John Augustus Sutter (1803-1880) was granted land in 1841 which he named New Helvetia, now part of Sacramento, and built Sutter's Fort. In 1848, Sutter discovered gold on his land, which marked the beginning of the Gold Rush in California. This is a collection of two pieces of correspondence from John Augustus Sutter, dated 1840 and 1841, and eleven newspaper clippings about Sutter, dated from 1939-1961. One of the letters from Sutter is in French, and includes a typed translation.

John Augustus Sutter (1803-1880) was born in Baden, Germany of Swiss parents. In 1834, faced with impossible debt, he decided to try his fortunes in America and set sail for New York. There he decided that the West offered him the best opportunity for success, and he moved to Missouri, where for three years he operated as a trader on the Santa Fe Trail.

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