramento Valley, overrunning Sutter’s domain and trampling his visions of grandeur. Also displaced were the native Nisenan Indians who had called the Cullumah Valley home for centuries.
Coloma Sierra Nevada Hotel
The Sierra Nevada Hotel was a was a way station for miners and tradesman during Coloma’s mining heydays. Today, it houses an Inn and Restaurant.
In the meantime, the new town of Coloma was booming, already boasting about 300 frame buildings and a large hotel was under construction. It was the first place fortune-seekers headed when they arrived in San Francisco, until gold was discovered in surrounding areas.
By 1849, when the California Gold Rush was in full force, Coloma had several stores, hotels, businesses, and a number of the ever popular saloons and gambling houses. But, for those many new area residents, they would be shocked to see the outrageous prices. Due to its remote location and the rules of “supply and demand,” miners could expect to pay as much as $50 for a pick or shovel.
The following year, El Dorado County was created in February and Coloma became its first county seat. Just seven months later, California would become the 31st state in the union. That same year, a six mile “ditch” was completed to bring water to Coloma from the snow melt and rain in the mountains so that miners could work placers.
When Coloma became the county seat, a man named Captain Shannon, who had built and operated one of Coloma’s first general stores, became the town’s first mayor. A well-liked and respected man, Shannon was also looked to as the “official” to settle disputes and punish any transgressions. With no official law or judicial system, Shannon complied, often sentencing offenders to banishment, whipping, branding, cutting of one or both ears, and in a few cases – hanging.
A man named Jerry Crane was the first to be hanged in Coloma after murdering one of his students because, as he claimed, he “loved” her. He was later found to have a wife and family back east.
The next man hanged was an outlaw by the name of Mickey Free, who was involved in a cutthroat gang that specialized in raiding and robbing Chinese camps and murdering lonely miners.
But, like other gold rich boom camps, Coloma’s hectic days were numbered. As the thousands of miners spread out in the area, richer gold veins were soon found at places such as nearby Placerville, Georgetown, Diamond Springs and as many as 30 other gold camps.
As Coloma’s population began to fall, nearby Placerville, some ten miles away, had become the new “hub” of the Mother Lode and in 1854, the county seat was moved there, where it remains to this day.
By 1870, Coloma had but just 200 residents and over the years continued to dwindle.
Today, though considered a “ghost town,” the Coloma area is again called home to about 200 people. Approximately 70% of the old town site is part of California’s Marshall Gold Discovery State Park that features a number of buildings that have survived from the gold rush, as well as many other reminders of the gold rush period. The park also features a museum, a walking tour of the old town site, costumed volunteers, a replica of the original Sutter’s Mill, and the old cemetery.
Coloma is approximately ten miles northwest of Placerville, on Highway 49.
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Massive Smoky Quartz Pocket
MMMGYS
If you want you can add a SiMO sound track that works at the same time with these videos
MMMGYS*SiMO Sound
Massive Smoky Quartz Pocket Pt 2
MMMGYS
Click on top part of videos for links
MMMGYS**SiMO***Exclusively on IHUB educational purposes only***
.jpg)
MMMGYS*Lost treasure by state series
In this "California" Lost Treasure segment series were taking a brief stop at Sutter's Mill. We have plenty of information to breeze through below. EnJoy
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
John A. Sutter – Boom & Bust in California
The undisputed founder of California, pioneer Johann Augustus Sutter owned the land where gold was first discovered, beginning the famous California Gold Rush.
Sutter was born in Kandern, Germany, a few miles from the Swiss border, on February 15, 1803. He went to school in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and later joined the Swiss army, eventually becoming captain of the artillery.
After military service, he worked as an apprentice in a print shop, before clerking in a draper’s shop, where he met his wife, Annette D’beld. The two were married in Burgdorf on October 24, 1826 and the couple would eventually have four children. Dabbling in a number of businesses, Sutter was unsuccessful and decided to seek his fortune in the United States. In May, 1834, he left his family destined for New York, promising to bring them later once he was settled.
He arrived in the United States in July, and soon made his way to St. Louis, Missouri. While there, he made two trading trips to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1835 and 1836. In 1838, he traveled with a group of missionaries on the Oregon Trail to Fort Vancouver in Oregon Territory and the following year made his way to San Francisco.
At this time, California was a Mexican territory and, wanting to obtain a land grant, Sutter became a Mexican citizen in 1840. In June, 1841, he was granted nearly 50,000 acres by Mexican governor, Juan Bautista Alvarado at the junction of the Feather and Sacramento Rivers. Sutter began to a build a settlement on his land which he called New Helvetia, or “New Switzerland,” with dreams of creating an agricultural utopia.
Employing members of the Miwok, Maidu, and Kanakas tribes, he began to build the settlement and, to protect it, also established Sutter’s Fort, which included 18 foot walls which surrounding shops, houses, mills, and craftsmen. Completed about 1843 and strategically situated on the Oregon-California Trail and near the inland waterways from San Francisco, it soon became the primary destination for most California-bound immigrants, including the ill-fated Donner Party, whom Sutter attempted to rescue.
Sutter’s settlement rapidly grew and prospered as immigrants; trappers and traders traveled through or settled in the area. Within just a few years, Sutter was the wealthiest and most influential man in the region and even he would later admit: “I was everything, patriarch, priest, father and judge.” Somewhere along the line, Sutter’s family also joined him in California.
In 1847, California became part of the United States and though Sutter first supported the establishment of an independent California Republic, when U.S. troops briefly seized control of his fort, Sutter did not resist.
Sutter’s life would change dramatically when one of his employees, James Marshall, discovered gold at his sawmill in what would later become the town of Coloma in January, 1848. Marshall immediately advised Sutter of his find, who swore all his employees to secrecy. But, the “news” was just too big, and in no time it leaked out.
As word quickly spread, some 80,000 miners flooded the area, extending up and down the length of the Sacramento Valley, and overrunning Sutter’s domain. Sutter’s employees also joined the Gold Rush and he was unable to protect his property. In no time, his sheep and cattle were stolen and his land was occupied by squatters.
As almost everything Sutter had worked for was destroyed, John deeded everything that was left to his son, John Augustus Sutter Jr., in order not to lose it. The younger Sutter saw the commercial possibilities of the land and promptly made plans for building a new city he named Sacramento, after the Sacramento River.
Sutter's Fort today, Kathy Weiser
The elder Sutter deeply resented this because he had wanted the city to be named Sutterville and be built near his New Helvetia domain.
Ironically, neither John Sutter nor James Marshall ever profited from the discovery that should have made them independently wealthy. Though Marshall tried to secure his own claims in the gold fields, he was unsuccessful. The sawmill where the gold was found also failed, as every able-bodied man took off in search of gold.
By 1852 John Sutter was bankrupt and his land was filled with squatters. In 1857, the squatters took Sutter to court over the legality of his titles and the U.S. Land Commission decided in Sutter’s favor.
However, a year later, the Supreme Court declared portions of his title invalid. Sutter then sought reimbursement of his losses associated with the California Gold Rush, but received only $250 per month from the State of California in 1864. The final blow came on June 7 of 1865, when a small band of men set fire to his house, completely destroying the structure.
Sutter and his wife, Nanette, then moved to Lititz, Pennsylvania and John continued to fight the U.S. Government for compensation for his losses. For the next 15 years, the undisputed founder of California petitioned Congress for restitution but little was done. On June 16, 1880, Congress adjourned, once again, without action on a bill which would have paid Sutter $50,000. Two days later John Augustus Sutter died in a Washington D.C. hotel. He was returned to Lititz and is buried in the Moravian Cemetery. Mrs. Sutter died the following January and is buried with him.
In the meantime, his elder son, John Augustus Sutter Jr., who had stayed behind in California prospered.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sutter’s Fort, California
Arriving in California in 1839, John A. Sutter applied for a land grant from the Mexican government and two years later received almost 50,000 acres in what is now present-day Sacramento. Envisioning an agricultural utopia, Sutter began to build a settlement, which he called New Helvetia, or “New Switzerland.” And to protect his new property, he built what became known as Sutter’s Fort.
Employing members of the Miwok, Maidu, and Kanakas tribes, the fort included 18-foot walls which surrounding shops, houses, mills, and craftsmen.
Surrounding the fort the land was filled with crops such as grapes and wheat, along with vast herds of cattle. Completed about 1843 and strategically situated on the Oregon-California Trail and near the inland waterways from San Francisco, it soon became the primary destination for most California-bound immigrants, including the ill-fated Donner Party who Sutter attempted to rescue.
Sutter’s settlement rapidly grew and prospered as immigrants; trappers and traders traveled through or settled in the area. Within just a few years, Sutter was the wealthiest and most influential man in the region and even he would later admit: “I was everything, patriarch, priest, father, and judge.”
But, for John Sutter, his life was to come crashing down around him when James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in January 1848. As word quickly spread, some 80,000 miners flooded the area, extending up and down the length of the Sacramento Valley and overrunning Sutter’s domain. Sutter’s employees also joined the Gold Rush and he was unable to protect his property. In no time, his sheep and cattle were stolen, his land was occupied by squatters and he lost possession of the fort.
By the 1850s, all that was left of Sutter’s Fort was the central building and by 1860, its outer walls and rooms lay in ruin. Ironically, neither John Sutter nor James Marshall ever profited from the discovery that should have made them independently wealthy.
In 1890, the State of California acquired the site and began restoration, which was completed in 1893. Sutter’s Fort became a part of the California State Park System in 1947 and today stands as the oldest restored Fort in the United States.Of the original buildings, the two-story central structure, made of adobe and oak, remains preserved and provides exhibits and living history interpretive services.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Coloma – Gold Town to Ghost Town
The roads were so wretched that supplies could be got to the mines only by pack-animals. A dollar per pound was the customary rate to Coloma and to Hangtown, which were about the same distance from Sacramento.
Gold dust was the universal currency, and the “blower” and the scales were a fixture in every place of business. The weights were often home-made, and of very dubious specific gravity.”
— David Leeper, 1849
Coloma, California in 1857.
Settled along the banks of the South Fork River between Sutter’s Mill and Mormon Island is Coloma, California — the first important mining town of the 1848 gold rush days. It was here, on the South Fork River, that James Marshall first found the gold that started the great California Gold Rush. News spread quickly and by the time it reached San Francisco, thousands began to flood the area.
James Marshall was a construction foreman for Johann (John) Augustus Sutter, who operated Sutter’s Mill on the banks of the American River. Sutter had come to California from his native Switzerland in 1834. By 1839, he had settled in the heart of the Sacramento Valley, where he wanted to establish a “great colony.”
He began to “build” his colony when he was granted 50,000 acres of prime land by Governor Alvarado, the Mexican governor of California. He then purchased a number of properties that were moved to the area and began raising a herd of cattle. Calling his new colony “New Helvetica,” he used Indian labor to build a “fort,” from which he oversaw his new settlement.
However, he was badly in need of lumber for his buildings. In 1845, he contracted with James Marshall to build a sawmill in the Coloma Valley, about 40 miles east of New Helvetia and Sutter’s Fort. However, it would be two more years before construction on the sawmill would begin. In January, 1848, when the mill was nearing completion, Marshall was inspecting the water flow when he discovered a pea-sized gold nugget. Gold had been discovered in California! Ironically, neither Sutter nor Marshall ever profited from the discovery that should have made them independently wealthy.
As word quickly spread, Sutter’s sawmill was overrun by gold miners, around which, a gold camp born. Named for the valley in which it was situated, called Cullumah, meaning “beautiful” to the native Nisenan Indians, the new “town” was called Coloma.
By the summer of 1848, some 80,000 miners had flooded the area, spreading up and down the length of the Sacramento Valley, overrunning Sutter’s domain and trampling his visions of grandeur. Also displaced were the native Nisenan Indians who had called the Cullumah Valley home for centuries.
Coloma Sierra Nevada Hotel
The Sierra Nevada Hotel was a was a way station for miners and tradesman during Coloma’s mining heydays. Today, it houses an Inn and Restaurant.
In the meantime, the new town of Coloma was booming, already boasting about 300 frame buildings and a large hotel was under construction. It was the first place fortune-seekers headed when they arrived in San Francisco, until gold was discovered in surrounding areas.
By 1849, when the California Gold Rush was in full force, Coloma had several stores, hotels, businesses, and a number of the ever popular saloons and gambling houses. But, for those many new area residents, they would be shocked to see the outrageous prices. Due to its remote location and the rules of “supply and demand,” miners could expect to pay as much as $50 for a pick or shovel.
The following year, El Dorado County was created in February and Coloma became its first county seat. Just seven months later, California would become the 31st state in the union. That same year, a six mile “ditch” was completed to bring water to Coloma from the snow melt and rain in the mountains so that miners could work placers.
When Coloma became the county seat, a man named Captain Shannon, who had built and operated one of Coloma’s first general stores, became the town’s first mayor. A well-liked and respected man, Shannon was also looked to as the “official” to settle disputes and punish any transgressions. With no official law or judicial system, Shannon complied, often sentencing offenders to banishment, whipping, branding, cutting of one or both ears, and in a few cases – hanging.
A man named Jerry Crane was the first to be hanged in Coloma after murdering one of his students because, as he claimed, he “loved” her. He was later found to have a wife and family back east.
The next man hanged was an outlaw by the name of Mickey Free, who was involved in a cutthroat gang that specialized in raiding and robbing Chinese camps and murdering lonely miners.
But, like other gold rich boom camps, Coloma’s hectic days were numbered. As the thousands of miners spread out in the area, richer gold veins were soon found at places such as nearby Placerville, Georgetown, Diamond Springs and as many as 30 other gold camps.
As Coloma’s population began to fall, nearby Placerville, some ten miles away, had become the new “hub” of the Mother Lode and in 1854, the county seat was moved there, where it remains to this day.
By 1870, Coloma had but just 200 residents and over the years continued to dwindle.
Today, though considered a “ghost town,” the Coloma area is again called home to about 200 people. Approximately 70% of the old town site is part of California’s Marshall Gold Discovery State Park that features a number of buildings that have survived from the gold rush, as well as many other reminders of the gold rush period. The park also features a museum, a walking tour of the old town site, costumed volunteers, a replica of the original Sutter’s Mill, and the old cemetery.
Coloma is approximately ten miles northwest of Placerville, on Highway 49.
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Massive Smoky Quartz Pocket
MMMGYS
If you want you can add a SiMO sound track that works at the same time with these videos
MMMGYS*SiMO Sound
Massive Smoky Quartz Pocket Pt 2
MMMGYS
Click on top part of videos for links
MMMGYS**SiMO***Exclusively on IHUB educational purposes only***
.jpg)
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