Granville Perry Swift (May 1, 1821 in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

– April 21, 1875) was a

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

who participated in the

Bear Flag Revolt The California Republic, or Bear Flag Republic, was an List of historical unrecognized states#Americas, unrecognized breakaway state from Second Federal Republic of Mexico, Mexico, that existed from June 14, 1846 to July 9, 1846. It milita ...

in 1846 and who was highly successful at

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from Alluvium, alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to mor ...

. His

great-uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent, as well as the parent of the cousins. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an unc ...

was

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

. He came to California at the age of 19 in 1840. Records indicate he was active in the

Sacramento Valley The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California ...

, hunting and trading

rawhide Rawhide may refer to: *Rawhide (material), a hide or animal skin that has not been tanned * Whip made from rawhide Entertainment * ''Rawhide'' (1926 film), a Western directed by Richard Thorpe * ''Rawhide'' (1938 film), a Western starring baseball ...

and

fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

s. During the rebellion of the

Californio Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...

s in 1844–45, Governor

Manuel Micheltorena Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a brigadier general and adjutant-general of the Mexican Army, List_of_governors_of_California_before_1850#Mexican_governors_of_California_(1837–47), gover ...

asked

John Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Switzerland, Swiss immigrant who became a Mexican and later an American citizen, known for establishing Sutter ...

to form a troop of

riflemen A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction of the r ...

, of which Swift was one. By 1846, however, Swift would later favor independence from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. He was one of thirty-three Americans who captured the town of Sonoma. He was elected sergeant of the party and even helped design the

Bear Flag The Bear Flag is the official flag of the U.S. state of California. The precursor of the flag was first flown during the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt and was also known as the Bear Flag. A predecessor, called the Lone Star Flag, was used in an 1836 ...

. He served until the spring of 1847, after which time he settled in Colusi County, where he ran an extensive cattle operation. It was during this time that he constructed a

corral A pen is a fenced/walled open-air enclosure for holding land animals in captivity, typically for livestock but may also be used for holding other domesticated animals such as pets that are unwanted inside buildings. The term describes types ...

made of flat stones, as there was no timber in the surrounding country. This corral, still standing, became known as Swift's Stone Corral and is now registered as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

br>#238
In addition, his

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

from the ranch is registered as CH
#345
(the two are listed in different counties because Colusi County was later split into Colusa,

Glenn Glenn may refer to: Name or surname * Glenn (name) * John Glenn, U.S. astronaut Cultivars * Glenn (mango) * a 6-row barley variety Places In the United States: * Glenn, California * Glenn County, California * Glenn, Georgia, a settlement i ...

, and Tehama counties). After the discovery of gold at

Sutter's Fort Sutter's Fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican ''Alta California'' province. Established in 1839, the site of the fort was originally part of a utopian colonial project called New Helvetia (''New Switzerland'') ...

, Swift took a party to Bidwell's Bar in 1848 and struck it rich. A fellow miner recalls, "Swift was one of the best miners I ever knew. It seems as if he could almost smell the gold. He made an immense amount of gold." With his newfound wealth, Swift, his brother William, and his cousin Frank Sears first purchased the ranch they had been working, and later purchased 15,000 acres (61 km²) of

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (July 4, 1807 – January 18, 1890) was a Californio general, statesman, and public figure. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of the Republic of Mexico, and shaped the tran ...

Rancho Petaluma Rancho Petaluma was a Mexican land grant in present-day Sonoma County, California given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. Rancho Petaluma stretched from Petaluma River on the west over the hills and down to Sonoma ...

, located near Sears Point. In 1858 he constructed his three-story Southern

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern US ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum architectu ...

-style mansion, called Temelec, on the rancho. The first two floors had 14 rooms, while the dining room could seat as many as 50 guests and featured a fireplace of imported Italian

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

. It also had an encircling balcony supported by great stone columns. Swift also buried an estimated $100,000 in gold. The list of his burial locations (in his handwriting) still survives, with notations like "1 tin box & 1 Little Bottle Boath in the saim hoal." He was later unable to identify many of the hiding places; gold believed to have been Swift's has been found several times, including in 1914 by A.W. Lehrke, who dug under his ranch house after a dream. Rich and famous, he married 16-year-old Eliza Jane Tate of Sonoma. Together they had three sons before their divorce in 1869. However, his fortunes would soon take a turn for the worse. He suffered serious financial losses in the so-called Comstock Swindle, forcing him to sell off his ranch and Temelec to pay his debts. In 1850, $80,000 in gold that his sister had panned was washed away by the creek near which Swift had buried it. The family then moved to

Solano County Solano County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 453,491. The county seat is Fairfield. Solano County comprises the Vallejo–Fairfield metropolitan statistical area, which is a ...

in 1864, settling in Green Valley. The stone mansion they purchased today houses th
Green Valley Country Club
Swift returned to prospecting, this time for quicksilver in the mountains between

Berryessa Valley Rancho Las Putas was a Mexican land grant in present-day Napa County, California, given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to José de Jesús Berreyesa and Sexto "Sisto" Berreyesa. The name ''Las Putas'' came from Putah Creek, which ran thro ...

and

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, but on April 21, 1875, at the age of 54, he was riding on a mule and suffered a fatal fall on a steep mountain path. He is buried at Rockville Cemetery in Suisun.

References

*Dowd, Katie
"A settler forgot where he buried $100,000 in gold around the Bay Area. It might still be out there"
''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 9, 2019 *Goerke-Shrode, Sabine,

, ''Vacaville Reporter'', April 23, 2000 *Hobart, Billie, Ed.D. ''Captain Granville Perry Swift, California Pioneer and Sonoma Bear'' (2001).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Granville P. 1821 births 1875 deaths Landowners from California 19th-century American landowners Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in California American people of the Bear Flag Revolt 19th-century American businesspeople

See also

References

External links