John Sutter, in full John Augustus Sutter, original name Johann August Suter, (born February 15, 1803, Kandern, Baden [Germany] died June 18, 1880, Washington, D.C.), German-born Swiss pioneer settler and colonizer in California. Discovery of gold on his land in 1848 precipitated the California Gold Rush. Sutter spent much of his early life in Switzerland; he was a Swiss citizen and served in the Swiss army. Fleeing from bankruptcy and financial failures and leaving his wife and children in Switzerland, he reached California in 1839 and persuaded the Mexican governor to grant him lands on the Sacramento River. There, at its
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