Sutter's fort

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sutter's fort
National Register of Historic Places
Site
Sutter's Fort 1849

Sutter's Fort 1849

Sutter's Fort (California)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
location Sacramento , California
Coordinates 38 ° 34 '20 "  N , 121 ° 28' 12"  W Coordinates: 38 ° 34 '20 "  N , 121 ° 28' 12"  W.
surface 2.35 hectares
Built 1841 to 1845
architect Johann August Sutter
Number of visitors 106 215 (Fiscal Year 2016-17)
NRHP number 66000221
The NRHP added October 15, 1966

Sutter's Fort State Historic Park is a state park in Sacramento , the capital of California . Sutter's Fort was the center of the private colony of New Helvetia founded by Johann August Sutter in 1839 .

Geographical location

The fort is located near the confluence of the American River with the Sacramento River , east of what is now the center of Sacramento.

history

prehistory

On July 2, 1839, Sutter reached the port of Yerba Buena - as the then Mexican city of San Francisco was called - by ship from Novo-Archangelsk ( Sitka ) in Russia . His plan was to establish a settlement in the Sacramento Valley. Because of the immigration formalities, Sutter first had to go to Monterey , the capital of the Alta California and Baja California territories . He asked the Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado for an allocation of land. Alvarado was interested in winning Sutter as a settler for the Sacramento Valley, which until then had been populated exclusively by wild Indian tribes. Sutter posed as a Catholic, was able to make it credible that he was not pursuing the interests of the British, Russians or Americans and did not want to settle on the popular California coast. By his own admission, he wanted to clearly separate himself from the Mexican settlements in order not to be exposed to their influence. He sailed back to Yerba Buena where he arrived on July 7th. He sold his ocean-going ship and rented three watercraft suitable for the river to drive from there up the Sacramento to the American River. Sutter started with a small group - which included two German carpenters, some sailors and craftsmen hired in Yerba Buena, and eight Hawaiians . His expedition came to the mouth of the Feather River and then returned to the mouth of the American River. Part of the team wanted to return to Yerba Buena because the wilderness was not very welcoming. Only three whites, one Indian and the eight Hawaiians stayed with Sutter. On August 13, 1839, they began building the Nueva Helvetia settlement. The Hawaiians first built grass huts and a one-story mud brick house was built for Sutter and the workshops. The settlers began raising cattle and farming, although Sutter initially had to go into considerable debt to finance the seeds and the basis for the herds. The settlement grew steadily and by the fall of 1840 20 whites and a large number of Indians were working for Sutter.

On August 29, 1840, Sutter became a Mexican citizen and on June 18, 1841, Alvarado received the desired land allocation of 11 square leagues (= 197 km²), the maximum possible allocation under Mexican law. This is almost the size of Stuttgart .

selected data on history
  August 24, 1821 Mexico became a state independent of Spain and California a Mexican province
  1836 the Californians gained more autonomy in an uprising against the Mexican central government and their leader Juan Bautista Alvarado was appointed governor
  1839 Johann August Sutter founded the Nueva Helvetia settlement in the Sacramento Valley
  August 29, 1840 Sutter became a Mexican citizen
  June 18, 1841 Sutter received a land grant and began building Sutter's Fort that summer
  1842 the Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna replaced the Californian Juan Bautista Alvarado as governor by the Mexican Manuel Micheltorena
  March 1844 John C. Frémont reached Sutter's Fort with his US survey expedition
  February 5, 1845 Sutter received another land allocation from Governor Manuel Micheltorena that is twice as large as his previous property
  February 20, 1845 In the second battle at the Cuhuenga Pass, the Mexican governor Manuel Micheltorena was defeated by insurgent Californians, whereupon he resigned and was replaced by Pio Pico. Johann August Sutter, who fought on Micheltorena's side, was taken prisoner.
  November 11, 1845 Sutter received an offer from the Californians to buy Sutter's Fort
  March 1846 the Spanish-born Californians tried to found an independent California with the junta of Monterey and to stay out of the impending war between the USA and Mexico
  May 13, 1846 Beginning of the Mexican-American War
  June 14, 1846 in Sonoma the Republic of California was proclaimed by American settlers
  July 1846 Freikorps under Frémont defeat the troops of the Monterey junta and conquer Monterey
  July 11, 1846 The American flag was hoisted over Sutter's Fort
  January 13, 1847 the Treaty of Cahuenga ends the war in Upper California
  January 24, 1848 James W. Marshall found at Sutter's Mill Gold, sparking the California Gold Rush of
  February 2, 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War and California became a territory of the United States
  September 9, 1850 California became the 31st state to join the Union
  1893 The renovation of the fort was complete
  1947 The California Department of Parks and Recreation is taking over the fort

The Fort

Fort Sutter floor plan

In the summer of 1841, Sutter began building the fort to protect against Indian raids but also to protect against envious Californians, as Sutter writes in his memoirs. The large main building was surrounded by a wall 5½ meters high, which was made of air-dried mud bricks and was 76 cm thick. The room enclosed in this way was approx. 7000 m² and had a gate in the north, south and west. In two corners he had bastion-like towers built with 1.50 m thick walls, each equipped with two nine-pounders and two six-pounders. In total there were 12 cannons in the fort. The main building had 2½ storeys and was also made of air-dried mud bricks. The ceilings and interior walls were made of oak boards. Barracks for his 150-strong Indian troops, apartments, workshops, a mill, a bakery, a manufacture for woolen blankets and a tannery were built within the enclosure. These structures were placed on the inside of the surrounding wall. It took four years for the fort to reach this stage of development.

California is being explored - the fort attracts interest

California was a Mexican province, but several great powers had their eye on the territory and explored its economic potential. The Russian Empire maintained a base in Fort Ross through the Russian-American Company . The Kingdom of Great Britain pursued its interests through the Hudson's Bay Company in Vancouver , which sent fur hunters to California every year. The Kingdom of France also sent an employee of its ambassador to Mexico, Eugène Duflot de Mofras, on a tour of discovery and had the colonization costs calculated. In September 1841 de Mofras visited the fort. The United States showed the most massive interest and the most aggressive action .

Sutter was in business and social intercourse with everyone and also sounded out his possibilities to develop his territory into an entity independent of Mexico under a protective power. His fort was the starting point for all explorations.

On August 23, 1841, a division of Charles Wilkes's expedition under Lieutenant Cadwalader Ringgold Sutter's Fort. Charles Pickering also traveled with this group . Another group of Wilkes' expedition led by Lieutenant George F. Emmons, including James Dwight Dana , reached the fort on October 19, 1841. In 1842, the Swedish scientist, GM Waseurtz af Sandels, also visited the fort on his California expedition. On March 6, 1844, John C. Frémont reached Sutter's Fort with his surveying expedition, which Kit Carson had as a boy scout, where the expedition recovered by March 24 and was provided with fresh supplies.

The fort as a gateway for the immigrants

Sutter's Fort was a key location for immigration from the United States to California. The immigrants came via the California Trail and crossed the Sierra Nevada via either the Donner Pass or the Carson Pass . A second immigration route ran south from Oregon through the Sacramento Valley. On both routes, most of the immigrants passed through Sutter's Fort, where JA Sutter, in his capacity as a Mexican official, issued them passports that were valid in California and throughout Mexico. When Mexico, and especially the Californians around 1845, perceived the rapidly increasing American immigration as threatening, the Californian territorial government tried to buy Sutter's colony of New Helvetia on November 11, 1845. This was to gain control of the key position and curb immigration. Sutter saw himself in the role of the protector of his settlers and refused, which he later regretted according to his own statements.

In the hustle and bustle of political events

After Mexico had repeatedly turned down offers of the United States to buy California and the states annexed the Republic of Texas in 1845 , war was widely expected. The Spanish-born Californians tried to found an independent California with the junta of Monterey and to stay out of the impending war between the US and Mexico. On May 13, 1846, the Mexican-American War broke out. In Sonoma , the Republic of California was proclaimed by American settlers on June 14, 1846 . In mid-June 1846, Frémont's Freikorps stayed in New Helvetia and after his departure left a small crew in the fort. In July, their Freikorps under Frémont defeated the troops of the Monterey junta. On July 11, 1846, the American flag was hoisted at Fort Sutter. On May 24, 1847, half a company of the New York Volunteer Regiment moved into Sutter's Fort and Sutter only now gave up command of the fort.

Flags over Fort Sutter


The decline

The derelict main house of the fort

On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter's Mill and thus triggered the California gold rush . Sutter complained that he suffered enormous financial losses because of a lack of employees - almost all of them were looking for gold - his harvest was not brought in and the half-finished products in his workshops were spoiled. On the other hand, he was able to rent his properties at the highest prices. A hotel opened in the main building of the fort, earning him a monthly rent of $ 500. When the Russian-American Company demanded the remaining debt from the purchase of Fort Ross from Sutter in this situation , Sutter got into trouble. In October 1848 he gave his son, Johann August jr. Power of attorney. Sutter jr. sold the land around the fort, laying the foundation stone for the city of Sacramento. Peter Burnett , who later became governor of California, was Sutter's agent. In March 1849, Sutter rented the entire fort. As early as 1855, the fort was in a very poor, neglected condition and by 1865 it had completely disintegrated except for the main building.

State historic park

Sutter's Fort - State historic park

In 1891 the Native Sons of the Golden West - an association for the care of the historical heritage - bought the dilapidated property and donated it to the State of California in 1891. The $ 20,000 required for the purchase was raised through donations, with the family of railroad pioneer Charles Crocker alone donating $ 15,000. The 8th Governor of California, Leland Stanford , contributed most of the missing sum. The California parliament approved the funds for the reconstruction and maintenance of the fort prior to the donation.

The renovation began in 1891 and was completed in 1893. The museum went through several stages of development, during which it increasingly developed from a general pioneer museum with exhibits from the 19th century to a special museum depicting the time of Sutter's settlement. The California Department of Parks and Recreation has been looking after the upkeep since 1947 . Under his direction, a reconstruction of the fort took place. The basis for this was a floor plan published in a brochure by Heinrich Künzel in Darmstadt in 1848 . The State historic park shows the daily life of the Californian pioneers from 1840 and has especially the students as a target group. Today the fort can also be rented for weddings and other occasions.

The state park has about 100,000 visitors annually and the entrance fees cover about 19% of its operating costs.

literature

Web links

Commons : Sutter's Fort  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ State Park System Statistical Report 2016/17 [1]
  2. ↑ see English Wikipedia Juan Bautista Alvarado
  3. ↑ s. Gude p. 34
  4. ↑ s. English Wikipedia Battle of Providencia
  5. ↑ s. English Wikipedia Pío Pico
  6. ↑ s. Gudde pp. 66/67; Künzel p. 29; Lewis pp. 110/111
  7. ↑ s. English Wikipedia Eugène Duflot de Mofras
  8. ^ Eugène Duflot de Mofras: Duflot de Mofras' travels on the Pacific coast , Santa Ana, California, 1937, volume 1; page 243-248 online at hathitrust ; Eugène Duflot de Mofras: Exploration du territoire de l'Orégon, des Californies et de la mer Vermeille exécutée pendant les années 1840, 1841 et 1842 , Paris 1844, tome 1; page 457-466 online on the Internet Archive ; s. Gudde p. 85
  9. ↑ s. English Wikipedia Cadwalader Ringgold
  10. ↑ see Gudde p. 72
  11. ↑ s. English Wikipedia George F. Emmons
  12. ↑ s. Charles Wilkes: The discovery expedition of the United States in the years 1838 to 1842 under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes , Stuttgart and Tübingen 1850, second volume, p. 805 online in the Google book search ; s. Gudde p. 193
  13. ↑ GM Waseurtz af Sandels: A Sojourn in California by the King's Orphan: The Travels and Sketches of GM Waseurtz Af Sandels, a Swedish Gentleman who Visited California in 1842-1843 , 1945
  14. ↑ John Charles Fremont: Narrative of the exploring expedition to the Rocky mountains in the year 1842, and to Oregon and north California in the years 1843-44 , New York 1846, pp. 150-152 online in the Internet Archive
  15. ↑ the Spanish-born residents of California
  16. ↑ s. English Wikipedia 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
  17. ↑ s. English Wikipedia John Augustus Sutter, Jr.
  18. ↑ s. English Wikipedia Native Sons of the Golden West
  19. ↑ s. Sutter's Fort state historic park brochure published by State of California - The Resources Agency. Department of parks and recreation, 11-75
  20. ↑ s. Lewis p. 203
  21. ↑ s. English Wikipedia California Department of Parks and Recreation
  22. ↑ Heinrich Künzel: Upper California. A geographical description for the purpose of German emigration and settlement ... First contribution. With a map of the Rio Sacramento and a plan of Fort New Helvetia. , Darmstadt, CW Leske, 1848 online in the Google book search ; unfortunately the plan is not available on google books
  23. ↑ State Park System Statistical Report 2016/17 [2]