Alexis Godey: Difference between revisions
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|name = Alexis Godey |
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Revision as of 06:54, 11 December 2020
 | This article needs to be divided into sections. (December 2020) |
Alexis Godey | |
|---|---|
 Alexis Godey in 1870 | |
| Born | Alexander Godey 1818 |
| Died | January 19, 1889 Los Angeles, California, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Alec Godey and Alejandro Godey |
| Occupation(s) | Scout, frontiersman, explorer, rancher, miner, guide and an Indian agent |
| Known for | Battle of San Pasqual, California Battalion and Expeditions with Frémont |
| Spouse(s) | Altagracia, Apolonia Calzadia, 3rd Soledad Cota (m.1849), 4th Maria Antonia Coronel (m.1863), 5th Maria Jimenez[1] |
| Children | 3 |
| Alexis Godey Home | |
|---|---|
| Location | 1414 19th Street Union Ave, Bakersfield, California |
| Coordinates | 35°22′35″N 119°00′30″W / 35.376319444°N 119.00820277°W |
| Official name | Alexis Godey Home |
| Designated | July 31, 1959 |
| Reference no. | 690 |
Alexis Godey also called Alec Godey and Alejandro Godey, born Alexander Godey, was as Scout and Mountain Man. He was an associate of Jim Bridger and John C. Frémont for whom he was the lead scout.
Biography
Godey was born in 1818 in St. Louis, Missouri. Godey's home at 414 19th Street West in Bakersfield, California is a California Historical Landmark number 690 and also a Kern County Historical Site. Jim Bridger, also a Scout and Mountain Man, and Godey work together and were longtime friends.
Godey was regarded as one of the west best, as such he was hired by explorer and military officer, John C. Frémont. Godey was the lead scout for Fremont's second (1843–1844), third (1845 and fourth 1848–1849) California expeditions. Fremont wrote that Godey had been a key member and successes of his expeditions. Godey was key in scouting out the Kings River and San Joaquin Valley. Godey scouting helped Frémont during the Conquest of California and the Bear Flag Rebellion. During the Battle of San Pasqual on December 6, 1846, the US Army found its self surrounded and outnumbered. Godey was able to lead a small group out of the battle and past enemy lines.[2] The Group made it to US Navy ships and Captain H. S. Turner for reinforcement and turned the battle.[3] On Fremont's fourth expedition in 1843, Godey again showed his skill and bravery, on the Mojave Desert Spanish Trail, Godey came across Indians that attacked a ranch. Godey and Kit Carson fought off the warriors and stop them from attacking the expedition, also recover the stolen horses. He worked with Old Bill Williams on Frémont's Fourth expedition. Working with Fremont he made it to Lieutenant in the California Battalion. For a short time, Frémont put him in charge of Mission San Luis Rey. Godey spoke French, English, Spanish and a few Native American languages. With many days on the trail, Godey and Frémont became good friends.
At age 30 in 1848 Godey build a home in Bakersfield, and became a miner, rancher, a local guide and an Indian agent, because of his good relationship with them. The first gold found in the Kern River was found by Indians and given to Godey. Godey's Mariposa claim found some hard rock gold. In 1852 he ran a ferry in Firebaugh, California.
In 1852, Robert S. Williamson, with the Pacific Rail Road Survey, hired Godey to scout as his team surveyed for the future Southern Pacific Railroad line that followed the 32nd parallel, from Texas to California. The route followed the Gila River to the Pima villages and the Rio Grande river. In 1854 Godey was the scout for Kit Carson on his last visit to Kern County.[4]
Godey partnered shortly with Edward Fitzgerald Beale to raise sheep on his Tejon Ranch in 1855 and became the overseer of the ranch for a few years. As an Indian agent, he was the overseer of the Sebastian Indian Reservation in 1864. Godey was the overseer for Rancho San Emidio on behalf of Fremont in 1868. [5]
In 1870 Godey divorce suit from Maria Antonia Coronel went all the way to the California Supreme Court, Maria was the sister of Antonio F. Coronel, the fourth mayor of Los Angeles.[6] When the US Land Grant Commission turned down ownership of Cuyama Rancho to the Lataillade family, Godey started a cattle ranch on the land. The US Congress returned the land to the Lataillade family in 1872, so Godey moved off the land and returned to Kern.
Godey died on January 19, 1889, at the age of 70 (71), at the Sister's Hospital Of Los Angeles, Sisters of Charity (1859-?), he was scratched by a Circus lion which he tried to pet, and which became infected. He was buried in the Union Cemetery in Bakersfield.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
The California State Historical Landmark reads:
- NO. 690 SITE OF THE LAST HOME OF ALEXIS GODEY - Near this site stood the home of Alexis Godey, frontiersman and scout, who lived here from 1883 until his death on January 19, 1889. Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1818, he acted as a guide for John C. Frémont's expedition through the Kern area in 1843-44, and was honored for his services at the Battle of San Pasqual in 1846. [21]
See also
References
- ^ myheritage, Maria Jimenez
- ^ US Army, Military History, Chater 8, Mexican American War and After
- ^ Arthur Woodward (1947). "Lances at San Pasqual". California Historical Society Quarterly. 26: 44.
- ^ scvhistory.com Cullimore Old Adobes
- ^ The Grapevine Route
- ^ Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California, page 157, April 1870
- ^ The Indians of Mission San Fernando by John R. Johnson, Southern California Quarterly, Vol. 79 No. 3, Fall 1997; (pp. 249-290)
- ^ Historical Overview of Los Padres National Forest by E. R. Blakley and Karen Barnette, July 1985, page 26
- ^ LOC, The Indians of southern California in 1852; the B.D.Wilson report and a selection of contemporary, edited by John Walton Caughey, page 110
- ^ The Letters of Jessie Benton Frémont, By Jessie Benton Frémont, page 529
- ^ Alexis Godey, by Frank Latta
- ^ Alexis Godey, by Walt Wheelock, June 1965
- ^ The Men and the Mountain by Brandon, William, Tbe Melt and Ibe M Olilltain, 1955, pp. '41-42*
- ^ Naffatile by Martin, Thomas S. 1878, p.6
- ^ Old Bill Williams, by Alpheus H., Old Bill Williams, Norman, 1862, p. 1
- ^ The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, The Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, by De Witt C. Peters, 1858
- ^ slocounty.ca.gov Rancho Cuyama
- ^ ridgeroutemuseum.org, Ridgeroute Museum, Alexis Godey
- ^ US Geological Survey Professional Paper #1268
- ^ https://digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln%3A37397 Memoir of the Life and Public Services of John Charles Fremont]
- ^ californiahistoricallandmarks.com # 690
