Statement Regarding Early California Experiences

One of 160 copies printed by Sacramento Junior College students supervised by George T. Smisor. Original publisher's orange-red cloth binding with gilt lettering on spine. 6 1/2" x 9 1/4." 160 pages, complete. One black-and-white frontispiece portrait illustration, complete. Appendixes, Bibliography, and Index in back. Pages are virtually pristine and intact except for browning on endpapers and light age toning throughout. Covers are virtually pristine and intact except for slight darkening. Corners are sharp and not bumped. A Near Fine copy. Publication No. 2 of the Sacramento Book Collectors Club (SBCC). Edited, with a Biography, by Allan R. Ottley. This is the first publication of John A. Sutter, Jr.'s "Statement Regarding Early California Experiences," a fifty-two-page manuscript in which Sutter, Jr. defends his reputation amid accusations that he had squandered his father's fortune. He adamantly defends his character and explains what really happened to the lost Sutter holdings. John A. Sutter, Jr. (1826-1897) was the founder of Sacramento and the eldest son of the famous California pioneer, John A. Sutter, Sr., and his wife, Anna Sutter. The story behind the controversy Sutter, Jr. addresses in his Statement is that he went into severe debt and lost most of the Sutter family's holdings after being swindled by Sam Brannan and other businessmen in an unscrupulous deal. Sutter, Jr. had sold his family's land but hardly received any payment from them. Brannan and the others had also found a way to bring numerous court cases against him which further cemented his financial and legal troubles. Sutter, Jr. fled to Acapulco, Sonora, Mexico to for both legal and health-related respite. In Acapulco, Sutter, Jr. eventually established a successful business and became a U.S. Consul there. Excerpt from back colophon: "One hundred and sixty copies of this work have been printed for the members of The Sacramento Book Collectors Club under the supervision of George T. Smisor, instructor in printing at the Sacramento College. As a class project in fine printing, the typesetting, page makeup, and printing were done by the following students: Joseph Cerniglia, King Fong, Fred Higgs, Arthur James, Arnold Rowell, Gordon Skoglund, Thomas Squires, Ronald Warford. . Bookbinding was done by Silvius and Schoenbackler, bookbinders, Sacramento.". …