This volume begins with John Sutter's own account of his life and the discovery of gold at his sawmill in 1848. Leading historians Howard R. Lamar, Albert L. Hurtado, Iris H. W. Engstrand, Richard W. White, and Patricia Nelson Limerick then demythologize Sutter while giving him a more secure place in western history.
Demythologizing Sutter while giving him a more secure place in western history, this collective portrait exemplifies revisionist scholarship at its best.