Daily Alta California, Volume 1, Number 104, 30 April 1850
REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE
On the Derivation and Definition
of the Names of the several Counties
of the State of California, &c.
Sutter. — This county is named after Captain John Augustus Sutter, from Switzerland, and formerly a military officer under Charles X. He emigrated to this country in the latter part of the year 1839, for the purpose of forming a colony. With this object in view, he petitioned the Mexican Government for a grant of land, which he obtained, subject to the regulations prescribed by law. He then fixed the site of the colony on the east bank of the Sacramento river between its tributaries known as the American Fork and Cosumnes, and named it New Helvetia.
To inspire confidence in colonists, as well as to protect them against the sudden attacks of the aborigines, who were very numerous at that period, or against any surprise whatsoever from any other power, he built a fort and manned it with several pieces of artillery. The building is known as Sutter’s Fort. Captain Sutter is the oldest settler in the valley of the rushes (vallo de los tulares) on the banks of the Sacramento. His known enterprise, openness and urbanity of manners, and characteristic hospitality towards all who approached his colony, have commanded public respect and gained for him the personal regard of friends. The former and present inhabitants of California, ever remembering the name of Sutter, as now borne by the county, will transmit it to future generations and thus immortalize it.