ere conquered.
Other tribes were forced into submission, and Sutter was practically
monarch of the Sacramento and San Joaquin. The old pioneers speak with
pride of the wonderful power he exerted over these Indians, teaching
them the arts of civilization, forming them into military companies,
drilling them in the use of firearms, teaching them to till the soil,
and making them familiar with the rudiments of husbandry. The vast herds
of cattle which in process of time he acquired, were tended and herded
principally by these Indians, and the cannon which ultimately came into
his possession were mounted upon the Fort, and in many instances were
manned by these aborigines. Hides were sent to Yerba Buena, a trade
in furs and supplies was established with the Hudson Bay Company,
and considerable attention was given to mechanical and agricultural
pursuits.

In 1841, Sutter obtained grants from Governor Alvarado of the eleven
leagues of land comprised in his New Helvetia, and soon afterwards
negotiated a purchase of the Russian possessions known as "Ross and
Bodega." By this purchase, Sutter acquired vast real and personal
property, the latter including two thousand cattle, one thousand
horses, fifty mules, and two thousand five hundred sheep. In 1845 Sutter
acquired from Gov. Manuel Micheltorena the grant of the famous Sobrante,
which comprised the surplus lands over the first eleven leagues included
within the survey accompanying the Alvarado grant.

As early as 1844 a great tide of emigration began flowing from the
Eastern States toward California, a tide which, after the discovery of
gold, became a deluge. Sutter's Fort became the great terminal point of
emigration, and was far-famed for the generosity and open-heartedness
of its owner. Relief and assistance were rendered so frequently and so
abundantly to distressed emigrants, and aid and succor were so often
sent over the Sierra to feeble or disabled trains, that Sutter's charity
and generosity became proverbial. In the sunny hillslopes and smiling
valleys, amidst the graceful groves and pleasant vineyards of this
Golden State, it would be difficult to find localities where pioneers
have not taught their children to love and bless the memory of the great
benefactor of the pioneer days, John A. Sutter. With his commanding
presence, his smiling face, his wealth, his power, and his liberality,
he came to be regarded in those days as a very king among men. What he
did for th