The reconstruction of John Sutter's 1839 fort sits in the middle of modern Sacramento, a thick-walled adobe compound that was the first major Euro-American settlement in the Central Valley. It was the destination for wagon trains crossing the Sierra Nevada, the hospital for the survivors of the Donner Party, and the launching pad for the California Republic — the short-lived Bear Flag Revolt of 1846 was organised in part from here.
The state park runs living-history programmes on weekends, with costumed interpreters demonstrating blacksmithing, weaving, and muzzle-loading. Even without them, the audio tour is worthwhile — the fort is surprisingly large and the restoration faithful to the original, right down to the cannon ports in the inner walls.