John Augustus Sutter Jr. (October 25, 1826 – September 21, 1897) was the founder and planner of the City of Sacramento in California, a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and the son of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-born but

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internationa ...

-raised

American pioneer American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nativ ...

John Augustus Sutter Sr.

Biography

John Sutter Jr. was born on Oct. 25, 1826 in Burgdorf,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. In May 1834, in order to avoid debtors' prison, his father, John Sutter Sr. left his family in Switzerland, departing for the United States. Eventually the elder Sutter settled in California. While in California, initially the father's fortunes had seemed to improve. The son was afterwards raised by his single mother, Anna Sutter, and put through counting school.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 3-12. While the younger Sutter was still a minor living in Europe, Sutter Sr. had decided to transfer to his son, some of his land holdings from the Mexican land grant which he called

New Helvetia New Helvetia ( Spanish: Nueva Helvetia), meaning "New Switzerland", was a 19th-century Alta California settlement and rancho, centered in present-day Sacramento, California. Colony of Nueva Helvetia The Swiss pioneer John Sutter (1803–1880) ...

. Word eventually reached Sutter Jr. that while his father was in California, he had again managed to get himself back into debt. In 1848, with the aim of helping manage his father's business affairs, John Sutter Jr. emigrated to California.

Sacramento

When Sutter Jr. arrived at

, he found

Sutter's Fort Sutter's Fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican ''Alta California'' province.National Park Service"California National Historic Trail."/ref> The site of the fort was established in 1839 and originally called New Helv ...

to be overrun by loiterers and drunkards, and felt that the situation required improvements in organization and leadership. Soon after his arrival, his father, Sutter Sr., departed for

Coloma, California Coloma (Nisenan: ''Cullumah'', meaning "beautiful") is a census-designated place in El Dorado County, California, US. It is approximately northeast of Sacramento, California. Coloma is most noted for being the site where James W. Marshall found go ...

, where gold had recently been discovered, to start a business selling supplies to

gold prospectors Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

. Despite the fact that his father had been planning on starting a town to be named Sutterville, Sutter Jr. planned and began to implement his own vision for a city near the fork of the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–S ...

s. This was the beginning of the City of Sacramento which was then named Sacramento City for real estate promotional purposes.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 12-18. SuttersFort2002

The change of plans put a strain on the relationship between

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fath ...

and son. Sutter Jr. became ill and rarely left the family's residence, Hock Farm, on the

Feather River The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over . The main stem Feather R ...

. As Sutter Jr.'s illness continued, he grew tired of his responsibilities. He contemplated selling his land, but thought that it would be difficult to sell such a large property. Some businessmen from Sacramento City heard that Sutter Jr. was interested in selling his land. They worked together to buy the land from Sutter Jr., but not by the most honest means. The businessmen, including Sam Brannan, would not bring the contract to purchase the land to Sutter Jr. at Hock Farm, so he took a powerful medicine and met them in Sacramento City to sign the terms of the deal. After reading the contract Sutter Jr. did not like the terms, but the businessmen urged him to sign the contract, get out of California and go somewhere with a climate more suitable to his condition. He reluctantly signed the deal.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 18-38.

Acapulco

Being rid of the property and the obligation to take care of it, in 1850, Sutter Jr. moved south to find a climate that suited his needs. He made it as far as

. There he met his first wife, María del Carmen Rivas. They were married in the latter part of 1850. Having recovered his health but never any money from his earlier business dealings he returned to California to try and force payment. Brannan waited until August was desperate then offered him $40,000 as payment in full for what was the final slice of his father's land. Panic stricken young August agreed but even then received no cash, only notes for which he signed receipts for $100,000 of which he also never saw a dime. Brannan's company then buried August with lawsuits to the point that he gladly received a mere $3,500 after which August still found himself in debt just over $300. With his nerves and health in shambles again and with nothing left to sell he again ran back to Mexico amid accusations of his squandering his father's fortune. In 1852, his first son, John Sutter III, was born in Northwest Mexico. During this time Sutter Jr. was involved in many court cases over the sale of his property to Brannan and the lack of payment for the property. In some instances, these court cases went all the way to the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...

. These court cases did not benefit Sutter Jr. except to release him of the burden of caring for the estate.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 38-48. In Acapulco, Sutter Jr. worked and was partner in a small general store. When the principal owner died, Sutter took his share of the business. Because the business did so well, the Sutters were able to build a house near the ocean. In 1865, Sutter Jr., on the recommendation of a U.S. Commercial Agent, became the Vice-Commercial Agent for the Port of Acapulco. Because of the ill health of the Commercial Agent, Sutter took his position in 1868. Many of Sutter's friends and business associates in the U.S. and Mexico wrote letters to President Johnson requesting that Sutter be made a U.S.

. The

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...

granted the requests and opened a full consulate in the District and Port of Acapulco. Sutter was named the U.S. consul by President Grant and

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's C ...

Hamilton Fish Hamilton Fish (August 3, 1808September 7, 1893) was an American politician who served as the 16th Governor of New York from 1849 to 1850, a United States Senator from New York from 1851 to 1857 and the 26th United States Secretary of State ...

on July 13, 1870.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 48-60. Sometime around 1862, Sutter Jr.'s wife, María, left him. In 1870 Sutter Jr. met Nicolasa Solís and began a relationship with her. This relationship would last until Sutter Jr.'s death. Because he could not properly take care of the divorce from his first marriage, Sutter Jr. and Solís did not marry until 1894. On May 24, 1887, he retired from his post as U.S. Consul to Acapulco. He and his wife lived on their plantation near Acapulco until his death. After his death, his wife had a difficult time keeping their property in Mexico. At this time, there was a

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

in Mexico. The Indians wanted land that they felt originally belonged to them. The revolutionaries targeted many American citizens and made life hard for the Sutters. Much of their property was destroyed. Solís moved, with her children, to San Francisco and for years fought to get back the Mexican land and some of the land in Sacramento that she felt belonged to her and her children, but to no avail.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 61-77.

Death

Sutter Jr. died in

on September 21, 1897. He was originally interred in Acapulco, but was reinterred in the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery in Sacramento, California at the request of his daughter, Anna Sutter Young.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutter (Jr.), John Augustus People of the California Gold Rush Jr. Foreign residents of Mexican California Land owners from California American city founders 19th-century American diplomats People from Sacramento, California 1826 births 1897 deaths Mexican people of Swiss descent Swiss emigrants to the United States People from Burgdorf, Switzerland