- Jefferson Hunt
Infobox_Politician
name =Jefferson Hunt
birth_date =birth date|1804|1|22|mf=y
birth_place =Bracken County, Kentucky
death_date =death date and age|1879|5|11|1804|1|22|mf=y
death_place =Oxford,Idaho
office =California State Assembly
Utah Territorial Legislature
party=Whig, Democratic
spouse = Celia Mounts
Matilda KeaseJefferson Hunt (
January 22 1804 –May 11 1879 ) was a U.S. western pioneer, soldier, and politician. He was a captain in theMormon Battalion ,brigadier general in theCalifornia State Militia, aCalifornia State Assembly man, and a representative to the Utah Territorial Legislature.Early years
Hunt was born in
Bracken County, Kentucky in 1804. Some sources believe that his full name was Charles Jefferson Hunt.He married Celia Mounts in 1823. In 1834 they both converted to
Mormonism .Mormon migration
He later migrated with the Mormons to
Far West, Missouri .He served as a Major in the Volunteers (which later became the
Nauvoo Legion ), and participated in theBattle of Crooked River .Later, in
Nauvoo, Illinois , he was an early participant inplural marriage when he married Matilda Nease.Mormon Battalion
In 1846, while encamped at
Council Bluffs, Iowa , he joined theMormon Battalion , which was formed at the request of the U.S. government for participation in theMexican-American War .He was commissioned as a Captain, and was placed in command of Company A. Two of his sons also enlisted, and served under his command.
He temporarily commanded the entire battalion when its commander died, until a replacement arrived.
His entire family journeyed with the battalion as they completed what is to this day the longest march in U.S. Military history, ending in
San Diego, California .California expeditions
After being discharged from the Mormon Battalion, Hunt and his family settled in
Salt Lake City, Utah in 1847.Soon thereafter, Hunt proposed traveling back to California to bring food and supplies for other recent Utah arrivals. Mormon authorities approved this proposal, and Hunt undertook this journey with
Porter Rockwell , several former Mormon Battalion members, and two of his own sons.Later he guided several parties of gold prospectors from Utah to California.
One of the groups he led to California became impatient at his slow progress, and many of the party members elected to abandon Hunt's group, and follow their own route to California. They became the infamous
Death Valley '49ers . Those staying with Hunt made the journey without serious incident.He briefly represented Iron County in the Utah Territorial Legislature in 1851. He was not a resident of Iron County, but he happened to pass through the county as elections were held, and he was chosen by the locals.
California years
In 1851 he was called by his church to help create a Mormon colony in
San Bernardino, California . This colony was the first American settlement in California after Statehood.In that settlement he organized the building of a log fort which is the largest log fort ever built in California history.
From 1853-1857 he served as a member of the
California State Assembly . Elected to represent Los Angeles County, he introduced legislation in his first year in office to create San Bernardino County, which passed. Upon the creation of San Bernardino County he became the county's first Assemblyman. He is honored as the "Father of San Bernardino County," which is the largest county in the contiguous United States.In 1856 he was appointed as a Brigadier General in the
California State Militia .Later years
In 1860 he founded the town of
Huntsville, Utah .He served as a representative to the Utah Territorial Legislature in 1863, representing
Weber County .He died in 1879 in
Oxford, Idaho .Legacy
Hunt has a number of noteworthy descendants:
*John Hunt Udall , great-grandson, Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona
*Jesse Addison Udall , great-grandson, Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court
*Don Taylor Udall , great-grandson, Arizona State Legislator
*Nick Udall , 2nd great-grandson, Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona
*Gordon Harold Smith, 3rd great-grandson, U.S. Senator from Oregonee also
*
Udall family External links/sources
* [http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/branches/spc/jaudall/speeches1/speechpagepages/speech2.html Text of speech about Jefferson Hunt's Life]
* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jeffhunt/travels.htm Assorted info about Jefferson Hunt's Life]
* [http://historytogo.utah.gov/salt_lake_tribune/history_matters/011301.html "Parowan Settled By Mormons 150 Years Ago" Will Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune,13 January 2001. Story of Hunt's selection to Utah Legislature]
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