John Sutter

See also: Suter

Johann Augustus Suter (February 23rd 1803 - June 18th 1880), Adventurous of Swiss origin , is a character of the history of the California, where it builds a fortune before being ruined by the discovered of gold in 1848 in a Scierie which belonged to him. Exproprié De facto , it passed the remainder of its life to be tempted to obtain a compensation for the States Californian and federal, and almost died in the Misère before to have obtained win.

It started like simple Apprenti in Burgdorf, in the canton of Bern, in Switzerland, where it Maria (1826) and had five children. Threatened of bankruptcy, and thus of prison, it gave up its in May 1834 family to gain Le Havre where, provided with a French passport, it embarked aboard steamer Sully which led it to the wearing of New York. It unloaded in New York on July 14th, 1834. Then, Sutter knocked about the world as far as California while passing by Saint-Louis (Missouri), which was used to him as a basis for two sales campaigns (unfruitful) along the track of Santa Fe (New Mexico), Westport (current Kansas City), the track of Oregon until Fort Vancouver, then Hawaii and the Alaska. Suter arrived at Yerba Buena (current San Francisco) on July 1st, 1839, that is to say 5 years after its departure of Switzerland.

It builds in a few years an immense fortune, and became the man richest of the world for the time by controlling immense territories in producing California of many resources, such of corn, etc

January 24th, 1848 an event upset its life: James Wilson Marshall who worked for the account of John Suter found gold by inspecting the sawmill which it was building on American River in Coloma. By knowing that, John Suter tells his employee well to maintain the secrecy. Alas James Marshall could not maintain the secrecy and in a few days, all the city knew the news: the whole world sought gold on the grounds of John Suter with whom one disputed his acts of property. The gold diggers having killed his cattle and devastated his cultures, John Suter found himself ruined and finishes his days in misery.

On the river Sacramento, his/her son based the town of Sacramento in California in December 1848. It became thereafter the Capitale of California.

Born in Germany, with Baden-Baden, Swiss parents, it was made Naturaliser Mexicain at the time where California was part of the Mexico in order to be able to claim with a Possession.

It gave its name to the Comté of Sutter.

Blaise Cendrars wrote his biographical Novel in 1925 in the novel “ gold ”. Several biographies were devoted to Sutter, most recent being that of the American historian Albert L. Hurtado John Suter: In Life one the North American Frontier (2006).

In France, in addition to the work of Blaise Cendrars, a television serial entitled " Fortune" , diffused the first time in 1969, made known the character of Sutter (played by the actor Pierre Michael).

External references

the New World and the epopee of the United States/Characters/John Sutter

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