John Sutter’s Ruined Empire

The Gold Rush wasn’t a positive change in the tide for everyone. A few slides back we mentioned that Sutter and Marshall tried to keep a lid on the gold discovery. Marshall’s sole concern, at least initially, was getting the mill project finished. Likewise, Sutter didn’t want the possibility of easy, nearby wealth to deplete his work force and ruin his business interests.

Unfortunately, word did get out, to say the least. Sutter’s workers fled in search of gold, his land was invaded by no-good squatters, and his crops and livestock were pilfered.

The above photo shows Swiss-born Sutter around 1870.