On September 9, 1850, California became the 31st state. Prior to this, it was the territory of Mexico. It was during this period that Swiss immigrant John Augustus Sutter came to settle in Mexican California. He was granted 50,000 acres in the Sacramento Valley. Here, he hoped to start a colony.
Sutter developed an empire that he ruled as a tyrant. A fort was built and fortified. He forced Indian labor and anyone defecting would be brought back by force and whipped. Many Americans moving to the west used Sutter’s fort as a place of refuge and safety, especially during the outbreak of the Mexican American War.
As the war broke out, Sutter sided with the Americans. By 1847, America had won, and California was now an American territory.
“With the war over and California securely in the hands of the United States, Sutter hired the millwright James Marshall to build a sawmill along the South Fork of the American River in January 1848. In order to redirect the flow of water to the mill’s waterwheel, Marshall supervised the excavation of a shallow millrace. On the morning of January 24, 1848, Marshall was looking over the freshly cut millrace when a sparkle of light in the dark earth caught his eye. Looking more closely, Marshall found that much of the millrace was speckled with what appeared to be small flakes of gold, and he rushed to tell Sutter. After an assayer confirmed that the flakes were indeed gold, Sutter quietly set about gathering up as much of the gold as he could, hoping to keep the discovery a secret. However, word soon leaked out and, within months, the largest gold rush in the world had begun.”1
This began what is commonly known as the California Gold Rush. As thousands rushed to
California, Sutter was unable to defend his land. Those seeking to get rich quickly destroyed his property and crops and quickly left him in ruins. Sutter petitioned the United States government unsuccessfully for compensation. By 1880, Sutter was dead, his final days lived out with nearly nothing.
Three devotional points leap off the page to me. First, Colossians 4:1 says, “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” And, James 5:4 indicts Mr. Sutter by saying, “Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.” Sutter was not a just master to those under his employ.
Second, can we think of a better illustration of 1 Timothy 6:10 than what happened at Sutter’s Mill? “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Sutter’s love of money – gold – was evident as he built an empire. The empire was overrun by those who disrespected his land and destroyed it in search of their own profit.
Finally, Revelation 21:21 gives us a glimpse of the Heavenly City. “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” That which is valued so highly in the world 
today will be walked on in the new city. God’s golden asphalt!
There’s nothing wrong with having material goods and the world’s riches. It’s the love of them that is destructive. Let’s carefully examine our heart’s attitude toward these things and make sure that we haven’t placed too high of value on the world’s goods.
Our heart attitude can be ascertained by our response to the instructions given in Proverbs 23:3-4. “Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat. (4) Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.”
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gold-discovered-at-sutters-creek
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