15%: July 2008

So, not like anyone cares, but with all of this free time I have been doing some investigating into my grandfathers lineage, since it is the heritage I most despise, for various reasons. I have been interested in a story that I grew up hearing from my mother and uncle. According to them, my great-great-great? something grandfather had a hand in founding a town in California during the gold rush. This town is called Kyburz, California, a very very small town (pop. 139, and that's no joke) in El Dorado County, and this long dead relative of mine might have been the one responsible for finding the gold.

The following article is taken from the El Dorado County Biographies page on Samuel Kyburz (which is also my cousin's name).

On June 26, 1810, in a small village, Obertenfelden, in the canton of Aargon, Switzerland, Samuel was born to Daniel and Maria Kyburz. He was the fifth child of seven born to this family. Daniel was a musician of some accomplishment. The family lived on a farm and that is where Samuel learned silk weaving. It was this trade that he took with him to America when he and his father, along with two sisters and one brother, immigrated in Septmeber 1833. (Hochstrasser, Martin, "Kyburz of Kyburz," Special Edition, Society of Local History, [Suhrental, Switzerland, 1997])

Sam and his family lived for awhile in the Boston area and evetnually settled in Wisconsin. It was in Spring Prairie that he meet and married his wife, Rebecca Sophia Barben, on May 29, 1841. (County of Walworth, Wisconsin, Marriage Certificate, 29, May 1841) Shortly thereafter, they moved to East Troy, Wisconsin, where their first two children were born, Samuel Elliot and Sarah Maranda.

It was April 2, 1846, that Sam, his wife, Rebecca, their two children, aged 4 and 2, and Rebecca's father and her two brothers, John and Samuiel left their home in East Troy and journeyed to Independence, Missouri. (von Grueningen, John Paul, ed. The Swiss in the United States [Madison, Wisconsin: Swiss- American Historical Society, 1940] 89) Independence and St. Joseph in Missouri were small towns but busy frontier posts. It was the place where emigrants would complete their list of supplies needed for their overland journey. An important part of the preparations was to join an emigrant company and then to select people in the group that would serve as competent leaders. It was there that the Kyburz party met up with the "five Germans." (a group of German boys, Heinrich Lienhard was among them) Starting out, they joined with a large group of wagons, about twenty-six in all, but after a week, the Kyburz party as well as the "five German boys" broke off into a separate group. It was thought that they could travel faster on their own.

A thorough account of their trip has been recorded by Heinrich Lienhard. He kept a journal and later completed one of the most extensive accounts by any who traveled the trails west. it was later translated into English, From St. Louis to Sutter's Fort, 1846, by Erwin and Elisabeth Gudde.

When they reached North Platte and the Sweetwater River, Kyburz is reported to have become captain of the wagon train, a post he retained until their safe arrival at Sutter's Fort. (Donovan, "The Forgotten Man . . . ") Some have reported that the Lienhard-Kyburz party was originally part of the infamous Donner Party. This was not the case, the Donners left shortly after the Kyburzes, following a day or so behind, but they were never to meet until after those who survived reached Sutter's Fort. It is true that as of August 15, Jacob Harlan and Peter Weimer caught up with the Kyburz and continued on with them to the end. (von Grueningen)

Four months and twenty-three days after their departure, Samuel Kyburz and his family safely reached Sutter's Fort. It is reported that Rebecca Kyburz was the first white woman to settle at the fort. While this has not been contested and I have not been able to document this, there are several reports of this account. It is possible that while she would not have been the first to arrive, she may have been the first to settle there. (von Grueningen)

Immediately, John Sutter saw in Sam Kyburz a competent and reliable man and hired him on as his overseer of his growing colony. A two-room addition was built to accommodate the new family. (von Grueningen) Rebecca kept busy with cooking for the workers at the fort. Among Samuel's duties were as majordomo and in charge of the keys to the fort. He would often inspect buildings and selected sites for new construction as well as locating timber needed for lumber, returning lost or stolen cattle as well as the purchasing of livestock and supervising the workers in the wheatlands. Finally, he acted as captain of shipping, often traveling down the Sacramento, the San Joaquin, and the Great Bay of San Francisco (known as Yerba Buena at that time). (Schwegler)

After the war with Mexico, James Marshall returned to Sutter's Fort. It was August 1847 when Captain John Sutter and James Marshall went into partnership on the building of a sawmill. The contract was written by John Bidwell who was, at the time, a clerk in Sutter's store. Samuel Kyburz and John Bidwell both witnessed and signed the contract. (Donovan, von Grueninger, Gay) It was Samuel Kyburz who discovered the site of Coloma and influenced Sutter to build there. It was James Marshall who, in partnership with John Sutter, built the mill and discovered a gold nugget in the river at the mill site. Then it was John Bidwell who wrote the contract as well as witnessing it along with Samuel Kyburz. But, let us not forget, it was John Sutter who had the vision to establish a colony in the Sacramento Valley and foreseeing large numbers of newcomers, realized the need for lumber which led him to commission the building of the sawmill and the subsequent discovery of gold.

The discovery of gold, having been told many times before, occured on January 24, 1848. But the bigger news for the Kyburz family was the birth of their first California born child. He was born February 9, 1848, just a short time after gold was discovered. Because of the respect the Kyburzs had for John Sutter, they named their son, John Augustus Kyburz. (von Grueningen) Unfortunately, he did not live out the year. He died the following December after being sick for some time. A friend, Louise Anderson, remembered conversations with Rebecca in which she would tell Louise of the death of her infant son. Rebecca reported that he died at Christmas time at Sutter's Fort in the Kyburz Annex. Samuel and Rebecca kept the death watch over him as he lay in the cradle made of rough lumber that sat at the north wall of the room by the fireplace.

In May of 1848, there was an influx of people swarming throughout the fort. People were coming through at such a rate there was no room for them to sleep except on the floor. Because of the need for a boarding house, Samuel, and his wife, Rebecca, decided to open one and so arrangements were made for the moving of the store, making room for Kyburz to establish his boarding house.

It was at the time, through the spring and summer of 1848, that John Sutter lost control of his fort. The influx of people, the need for supplies, the lack of law and order, all contributed to a chaotic environment that seemed to overtake the fort. While there was a lot of money to be made, most people lost everything. For awhile, Sutter collected about $2000 a month from rent charged to those conducting businesses. (Donovan) Instead of using his profits to pay off debts, he went into more debt, eventually losing his fort. This was true as well as for James Marshall. (Jackson, Joseph Henry, ed., Gold Rush Album [New York: Bonanza, 1949])

It was not long before Samuel Kyburz left the fort. California was in chaos. There was no law and no control. Why the Kyburz family left, is not certain. One can only assume that what they had come to California looking for was not available in Sacramento at that time, and so they moved to San Francisco. Kyburz is registered in the San Francisco Registry of 1850 as being a merchant on Powell and Mason. (I do not know how this can be correct as these streets are parallel). (Annuls of San Francisco, 1856). While Samuel was living in San Francisco, he became a naturalized citizen in the San Francisco District Court in 1850.

Marea Estelle, their second daughter, was born in San Francisco on November 12, 1849. They were living in a house on a hill that had a panoramic view of the city, the harbor, Yerba Buena Island, and Contra Consta. It was here that their friend and traveling companion, Lienhard Heinrich, came to visit on his way to the east. (Lienhard)

San Francisco, at this time, experienced an unprecedented growth. In 1848 the population was about 800, but within the year, it had grown to 25,000, all due to the Gold Rush and the influx of 49'ers. The following year it was incorporated as a city.

In an effort to "cultivate the social virtues of its members, to collect and preserve information connected with the early settlement and conquest of the country, and to perpetuate the memory of those whose sagacity, enterprise, and love of independence, induced them to settle in the wilderness, and become the germ of a new State," that the Society of Californai Pioneers was formed in San Francisco. Samuel Kyburz was one of the first office-holders along with many well-known early founders of California, such as Samuel Brannan, Edwin Bryant, and Joseph Folsom to name a few. (Annuls of SF) An interesting twist is that this society, which is still active today, has no mention of Samuel Kyburz in their files.

While in San Francisco, Samuel tried his hand in the shipping business. California was growing and there were opportunties for many people to make their fortune. He purchased a ship, it is reported, and sailed down to the coast of Mexico or Central America. His plan was to buy coffee and fruits and bring them to San Francisco. His venture was not successful, his ship sank and he lost his investment. One story says that his ship sunk in the San Francisco Bay. (Lienhard)

Shortly thereafter, the Kyburz family left San Francissco. That was in January of 1851. They headed for Hock Farm where John Sutter was living, where they remained there until February of the following year when Samuel moved his family into Sacramento.(Zollinger, Hock Farm was Sutter's private ranch on the Feather River) Samuel continued working for Sutter until May of 1852 when he left to run a hotel in Sacramento. (Kyburz, Samuel, Deposition in US District Court, Case of US vs Sutter, Land Calims, Vol 25, p 498, June 4, 1860)

While in Sacramento, the Kyburz lived in a house on what is now 'K' street between 9th and 10th street. There, Rebecca gave birth to another son, Albert Burrows, born June 30, 1852 and on October 10, 1854, their last child was born, John Daniel. (Sacramento County Death Certificates) They had a home built between 15th and 16th and 'N' and 'M' streets, in which they lived until they left Sacramento in 1862.

It was the flood of '62 that drove many from Sacramento, including Samuel Kyburz and his family. He took them to Whiterock, in El Dorado County. There they worked for the owner of a roadhouse on the Mills-Placerville road. Samuel worked as manager while Rebecca worked as housekeeper. It was about this time that John Sutter presented Samuel Kyburz with 160 acres of prime land, for all his loyal service (von Grueningen). That was the beginning of a long venture between Samuel and his two younger sons as they went into the dairy business in Clarksville where they remained for several years. There, they had another home built, by Mr. Ball, who later became their son-in-law. (Anderson)

Samuel returned to his civic duties, he took the position of Justice of the Peace, a position he held until the 1890's. He retired from that position due to poor health, at which time his friend, and husband of Louise Anderson, Levi H. Anderson, succeeded him as Justice of the Peace. (Anderson)

The California State Grange Association began in August of 1870 in Pilot Hill, in El Dorado County. This was the first of its kind on the Pacific Coast. January 1874 saw the establishment of the Clarksville Grange, No. 149, of which Samuel, Rebecca, and Albert were charter members. (History of El Dorado County, 1886)

In September 1871, the first meeting of the Territorial Pioneers of '49 and '50 met to organize. Samuel Kyburz was among the original members. Their goals were to re-unite early pioneers, and "revive and keep alive the fading recollections of the 'flush times', when hopeful and generous adventure was the princely almoner [sic] of wealth that seemed to be exhaustless." (History of El Dorado County) Kyburz became an honored member of the Masonic Fraternity, a tradition that the Kyburz family has continued to this day. It was in the Masonic cemetery, in the town of Folsom, where Samuel Kyburz' remains were finally interred. (Mt. Dem. obit)

Samuel was also one of the first members of the Native Sons of the Golden West, Placerville Parlor No. 9. There have been, now six generations of Kyburz in that organization, a record unsurpassed by any other Parlor.

Samuel Kyburz remained in Clarksville until he became ill, at which time he and Rebecca moved in with their eldest son, Samuel, in Shingle Spring, in El Dorado County. He remained there until his death, January 15, 1898. That was just fifty years after the discovery of gold. His children have remained in the county establishing a long line of Kyburz' that remain to this date. At the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park in Coloma, there is on display a silver topped cane. It was a present to "Old Sam" from John Sutter. The cane was made of wood from Marshall's historic mill. Along with the inscription that reads, "Old Sam, Sutter's Coloma Mill, Gold Discovered by Marshall, Feb. 1848" is the Masonic emblem, as Samuel was one of the California's first masons. (Mountain Democrat Magazine, "The Kyburz . . . A family chronicle, six generations in El Dorado County," Virginia Briggs)

Albert Burrows Kyburz, Samuel's fifth child, purchased 120 acres after the death of his father in what we know today as Cameron Park. In 1900, he traded the property plus $1,500 for a hotel-resort near Silver Fork. This place, also known as Sugarloaf, Slippery Ford, and other names, became known as Kyburz when the United States Post Office wanted to rename it when they were establishing its first post office there. Albert, upon becoming the first post master, recommended that it be named in his father's memory. The resort remained in the family until 1946 when, after it burned, Albert and Edna Kyburz moved back to Placerville. (Bagley, "Kyburz, Innkeeper of the Gold Rush")

O.K., I doubt you actually read that entire thing, but one thing that you should definitely read is a passage I found on a web-page about El Dorado County Cemeteries:

Perhaps the most important person interred here is Samuel E. Kyburz, who came to California with his parents, Samuel and Rebecca Kyburz, in 1846. They had originally been members of the Donner Party, but separated near what is now Salt Lake City and arrived in California before the winter snows halted the rest of the party.

!!!!!!!!!

And interestingly enough, the Wikipedia entry about the Donner Party states this:

When they reached the Sierra Nevada at the end of October, a snowstorm blocked their way over what is now known as Donner Pass. Demoralized and low on supplies, about three quarters of the emigrants camped at a lake (now called Donner Lake), while the Donner families and a few others camped about six miles (ten kilometers) away, at Alder Creek.[2]

The emigrants slaughtered their remaining oxen, but there was not enough meat to feed so many for long. In mid-December, fifteen of the trapped emigrants, later known as the Forlorn Hope, set out on crudely fashioned snowshoes for Sutter's Fort, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away, to seek help. This group consisted of 10 men and five women. When one man gave out and had to be left behind, the others continued, but soon became lost and ran out of food. Caught without shelter in a raging blizzard, four of the party died. The survivors resorted to cannibalism, then continued on their journey; three more died and were also cannibalized. Close to death, the seven surviving snowshoes—two men and all five of the women—finally reached safety on the western side of the mountains on January 18, 1847.

But, as stated above, it is only speculation, and it is more likely that the Kyburz party left a few days before the Donner's just barely escaping their fate. That then lead me to look more into the Kyburz relations with the Donner's, leading me to this:

When the party arrived at Sutter's Fort, they took no pains to conceal their feelings toward Keseberg. Some of the men openly accused him of Mrs. Donner's murder. Keseberg, at the suggestion of Captain Sutter, brought action against Captain Fallon, Ned Coffeemire, and the others, for slander. The case was tried before Alcalde Sinclair, and the jury gave Keseberg a verdict of one dollar damages. The old alcalde records are not in existence, but some of the survivors remember the circumstance, and Mrs. Samuel Kyburz, now of Clarksville, El Dorado County, was a witness at the trial.

Lewis Keseberg, being one of the few members of the Donner party which did partake in cannibalism and also speculated to be the first to resort to the act, was blamed for the death of two members of his wagon party, both employees of his, which he dejected from the wagons to wander alone, and of course, were never heard from again. He was also blamed for the murders of George Foster and Tamsen Donner.

Like I said before, the Kyburz's and the Donner's followed almost the exact same trails. So, it would be fitting that you take Donner's Road to get to the Kyburz flat, a small part of the Truckee Trails in the Sierra Nevada's, which is home to some amazing Indian Petroglyphs.