
Native Americans inhabited the Sacramento area for thousands of years before the first European settlers arrived. A Spanish explorer discovered and named the Sacramento Valley and the Sacramento River around 1806. John Sutter and other settlers established a trading colony and Sutter's Fort in 1839. Sacramento's population boomed with the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, approximately 50 miles northeast of Fort Sutter. Sacramento adopted a city charter in 1849, which was accepted by the California State Legislature in 1850, making Sacramento the oldest incorporated city in California. Some key dates in Sacramento's history from city town info include: