The field trips and research trips go hand in hand. The two-story building inside the fort--once John Sutter's residence--now houses an archive of 644 documents and Reed family materials that used to be kept here in our house in Santa Cruz. This letter is a sample of what I found the day I spent browsing through the files. It's a deed, dated November 8, 1849, two years after Reed and his family settled in San Jose. He and his wife Margaret are deeding two lots as a show of thanks to the fellow who had recently designed the Great Seal of the State of California.