page_title: John Augustus Sutter Jr.
section_title: Sacramento
hierarchical_section_title: John Augustus Sutter Jr. / Biography / Sacramento
caption_attribution_description: Half plate daguerreotype of John Sutter
context_page_description: John Augustus Sutter Jr. was the founder and planner of the City of Sacramento in California, a U.S. Consul in Acapulco, Mexico and the son of German-born but Swiss-raised American pioneer John Augustus Sutter Sr.
context_section_description: When Sutter Jr. arrived at New Helvetia, he found Sutter's Fort to be overrun by loiterers and drunkards, and felt that the situation required improvements in organization and leadership.  Soon after his son's arrival, Sutter Sr. departed for Coloma, California, where gold had recently been discovered, to start a business selling supplies to gold prospectors. Despite the fact that his father had been planning on starting a town to be named Sutterville, Sutter Jr. planned and began to implement his own vision for a city near the fork of the American & Sacramento Rivers. This was the beginning of the City of Sacramento which was then named Sacramento City for real estate promotional purposes.
  The change of plans put a strain on the relationship between father and son. Sutter Jr. became ill and rarely left the family's residence, Hock Farm, on the Feather River. As Sutter Jr.'s illness continued, he grew tired of his responsibilities. He contemplated selling his land, but thought that it would be difficult to sell such a large property. Some businessmen from Sacramento City heard that Sutter Jr. was interested in selling his land. They worked together to buy the land from Sutter Jr., but not by the most honest means. The businessmen, including Sam Brannan, would not bring the contract to purchase the land to Sutter Jr. at Hock Farm, so he took a powerful medicine and met them in Sacramento City to sign the terms of the deal. After reading the contract Sutter Jr. did not like the terms, but the businessmen urged him to sign the contract, get out of California and go somewhere with a climate more suitable to his condition. He reluctantly signed the deal.
caption: John Augustus Sutter Sr.
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