Fort Sutter Collection: Finding Aid mssSutter
Gina C Giang
The Huntington Library
March 2020
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Fort Sutter collection
Identifier/Call Number: mssSutter
Physical Description:
1.92 Linear Feet
(40 volumes)
Date (inclusive): 1845-1862
Abstract: A collection containing letters,
documents, illustrations and three maps related to Fort Sutter, Northern
California.
Language of Material: Materials are in English and
Spanish.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Fort Sutter collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Anderson Galleries, November 1921.
These volumes were bound, with a printed introduction by Seymour Dunbar, under whose
direction they were arranged, by the DeVinne Press. Some of the papers were supposed to have
been in the possession of Walter R. Benjamin and sold by him at various times to Charles A.
Gunther of Chicago, according to a notice in the "Collector" for January 1922.
Fort Sutter was a settlement on the Sacramento River in Northern California; it was founded
in 1839 by Swiss emigrant John A. Sutter and Sutter's Fort became a center of trading
activity in California. During the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846 Edward Meyer Kern, a young
artist and draftsman from Philadelphia, was a member of John C. Frémont's 3rd Exploring
Expedition from 1845 to 1846; Kern was later appointed first lieutenant of the California
Battalion and placed in charge of Fort Sutter. The fort served as a focal point for military
operations during the revolt. After the annexation of California by the United States, Kern
returned home, then later joined Frémont's 4th Exploring Expedition with his brothers and
was a member of the Simpson and Sitgreaves Expeditions in the Southwest.
The Fort Sutter collection contains approximately 161 original letters, documents,
illustrations and maps, in English and Spanish, mounted in 39 slim, bound volumes covering
the years 1845 to 1862. An additional, unnumbered volume entitled "Introductory Volume,"
contains a printed introduction to the collection, a preface by Edward Eberstadt, as well as
an item-level inventory of the letters and documents housed in the collection. Subjects
covered in the collection include: Edward M. Kern and his activities at Fort Sutter, chiefly
between 1846 and 1847; the Bear Flag Revolt and subsequent military actions; Native American
insurrections; the establishment of mail service in California; relief of the Donner Party;
and Kern's attachment to the 3rd and 4th Frémont Exploring Expeditions. One of the volumes
contains engravings of drawings by Edward Kern and his brother, Richard Kern, made during
the Simpson and Sitgreaves Expeditions in the region of the Zuni, Little Colorado, Colorado,
and Gila Rivers from 1849 to 1853.
Processed by Huntington staff, circa 1925. In 2020, Gina C Giang created a finding aid
derived from a legacy summary report.
Arranged by subject and format.
Former call number: mssFort Sutter collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bear Flag Revolt, 1846 -- History -- Sources
Donner Party
Mexican War, 1846-1848 -- Campaigns --
California
Mexican War, 1846-1848 -- Sources
Postal service -- California -- History -- 19th century --
Sources
California -- History -- 1846-1850 -- Sources
Sutter's Fort (Sacramento, Calif.) -- History -- Sources
United States -- Discovery and exploration -- Sources.
Engravings -- Southwest, New -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 19th century
Maps -- California -- 19th century
Volumes (documents by form) -- United States -- 19th
century
Frémont, John Charles, 1813-1890
Kern, Edward Meyer, 1823-1863
Kern, Richard H., 1821-1853
Missroon, John S., -1865
Montgomery, John Berrien, 1794-
Revere, Joseph W. (Joseph Warren),
1812-1880
Robidoux, Antoine, 1794-1860
Simpson, J. H. (James Hervey), 1813-1883
Volume Intro.
Introductory volume
Volume 1-39
Letters, documents, illustrations, and maps 1845-1862