Biography of Edward Wilkerson BUSHYHEAD Submitted by: Lilette Weatherspoon CAGenExchange - http://www.genexchange.org/ca/ Edward Wilkerson Bushyhead left his position at the Newspaper in Cherokee Nation and came to California in 1850 to search for his fortune in gold. Bushyhead was a survivor of the Trail of Tears when he marched to Oklahoma Indian Territory from Tennessee when he was a boy, and was the brother to Cherokee Principal Chief, Dennis Bushyhead. In the 1860 California census he is listed as a 25 year old miner born in Louisiana who could read and write English. Living in the Mountain Ranch district of Calaveras County, he owned real estate valued at $1,000. Mining gold was not Bushyhead's chosen profession. Prior to arriving in California he was an apprentice under the editor, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, William P. Ross on the Cherokee Advocate, the first Native American newspaper west of the Mississippi. By 1867 Bushyhead and his partner William Jefferson "Jeff" Gatewood had taken over the San Andreas Register. Gatewood was a lawyer whose father had been an associate of Abraham Lincoln during the president's early years. He joined the rush for gold in 1849, and served as district attorney in Calaveras County. He is best known for a duel he fought there in 1859 in which the county coroner, a Virginian and violent Southern sympathizer, was killed. A printer who learned his trade in the Mother Lode printshop working for Bushyhead and Gatewood was Jose Narcisco Briseno from Chile. By the end of the Civil War the gold rush had also ended. The newspaper publishers could see that growth was to the south. San Diego's first newspaper - The San Diego Herald - founded in 1850, lasted nine years before the owner relocated and changed the paper to the San Bernardino Herald. This left San Diego without a newspaper. At this time, San Diego County was immense, ranging west to east form the Pacific Ocean to the Colorado River and north to south from about the center of what is now Orange County to the border with Mexico, covering about 6,000 square miles. Among San Diego's business leaders was a merchant named Philip Crosthwaite whose half-sister lived in San Andreas and was married to William Jefferson Gatewood. Crosthwaite would visit his sister and also convince Gatewood to move the Register to San Diego. Gatewood made the trip by stagecoach while Bushyhead came from San Francisco via coastal steamer with the newspaper's equipment. And what was to be the San Diego Register became the San Diego Union. Although no one knows exactly why the name changed to the Union, one therory is that Bushyhead and Gatewood were fervent supporters of the Union cause during the Civil War, and had supported the Democratic Party of the time. A third founder in the newspaper was Jose Narcisco Briseno who was listed as publisher on the first edition. Although Bushyhead was a partner in the newspaper for 5 years, until 1873, and Gatewood was a partner for only six months, it is Gatewood who is considered "best known" of the founders, and his name is still listed on The Union-Tribune's editorial page as founder. Bushyhead became one of the oldest and most respected citizens of San Diego. He was a member of the Pioneer Society of San Diego County in 1872. When he sold his interest in The San Diego Union in 1873, he returned to the Cherokee Nation for the first time since arriving in California. He married Helen C Nicholas in 1876 at the Lick House in San Francisco. He served as a San Diego County Deputy Sheriff for 7 years, and was described as a large-hearted, whole-souled gentleman. He was elected San Diego Sheriff in 1882. As Sheriff, traveled by steamer to deliver prisoners to San Quentin, collected city tax and license fees, and peacefully quelled local tribal conflicts. When he died March 5, 1907 his body was sent to Indian Territory for burial. Source: San Diego Union Tribune Newspaper Articles, various years You can find other biographies online at the CAGenExchange! The GenExchange is made up of volunteers, working hard to bring free genealogical data to the internet and we can use your help! To visit any CA county, go to: http://www.genexchange.org/counties.cfm?state=ca The following counties are currently available for adoption. 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