Sutter's Mill - Dan Fogelberg (1985) video free download

In the spring of Forty-seven so the story it is told

Old John Sutter went to the mill site and found a piece of shining gold

Well, he took it to the city where the word like wildfire spread

And old John Sutter soon came to wish he'd left that stone in the river bed

For they came like herds of locusts...every woman, child and man

In their lumbering Conestogas they left their tracks upon the land

[Chorus:]

Some would fail and some would prosper

Some would die and some would kill

Some would thank the Lord for their deliverance

And some would curse John Sutter's mill

Well, they came from New York City and they came from Alabam'

With their dreams of finding fortunes in this wild, unsettled land

Well, some fell prey to hostile arrows as they tried to cross the plains

And some were lost in the Rocky Mountains with their hands froze to the reins

[Chorus]

Well, some pushed on to California and others stopped to take their rest

And by the spring of Eighteen-sixty they had opened up the West

And then the railroad came behind them and the land was plowed and tamed

When Old John Sutter went to meet his maker, he'd not one penny to his name

[Chorus]

And some would curse John Sutter's Mill

Some men's thirsts are never fille

"Sutter's Mill" was released in 1985 on Dan Fogelberg's High Country Snows album. Powerfully emotional, it touches me deeply each time I hear it.

High Country Snows was an album of tunes that was very close to my heart for a period shortly after it's release. "Sutter's Mill" has always been not only my favorite Dan Fogelberg tune, but one of my favorite songs period...and the subject matter was perfect for a video!

This song is a beautiful, gentle ode to the trials and tribulations of those ancestors of ours who braved everything in search of a better life during the California gold rush that started after gold was discovered in the American River near Coloma, CA.

I hope you enjoy my little trip, courtesy Dan Fogelberg and the incredible work of the photographers and directors of the photos and clips, back to "Sutter's Mill".