{"id":3955,"date":"2013-10-23T07:00:49","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T14:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/?p=3955"},"modified":"2013-10-22T11:53:13","modified_gmt":"2013-10-22T18:53:13","slug":"did-you-know-there-was-a-textile-factory-at-sutters-fort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/2013\/10\/23\/did-you-know-there-was-a-textile-factory-at-sutters-fort\/","title":{"rendered":"Did you know there was a textile factory at Sutter’s Fort?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Looms, placed near windows, at the blanket factory of Sutter's Fort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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For sale in the store at Sutter's Fort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a mini-vacation to Sacramento last week, I spent a little while at the Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park<\/a>. For those unfamiliar, the Swiss immigrant named John Sutter founded the fort in the Sacramento Valley after getting a land grant from the Mexican government in 1939.\u00a0 Sutter then created a flourishing agricultural empire, and a haven for many immigrants traveling west. More famously, on January 24, 1848,\u00a0 James Marshall made his customary inspection of the sawmill he was building for John Sutter, and discovered gold that began California’s famous gold rush.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, it was the same James Marshall, Sutter’s head carpenter, who made the looms and spinning wheels for the Sutter’s Fort blanket factory. Thousands of sheep were raised near the fort and in the spring, the sheep were sheare, and the wool processed at the Fort. Local Native Americans worked the looms and wheels. The factory was in the same location in 1846 that it is today, and there is much educational programming<\/a> (mostly for children) related to its history. The Fort also displays hand-knitting and other textile arts throughout its rooms, and the store even has small kits for learning to quilt, spin, weave, and even sew.<\/p>\n