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• _UID: E6C3496376AB624CBDCE8A2CBA6933D18C2F

Notes:

Never married.

1880 United States Federal Census
Name: Nathan Coombs
Home in 1880: Tucson, Pima, Arizona
Age: 29 single
Estimated birth year: abt 1851
Birthplace: California
Relation to head-of-household: Something other than a direct relationship (Other)
Father's birthplace: MA
Mother's birthplace: MA
Neighbors:
Occupation: Farmer
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Gender: Male
Household Members: Name Age
Edward Oaks 28
Charles Kresham 28
Nathan Coombs 29

Other Events:

• _UID: 68F3D05BEDB2C84BA001E07737AD4B0C6B10

Notes:

Hon. Nathan Coombs
Hon. Nathan Coombs - The subject of this memoir, whose portrait will be found in the body of this work, was born in Middleborough, Massachusetts, in 1826, and at an early age went with his mother to the Territory of Iowa, and settled near the then embryotic city of Muscatine. His father was dead, and his mother was then married to a Dr. Carpenter. In 1842 the family went to Oregon across the plains, and in 1843 came to California, locating in Yolo County. In 1845 the subject of this memoir came to Napa Valley and purchased a farm from Salvador Vallejo, which was located about one and a half miles north-west of where Napa City now stands, and where he resided till his death. He also owned the land on which a portion of Napa City now stands, and laid out the original town site in 1848. He served in the State Legislature, and always took a very active part in whatever conduced to the welfare and advancement of the city and county in which he resided. He was a very liberal contributor to public improvements, and was well known all over the State as a raiser of blooded stock and a patron of the turf. He reared a family of intelligent children, one daughter having married Hon. John M. Coghlan, and one of his sons is the present District Attorney of Napa County. Much more could be said of the life of this most worthy pioneer, but we regret that the proper data could not be obtained, and we were dependent upon the press notices for all the facts stated above. His death occurred December 26,1877. On the 29th of that month, the following resolutions were placed upon the records of the Board of City Trustees of Napa: Resolved, That the Board of Trustees of the City of Napa deplore the death of Hon. Nathan Coombs, an early pioneer and a distinguished citizen of California, and the founder of this city. Resolved, That, as a mark of respect for his memory, the Board do now adjourn.
http://www.cagenweb.com/archives/Biography/NapaCounty/Napa1881-429-436.htm



"History of Solano and Napa Counties, California with Biographical Sketches of The leading men and women of the Counties, who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present time., History by Tom Gregory and other well known writers., Illustrated ~ Complete in one volume, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1912, p 882.
HON. NATHAN COOMBS.
The late Hon. Nathan Coombs was a pioneer of 1843 in California. De­scended from colonial ancestry, he was born at Middleboro, on Cape Cod, Mass.. in 1826, and early lost his father by death and later his mother became the wife of a Dr. Carpenter. The family moved to Iowa and settled at Muscatine, from which place, in 1842, young Coombs, at the age of sixteen, made his way across the plains to Oregon. The long and difficult journey was filled with many dangers, Indians were troublesome, the trail was often lost, wild beasts roamed the forests, water was scarce on the plains, but at last he reached his destination in safety. After spending one year there, he made the journey to California, arriving in the summer of 1843. He stopped in what is now Yolo county and secured employment on the Gordon ranch and it was there he met and wooed the daughter of his employer, Isabella Gordon. In the spring of 1845 the young people rode on horseback to Sutter’s Fort, a distance of about twenty miles, and were married by Capt. John Sutter. Returning to the Gordon ranch they remained but a short time, coming to the section that is now embraced in Napa county in June that year, and pur­chased land at Trubody. This Mr. Coombs farmed for a time, then selling it, he bought a tract of land from Salvador Vallejo and in 1848 laid out the town site of Napa. From that time until his death he was one of the most prominent factors in the building up of both city and county, and was known and esteemed throughout the entire west. He participated in the strenuous life of that early period and was of the Bear Flag party, the reckless daring of which at Sonoma has become a part of our traditions.
Mr. Coombs found that horses of a good grade were not to be had in California and decided to make a trip to Kentucky in search of some good stock. Riding was the only means of travel and horses brought a good price and a fine animal was much admired. In 1857 he made the trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama. purchased several stallions, the most noted being Lilly Cheatham and Ashland, which were in all probability the first thoroughbred stock imported into this section of the state. On his ranch adjoining the town he raised many fine animals, some of which he sold. and others for his own use, and being a lover of horseflesh was interested in racing and became a patron of the turf. He also raised a great many cattle which roamed at will, as there were no fences to hinder them, and in this way obtained the best of forage.
During the days of frontier life Mr. Coombs had many thrilling experi­ences. Once he was attacked by a grizzly bear that pulled him from his horse, struck him across the chest and tore flesh and muscles of his body and arm. By good fortune he escaped, but to the day of his death he suffered from the effects of that encounter. With that exception he possessed a robust constitution and great powers of endurance. In the midst of perplexing con­ditions he maintained an equable disposition and a fearlessness that were his distinct characteristics. Throughout his community he was known as a man of excellent judgment and his counsel was often sought by acquaintances and associates. The early settlers looked upon him as a councillor in many questions touching their titles to their lands. He was a liberal contributor to all charitable enterprises and to all measures for the upbuilding of the city and county of Napa. He was a member of the Society of California Pioneers of San Francisco, interested in all things that showed the growth of the Golden State.
The death of this pioneer occurred December 26. 1877, when he was fifty- one years old, and his wife died at the age of fifty-five years. They had seven children, five of whom attained mature years: William ; Eva, who married Hon. J. M. Coghland; Nathan; Frank L. and Levi. Mr. Coombs served in the California legislature during the sessions of 1855 and 1857 and in later years was urged at many times to accept public honors, but steadfastly refused. Mrs. Coomb’s father, William Gordon, a native of Pennsylvania, crossed the plains in 1824 to Mexico, locating at Taos, where he married Miss Lusario, of Castilian parentage. He brought his family to California in 1840, and engaged in stock raising on a large scale on Cache Creek, Yolo county. His ranch was the rendezvous of the Bear Flaggers during the Mex­ican war. Mr. Gordon became a leader in all the early events of his section and died in Lake county in 1876. Perhaps no man in early California was better known, no one had more friends, no one could have been more trusted, and no one of the early timers died more lamented."

Nathan Coombs & Isabel Gordon - from Napa Register, p 12-A, Saturday, March 30, 1963, John Eagan (The added text in Parentheses is from the book, Men of the Bear Flag revolt."

18 year old Nathan Coombs and 14 year old Isabel Gordon rode horseback 20 miles from the Gordon ranch in Yolo County to Fort Sutter where they were married by General J. A. Sutter. They rode back home the same night, arriving about midnight, after two families destined to play major roles in the history of Napa County had been joined by the wedding. (they had no shoes to get married in and rode on the same horse. When the priests discovered this non-Catholic wedding, they sent a notice that it was invalid- the same treatment given to Cyrus Alexander who coughed up $300 wanted by the priest. Both were incensed, especially now that they already had children who were now "Illegitimate," but the Coombs had no money to pay and disregarded the order. Cyrus Alexander married Rufina Lucero, who was the younger sister to Isabel's mother, Maria Juana.*)

Nathan was born in Middleboro, Mass., on Cape Cod, in 1826. His father died while Nathan was very young and his mother moved the family to the small settlement of Muscatine in what is now the state of Iowa where she remarried, becoming the wife of a Dr. Carpenter. In 1842 the family moved to Oregon with a caravan destined for Portland. A youth of 16, Nathan was the "game boy" for the group, going ahead and hunting for food. The caravan followed closely what is now the Southern Pacific right of way.

Later, Coombs moved south and arrived at the Gordon ranch via the Columbia River and Sacramento Valley trail at the age of 18. While working for Gordon, a romance developed with Isabel.

(Nathan came to California with the Hastings-Clyman Party from Oregon in 1843. Sutter gave them passports. All were disappointed with the slowness and complications of obtaining title to land in Oregon and a lack of markets for goods. In the fall of 1843, he and a party of five or six went after a grizzly prowling around William Gordon's cattle. Coombs was on a "half-broke" horse, the horse ran into a thicket, and the grizzly knocked down the horse and raked Coombs across the arm and chest, tearing the flesh. His dog hung on to the rear of the horse for dear life, distracting bruin. Fellow hunters rescued Coombs. In 1844 Nathan applied for naturalization papers. He worked for Wm Gordon for a while. He bought a farm of Salvador Vallejo 1-1/2 miles east of Napa, in Brown's Valley.*)

He also acquired other land there with William Gordon, the Coombs and Gordon-Chimiles Rancho, 4 square leagues (17,762 acres) in Napa County, granted in 1846 by Governor Pio Pico. Coombs and Gordon filed a claim on that land in 1852 and it was confirmed by the federal court on 27 July 1857.

When Coombs first came to Napa, he and Captain John Grigsby did carpenter work on Nicolas Higuerra's adobe house and received the land where Coombs was later to establish Napa in payment for the work. Grigsby later disposed of his share to Coombs and the young pioneer surveyed and laid out the city streets of Napa in the spring of 1848. He fought with Captain John C Freemont in the Mexican War. He and John Grigsby were both part of the Bear Flag Party. Nathan Coombs later was elected to two terms in the California Assembly and served in the lower house in the sixth (1855) and 11th (1860) sessions.

Nathan Coombs was best known for his love of race horses. In 1870 he went to Kentucky where he and a friend, Wolfskill purchased several thoroughbred horses. The horses were floated down the Mississippi River by barge, then taken by boat to the Isthmus of Panama and then were ridden overland to the Pacific Ocean. They were then loaded onto ships and sailed to San Francisco, and finally arrived in San Francisco. On his land he raised many fine animals, some of which he sold. He also raised cattle which roamed at will, as there were no fences.

* from "Men of the California Bear Flag Revolt and their Heritage," by Barbara R Warner.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nathan crossed the plains from Iowa in seach of health at age 18. Became a naturalized citizen of Mexico in 1844. He was the first bridegroom of Yolo County when he married William Gordon's daughter, Isabelle, in 1845. He purchased a Napa Valley ranch from Salvador Vallejo. He rode into Sonoma with the Bear Flag Filibusters under the Kelsey bothers in June of 1846 but seems to have taken no further part in the affair. Upon the discovery of gold he laid out the town of Napa on his grant, a venture that made him exceedingly wealthy.

He served in the California Legislature of 1855, was a Captain of State Militia in 1863, became a noted patron of the turf and breeder of thoroughbred stock, dying in 1877.
Nathan Coombs (c.1824-1877) — of Napa County , Calif. Born in Massachusetts. Married 1845 to Isabel Gordon (1831-1890); father of Frank Leslie Coombs grandfather of Nathan F. Coombs Member of California state assembly 10th District, 1855-56, 1860-61. Died in Napa, Napa County , Calif., December 26, 1877


1850 United States Federal Census
Name: Nathan Coombs
Age: 26 farmer value $20,000
Estimated birth year: abt 1824
Birth Place: Massachusetts
Gender: Male
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Nappa, Napa, California
Household:
Isabella age 19 born Santa Fe, New Mexico
William age 3 California
Evalina age 1 California
Joseph Gordon age 14 Born Taos, New Mexico
Sarah Gordon Age 11 Born Taos, New Mexico

1860 United States Federal Census
Name: Nathen Coombs
Age in 1860: 36
Birth Year: abt 1824
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Home in 1860: Napa, Napa, California
Gender: Male
Post Office: Napa
Value of real estate:
Household Members: Name Age
Nathen Coombs 36
Elizabeth Coombs 27
William Coombs 14
Evalena Coombs 13
Franklin Coombs 7
Nathen Coombs 11
Levy Coombs 3
Nancy Coombs 28 servant
John Coombs 24 cook
Joseph Hinkley 23 day labor
Franklin Hinkley 22 day labor
C Coyle 44 carpenter
Wm Thorp 36 Stock raiser
C Briggs 42 hostler
Louis Rowley 22 day labor
John Williams 21
Wm Emery 28

1870 United States Federal Census about Nathan Coombs
Name: Nathan Coombs
Estimated birth year: abt 1825
Age in 1870: 45
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Home in 1870: Napa, Napa, California
Family:
Elizabeth 24
Willie 23
Nathan 19
Frank 18
Levy 12
Race: White
Gender: Male
Value of real estate:
Post Office: Napa City

Nathan married Maria Isabella GORDON in 1845 in Sutter's Fort, Mexico. Maria (daughter of William Julian GORDON and Juana Maria LUCERO) was born on 27 Aug 1831 in San Francisco del Rancho Toas, Mexican Territory; died on 1 May 1890 in Napa, Napa, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Also Known As: Isabel
• _UID: ACC34D12819E8F468028E3BBEC63D980B04B
• Baptism: 23 Aug 1831, San Francisco del Rancho Toas, Mexican Territory

Notes:

http://birchlane.davis.ca.us/projects/walther/SuttersFort.htm
Bonnie Walther’s Class
3,4,5 Montessori
Journal Entries from our visit to Sutter’s Fort

Maria Isabella Gordon Coombs (3rd grader portrayal of Her)

My name is Maria Isabella Gordon Coombs. I was born in New Mexico about 1831 and came west with the Rowland-Workman Party in 1841. My father is a famous fur trapper and we traveled the southern route to California across Arizona. My mother’s name is Mary Jane Lucero Y Tapia Gordon and my aunts’ names are Rufina Lucero Alexander and Carmel Lucero Knight. I am the daughter of William Gordon who owns an important ranch and gathering place along Cache Creek/Yolo County. Before I turned 15, I got married to Nathan Coombs at Sutter’s Fort. Nathan and I became important residents of Napa County where we owned a large ranch. Nathan was a veteran of both the Revolution of 1845 and the Bear Flag Revolt.

The story about our wedding says that we were so poor, we had no shoes and had to share the same horse to get to the fort. Priests later discovered that I was married in a non-catholic ceremony and they wanted to charge Nathan $300 to recognize the marriage. Nathan and I refused to pay. We later became well off and had many children.

link to Isabella Gordon Coombs cemetery monument:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=74830866

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• _UID: 00000000000000004942605A170000005C74

Elnathan married Abigail Hinkley. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _UID: 00000000000000004A42605A170000005D7C

Other Events:

• Occupation: Missouri Fur Co. New Mexico, farmer Yolo County
• Reference Number: ^
• _UID: 16629542A2F0A24EABA4C7E6B3E20FDC4D00

Notes:

Timeline: William Gordon
1801 Sep - William Gordon born in Adams County Ohio to John and Mary (Art) Gordon.
Jackson County, Missouri
1823 Fur trapper for Missouri Fur Compandy ( was in Wyoming)
1820's established headquarters in Taos, Mexican Territory
1826 Jun - married Juana Maria Lucero in Taos Mexican Territory
1827 April - son, Jose Tomas "Thomas", born in Taos
1829 Sep - son, Juan de Jesus born in Taos
1831 Aug - daughter, Maria Isabella, born Taos
1833 Sep - son, Julian "William", born Taos
1835 Nov - son, Jose Manuel, born Taos
1838 Jan - daughter, Sarah Gordon, born Taos
1840 Nov - son, Jose Ricardo, born Taos
1841 Sep - came to California by way of the Santa Fe Trail, granted with several others Mexican Land, 48,000 acre
Rancho La Puente. They Established town of El Monte, the first agricultural town in California..
1841 Dec - daughter, Margaret, born Los Angeles, Mexican territory
1843 January 27, Granted 2 square leagues of land, Rancho Quesesosi, in Yolo County by Governor Micheltorena on
Cache Creek West of Woodland. He settled his family there in July. His ranch became a rendezvous for members
of Bear Flag revolt, settlers and hunters. Mentioned more as stopover than any place except John Sutters.
1845 wife, Juana Maria died and is probably buried in the family cemetary on Cache Creek. John Clyman's, "Journal of
a Mountain Man," states that Gordon was the only permanant settler on Cache Creek. (now Yolo County).
1845 Daughter Maria Isabella, not yet 15 years of age, married Nathan Coombs at Sutter's Fort by John Sutter. By 1850
she had her brother Joseph and sister Sarah living with her and Nathan in Napa.
1850 Census - Cache Creek, Yolo, California (Interestingly he had 3 miners living with him. For how long?)
1851 bought land in Napa County in Gordon Valley (named after him)
1852 California Census - Yolo, California
1855 married Elizabeth Corum
1860 Census - lived at Cottonwood, Yolo, California
1866 Sold his Ranch on Cache Creek and moved to Cobb Valley in Lake County.
1870 Census - Lower Lake, Lake County, California
1876 Oct - died Cobb Valley, Lake County, California

History Timeline
1802 - Ohio outlaws slavery
1803 - Louisiana Purchase January 18. President Jefferson asks Congress for funds for an expedition to explore the
Mississippi River and beyond in search of a route to the Pacific. Meriwether Lewis , Jefferson's private secretary,
begins planning the expedition.
1804 - May. The expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark departs, moving up the Missouri River.
1807 - Steamboat - Robert Fulton, former miniaturist and landscape painter, opens American rivers to two-way travel.
1821 - Mexico declares independence from Spain.
1829 - Mexico outlawed slavery in an effort to discourage additional American settlement in Texas.
1835 - Texas declares independence from Mexico
1836 - "Remember the Alamo!" slogan for the Texas army after Mexico crushed the Texans who attempted to protect the
Alamo in San Antonio. The war started in 1836, because the Texans wanted their independence from Mexico.
182 men, led by Colonel Travis, were greatly outnumbered by Santa Anna's forces. They were all killed,
including Davy Crockett, a famous frontiers man from Tennessee. The Texans that survived the war, kept
attacking the Mexicans until they finally won their independence.
1837 - Depression begins with "Panic of 1837"
1838 - The Indian Removal Act, A treaty signed by about one hundred Cherokees. They gave up all lands East of the
Mississippi River. Under the orders of President Jackson the U.S Army began the Removal Act. 3,000 Cherokees
were loaded into boats and taken down the Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi, and Arkansas Rivers. In the winters of 1838 -39 the Cherokees walked 1,200 miles through Tennesse, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas. The trail they
walked became known as "The Trail Where They Cried" to the Indians but is now known as "The Trail of Tears".
1845 - Westward Expansion - When Texas declared independence from Mexico in the year 1836, Southerners were
hoping to obtain Texas as a new slave state. The Northerners did not want Texas to come into the Union and
increase the power of the south in Congress, with a resulting war with Mexico. In 1845 politicians were caught up
in westward expansion, thinking it was their nation's manifest destiny to go from shore to shore. Texas became
the twenty-eighth state. Mexico was furious about that decision, and the U.S. declared war on Mexico in May of 1846 - The years of fighting ended with the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848.
1845 - Santa Anna presidency is overthrown in Mexico.
1846 - War declared with Mexico.
1848 - Gold Discovered in California.
1848 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848
1849 - State constitution adopted in Monterey, (California).
1850 - California became the 31st State and free of slavery.
1852 - California turned from Gold seeking to agriculture.

"History of Solano and Napa Counties, California with Biographical Sketches of The leading men and women of the Counties, who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present time., History by Tom Gregory and other well known writers., Illustrated ~ Complete in one volume, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1912, p 291:
WILLIAM GORDON.
As a representative of a pioneer family, there is no name better known in Napa County than William Gordon, a resident in Gordon valley, named after the family. Mr. Gordon was born in Toas, N. Mex., September 27, 1833, and when seven years of age was brought to California by his father, William Gordon. The latter was a native of Ohio, of Scotch descent, who came from New Mexico by way of Arizona on horseback to California. He remained in Los Angeles until the spring of 1841, then with others went to the northern part of the state, crossing Carquinez straits in a rowboat and swimming their horses behind them. On reaching the northern side they engaged some Indians to pilot them up the bay and Napa river. Arriving in what is now Napa County, they camped under some large sycamore trees on the present site of George Yount's home and for about a year the elder Gordon engaged in farming on a small scale, raising some cattle and feed and produce for his own needs. From this location he removed to what was afterwards named Washington, the first County seat of Yolo County, situated on the banks of the Sacramento river. Here Mr. Gordon met Captain Sutter and was engaged by the latter to construct a mill at that place, he having told Sutter that he was a mill­wright. During the construction of this mill, which was operated by horse­power, Mr. Gordon made his home in Sacramento County, on the opposite side of the river, and crossed to and from his work daily in a canoe. For this labor Mr. Gordon was given forty-two head of cattle (cows and heifers) in lieu of money.
The next move of Mr. Gordon was made two months later, when he went to a location northwest of what is now the city of Woodland and here he secured a grant of three leagues of land and settled down to farming, which continued his occupation until his death. As one of the early pioneers of California, he had to undergo many privations and hardships in establishing a home and, like the majority of those men of that period, aided in all movements that had for their object the development of that section of California. William Gordon, of this review, accompanied his parents on their migrations in California and received such educational advantages as they were able to give him and, when old enough, assisted with the work about the ranch. After he was old enough to conduct independent farming operations. he settled on Cache creek, where he remained two years. In 1862, he settled in Gordon valley. where he has twelve hundred acres of land. which he secured from his father and which was originally part of a Spanish grant. Here Mr. Gordon has a valuable property, which yields him a substantial income annually. This has been developed to its present condition by its owner, and it is conceded to be one of the most valuable properties in the entire valley. There are two hundred acres improved in orchard, consisting of apricots, peaches, prunes, oranges and almonds, one of the largest orchards in Napa County. His orange grove consists of one acre and beautifies his yard and its fruit, raised without irrigation, is of superior quality. Thirty acres arc in hay and the balance is used for pasture land for his cattle and horses, about ten head of the latter being kept for use on the ranch. All of the improvements on the place have been placed there by Mr. Gordon. He has erected several sets of buildings, commodious houses for his sons and daughters, who are all living on the ranch, and to whom he leases the property on shares, he having retired from active farm work. Ample facilities have been provided for caring for the fruit, including a dryer and an almond huller for their own use, besides which they take care of their neighbors’ almonds. This ranch is watered from the Gordon creek, which flows through the center of it, and withal it might he considered one of the show places of Southern California. Two lofty oak trees, supposed to be about two hundred years old, mark Mr. Gordon’s place of residence and stand like sentinels over his home. Besides these trees, the yard is decorated with ornamental shrubbery and flowers, giving it the appearance of a typical California city home.
In Napa, June 18, 1861, Mr. Gordon married Juliette Chapman, a native of Connecticut and a daughter of Levi Chapman, who came to California in the early ‘50s, and was engaged in mining until his death. Of the children horn of this marriage we mention the following: George E., who is farming a part of the old home place, married Clara Leonard; Frank L., also interested in farming on the old homestead, was road-overseer for several years; he married Nettie Gosling and has two children ; William H. married Rosa Chapman; Sophronia became the wife of W. A. Clark; and Loleta married Thomas H. Loney. The sons were educated in the public schools and in Napa College, and have been able assistants to their father in the development of the ranch. Each of the children has inherited from their parents those dualities that have given them a place with the representative people of their County.
Ever since locating in Gordon valley, William Gordon has aided in its development, assisting to construct roads, organized the Gordon school district and served as trustee for many years. In politics he is a Republican. although has never been an aspirant for office. His public spirit and regard for the welfare of the people have been frequently demonstrated and now in review­ing his life work, as he looks over his broad possessions he recalls the time when he was engaged in mining during the exciting period of 1848-9, when they were washing out their gold and often would get as much as $50 or more in one pan. He compares his present condition, when he is assured of an annual income, to the precarious occupation that he followed as a young man. Vr. Gordon is a quiet, conservative man, and while he has always worked to advance his own interests, has never neglected the duties of a citizen."

"Capay Valley, the Land & the People"Ada Merhof, pg 50-51., also p 354

The following excerpts were taken from "History of Yolo County, California, It's Resources and It's People", William O. Russell, editor, Woodland, California, 1940.

William Gordon was born on the frontier in Ohio territory of Scotch forbears. While still a boy, he moved to Jackson County, Missouri, which had only recently become part of the United States, and which was the home of the frontiersman, Daniel Boone. Boone urged all young men to go to California. "It is the paradise of this continent!" The old man urged to the time of his death. In the middle 1820's Gordon established headquarters along with several partners at Taos, New Mexico, and engaged in the Rocky Mountain fur trade until the horrors of Indian warfare ended his career as a trapper. He remained on the frontier in New Mexico and was associated with Kit Carson, Jedediah Smith and other mountain men. By 1841 he had married a native girl and acquired a family. He had difficulties with the Mexican government's supposition that he and his Americano friends were supporters of the Texas filibuster and planned to make New Mexico part of the United States. In 1841 they came to California by way of the Santa Fe Trail The California authorities ignored the warnings of the New Mexican government and granted Gordon and his partners a 48,000 acre Rancho La Puente where they established the town of El Monte, the first agricultural town in California, now a rich suburb of Los Angeles. There were twenty-five men in the party, four of whom were heads of families: Gordon, William Knight, Workman and Rowland. The following year they returned to New Mexico for their families. Gordon and Knight married sisters and Knight's oldest daughter, Mrs. J. W. Snowball recounted the trip. "The children of the train were carried over deserts and high hills, through deep canyons, and dense forests, in baskets swinging on the sides of gentle ponies. A basket hung from each side of the horse with a child, awake or sleeping safely tucked away. Occasionally the children climbed on the pony's back, or jumped to the ground to walk.

William Gordon ,William Knight, and J. R. Wolfskill, who married Knight's eldest daughter, Carmelita, came north together. It seems that Americans who married Mexicans were especially favored in grants. Gordon set himself up as overlord of Rancho Guesesosi on Cache Creek and Knight claimed title to Rancho Carmel on the Sacramento River. Wolfskill was overseer on his brother's Rancho on Putah Creek across from the present town of Winters.The Spanish "rancho" was a community of its own, with any number of adobe houses, a certain number of overseers and a vast number of Indian retainers, engaged in the raising of stock.

On 27 January of 1843 Governo Micheltorena granted William Gordon a rancho of two leagues of land in Capay Valley, assessed value of $11,000 with taxes of $107.49 in 1850. Here his first wife died in 1845 and he lived the life of a bachelor for ten years before marrying Elizabeth Corum. His eldest daughter, Isabele, and Nathan Coombs rode two mounted horses to Sutter's Fort and were married by Captain Sutter. She was just 14 years old. They returned to the ranch arriving about midnight and partook of a bridal feast of cold beef. Shortly after, Coombs purchased a Napa Valley ranch from Salvador Vallejo and they went there to live. Nathan Coombs took part in the Bear Flag Filibuster in 1846 under Knight's leadership. Gordon never took part in the Usurping of California nor the events that led up to it.

In 1851 William Gordon bought land in Napa County. It was named Gordon Valley after him.
In Yolo County he gave aid and comfort to many settlers suffering hardships on the trail from Oregon and Missouri. His place of frontier hospitality was a place of refuge for many old friends and new who traveled through the area and it is mentioned as a stopping place, sometimes for months, sometimes for years, in the many Yolo County Histories. The Grigsby-Ide imigrant train of 1845 stayed at Gordon's for part of that winter. The land was mostly used for grazing stock, but in the year 1844, William Gordon and William Knight were first to plant grain in the county of Yolo. Gordon also introduced hogs to the county that same year. In 1845 he harvested seven acres of wheat and
five acres of corn by using the water from Cache Creek which flowed from Clear Lake. William Gordon was Justice of the Peace of his precinct, the Capay Valley in1851.

Some of the younger members of Gordon's family emigrated to Yolo County from Jackson County, Missouri in 1855 and temporarily occupied a log house on Gordon's property. A Mrs. Grayson was with them.

Gordon came to California with nothing and built an estate out of perserverance and a willingness to undergo untold hardships. He retired about the time of the Civil War and moved into Lake County to spend the remainder of his life in his favorite sport-hunting. He died 3 October 1876.

The following excerpt was taken from the book, "Historic Spots in California", by Mildred Brooke Hoover, Douglas E. Kyle, Ethel G. Rensch:
Within what is now Yolo County, nine grants of land for permanent settlement were made by Mexican authorities between 1842 and the American conquest in 1846. Only five of these titles, however, were later confirmed by the United States government.
William Gordon, a native of Ohio who brought his family to California with the Workman-Rowland party in 1841, settled on Rancho Quesesosi in July 1842. This pioneering venture was located on a grant of two square leagues bisected by Cache Creek west of what is now Woodland. (The boundaries can be followed on County Roads 94B, 19 and 87 and SR16.) "Uncle Billy" Gordon had been a trapper and hunter in New Mexico, "rough, honest, and hospitable." His place on Cache Creek became a "general rendezvous for settlers and hunters" from 1843 to 1846. James Clyman, in his diary for July 12, 1845, noted that at the time of his visit, Gordon was the only permanent settler on Cache Creek. On this rancho the first wheat in Yolo County was grown. In a primitive building one mile from Gordon's home, the county's first school was started in 1847 with an enrollment of eight pupils. Gordon sold land and water right to James Moore, who began construction in 1856 of the first irrigation dam and ditch system to utilize the natural water supply of Cache Creek, which flows out of Clear Lake in the mountains of Lake County.
Rancho Quesesosi, more commonly known as Gordon's Ranch was sold in 1866, when William Gordon moved to Cobb Valley in Lake County, where he lived until his death in 1876. All that remains today is a family cemetery situated north of Cache Creek, near the former homesite on County Road 19 and marked with a plaque in 1948 by the Native Daughters of the Golden West.

CALIFORNIA PIONEER REGISTER AND INDEX 1542 - 1848page 165 Gordon (Wm), 1841, nat. of Ohio, who became a Mex. citizen in N. Mex., where he married Maria Lucero, and came to Cal. in the Rowland-Workman party. iv. 277-9. In '42 came north to Sonoma, original passport. in my collection; and in '43 was grantee of Quesesosi rancho on Cache Cr., becoming the pio¤er settler of Yolo Co. Here he lived till about '66, then moved to Cobb Valley, Lake Co., where he died in '76, at the age of 75. His wife died in '44, her sister being the wife of Cyrus Alexander; and in '55 G. married Elizabeth Corum. One of his daughters, Mrs Sarah Ingraham, died in Gordon Val. '68; another, Isabel, was the wife of Nathan Coombs. 'Uncle Billy' had been a trapper in his early years, and continued to be fond of the hunt in Cal.; a rough, uneducated, honest, and hospitable man. In '43-6 his place on Cache Cr. was a general rendezvous for settlers and hunters, and is oftener mentioned than any other place except Sutter's Fort and Sonoma. It was in the vicinity of the modern town of Fremont. (my note: not Fremont, but Woodland) Portrait Yolo Co. Hist., 26; ment. iv. 573, 672; v. iii. 672.

An exerpt from "California Inter Pocula" by Hubert Howe Bancroft, p 629
John C Murphy one day innocently borrowed without permission a horse belonging to William Gordon, a strong-minded magistrate of Yolo County. Hearing of it, the justice sent the constable after Murphy, who was brought before Gordon, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged that afternoon. The magistrate was in earnest; and it was with the utmost difficulty, and only by appealing to his sense of fairness, and to his reputation as a magistrate in criminating a man where the judge was prosecuter, that delay was gained. Finally the case was referred to another court, and the prisoner discharged, greatly to the disgust of Gordon who immediately resigned office, affirming he would no longer be judge where he could not administer justice.

1850 United States Federal Census
Name: Wm Gordon Age: 15 Estimated birth year: abt 1835 Birth Place: New Mexico Gender: Male Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Cache Creek, Yolo, California
Family:
Wm Gordon 50 Ranchero born, Ohio
Thomas 22 Ranchero born, N Mexico
John 20 Ranchero born, N Mexico
William 15 Ranchero born, N Mexico
note: Sarah and Joseph were living with their sister and her husband, Isabele and Nathan Coombs in Napa, California. Margaret and Jose Ricardo are not listed either place. (There is a Margaret Alexander age 4 living with Rufina and Cyrus Alexander in Sonoma in 1850. Could this be William's daughter, Margaret? Rufina is the sister to William Gordon's wife Maria, who died in 1845.)

1852 California State Censusabout Wm Gordon
Name: Wm Gordon
Race: White
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Ohio
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1800
Age: 52
Residence County: Yolo Last residence; Mexico
others with him: J Gordon age 23, born Mexico, rancher; Wm Gordon Jr, age 18, rancher, born Mexico; Jos Gordon, rancher, age 14, born Mexico

1860 United States Federal Census
Name: William Gordon
Age in 1860: 68 (looks like 60 to me)
Birth Year: abt 1792
Birthplace: Ohio
Home in 1860: Cottonwood, Yolo, California
Gender: Male
Post Office: Cache Creek
Value of real estate: $35,000, $38,000
Household Members: Name Age
William Gordon 68 (looks like 60 to me), stalk dealer
Elizabeth Gordon 38 born Virginia
William Gordon 22 New Mexico, Stalk dealer
Joseph Gordon 20 New Mexico, Stalk dealer
Robert Gordon 1 California (whose child is this? as he isn't on 1870 census)
William Walter 22 labor
John Gorden 25 New Mexico, Stalk dealer
M Seaburn 40 labor
Rosa Comore 28 ?
Olin Pattee 58 Shepherd

1870 United States Federal Census
Name: Wm Gordon
Estimated birth year: abt 1801
Age in 1870: 69
Birthplace: Ohio
Home in 1870: Lower Lake, Lake, California
Race: White
Gender: Male
Value of real estate: 6000, 300
Post Office: Lower Lake
Family and neighbors:
Elizabeth age 40 keeping house, born Kentucky
(no Robert Gordon)

William married Juana Maria LUCERO on 27 Jun 1826 in Taos, Taos, New Mexico, United States. Juana (daughter of Pedro Antonio LUSERO and Maria de la Luz FERNANDEZ) was born on 11 Oct 1805 in Taos, Mexican Territory; died in 1845 in Capay, Yolo, California, United States; was buried in , Yolo, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: ^
• _MARNM: Gordon
• _UID: C5AB2D939B838447AE7FD3D298FF2BE6935C

Notes:

at home

family cemetary on north bank of Cache Creek

Notes:

San Francisco del Rancho Toas, Mexican Territory

Other Events:

• _UID: EE577509D375EA40974B82F494FE3B419BB9

Notes:

Revolutionary War veteran, of Scottish descent, received bounty land in Adams Co. Ohio. He was a Pvt. in the 1st and 10th Va. Regiments. Farmer in the 1810 census of Adams Co. (info from "The Men of the California Bear Flag Revolt")
John Gordon is listed in Adams County Ohio tax records in AIS #1
1806 - pg 014 - no twp
1807 - pg 016 - "
1809 - pg 017 - "
1810 - pg 026 - "

AIS #2 John Gordon is listed in Adams County Ohio 1820 Census pg 014 Sprigg twp.

AIS #2 1820 Census, Ross County Ohio pg 232 lists Lancy Art in Chilicothe twp
1820 Census, Highland County Ohio pg 026 lists William Arte in Concord twp

Kit 26395 Pvgp44@aol.com Gordon Family GG52 (Common Ancestor: James Harvey Gordon b. 1794 SC Kit 36388 olveradr@aol.com John Gordon and Mary Elizabeth Art were from Westmoreland Co. PA (1790 census) The couple moved to Adams Co. Ohio by 1801 and in 1828 to Delaware Co. In. where they died, he in October 1832 and she about 1843. Their youngest son, William Henry Gordon was b. Adams Co OH in 1801. He left home at an early age, settling in Taos, NM where he m. Juana Maria Lucero in 1826. The family came to CA in 1841 with the Rowland-Workman Party. They settled in Yolo, Co. CA in 1842. One of Williams sons, Juan de Jesus (John) Gordon b. in Taos, NM had a son named William Pleasant Gordon, born in 1875 in CA. William Pleasant also had son, Joseph Kenneth Gordon, who was b. in CA in 1909.

John married Mary Isabel ART. Mary was born in in Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: C878CF9D9CEAB44F80BAA47719229A4BAA8A

Pedro married Maria de la Luz FERNANDEZ on 5 Sep 1804 in Taos, Taos, New Mexico. Maria was born about 1788; was christened on 17 Feb 1788 in Taos, Taos, New Mexico; died after 1841 in Taos, Taos, New Mexico, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 0E8D3CDEBFC8D447A07737E6E2E716FE6874

Notes:

1841 census lists her as widow, age 40

Taos County, New Mexico
Taos Baptisms
Fernandes, Maria Luz 17 Feb 1788 Maria Luz de los Dolores, born in the Rancho of San Francisco on 15 Feb 1788, daughter of Antonio Fernandes and Margarita Romero, residents of this pueblo. Sponsors Juan Antonio Bargas? and his wife, Maria Natividad Lujan, residents of los Trampas?.