Sutter's Mill was a
sawmillA sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
owned by 19th century pioneer
John SutterJohn Augustus Sutter was a Swiss pioneer of California known for his association with the California Gold Rush by the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall and the mill making team at Sutter's Mill, and for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, the...
. It was located in San Fransico, California, at the bank of the
American RiverThe American River located in the US state of California, has a prominent place in United States history for being the site of Sutter's Mill, northwest of Placerville, California, where gold was found in 1848, leading to the California Gold Rush...
. Sutter's Mill is most famous for its association with the
California Gold RushThe California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered by James Wilson Marshall at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California. News of the discovery soon spread, resulting in some 300,000 men, women, and children coming to California from the rest of the United States and...
. It was here that an employee/partner of Sutter's,
James MarshallJames Wilson Marshall was an American carpenter and sawmill operator, whose discovery of gold in the American River in California on January 24, 1848 set the stage for the California Gold Rush...
, on January 24, 1848, found several flakes of gold that would begin the transformation of
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
from a sleepy outpost to a bustling center of activity.
Sutter's Mill was a
sawmillA sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
owned by 19th century pioneer
John SutterJohn Augustus Sutter was a Swiss pioneer of California known for his association with the California Gold Rush by the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall and the mill making team at Sutter's Mill, and for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, the...
. It was located in San Fransico, California, at the bank of the
American RiverThe American River located in the US state of California, has a prominent place in United States history for being the site of Sutter's Mill, northwest of Placerville, California, where gold was found in 1848, leading to the California Gold Rush...
. Sutter's Mill is most famous for its association with the
California Gold RushThe California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered by James Wilson Marshall at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California. News of the discovery soon spread, resulting in some 300,000 men, women, and children coming to California from the rest of the United States and...
. It was here that an employee/partner of Sutter's,
James MarshallJames Wilson Marshall was an American carpenter and sawmill operator, whose discovery of gold in the American River in California on January 24, 1848 set the stage for the California Gold Rush...
, on January 24, 1848, found several flakes of gold that would begin the transformation of
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
from a sleepy outpost to a bustling center of activity. Originally, John Sutter and James Marshall tried to keep the gold secret, but eventually the word got out. During the next seven years, approximately 300,000 people came to
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
(half by land and half by sea) to seek their fortunes mining for gold or selling merchandise to the gold miners.
The first to document the discovery of the gold were Henry Bigler and Azariah Smith, in their respective diaries. They and several other people working at the mill were discharged veterans of the
Mormon BattalionThe Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in American military history, serving from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of about 500 Latter-day Saint men led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular army officers...
. After the discovery of Gold, the era called the "gold rush" began, and many people came from the east to migrate for some cash. People like
Levi StraussLevi Strauss, born Löb Strauss was a German-Jewish immigrant to the United States who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans...
and
Luzena WilsonLuzena Wilson cooked, sewed, and made a hotel for miners. A miner saw her one day and offered her $10.00 for her plate of biscuits. It was usually rare to see a woman in the mines. Luzena became rich like other people, like Levi Strauss.This was during the gold rush....
became important.
The site of the mill is located on the South Fork of the American River.
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic ParkMarshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is a California state park near Placerville, California, USA. It marks the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in 1848. The park grounds include much of the historic town of Coloma, California, which is now considered a ghost town as...
is registered as
California Historical LandmarkCalifornia Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...
#530. The current Sutter's Mill is a copy of the original building and looks much like it. It was built using Marshall's own drawings and an early day photo as reference for the recreation of the mill.
The mill was also the namesake and inspiration for a popular song by singer-songwriter
Dan FogelbergDaniel Grayling Fogelberg was an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, whose music was inspired by sources as diverse as folk, pop, classical, jazz, and bluegrass music.-Early life and family:Dan Fogelberg, the youngest of three sons, was born in Peoria, Illinois, the son of...
.
External links
- Discovery of Gold, by John A. Sutter, Hutchings’ California Magazine
James Mason Hutchings was born in England on February 10, 1820. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1848, then went to California in 1849 during the Gold Rush. He became wealthy as a miner, lost it all in a bank failure, then became wealthy again from publishing...
, November 1857. Sutter describes how he wanted a sawmill near the SacramentoSacramento is the capital of the U.S. state of California, and the county seat of Sacramento County. Located along the Sacramento River and just south of the American River's confluence in California's expansive Central Valley. With a 2007 estimated population of 460,242, it is the seventh-largest...
and how Marshall told him of the gold.
- Early photographs, illustrations, and textual references to Sutter's Mill, via Calisphere, California Digital Library.