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Excursion into the interior. 

 Captain Suter's settlement. 



CALIFORNIA. 



New Helvetia. Route to the United 

 States. Mouth of Feather river. 



excellency the governor ; and from what I was 

 given to understand, if this be not secured, the 

 traders are liable to exactions and vexations with- 

 out number. 



On the 20th of August, Lieutenant-Commandant 

 Ringgold left the Vincennes with six boats, accom- 

 panied by Dr. Pickering, Lieutenants Alden and 

 Budd, Passed-Midshipman Sandford, Midshipmen 

 Hammersly and Elliott, and Gunner Williamson, 

 with provisions for thirty days, accompanied by an 

 Indian pilot. They first passed the islands of 

 Angelos and Molate, next the points of San Pedro 

 and San Pablo, and then entered the bay of San 

 Pablo. 



San Pablo Bay is of a form nearly circular, and 

 ten miles in diameter; many small streams enter 

 it on all sides, from the neighbouring hills. On the 

 east side of this bay, the river Sacramento empties 

 into it through the Straits of Kaquines. 



The party took the south-east arm of the Sacx-a- 

 mento, and proceeded up the stream for the distance 

 of three miles, where they encamped, without water, 

 that of the river being still brackish. The soil was 

 hard, from being sunburnt, and the foot-marks of 

 the cattle, which had been made during the last 

 rainy season, still remained. 



In the moraing, they discovered that they had 

 taken the wrong branch of the river, for this led 

 immediately into the San Joachim. They, in con- 

 sequence, returned to the entrance, where they be- 

 gan their survey. On the 23rd, they reached the 

 residence of Captain Suter, and encamped on the 

 opposite bank. 



Captain Suter is a Swiss by birth, and informed 

 them that he had been a lieutenant in the Swiss 

 guards during the time of Charles X. Soon after 

 the revolution of July, he came to the United 

 States, and passed several years in the state of 

 Missouri. He has but recently removed to Cali- 

 fornia, where he has obtained from the government 

 a conditional grant of thirty leagues square, bounded 

 by the Sacramento on the west, and extending as 

 far up the river as the Prairie Butes. The spot he 

 has chosen for the erection of his dwelling and for- 

 tification, he has called New Helvetia; it is situated 

 on the summit of a small knoll, rising from the 

 level prairie, two miles from the east bank of the 

 Sacramento, and fifty miles from its mouth. New 

 Helvetia is bounded on the north by the American 

 Fork, a small serpentine stream, which has a course 

 of but a few miles. This river, having a bar near 

 its mouth, no vessels larger than boats can enter it. 

 At this place the Sacramento is eight hundred feet 

 wide, and this may be termed the head of its 

 navigation during the dry season, or the stage of 

 low water. 



When Captain Suter first settled here in 1839, 

 he was surrounded by some of the most hostile 

 tribes of Indians on the river; but by his energy 

 and management, with the aid of a small party of 

 trappers, has thus far prevented opposition to his 

 plans. He has even succeeded in winning the good- 

 will of the Indians, who are now labouring for him 

 in building houses, and a line of wall, to protect 

 him against the inroads or attacks that he appre- 

 hends, more from the present authorities of the 

 land, than from the tribes about him, who are now 

 working in his employ. He holds, by appointment 

 of the government, the office of administrador, and 

 has, according to his own belief, supreme power in 



his own district, condemning, acquitting, and pu- 

 nishing, as well as marrying and burying those who 

 are under him. He treats the Indians very kindly, 

 and pays them well for their services in trapping 

 and working for him. His object is to attach 

 them, as much as possible, to his interests, that 

 in case of need he may rely upon their chiefs for 

 assistance. 



Captain Suter has commenced extensive opera- 

 tions in farming; but in the year of our visit the 

 drought had affected him, as well as others, and 

 ruined all his crops. About forty Indians were at 

 work for him, whom he had taught to make adobes. 

 The agreement for their services is usually made 

 witli their chiefs, and in this way as many as are 

 wanted are readily obtained. These chiefs have 

 far more authority over their tribes than those we 

 had seen to the north; and in the opinion of an in- 

 telligent American, they have more power over and 

 are more respected by their tribes than those of 

 any other North American Indians. Connected 

 with the establishment, Captain Suter has erected 

 a distillery, in which he makes a kind of pisco from 

 the wild grape of the country. 



New Helvetia was found to be in latitude 38 

 33' 45" N., and longitude 121 40' 5" W. 



The best route from New Helvetia to the United 

 States is to follow the San Joachim for sixty miles, 

 thence easterly, through a gap in the Snowy Moun- 

 tains, by a good beaten road; thence the course is 

 north-easterly to Mary's river, which flows south- 

 east and has no outlet, but loses itself in a lake; 

 thence continuing in the same direction, the Port- 

 neuf river, in the Upper Shoshorie, is reached; and 

 thence to Fort Hall. According to Dr. Marsh, (an 

 American of much intelligence, resident at the 

 mouth of the San Joachim, to whom we are in- 

 debted for much information of the country,) there 

 is plenty of fresh water and pasturage all the way, 

 and no proper desert between the Californian 

 Range and the Colorado. 



On the 25th, the boats left New Helvetia. It 

 was discovered, previous to starting, that four men 

 had deserted from their party. This is a common 

 circumstance in this port, and very few vessels 

 visit it without losing some portion of their crews. 

 The dissolute habits of the people form such strong 

 temptations for sailors, that few can resist them. 

 A number of men who were deserters were conti- 

 nually around us. Among others, the sergeant and 

 marine guard that had deserted from H.B.M. ship 

 Sulphur were the most troublesome. Their appear- 

 ance did not prove that they had changed their 

 situation for the better. 



Ten miles up the river, a sand-bar occurred, 

 over which it was found that the launch could not 

 pass. Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold therefore 

 left her at this place, under charge of Mr. Williams, 

 taking sufficient provisions in the boats. The oaks 

 became more scattered, and the soil thickly covered 

 with vegetation, although parched up by continued 

 drought. 



On the 26th, they reached the mouth of Feather 

 river, which is fifteen miles above New Helvetia. 

 It appeared nearly as broad as the main stream, 

 but there is a bar extending the whole distance 

 across it, on which the boats grounded. On the 

 point of the fork, the ground was strewed with the 

 skulls and bones of an Indian tribe, all of whom 

 are said to have died, within a few years, of the 



