Coloma Road-Sutter's Fort

Sutter opened this road in 1847 to bring lumber down from his sawmill at Coloma. Within two years it was running the other way, carrying miners toward the diggings faster than anyone counted them, and the traffic finished him. Squatters took his land, his workers left for the gold, and Sutter died in Washington still lobbying Congress for compensation. The fort end is where the reversal is easiest to see. A supply road for one man's estate became the artery of somebody else's rush.

What the plaque says

The Coloma Road Sutter's Fort, established by Capt. John A. Sutter in August 1839, marked the western end of the Coloma Road. Opened in 1847, this road ran from the Fort to Sutter's sawmill at Coloma. Used by James W. Marshall in January 1848 to bring the news of the gold discovery to Sutter, it was traversed later by thousands of miners going to and from the diggings. In 1849 the Coloma Road became the route of California's first stageline, established by James E. Birch. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 745 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the Sacramento County Historical Society and the Grand Parlors, Native Sons and Native Daughters of the Golden West. August 14, 1960

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sacramento — 2.0 mi
  The Gold Rush river port that became the state capital, and jacked itself ten feet into the air to stop drowning.

More markers nearby

• Sutter's Fort — steps away
• State Indian Museum — steps away
• New Helvetia Cemetery — 0.3 mi
• Chevra Kaddisha (Home of Peace Cemetery) — 0.4 mi