Sutter Buttes

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The Sutter Buttes rise humbly over the town of Sutter, CA.

The Sutter Buttes, also known as the Marysville Buttes or Histum Yani (Maidu), is often called the smallest mountain range in the world. They are named for John Sutter who received a large land grant from the Mexican government.

1 Geography
2 Geology
3 Native American lore
4 Access today
5 Trivia
6 See also
7 Sources
8 References

[edit] Geography

The Sutter Buttes are located just outside of Yuba City, California in the Sacramento Valley, itself the northern part of California Central Valley. The mountains are about 10 miles across from north to south and east to west. (The not-so-well-known Beale Mountains in the southern part of California are considerably smaller, at about 2.5 miles in total length). The valley formed in the middle of the Buttes is called the Peace Valley.

[edit] Geology

Formed 1.5 million years ago by a now-extinct volcano, this circular cluster of peaks rises dramatically from the otherwise flat surrounding farmland. The highest peak, South Butte, reaches 2,117 feet (645 m) above sea level.

[edit] Native American lore

The Sutter Buttes figure prominently in the creation stories and other traditions of the indigenous Maidu people. Ancient Maidu did not live in the Sutter Buttes, but they did visit the mountains regularly to gather acorns and other foodstuffs or to hunt game. The Maidu, who lived in their shadow for thousands of years, called them Esto Yamani, which means "the Middle Mountain".

[edit] Access today

Public access to the Sutter Buttes is limited. Much of the land is privately held by cattle and sheep ranchers, but a number of naturalists and local organizations, including the Middle Mountain Foundation, lead hikes through most areas. Since 1929, the State of California had considered purchasing the land for protection and public use. In 2003, the California Department of Parks and Recreation purchased a 1,785 acre (7.2 km²) tract in Peace Valley toward the north side of the Buttes with the intent of developing it for public access.

Path 15 power lines run on the eastern edge of the Sutter Buttes.

[edit] Trivia

Somewhere at the base of the mountain range there is a little known missile silo complex which used to contain three separate Titan I ICBM missiles. The site was decommissioned and thus mostly dismantled in 1965 and was only active from 1963 to 1965. The site was initially constructed as a counter measure due to the ever increasing nuclear threat during the cold war with the Soviet Union. The site has been host to many vandals and trespassers since the early 1980's to the present.