citizens, and to the heroic endeavors of the noble men who risked their
lives in rescuing the starving emigrants, it is but just and right that
this warm-hearted philanthropist should be accorded the honor of being
first among the benefactors of the Donner Party. His kindness did not
cease with the arrival of the half-starved survivors at Sutter's Fort,
but continued until all had found places of employment, and means of
subsistence. Pitiful and unworthy is the reward which history can
bestow upon such a noble character, yet since he never received any
remuneration for his efforts and sacrifices, the reward of a noble name
is the least and the most that earth can now bestow. In view of his
good deeds, the survivors of the Donner Party have almost unanimously
requested that a brief biographical sketch of the man be inserted in
these pages.

At midnight on the twenty-eighth of February (or first of March), 1803,
John A. Sutter was born in the city of Baden. He was of Swiss parentage,
and his father and mother, were of the Canton Berne. Educated in Baden,
we find him at the age of thirty a captain in the French army. Filled
with enthusiasm, energy, and love of adventure, his eyes turned toward
America as his "land of promise," and in July, 1834, he arrived in New
York. Again breaking away from the restraints of civilized life, he soon
made his way to the then almost unknown regions west of the Mississippi.
For some years he lived near St. Charles, in Missouri. At one time he
entertained the idea of establishing a Swiss colony at this point,
and was only prevented by the sinking of his vessel of supplies in the
Mississippi River. During this time he accompanied an exploring party
into the sultry, sand-covered wastes of New Mexico. Here he met hunters
and trappers from California, and listened to tales of its beauty,
fertility, and grandeur which awoke irresistible longings in his breast.
In March, 1838, with Captain Tripp, of the American Fur Company, he
traveled westward as far as the Rocky Mountains, and thence journeying
with a small party of trappers, finally reached Fort Vancouver. Finding
no land route to California, he embarked in a vessel belonging to
the Hudson Bay Company, which was ready for a voyage to the Sandwich
Islands. From Honolulu he thought there would be little difficulty
in finding passage in a trading vessel for the Coast of California.
Disappointed in this, he remained at the Islands some months, and