Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-06-02
"UNWRITTEN HISTORY"
TOLD BY A CITIZEN WHO KNEW
JOHN A. SUFFER-.
An Alleged French Captain Whose
Only Weapon was a Yard
stick-A Broken Idol.

sO-calleQ biographical sketch OF John A.
Suffer, around whose name there has been
woven web of romance, and valor, and
great deeds, calculated to cast into the
shade the memory of pioneers whose deeds
entitle them to the everlasting gratitude
of Americans. The same paper which
pretends to give faithful sketch of Suffer,
takes the SUNDAY UNION to task for a
couple of trifiing inaccuracies in its review
of California incidents ofthirty years ago, as
regards unimportant local matters, but
gives great space to prove how little it
knows about incidents of history that de-
serve to be correctly stated. The SUNDAY
UNION has long been aware that there were
men still living who believe Suffer to have
been more of a greedy adyenturer, working
in the interest of foreign power, than q
patriotic American DESTROYS of extending
the glory of his adopted country. Indeed
there is good reason to believe that more
than mere accident operated to prevent
John A. Suffer from giving foreign Gov
eminent the foothold in California that was
secured by the United States. And if this
foothold was gained without shedding
blood, the fact is due more to the wisdom
and tact of our soldier pioneers than to
any love that Suffer had for the glory oil
the stars and stripes.
Among those who know enough of the
earlier history of Suffer to prove that, in
stead of the great military hero so many
ignorant persons accredit him with having
been, he was simply money-seeking per-
son of limited experience as counter.
jumper" in Missouri store, is J. A. Lauf-
hotter of this city. Mr.. Laufkotter was g
contemporary of Suffer, not only in Califor.
MIA, but east of the Rocky mountains, and
his knowledge of the man and of his career
is of more historical value than volumes
of unfounded romance.
A few days since a representative of this
paper called upon Mr.. Laufkotter and
asked him if he had read the article on
Suffer in the local Sunday paper. and he
replied that he had. On being asked if il
was not full of inaccuracies, the old pioneer
said that it was.
You are said to have been an old asso.
ciate of Suffer-" remarked the reporter
and a statement from you regarding that
portion of his ife-history connected with
his coming to California, and the motives
that governed his movements would be
of great interest to the people, especially as
there is a widespread belief that much
that has been said and written about him
has been largely drawn from the brains OF
imaginative would-be historians"
Yes" said the venerable argonaut, with
far-awey look in his eyes that seemed to
gaze on scenes of other days, Il know a
him long before either of US came to this
coast-when we were struggling tradesmen
in the then young State of Missouri, and il
you will have the patience to sit down and
listen, will tell you a few of the things
know, and which l think will quite upset
some OF the alleged history as published in
the ThenliS.
THE writer in the Themis entities his
article 'Unwritten History" notwithstand-
ing that the subject has been served up in all
its forms for the qualification of the people
| ever since 1S49.
The first fabrication is, 'Sutter was a
Captain in the army of France under
Charles X l have contradicted this as
| sertion many times, and my authority is
| Leonard, the intimate friend and compan.
ion of Suffer. He it was who brought Sut.
| ter's family from the old country to Cali.
| fornia A communication from Leonard
denying Suffers connection with the army
| of France l have in my possession at the
present time. / never heard Sutter-in all
my association with him-express an opin.
| ion in regard TO politics.
ARRIVING in New York, he went al
once to Missouri, intending to form a
colony, says the 1hemiS. He remained
three months in Cincinnati after leaving
New York. A man who had never han.
died any implement save the yard-sticE
would be poor person to lay out plans fol
! colony. The sinking OF the vessel with
his implements on board prevented the
Il l., "a tIot
Nobody in Missouri ever heard of such a
| catastrophe. Suffer was in the habit of ar.
rogating to himself the merits of others
| In this case the implements he mentions
were mine and his information concerning
them was CLEANED from the men who were
with me for the purpose of starting &
colony. Again the ThemiS says:
AFTER sojourning time in st. Louis
| there should be added st. Cbarles) he
went to New Mexico on an exploring ex
cursion.'
This whole sentence is the product of ig
norance. The excursion was only trad
ing expedition, made with an ox-team
The hunters and uappers and all tina
| follows comes under the same category o
| fables, for he told me in Santa Fe during
his second trip that he had spent the Who'll,
| time of his former trip in Santa Fe in
|
municate with any one, or gain any sucl
| information, which he proved sufficiently
afterwards.
The writer in ThemiS next stated tina
Suffer returned to st. Louis in 1886. Thi
| shout read He returned to St. Charlie
| in the fall of 1885 This was the head
| quarters of the new German expedition t.
| Santa Fe Again, the writer muddle
things sadly by saying that Suffer left witt
| Captain Tripp for the Rocky Mountains il
| the spring of the same yer. Suffer wa
really a great man if he could DO this il
| one summer-make both trading trip Il
Santa Fe and an expedition to the Rocky
| Mountains. Suffer himself mention
nothing about Fort Vancouver in his lette
from Honolulu TO his friends. He arrived
safe in Astoria. and after waiting fou
weeks he took passage on a schooner ant
left Astoria tor Honolulu on New Year
Day 1899.
THE local historian who takes you t
task and who penned the next few lines
either bad on high fever or some othe
affection of the brain. He says In 1887
1888 and until the middle of 1889, b,
(Sutter) traded between Sitka and tn
Sandwich Islands, and on the ID day 0
July, 1899, passing down the coast from
Sitks, his vessel was driven into the bay O
San Francisco in distressed condition.
Now, in 1887, Suffer and myself oc
cupied the same quarters, and shared tn
same bed for three weeks on his farm nea
Westport. and till / came on a second tri
to the Pacific Coast. Some historians sa,
the departure from Westport was in tn
middle of April, 1888. This is true, so ia
as his mere departure from Westport i
concerned, but he spent four weeks with hi
friends, the Delaware Indians, and stsrte
in the middle of May, with Captain Tripr
for Oregon.
Now, about his landing in San Franci. C
on the ID of July, 1889. Those pioneers o
1S49 and 1850 ought to know how long
took to traverse the distance between Mis-
souri, and San Francisco. 1t took M
seven months to come from st. Louis t
Sacramento. l suppose Astoria is abou
an equal distance, and the road was not S
good as that from the East to California
Suffers first letter SAYS he got safe to AS
toria, and, after waiting four weeks, lei
for Honolulu on New Years Day, 1885
Now, | leave il to anybody to make hi
own calculations as to how long il took I
journey from Astoria to Honolulu, from
Honolulu to Sitka, and from Sitka to Sal
Francisco, taking into consideration tn
kind of sea-fariug vessels they had to trsve
in at that time, and they certainly wer
not fast sailers. And, besides. the weathe
was very rough during every voyage.
According to Suffers own statement
he remained eight months in Honolulu
and three months in Sitka. This makes