Page 29 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

Sutter’s Fort as their destination.
In 1846, the Bear Flag Revolt was
started by American settlers in California and they took over Sutter’s Fort. This was followed by the Mexican-American War in 1846. As a result, Sutter’s New Helvetia became part of U.S. territory. Sutter received 2,000 fruit trees in 1847, which started the fruit farming industry in the Sacramento Valley.
After the war, in 1847 John Sutter sent James W. Marshall to build a sawmill
in the foothills of the Sierra at the city of Coloma. It was here that Marshall found gold in the river and thus began the California Gold Rush. This pulled thousands of prospectors (so-called Argonauts) into the Sacramento Valley. The prospectors slaughtered Sutter’s livestock, and drove out local Native Americans.
Nevertheless, the prospectors needed supplies, and so a trading
29