Sutter Creek

The bronze is bolted to a piece of sporting equipment. The granite it sits on was used in Mother Lode champion hand drilling contests, where teams drove steel into rock against a clock. The tablet itself remembers General John A. Sutter, who the Native Sons and Native Daughters say mined here, gave the creek its name, and under whose regime gold was discovered. Above the text it carries the Stars and Stripes, the Bear Flag and an ox team. No landmark number is cast on it.

What the plaque says

IN MEMORY OF GENERAL JOHN A. SUTTER, BENEFACTOR OF THE GREAT STATE OF CALIFORNIA, WHO MINED HERE AND GAVE SUTTER CREEK ITS NAME AND UNDER WHOSE REGIME GOLD WAS DISCOVERED. ALSO TO THOSE PIONEER MOTHERS, FATHERS AND MINERS OF THE MOTHER LODE, WHICH HAS PRODUCED MILLIONS IN GOLD. THIS ROCK USED IN MOTHER LODE CHAMPION HAND DRILLING CONTESTS. TABLET PLACED AND DEDICATED BY THE NATIVE SONS AND NATIVE DAUGHTERS OF THE GOLDEN WEST, OF SUTTER CREEK. MAY 10, 1942.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 32 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Knight Foundry — steps away
• Jackson Gate — 1.7 mi
• Argonaut and Kennedy Mines — 2.1 mi
• Site of Pioneer Jewish Synagogue — 3.3 mi