In 1849 Luzena Wilson set out for California in a covered wagon with her husband and two little boys, hungry to join the tide of gold seekers. In the next episodes, we will hear the story Habitat: Grassland. Luzena Stanley Wilson The account of Luzena Stanley Wilson is one of the most vivid and charming of all the Gold Rush stories that have come down to us. Wilson came overland to California from Missouri with her husband and two small children in 1849. Dangerous Passage Her nickname was Wilson Luzena Stanley; Hunt Luzena Stanley. As the Wilsons moved west, they found the trail littered with household items discarded to lighten loads of the tired beasts. All of her worldly possessions were tucked inside it: family Bibles, two quilts, one dress, a bonnet, a pair of shoes, and a few pieces of china. I must have carried my honesty in my face, for he looked at me a minute and said, Ill take you, Maam, if you will assure me the money. I promised him it should be paid, if I lived, and we made the money, So, pledged to a new master, Debt, we pressed forward on the road. Luzena Stanley Wilson (c. 1821-1902) was a California Gold Rush entrepreneur. Wilson was born 17 January 1996 in Leeds to Sally and Neil Wilson and is the great nephew of Duncan Fearnley. Each man as he rose put a $1 in my hand and said I might count him as a permanent customer.. But the longest way has an end. Miners flocked to her table and paid in gold. A wife usually stayed behind and managed the home while the man tried his luck at striking gold. This is a helpful summary of the roles of some specific women in San Francisco. In May 1857, the couple welcomed a daughter, Correnah. He left the house on an errand of ejectment, taking with him a witness, in case he should be killed or be forced to kill the squatters, many of whom knew and feared his reckless and determined purpose, would not have hesitated to dispose of him with a bullet.23, The courts were called upon to intercede and settle the matter; in the interim, the Wilsons moved from Benicia to Vaca Valley. The native tribes of California saw themselves as stewards not owners of the land. In addition to Luzena, her husband, sons, her brothers, and their wives had committed to travel to California as well. Late in 1850, Luzena expanded her commercial enterprise, hiring cooks and waiters.14. But behind the myth of the games creation is an untold tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing. By 1858, the Wilsons had outgrown the small, temporary hotel they initially built in the area and decided to have a new one constructed at a cost of $14,000. The world will never see the like again of those pioneers of 49, Luzena recalled in her journal. She resided in a hotel, living off real estate transactions. via pinterest.com. So, I bought two boards from a precious pile belonging to a man who was building the second wooden house in town. She also expanded and renovated the hotel and purchased a new stove. But behind the myth of the games creation is an untold tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing. Luzena never saw Mason again. Luzena Stanley Wilson, ne Hunt was a California Gold Rush entrepreneur. Mason agreed, and the two decided to go into the hospitality business. Mills College, Calif.: Eucalyptus Press, 1937. He did not travel far before he was overtaken and brought before a jury, the Sacramento Transcript newspaper reported on the scene. Luzena Stanley Wilson, '49er; Memories Recalled Years Later for Her Daughter Correnah Wilson Wright. Sometimes a whole day was consumed in going two or three miles, and one day we made camp but a quarter of a mile distance from the last. a mix of races, cultures, and religions are present there. Luzena then made him her business partner. In 1850, three percent of the people in California's mining region were women. } In 1850 women made up just three percent of the non-Native American population in California's mining region. The Value of Domestic Arts Luzena Stanley Wilson (c. 1821-1902) was a California Gold Rush entrepreneur. As time went on, the area became more populated. The population was about two thousand wood buildings, forty-five cloth and tent, three hundred campfires, etc., in the open air and under trees, Luzena recorded in her memoirs about the Gold Rush town.9, Given the daily growth of the area, Luzena determined there was a great need for a boarding house. Rumors circulated during that time suggested that Mason might have been suffering from a mental illness. Women Get Rich Luzena took a deep breath and followed after him. They built a mercantile and furnished it with all the supplies prospectors needed. 3. Birth Place: North Carolina Country: United States Birthday: 1819 Death Date: January 1 , 1902 ( age 83 ) Birth Sign : The couple used that money to make a new start for themselves.18, Luzena found a few pieces of unburned canvas and some wooden planks; Mason pulled her stove from the ruins of the boarding house, and the pair set up another eatery. On the off-chance Mason never found a fortune in gold, the couple left behind funds with the justice of the peace to make another payment on their homestead. The best way to a gold miner's heart and fortune and is through his stomach. Found insideI've seen a number of walkoff home runs by Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett. Luzena wrote about her time at the immigrant campsite in Sacramento where the family initially settled. At the time of the California Gold Rush, the West was unsettled territory that seemed unsafe for women. Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! When Luzena's husband made up his mind to go west, she stated that where he went, so too could she and her two small children. She resided in a hotel, living off real estate transactions. Tuesday. By the end of 1859, Luzena and Mason owned a considerable portion of the Vaca Valley town site and more than five hundred acres of surrounding lands.25, By 1858, the Wilsons had outgrown the small, temporary hotel they initially built in the area and decided to have a new one constructed at a cost of $14,000. With my own hands I chopped stakes, drove them into the ground, and set up my table. In the event the Wilsons were able to stake out a claim for themselves in the Gold Country, they would sell their Missouri home and use the proceeds to aide in their new life. Wilson came overland to California from Missouri with her husband and two small children in 1849. Well-respected judges, such as Murray Morrison and Justice Serranus Clinton Hastings of the California Supreme Court, were frequent guests at the establishment. After six months of hard work, Luzenas El Dorado Hotel was estimated to be worth $10,000, and the stock of goods in the new store was worth even more. I had read and heard whole volumes of their bloody deeds, the massacre of harmless white men, torturing helpless women, carrying away captive children the most precious in the wide world, and I lived in an agony of dread that first night., Luzena noted in her memoirs that the Indians never posed any threat to her or her family. The day before she finally made it to Sacramento, they passed a mining camp where a man offered her five dollars for a biscuit she had made. Dangerous Passage Finally Wilson found her tongue and accepted the offer. Luzenas new business was as successful as her previous one. Luzena recounted her memoirs to her daughter Correnah, in which she describes her journey from the early days in Sacramento, her founding of the "El Dorado" hotel in Nevada, and her purchase of land in Vaca. The gold claim was a half a block from where her business stood before the fire. Seven months later they bought three parcels in Vaca and another one hundred acres south of town.22, Masons hay business was as profitable as Luzenas boarding house. Mrs. Wilson chronicles pioneering in Vaca. Under a progressive provision of the 1849 California Constitution, her status as a married woman allowed her the right to own property separate from her husband. Monopoly is Americas favorite board game, a love letter to unbridled capitalism and our free market society. Luzena recounted her memoirs to her daughter Correnah, in which she describes her journey from the early days The fire howled and moaned like a giant in an agony of pain, and the buildings crashed and fell as if he were striking them down in his writhings. With a full table at every meal, they had ten thousand dollars invested in the business within six months. "Nothing but the actual experience will give one an idea of the plodding, unvarying monotony, the vexations, the exhaustive energy, the throbs of hope, the depths of despair, through which we lived," Wilson recalled in her memoir. Luzena Wilson died at age 83 of thyroid cancer on July 11, 1902, at the Hotel Pleasanton in San Francisco. In 1881, Luzena's daughter, Correnah, became very ill. To make the time pass, Luzena recounted the stories of her early days in California. Gold Rush lasted until 1851. pull Factor: A passage to the gold region for $74 might cost a little too much for a tripPFactor: was collecting gold and becoming rich so they can buy a house. To add to the miseries of the trip it rained, and one night when the wagon was mired and we could not shelter under it, we slept with our feet pushed under it and an old cotton umbrella spread over our faces. Meet the influential author and key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. In addition to the clean accommodations offered at Luzenas were her biscuits. This site eventually became the city of Vacaville, California. He attended Farsley Farfield Primary School and Pudsey Grangefield School. As a married American woman, Luzena Wilson reminded many miners of home, of their mothers, wives and sisters. It was clear to Luzena that the best way to strike it rich in a gold camp was to provide the necessities of life to the miners swinging pick axes and dumping dirt into rockers and gold pans. In the spring of 1849 Luzena and Mason Wilson packed their wagon and drove west from their log cabin on the Missouri frontier with their two young sons. They sold their oxen for $600 and purchased a hotel called the Trumbow House. Get the latest on new films and digital content, learn about events in your area, and get your weekly fix of American history. Wilson was a respected pioneer of Solano County, and was for many years a resident of Vaca Valley, the notice informed readers. Luzena Stanley Wilson was someone who didn't let opportunity pass her by. As always occurs to the mind of a woman, I thought of taking in boarders, she wrote in her journal. Mills College, Calif. :The Eucalyptus press, 1937. warning Note: These citations are software generated and may contain errors. Kirby Puckett was one of those players. Sometimes we went down the mountains, they were so steep we tied great trees behind to keep the wagon from falling over the oxen; and once when the whole surface of the mountain side was smooth, slippery rock, the oxen stiffened and their legs, and the wagon and all literally slid down a quarter of a mile. Luzena Stanley Wilson, '49er (1937) contains reminiscences of her overland journey and early years in California dictated to her daughter in 1881. On her last known visit to Vacaville in November 1901, the newspaper noted her presence, calling her "one of the earliest settlers, coming here in 1851.". Kirby Puckett's family is auctioning off hundreds of pieces of . Like 25,000 other Americans that year,. Luzena, while her husband was busy fixing the wagon, decided to clean the apron and render the fat out of the bacon to refill her lard can and leave the rest as he requested. According to her journal entries, lawbreakers were dealt with quickly and harshly. 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