The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 30, July 1926 - April, 1927 Page: 235
330 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Boolk Reviews and Notices
prosperity of the great magnate is not undramatically told even
to the climax in their arrival at the General's California home.
There Madame without the slightest apparent authority, is made
to utter two words "Johann" and "Master," and fade from the
picture and at the same time from this mundane sphere.
One might characterize several of the pictures in the gallery as
realistic. Perhaps realism is employed in an effort to carry a
conviction that is more legitimately born of historical accuracy.
At any rate, Cendrars tells us that the English skipper of the sail-
ing ship in which Madame Sutter and her children made their
way north from Panama, cut the thumb off one of his Kanaka
crew and used it "as a tobacco stopper for his pipe." Again we
are told that in the days of trial following the death of his wife,
Sutter brings back to mind the image of the Swiss village of
IRunenberg and even "recalls the fountain into which he spat at
taking leave. He wants to go back there and die."
The volume itself is an artistic triumph. The gilded cover, the
woodcut designs and decorations by Harry Cimino, the excellent
paper, the large, clear type, and the wide margins combine to make
the book distinctive as an example of attractive bookmaking. And,
indeed, the translation by Henry Longan Stuart is worthy of no
small mede of praise.
But who was this Johann August Sutter whom Blaise Cendrars
has painted in such garish hues? A Baden born Swiss who,
having failed to make a business success in Switzerland, left his
family to carve out a career in America and particularly in Cali-
fornia as a land of opportunity. Pioneer of pioneers, he estab-
lished himself at the confluence of the Sacramento and American
rivers with a handful of faithful companions-some Kanaka and
some white-and in the midst of hostile and fickle Indians and in
spite of the suspicions and envy of the more powerful and promi-
nent Spanish Californians, in an inconceivably short time was the
recognized lord of the northeastern frontier and in complete con-
trol of the natives of the great Sacramento and San Joaquin
valleys.
From his fort on the river Johann August Sutter sent out
rescue parties to save the starving and half-frozen Americans
migrating across the Sierras, and when they were rested and re-
freshed he obtained official permission from the California govern-235
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 30, July 1926 - April, 1927, periodical, 1927; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117142/m1/255/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.