It may be that in "Sutter's Gold" Blaise Cendrars never intended to write a genuinely historical tale. If he only desired to supply his readers with a sort of literary rhapsody it would be manifestly unfair to ascribe to him a motive to which he laid no claim. Were it not for the fact that the publishers of the English translation evidently regard the book as containing a faithful and authentic picture of the famous pioneer and his times the historical reviewer should feel no urge to express himself about it at all.
However, one should not place all of the responsibility upon the shoulders of the publishers. There is reason to believe that Cendrars himself attributed to his tale historical qualities, and surely the author's opinion of the character of his creation may safely be considered as relevant. In the foreword Cendrars is quoted as of 1918 as promising somebody or perhaps the world that "one day" he would write also the history of General Sutter.
Assuming, then, that the publishers are sincere in their belief that they have printed a book of undoubted historical merit and that Cendrars himself regards the same as the fulfillment of his alleged promise, it is only reasonable that the historical reviewer should be permitted to participate in the feast and to avow his opinions thereof.
It has been the privilege of the reviewer to peruse faithfully the available material concerned with General Sutter and his life in the days of forty-nine and before, much of which is to be found in Bancroft Library of the University of California. Through the examination of documentary materials and of contemporaneous accounts the reviewer has gradually formed an estimate of Sutter's character, personality and adventures so completely at variance with Cendrars' that he finds it difficult to entertain coinciding on even converging views.
Cendrars deserves to have it said of his tale that it is interesting and absorbing. It is not unreasonable to believe that its reading will supply enjoyment and even delight to many shut-in souls who have only been able to sip vicariously of the cup of adventure, and hence have no gauge to distinguish the real from the unreal—the true from the false. Perhaps he had no desire to apply such a measuring stick and is happy in the riot of his imagination.
But there are folk who accept as history the stories bearing the labels of history, and it is for such as these that words of caution may not be amiss. Not infrequently is it true that the contents are palatable enough although the label is reprehensibly misleading. And in this day of pure food restriction one has a right, generally speaking, to know the nature of what one consumes as food for the body or for the mind.
Cendrars with impressionistic brush has painted a series of canvasses in all of which John A. Sutter is the central figure. In the, first of these our hero, wearing the cloak of mystery, arrives at the sleepy vilage of Runenberg in the canton of Basle in Switzerland. It seems that he is seeking a certificate of origin that will enable him to procure a passport making it possible to leave those environs without molestation. His dissatisfaction with the failure of his mission he registers by spitting into the basin of the fountain in plain sight of the curious villagers, and he then departs as suddenly as he came.
Sutter's birth and early life are then chronicled and he is next visualized as on his way to America and described as "bankrupt, fugitive, tramp, vagabond, thief and forger." If the evidence was available to the author warranting the use of such adjectives he undoubtedly had access to material the existence of which the reviewer has had no reason even to suspect. If such evidence does not exist or even if it belongs in the hearsay category, then surely a very great stain has been attached to the name and memory of one of California's most prominent pioneers and one whose influence in the critical forties as yet has not been completely appreciated.
Hastening on through the gallery one passes in bewildered review canvasses on which Sutter is pictured as slave trader in Kanakas, as multimillionaire head of a frontier colony on the Sacramento, as the man of the hour in the gold rush and as a poor babbling wreck thereafter, until at the foot of the steps of the capitol at Washington he waits for news of reimbursement for his losses and then dies of joy at a false report of his success. The coming of Madame Sutter and her children to share the 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 sailing ship in which Madame Sutter and her children made their way north from Panamá, 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 Runenberg 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 California as a land of opportunity. Pioneer of pioneers, he established 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 prominent Spanish Californians, in an inconceivably short time was the recognized lord of the northeastern frontier and in complete control 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 refreshed he obtained official permission from the California government to remain; if they had no means of livelihood he found employment for them within his colony, and few there were who had shared his hospitality who were not ever afterward grateful to this man who had befriended them, in many cases with no thought of return.
And when the gold rush took away his dreams and tore them into shreds he fought out his fight alone, never ceasing to value the high opinion of the California pioneers; and though he died at the age of seventy-seven far from his beloved California he may truly be said to typify the best of the vanguard—intensely human and capable of making mistakes in judgment, but always brave, hospitable, generous to a fault, and in an age and in a place where the elemental towered above the conventional, a courteous and considerate gentleman always.
C. J. Du FOUR.
How to cite:
"Sutter's Gold.", Volume 030, Number 3, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 233 - 236. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v030/n3/review_8.html
[Accessed Thu Dec 4 12:30:40 CST 2008]
