What better way to build a fort here near the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in the 1840s than to just buy another fort that already existed in California? Well that’s what John Sutter did. In December 1841, John Sutter purchased Fort Ross, a Russian fur trapping and agricultural outpost operated by the Russian American Company. The fort was located along the California coast just north of Bodega Bay on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Kashaya Pomo Native people. Ever sinc

If you visit our park grounds, you will see one of California’s fastest growing trees, the willow. In this video, Theresa takes a look at the willow which can be found next to the pond on the park grounds of the State Indian Museum and Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park. Theresa also discussed the plant’s distinctive characteristics and traditional California Native uses in tools and also basket making. You can see many cultural items on display in the State Indian Museum that utilize willow. #wi

Here’s a timely blacksmithing project that utilizes all aspects of the anvil and many uses of a leg vise. For Valentine’s Day, Marco, one of our blacksmiths, demonstrates the same blacksmithing methods available in the 1840s at Sutter’s Fort to make a heart out of some quarter inch steel round stock. The bellows pumps air into the forge where the iron or steel is softened to a working temperature to be shaped with a hammer on the anvil. See the blacksmith shop in operation at our next Demonstrat

Final Fantasy 7 (VII) Remake Fort Condor Guide

SFA’s 15-year Master Plan shows historic structure left off

The spring semester has started and it has many of the staff, who are also college students, thinking about going to campus on a more regular basis again. Going to class sometimes impacts what is on our minds when it comes to interpreting some of the rooms at Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park, such as the blacksmith shop. In this video, Marco, one of our blacksmiths, demonstrates the same blacksmithing methods available in the 1840s at the Fort to make a pencil holder out of some quarter inch st

Winter is here and the Sacramento region has been experiencing some colder weather lately. While snow and ice is rare for this area, that’s not stopping us from making something winter related in the blacksmith shop at Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park. In this video, Mark demonstrates the same blacksmithing methods available in the 1840s at the Fort by making an iron icicle using one inch flat stock. The bellows pumps air into the forge where the iron or steel is softened to a working temperatu

Sutters Fort Adobe 1949 - A beauty shot of the front of Sutters Fort Adobe in Sacramento in the late 1940s Stock Video