70 yet, ho The tril the Sie huge siz Sierras, of water out numb common t sinking in terranean 1 the Americ canos, othe washed gold, me Sierra Nevada rose up in arms against the "hijos del pais" (sons of the country). Entertaining an exalted opinion of the prowess and skill of the Americans, and knowing from experience that they were of a milder and less sanguinary character than the rancheros, they anticipated a complete deliverance from their burthens, and assisted the revolutionists to the full extent of their humble abilities. Emerging from the woods lining the banks of the river, we stood upon a plain of immense extent, bounded on the west by the heavy timber which marks the course of the Sacramento, the dim outline of the Sierra Nevada appearing in the distance. We now came to some extensive fields of wheat in full bearing, waving gracefully in the gentle breeze like the billows of the sea, and saw the whitewashed walls of the fort situated on a small eminence commanding the approaches on all sides. We were met and welcomed by Capt. Sutter and the officer in command of the garrison; but the appearance of things indicated that our reception would have been very different had we come on a hostile errand. The appearance of the fort, with its crenulated walls, fortified gateway, and bastioned angles; the heavily bearded, fierce-looking hunters and trappers, armed with rifles, bowie knives and pistols; their ornamented hunting shirts, and gartered leggins; their long hair turbaned with colored handkerchiefs; their wild and almost savage looks, and dauntless independent bearing; the wagons filled with golden grain; the arid, yet fertile plains; the "caballados" driven across it by wild shouting Indians, enveloped in clouds of dust, and the dashing horsemen, scouring the fields in every direction;-all these accessories conspired to carry me back to the romantic East, and I could almost fancy that I was once again the guest of some powerful Arab chieftain, in his desert stronghold. Everything bore the impress of vigilance and preparation for defence-and not without reason; for Castro, then at the Pueblo de San 72 SKETCH OF SUTTER'S LIFE. José, with a force of several hundred men, well provided with horses and artillery, had threatened to march upon the valley of the Sacramento. Captain Fremont, who had been recalled to California by our government, had strengthened his party by an alliance with the patriots, and had marched at their head to the north shores of the bay to anticipate any attack upon his party that might be threatened-a measure doubtless authorized by our government, as well as sanctioned by the law of self-defence. The fame of Capt. Sutter and his fort is so extended, that some account of that distinguished person may be interesting to my readers. John A. Sutter is a Swiss by birth and a soldier by profession; and, like many of his countrymen, he early sought in the service of a foreign sovereign, that advancement in the career of arms which he was unlikely to find at home, accepting the post of Lieutenant in one of the Swiss regiments of infantry in the service of France, during the reign of Charles X. At the period of the revolution of 1830, and the consequent dethronement of that monarch, he was with his regiment in garrison at Grenoble. Even after the revolution was under full headway, and the tri-color flying in the town, the brave Swiss, with their proverbial fidelity,. kept the white flag of the Bourbons displayed over the citadel; nor was it until the revolution was consummated, and Charles a fugitive, that they consented to capitulate. On the disbanding of their corps, which took place shortly afterwards, Sutter came to the United States, became a citizen, and after spending several years in different States of our Union, engaging in various pursuits, and undergoing many vicissitudes of fortune, he concluded to emigrate to Oregon, whence he went to California. With adventurous daring he resolved to take up his abode, alone and unsupported, in the midst of the savages of the frontier; for at that time not a single white man inhabited the valley of the Sacramento. His first attempt to ascend that river was |