Title:

Autobiography and Reminiscence of Benigno Gutierrez, Santa Barbara, 1901.

[Institutional Records Digitization Project: Reminiscences of Early Pioneers: 1900-1904]

Creator/Contributor:

Gutierrez, Benigno, 1830-1902, creator

Autobiographies and Reminiscences of California Pioneers, p.1-4, Vol. 2. This is a typed transcript, bound into a volume, of the member's autobiographical reminiscence created as an institutional record for the Society of California Pioneers. The transcription includes a reference to a photograph of the member in a set of bound volumes, but there is no longer a photograph of this member in our collection. This reminiscence begins with a brief description of Gutierrez' 1849 passage to San Francisco. It then describes some of Gutierrez' obstacles in being classified a "foreigner" by other mineworkers. The reminiscence provides Gutierrez' work history and some family history. It also contains geographic descriptions of the drug store he owned in Santa Barbara. Gutierrez lists fares paid for his various journeys in California.

Date:

1901 (issued)

Subject:

Gutierrez, Benigno -- 1830-1902

Pioneers -- California -- Biography

Frontier and pioneer life

Gold mines and mining

Voyages to the Pacific Coast

Chilean Americans -- California -- History

California -- History -- 19th century.

California, Northern.

Copyright has not been assigned to The Society of California Pioneers. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Society of California Pioneers as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must be obtained by the reader

Autobiography & Reminiscence of Benigno Gutierrez, Santa Barbara, 1901. The Society of California Pioneers

Benigno Gutierrez was born in Santiago, Chile in 1830. In March of 1849 he set sail for California in the ship "Carmen de Talcahuana" from the port of Talcahuana. After a passage of fifty-one days, he arrived in San Francisco on April 30, 1849. In the company of fellow travelers, Gutierrez proceeded to Sacramento via schooner and then engaged a wagon and teams to take them to Plumas County. There they met with cold reception, having being told they were not welcome because they were "foreigners". Gutierrez and his group were taken to Weaver Creek, in El Dorado County, for no charge by a freighter who took pity on them. They worked there for about two months with great success, obtaining more than a thousand ounces of gold. They again met with trouble and were told that they were foreigners and had no right to be there. They attempted to appeal to local justice, but to no purpose. They therefore returned to Sacramento and San Francisco. Gutierrez later went to Stockton and from there, Mokelumne Hill, with three other men. They spent the winter of 1849-50 there, but had little luck. From 1850 to 1854 Gutierrez traveled between various cities in California. In 1854, he opened a drug store in Santa Barbara (on the corner of De La Guerra and State Streets). He took a break from the drug store business from 1857 to 1865 when he engaged in stock-raising in the Santa Clara Valley, Ventura County. In 1865, Gutierrez returned to Santa Barbara and remained there, eventually buying out the business

Type:

Autobiographies.

[4] p. ; 35 x 21 cm.

English

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Origin:

California

Copyright has not been assigned to The Society of California Pioneers. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Society of California Pioneers as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must be obtained by the reader.

Collection:

The Society of California Pioneers collection of autobiographies and reminiscences of early pioneers