Sutter's Fort

In the 1840s, John Sutter established a fort not far from where the American and Sacramento rivers merge. In the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, he built a mill to help supply the fort. In 1848, gold was discovered at the mill, much to Sutter's dismay. He correctly predicted that many of his workers would abandon the fort in search of gold.

Every fourth grader in California studies California history. While we were in Sacramento recently, we stopped by Sutter's Fort, primarily so that Tristan, who is in fourth grade, could see a part of the history that he will be studying in the coming months. Incidentally, Sacramento is a lot colder in winter than it is in Long Beach!