More on James D. Savage... At Fort Hall, the group decided to take the southern route (Applegate Trail) into Oregon. It was a new route, unbroken, as yet untried by wagons. At the fork in the road, where the Applegate Trail leaves the California Trail, Jim Savage decided not to continue into Oregon and, instead, joined a California group headed by Lilburn Boggs. Eliza and Jim's families and friends continued on into Oregon. It's anyone's guess why Jim changed his mind. Possibly some people in the group became alarmed at the distance down Mary's River and were disillusioned with the Applegates' judgement of distances. Their fears were well-founded. Winter descended early that year and few of the Oregon-bound group escaped the rest of their journey unscathed. It would be three more miserable months, December 27, 1846, before James' brother, Morgan, arrived in the Willamette Valley. Meanwhile, Eliza and Jim followed the California Trail. Somewhere near what is now Donner Pass, possibly at Lake Mary, Eliza Savage died, soon after giving birth. It was late September, snowing, and very cold. They buried her as best they could in a rocky ravine. It's said that at the burial Jim mourned and howled like a wolf, begging to be buried with Eliza. When someone suggested they comply with his request, he stopped howling. Jim Savage placed the baby into the care of a woman in the group and probably left, headed towards Sutter's Fort. On 10 October 1846, he joined the California Battalion, Company F. He wasn't exactly a model soldier. On 7 December 1846, during the march from Monterey to Los Angeles, he was court martialed. It's said that his discontentment evolved after witnessing the brutal treatment given to a Native American in the group. Nonetheless, he continued with Fremont's Battalion until the end. Later he worked for Sutter, probably May 1847 - March 1848. It appears that he may have spent time working on the saw mill with Marshall. At some time after the discovery of gold, he went to the southern gold mining area, Big Oak Flat/ Agua Fria/ Mariposa County. Fluent with languages, he developed a "relationship" with the local Native Americans. Like a sailer with a girl in every port, Jim possibly had a wife in every tribe. His wives numbered somewhere between three and thirty-three. The Indians brought him gold; he gave them bits of cloth and trinkets. He made a fortune, barrels of gold dust it was reported. He opened successful trading posts, two on the Merced River, one on Mariposa Creek, and another on the Fresno river. He led the Mariposa Battalion. Later, he was a "licensed Indian Trader." When Tulare county was created, he was appointed an election commissioner. The last eighteen months of James Savage's life are well documented. If anyone is interested in reading about his California years, 1850-1852, a couple of good books are: "Jim Savage and the Tulareno Indians" by Annie Mitchell "California's Agua Fria" by Raymond Wood On 16 August, 1852, at Campbell's Ferry, Major James D. Savage was shot to death by Walter Harvey. Jim was 29 years old. According to David Ferris in "Judge Marvin and the Founding of the California Public School System," Walter Harvey, already envious of James Savage's successful trading ventures, was the leader of a group of men who were interested in promoting white supremecy. In retaliation for Indian complaints that white squatters were on their land, Harvey led a raid against an Indian rancheria, killing women and children. James Savage made it clear to Harvey that the Indian treaties had been violated. Harvey told him to keep away from Kings River country or he'd never come out alive. The inevitable showdown occurred at Campbell and Poole's Ferry. Fists flew until James Savage's gun fell from his waistband. At that point, Walter Harvey shot him five times. Jim Savage died instantly. In 1855, Dr. Lewis Leach, one of his partners, had a ten foot granite shaft erected over the grave of James Savage. Since then, the grave and shaft have been moved several times. They now sit on a small hill overlooking Hensley Lake in Madera County. Other than the granite shaft, there's little to mark James Savage's existence. His signature has never turned up on any document, giving rise to the theory that he was illiterate (He probably wasn't, since the rest of his family was literate). His name is on the 1850 census but can't be found on the 1852 census. There is no known photograph of him although one was probably taken in San Francisco in 1850. The original trading posts are gone. There is evidence that James and Eliza's baby - the history books say it was a girl, the Savage family says it was a boy - probably survived for a few years. The child isn't mentioned in James' estate documents. His barrels of gold dust and trading post fortune mysteriously disappeared after his death. It's said that the local Indians were flush with gold dust for a year after. His creditors were paid thirty cents on the dollar. But Jim Savage did leave controversy and mystery behind. Who was he, really? A very intelligent young man who, without the shackles of family respectibilty, lost his social inhibitions? A master manipulator of men? An exploiter of the Indians? Was his concern for the Native Americans self-serving or genuine? Regardless, Anne Mitchell speculates that, had James Savage lived, he would have become a very powerful political leader in early California statehood. By the time of his death in 1852, he wielded tremendous influence over the Indians as well as the whites. Remember the man dressed in the coarse cotton sheet that reached his knees, bare headed and bare footed, who entered Brownlee's store with three wives trailing behind? It's interesting to consider the course California politics would have taken had that man, Major James D. Savage, been one of our first governors. Anne Trussell atru@ns.net