William Hutton's Sketches of the Pueblo

We have a very good idea of what the pueblo of Los Angeles looked like in 1849, and the man responsible for that was William Rich Hutton. His sketches of the area, and the first map of the city which he helped to produce, have fortunately been preserved for posterity.

As a young man of 21, Hutton arrived in California in 1847 in the company of his uncle who was paymaster for the volunteers who were part of the 1st New York Regiment. When the Mexican-American War ended in 1848 Hutton remained in California.

In 1849 he was chosen to be the assistant of Lieutenant Edward O.C. Ord who had been hired by the pueblo to survey the public lands. He spent July and August of that summer helping with the survey, and in his spare time sketched and drew scenes in the area.

Hutton returned to Washington, D.C.in 1853; after his death in 1901 his family gave to the Huntington Library the ninety-five sketches of California, along with personal letters and diaries.

References:

Hutton, William Rich. California 1847-1852:Drawings Reproduced From the Originals in the Huntington Library. San Marino: Huntington Library, 1956.
Architecture(Locked Book Stacks) NC1075.H91 1956

Hutton, William Rich. Glances at California, 1847-1853, Diaries and Letters of William Rich Hutton. San Marino: Huntington Library, 1942.
UCLA

In doing research on any of these individuals, or on the history of Los Angeles, remember two other oranizations: the Los Angeles City Archives and the Local History Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library. These two organizations are major sources of both published and unpublished information on Los Angeles.