Two (2) General John A. Stutter. outdoor albumen stereoview. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: M.A. Kleckner, n.d. Publishers imprint printed to mount recto. Publisher's imprint printed to mount verso. 

These striking companion views depict Johann Augustus Sutter (1803–1880), the Swiss-born pioneer on whose Sacramento land gold was discovered by James W. Marshall in January 1848, igniting the California Gold Rush. Posed in his later years in Lititz, Pennsylvania, Sutter sits in a tufted parlor armchair placed on a brick patio in front of a garden gate and floral arbor trellis. He wears a dark tailored suit with a cane resting between his knees and his soft hat in his lap, looking directly into the camera with white hair and beard.

After his vast Northern California holdings were overrun, squatted upon, and destroyed by the relentless influx of prospectors, Sutter relocated eastward to Washington, D.C., and ultimately settled in the quiet Moravian community of Lititz in Lancaster County in 1871. There he resided until his death in 1880, spending his final decade fruitlessly petitioning the federal government for restitution. Kleckner’s published stereoviews are among the few intimate photographic portraits documenting the tragic, monumental figure during his peaceful exile in Lancaster County.

[Stereoview, Stereocard, John Sutter, General John A. Sutter, Johann Augustus Sutter, Sutter's Mill, Sutter's Fort, California Gold Rush, Forty-Niners, Lititz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Moravian, M.A. Kleckner, Bethlehem PA, Pioneer of California, 19th Century Photography, Western Americana]

Very good condition overall. The albumen prints retain rich, warm tones, sharp facial modeling, and excellent stereoscopic contrast. The card mounts remain rigid and clean with minor edge shelf wear and very light scattered foxing.