Sutter's Fort hosts an annual series of "Living History" events. Captain Sutter, American settlers, trappers and traders, and frontier life all become real when visitors journey back in time to 1846. The Sutter's Fort Living History Program began in 1980 with a ragtag group of 30 volunteers. Today, the costumes and props have been greatly refined and the volunteer group has grown to more than 100 persons.

The Program is designed to portray a typical day in the year of l846, a time of change and transition in early California. Activities and sights that may be seen at an event include militia drills, open hearth cooking, bread baking in a beehive oven, spinning, weaving, hand sewing, blacksmithing, gun smithing, and carpentry.

Five daytime events take place each year, along with one special evening event. The first two daytime events occur in March and April, and allow the visitor to experience California as it was under the government of the Mexican Republic. The June event showcases the transition from Mexican rule to the takeover of Alta California by American settlers - the "Bear Flag Revolt." The September and November events take place in the shadow of the war to take California from the Mexican government. A special candle light tour of the fort each November gives visitors the opportunity to be ghosts from the present, eavesdropping on ghosts from the past as the fort's 1846 residents go about a typical autumn evening's activities.

Admission is $4.00 for over 16; $1.00 for children 6 to 16; children 5 and under are free. The California State Parks Web site has all the details to help plan a Sutter's Fort visit; see the information box for museum hours and contact details.

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