Marcia Ehinger is a retired physician who writes in many genres, poetry and prose. A member of the Sacramento Branch of the California Writers Club, she has had poems and short stories published in several CWC anthologies and the regional medical society journal.
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Early European Settlers in California Part 3 continued from Part 2
Dreamers and Builders: Folsom, Leidesdorff, and Judah
Early European Settlers in California Part 3 continued from Part 2
Dreamers and Builders: Folsom, Leidesdorff, and Judah
On our fourth-grade field trip to Lake Oroville, I noticed John Bidwell’s name. I recognized it from a street in Folsom, a city many people know from the Johnny Cash song about being stuck in Folsom Prison. I asked my son if he knew why a Folsom street would be named after Bidwell.
“No, and I didn’t know who Folsom was either,” he replied.
I soon learned that Bidwell was the founder of Chico, California. But who was the city of Folsom named after? In researching the history of 1800s California, I found three men whose lives intersected — all of whom died young.
Joseph Libbey Folsom was born in New Hampshire in 1817 and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy. As a young officer, he was sent to the San Francisco Bay area in 1846, during the early days of the war with Mexico. At the time, the tiny settlement there was known as Yerba Buena.
One of the first men Folsom met was William Leidesdorff, the U.S. Vice Consul to Mexico. Leidesdorff is remembered today as the first Black, Jewish, pre-Gold Rush millionaire in California.
Born on the island of St. Croix (now part of the U.S. Virgin Islands) in 1810, Leidesdorff was the son of a Danish-Swiss Jewish sugar planter and a Creole woman — likely of mixed African, Spanish, and Indigenous heritage.
Educated and employed by an English sea trader, Leidesdorff was sent to New Orleans to manage operations. There, he became an American citizen. When he confided to his white Louisiana fiancée that his mother was of mixed race, their engagement ended.
Realizing the difficulties of life in the South for a man of color, Leidesdorff turned to shipping between New York and Alta California. Once in Yerba Buena, he quickly made profitable deals, buying property and establishing trade routes.
The Mexican government granted land to settlers who became citizens and lived in California for at least a year. Leidesdorff learned Spanish and received a large parcel along the American River, next to Swiss immigrant John Sutter.
Leidesdorff raised cattle, introduced the first steamboats on San Francisco Bay and upriver to Sutter’s Fort, and built Yerba Buena’s first warehouse, hotel, school, and racetrack. He served as city treasurer and was a strong supporter of U.S. interests in California.
The Mexican-American War, which began after the U.S. annexed Texas in 1845, lasted about 18 months. It provided valuable combat experience for soldiers like Joseph Folsom, many of whom would later play prominent roles in the Civil War. By war’s end, the United States had gained vast new territories, including California.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February 2, 1848 — just a week after gold was secretly discovered at Sutter’s Mill. That June, Joseph Folsom was assigned to investigate John Sutter’s mineral rights claims. Meanwhile, William Leidesdorff had died suddenly in May of “brain fever.” His land, adjacent to Sutter’s, was soon shown to hold rich gold deposits. The news was delayed, and the Gold Rush didn’t ignite until 1849.
At just 37, Leidesdorff had left no will, wife, or children. Seizing the opportunity, Folsom took leave from the Army and traveled to St. Croix, where he found Leidesdorff’s mother and siblings. He offered them $75,000 for William’s property — unaware that the holdings were worth more than a million dollars.
Although California contested Folsom’s claim, he pressed ahead with plans for a railroad line to Marysville, anchored by a depot in the new town he hoped to establish, Granite City. He also began gold mining operations near Sutter’s Mill.
In 1854, civil engineer Theodore Judah — a specialist in railroad planning — was hired to design the Sacramento Valley Railroad. Folsom also asked Judah to lay out his new town, naming its streets after prominent Californians like Sutter and Bidwell, as well as famous U.S. military leaders.
But in 1855, Joseph Folsom died suddenly while visiting friends. He was only 38, unmarried, and childless. The Sacramento Valley Railroad opened in February 1856, and Leidesdorff and Folsom’s contested property was auctioned by the state. Trustees renamed Granite City to honor Joseph Folsom.
The Sacramento Railway proved successful, but Judah’s greater ambition was the transcontinental railroad. On a fundraising trip east, he contracted yellow fever while crossing Panama. He died in his wife’s arms at age 37.
(to be continued in Part 4)
~ Marcia Ehinger
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