In my research of my Yount line, I have come across some very interesting people in the family. I would like to share some stories and pictures of what I found. Hopefully I will be able to add to it as I find more.
George C. Yount, Patriarch of Napa Valley
George Calvert Yount, son of Jacob and Marellis (Killian) Yount was born May 4, 1794 in Burke County NC. He died October 5, 1865, in Napa Valley California. As a young child George migrated with his parents to Cape Girardeau, MO. He later became a trapper and started on his journey to California. Yount arrived in Napa Valley, California in the 1830’s and was given a land grant by the Spanish government. He planted the first grapevine in the Valley, which later became famous for it’s vineyards. The town of Yountville, California was named after him. Yount is a legend in Napa Valley, and is credited with having an important roll in the rescue of the infamous Donner Party.
James Frazier Reed, one of the leaders of the Donner Party, had left the group and his family, to go on ahead to California. The Donner party took a different route than planned, and began to face hardships. The winter of 1846-47 was very harsh and the Donner party became stranded for weeks in the mountains at Truckee Lake, now Donner Lake near the California-Nevada border. One storm after another kept them from moving on in their trek toward their destination. The people were starving and freezing to death and had to resort to cannibalism before they were finally rescued. The people waiting for them at their destination did not know where they were.
Yount had been hearing conversations amongst the people in the Napa Valley about the missing party. One night he had a very vivid dream about the Donner party and their demise. It was as if he was actually there. He saw the landmarks around them, the severe storms with blowing snow, and the people starving and freezing to death. He was very disturbed by this dream and the next morning he told his friends about it. Most of them did not believe that his dream could mean anything, until he described some of the landmarks. One of the men was able to identify the location.
James Frazier Reed, and several other men gathered supplies and returned to the location that Yount had described from his dream. When they arrived they found the conditions exactly the same as Yount had in his dream. Only 48 people out of the original 87 men, women and children survived.
Visit some of the following websites for more information:
George C. Yount Block House Monument
http://donaldlaird.com/landmarks/counties/500-599/564.html
Grave of George C. Yount
http://www.sonic.net/~laird/landmarks/counties/600-699/693.html
James Reed Diary
http://www.lumarmall.com/reddiary.htm
