Sutter, John Augustus (1803–1880)

Swiss colonist of California who went to the USA in 1834 and by 1839 had made his way to Mexican California. Following the discovery of gold on his property, gold-seekers and squatters took over his land, and he went bankrupt in 1852.

He was born in Kandern, Baden (now Germany). He obtained large land grants and set up a colony on the American River near present-day Sacramento. Although he requested compensation from the state and federal governments; except for a brief and modest pension, he never received anything.