George C. Yount facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
George Calvert Yount
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| Born | May 4, 1794 |
| Died | October 5, 1865 (aged 71) |
| Resting place | Yountville, CA |
| Spouse(s) | Eliza Cambridge Wilds, |
| Children | Robert Wilds Yount, Frances Yount, and Elizabeth Ann Yount. |
| Relatives | Harry Yount, nephew. Daughter Elizabeth Ann married John Calvert Davis. Grandhildren: Mary Eliza, Elizabeth Ann, John Calvert. John Calvert Davis married Margarethe Claus. Great-granddaughter Sue Francis Davis married Stephen Cholomondley Maynard. Great-great-grandson Harry Cholomndley Yount Daker Maynard married Joan Alice Cosgrove. Great-great-great-granddaughters Mary Sue, Julie Ann and Sally Joan. Mary Sue married Dave Wellbeloved and bore: Great-great-great-great-grandchildren David, Elizabeth and John Wellbeloved. Mary Sue's second marriage to Earnest Reed produced Patrick and Alice Reed. Sally Joan married Paul Stephen Smith. IV grandsons Paul Bret and Wilson Blakely Smith. |
George Calvert Yount (born May 4, 1794 – died October 5, 1865) was an adventurous trapper who traveled from New Mexico to California in 1831. He became the first European-American person to settle permanently in the beautiful Napa Valley. The town of Yountville, California is even named after him! He was given large areas of land by the Mexican government, which were called "land grants."
Contents
George Yount's Life
Early Years and Adventures
George C. Yount was born in Burke County, North Carolina, but he grew up in Missouri. He was a soldier in the War of 1812 and also fought in the Indian wars. George was a farmer, but after some tough times with his business in 1826, he left his wife and three children in Missouri. He then traveled to Santa Fe and became a fur trapper.
Settling in Napa Valley
Yount eventually made his way to California, arriving in 1831 with a group led by William Wolfskill. He hunted sea otters for their fur near the Santa Barbara Channel Islands. In 1834, he moved to Sonoma. There, he worked as a carpenter for General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, an important figure in California at the time.
Because of Vallejo's help, George Yount received a land grant called Rancho Caymus in 1836. This made him the first permanent settler in the Napa Valley. He built a cabin, which was like a strong block-house, and a mill to grind grain. In 1843, he received another land grant, Rancho La Jota, on Howell Mountain. Here, he built a saw-mill to cut wood. George C. Yount officially owned both of these large land grants, which together were about 16,341 acres (66.13 km2).
The Dream That Helped
George Yount once shared a remarkable story about a dream he had in early 1847. He dreamed repeatedly of a group of pioneers struggling in deep snow. He saw many clear details about them and their difficulties. At this time, news of the Donner Party being trapped in the snow was spreading.
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., a famous writer, later wrote that Yount's dream played a part in helping to rescue the Donner Party. Dana called it "[Yount's] celebrated dream, thrice repeated." Even though some details might have been a bit different, Yount believed his dream was a spiritual message that helped lead to the rescue efforts for the Donner Party. This dream and its connection to the Donner Party are now an important part of George Yount's story.
Yountville: A Town Named After Him
In 1855, a town was planned on George Yount's land and was first named Sebastopol. However, there was already another town called Sebastopol in nearby Sonoma County. So, in 1867, after George Yount passed away, the town was renamed Yountville in his honor.
George Yount died on his property in 1865 when he was 71 years old. Most of his land remained with his family during his lifetime.
His Family
Children and Grandchildren
George C. Yount and Eliza Cambridge Wilds had three children: Robert Wilds Yount (1819–1850), Frances Yount (1821-1870), and Elizabeth Ann Yount (1826–1853). They also had nine grandchildren.
George had left his family in Missouri in 1826. Later, his two daughters, Elizabeth Ann and Frances, came west to California in 1843. Frances came with her husband, William Bartlett Vines. They lived in George Yount's block-house on Rancho Caymus.
One of George's nephews, Harry Yount, became a gamekeeper in Yellowstone National Park. He is known as the first park ranger of the National Park Service.
Among his grandchildren:
- Elizabeth Yount (1847–1916), Robert's only child, married Thomas Lewis Rutherford in 1864. George Yount gave them 1,040 acres (4.2 km2) of land as a wedding gift. Thomas Rutherford became a successful wine grower. The town of Rutherford, California is named after him.
- Elizabeth Anne Davis (1847–1922), one of Elizabeth's daughters, married William Campbell Watson in 1864. Watson started and named the famous Inglenook Winery.
