SOCIETY. 65 



after having served as a captain in the body-guard of Charles 

 X of France, came to the United States, where he was Amer- 

 icanized. He afterwards came to California, and was admitted 

 to Mexican citizenship. He obtained a grant of eleven square 

 leagues of land on the eastern bank of the Sacramento River, 

 and under that grant the title to the site of Sacramento City is 

 now held. In 1841 he built some adobe buildings, which he 

 dignified with the title of New Helvetia, while to the Ameri- 

 cans it was generally known as " Sutter's Fort." It was, for 

 a long time, the only place where white men had a permanent 

 foothold in the Sacramento basin ; and it was a place of im- 

 portance, as the first point where the American trappers, 

 travelers, and immigrants, entering the territory from the 

 eastward, could obtain provisions, ammunition, and horses, 

 and rest secure against Indians. Sutter treated all comers 

 with the utmost generosity and liberality ; no white man was 

 turned away because of inability to pay for food or lodging. 

 The first gold diggings were discovered about twenty-five 

 miles eastward from the fort, which became the chief trading 

 point between San Francisco and the mines. The adventurers 

 ascended the Sacramento River to the mouth of the American, 

 where they landed, and their goods were taken by ox-wagons 

 to the fort, two miles distant, where they prepared themselves 

 for the land journey. Before the first year of gold mining 

 had come to an end, it was evident there must be a town on 

 the bank of the Sacramento at the mouth of the American ; so 

 the present town site was laid off in October, 1848, and the 

 New Year's day following, the building of the first house, (of 

 logs) near the Sacramento River, was commenced. On the 

 8th of January the lots were sold by auction, and were des- 

 cribed as lying in the town of " Sacramento." The fort and 

 its vicinity continued to be the chief place of business until 

 April, 1849, when the bank of the Sacramento was found to be 

 much more convenient for purposes of business, and the mer- 

 chants and traders moved. The town very soon became the 

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