To help get Fort visitors in a festive holiday spirit, Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park (SHP) will present an interactive and fun “Hands on History: A Simple Emigrant Christmas” event on Saturday, December 13. 

In John Sutter’s day, people from around the world passed through the gates of Sutter’s Fort, each with their own customs and traditions for the holiday season.  On this special day in December, friends and families are encouraged to visit the Fort to step back in time to holidays past and enjoy docents in period attire as they interpret and demonstrate a variety of early holiday traditions and cultural activities similar to what early emigrants did in the 1840s.

Entertaining vignettes will be set up that showcase a few of the diverse holiday scenes that will include food, music, decorations and other holiday traditions.  Plus, the Fort will be celebrating a 19th century holiday with toys on display from that era for viewing and a captivating storyteller will be on hand to share stories about what Christmas was like in 1848. 

Fort visitors can also participate in a number of special hands-on activities such as craft holiday ornaments -- that include snowflakes, cornhusk angels and bird nests – plus decorate the Christmas tree, create popcorn chains, make holiday cards with nib (or “dip”) pens and colored ink, grind raw wheat into “Christmas flour,” sing Christmas carols with Fort musicians and more!  

For more information about this special holiday event, please call 916-445-4422 or visit www.suttersfort.org