Join the Sacramento Historical Society for Part II of historian Steve Beck's "The Real John Sutter and His World" as he continues the story of California's dramatic and engrossing history -- from armed occupation, to Gold Rush, to statehood.

William Tecumseh Sherman, the famous Civil War general, once said, “John Sutter was the man most responsible for California becoming a part of the United States [of America].” The 1846 Bear Flag Revolt threw the socio/political situation in California into turmoil. The Bear Flaggers declared their own republic. United States’ explorers John Fremont and Kit Carson organized an unsanctioned military force known as the California Battalion, and English and American naval vessels were literally racing up the Pacific Coast to seize the California capital of Monterey for their respective countries. All the while, over 1,500 pioneers, including the Donner Party, were making their way west by wagon.

In the center of the confusion stood the Swiss/German entrepreneur, Mexican citizen, and American sympathizer, John Sutter, his Fort, and the settlement of New Helvetia. The Mexican-American War brought thousands of American emigrants to California. These reluctant transplants needed property, homes, food, jobs, and manufactured goods. Sutter’s industries thrived, and gold was discovered at his sawmill.

Viewing historic pictures, follow California through war, a Gold Rush, the birth of Sacramento City, and the creation of a new State. Learn how these dramatic events affected the politics, the economy, the land, and the people, especially John Sutter, as the Golden Bear rose to greatness.