Placer
County
Biographies
GEORGE GUNNULDSON
Through almost five decades George
Gunnuldson has been an eyewitness of the growth and improvement of California,
for he is numbered among the pioneers of 1853.
Only three years had passed since its admission to the Union when he
landed on the Pacific coast, to find here a mining population, a state of
mining camps with few of the comforts known to the east and isolated from the
highly improved section of country by long stretches of barrens, by rocky
fastnesses, and by ocean water.
Mr. Gunnuldson is a native of the
land of the Midnight Sun, his birth having occurred in Norway on the 25th
of July, 1829. His father, George
Gunnuldson, also a native of that country, married Miss Inga Hansdaughter. They
were members of the Lutheran Church, in which the father served as a
deacon. In their family were ten
children, nine sons and a daughter. Five
of the sons are still living, the eldest residing upon the old home farm in Norway. The father died in the sixty-seventh year of
his age and the mother passed away at the age of seventy-seven.
George Gunnuldson acquired his
education in the schools of his native country and remained upon the home farm
until twenty-two years of age. He then
sought a home in America, and in Wisconsin worked as a farm hand until he had
saved one hundred and twenty dollars, when he came by way of the Nicaragua
route to California, landing at San Francisco with just twenty-five cents left
in his pocket. This he spent for
something to eat. A man who had come
with him to the Pacific coast paid his passage to Plumas County, where he began
mining on the east branch of the north fork of Feather River, and in three
weeks he was enabled to pay the man fifty dollars for the twenty-five he had
borrowed of him. The percentage exacted
was exorbitant, but Mr. Gunnuldson paid it.
The doctor with whom he lived loaned him four hundred dollars, with
which he bought an interest in the Bunker Hill mine, taking no note for the
indebtedness and asking for no security.
He also incurred an indebtedness of seventy dollars for provisions, all
to be paid when the mine yielded him a sufficient sum. All through the winter he took out about
seven dollars per day, and in the spring he discharged his obligations to the
doctor, also paying the other debt and had some money left. He continued to operate the Bunker Hill mine
for two years, during which time he had taken out and saved three thousand
dollars. He was then paid four hundred
dollars for his interest in the mine.
Having been fortunate in his work he
decided to return to Norway to visit his relatives, and with his money in a
belt around his body he started for his old home. There were eleven hundred passengers on board
the Yankee Blade, on which they left San Francisco, and when four hundred miles
from that port the vessel ran on a breaker.
Her stern became deeply submerged in the water, while her bow was
pointed skyward. About one hundred and
sixty passengers, mostly women and children, were taken to shore with the
boats. One of the boats, however, was
swamped. It contained among others a
woman who was washed ashore and saved.
She had put life-preservers on his two little girls and herself, and as
stated, the waves carried her to land, but the life-preservers on her children
had slipped, thus letting their heads into the water and they were
drowned. The following day the steamer
Goliath sighted the disabled Yankee Blade, cast anchor and sent boats to the
relief of the passengers, who were then taken on board and carried to San
Diego. Two bullocks swam ashore from the
wreck and furnished food for those that were left on land. Only a few minutes after the last of the
passengers were taken off the ill-fated vessel she parted in the middle and
sank. Captain Rundall,
of the Yankee Blade, had agreed to return the passengers to San Francisco, but
he did not keep his promise and the opposition line finally took pity on them
and conveyed them to the Golden Gate.
On again reaching San Francisco Mr.
Gunnuldson deposited his money with P. Bacon & Company, bankers, but a
policeman with whom he became acquainted told him that it would be better for
him to loan it and thus get interest on it.
He acted upon this advice and loaned it to a man whom both he and the
policeman regarded as financially safe, the man promising to return it on three
days’ notice. Not long afterward the
policeman informed Mr. Gunnuldson that the man was gambling, and our subject
therefore investigated the matter, finding his debtor betting twenty-dollar
gold pieces on faro. The next day he
went to the man’s shop to demand his money, but found that the business had
been attached, thus causing him to lose the entire amount. Our subject then began working for forty
dollars a month, being thus employed until he had saved money enough to get
back to the mines.
Mr. Gunnuldson then went to Iowa
Hill, where he worked for twenty-two dollars per week for a year. He was connected with different mining
interests and made considerable money.
He owned a gold claim at Damascus, and after working it for some time
sold the property for fourteen hundred dollars, disposing of it on account of
ill health, which prevented him from engaging in its operation. He then came to Dutch Flat and had a claim at
“Ne’er a Red” (which meant not a cent).
He also had a mine at Monumental Canyon, which he worked for three
years, taking out as high as three hundred dollars in a single day. At this time he saved money and in the
passing years was actively identified with mining interests, so that not until
recently did he find time to again undertake the voyage to his native
land. He, however, once more visited
Norway, but his mother had died in the meantime and he made only a short stay. He now has a good home at Dutch Flat and owns
valuable real estate in this vicinity, both in timber and in farming
lands. He has been persevering,
industrious and economical, and he richly deserves his prosperity. He has met hardships and trials in his
business career, but fate has been kind to him and has rewarded his perseverance
by a handsome competence. He can never
forget the dreadful hours spent in the bow of the Yankee Blade, when it seemed
that he and his fellow passengers must be engulfed with the waters of the
Pacific. It was a time of such fearful
peril that it baffles all description.
In 1877 Mr. Gunnuldson was happily
married to Miss Katie Lang, a daughter of Leopold Lang, of Germany. She was born in that country and came to
California in 1873. Mr. and Mrs.
Gunnuldson now have two daughters: Eva,
a successful school teacher; and Anna, who is with her parents. Since the time of the Civil War our subject
has been a stalwart Republican, yet does not consider that he is bound by party
ties. He and his wife are members of the
Order of Chosen Friends, and have a wide acquaintance in the community where
they have so long resided. Although his
experiences have been varied and oftentimes unsuccessful, yet viewed in the
light of his present prosperity his career has been a fortunate one and he
feels no regret that he left the land of the Midnight Sun to seek a home in
free America, where advantages are so freely offered to all who care to improve
them.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 464-464. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.