Silas Tolbert Jordan
Silas Tolburt Jordan ,born September 8, 1840 in Henderson
County, State of Texas, was the son of Captain John Jordan and Eliza Jane
Jordan. He spent his boyhood days with his parents at Jordan Saline, where
they were in the business of manufacturing salt. He was ten years of age
when his parents and Alney McGee made up a wagon train and journeyed to
California. They came by the southern route in 1850. He helped all he could
at his young age making a good hand along with his sister and brothers. Their
first stop in California was at San Diego on the Pacific Ocean Coast where
the train disbursed. Each family went their own way.
Captain John Jordan stayed some time longer looking the
country over for a place to settle before moving his family up the coast
of California before settling down. He and his family found a likely place
near San Juan Bautista Mission in the village of San Juan in Monterey County.
At this place they built a hotel and a store. The women folks looked after
and ran the store and hotel, while Captain John and his boys went out and
ran cattle on the open range. This gave young Tolburt something entertaining
to do. A few months of the year he was sent to school near the mission. Tolburt
did make one cattle drive to the market over in the mining country up in
the Mother Lode. which he enjoyed.
In the year 1857, Captain John Jordan moved his family
to Tulare County, ten miles east of Visalia just south of Kaweah River,
on 80 acres of land which he purchased the year before young Tolburt was
17 years of age. He made a good hand in moving and in building their home
here. This place stayed in the family name for 73 years. Tolburt stayed with
his family helping his father at many jobs like digging a ditch form the
Kaweah River to their farm to irrigate their garden and pasture.
In the early spring and summer of the year of 1860, Captain
John Jordan decided to try his skill at gold mining. The party consisted
of Captain John Jordan, W. F. (Bill) Jordan, Tolburt Jordan and two other
men. They traveled, by the way, over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, through
the Walker Pass to the south. They finally stopped in the Panamint Mountain
Range just west of Death Valley. They made camp by putting up a small cabin
as their headquarters. They prospected out of this camp all summer without
striking a claim.
Around the later part of August their food supply was
running low. Captain John Jordan and the other two men went for supplies,
and left the two boys (Tolburt and Bill). to hold the camp down to do some
more prospecting, which they did. One morning around three days after the
men went after supplies, Tolburt and Bill just got ready to leave camp to
prospect when a band of Indians came up, very much on the warpath. Tolburt
and Bill grabbed their rifles and stood in the door of their cabin with guns
drawn ready for battle. The Indians looking very mean, found no older men
in camp and decided to leave the boys alone. On leaving, they thought that
the boys were heap brave. When the Indians were out of sight and gone, Tolburt
and Bill packed up a few things and left for home in a hurry. This was the
last gold mining expedition that Captain John Jordan ever went on.
Tolburt joined his father Captain John Jordan, his brother
Bill Jordan, two other men, and two Indian guides on a trail building expedition.
The expedition went across the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east in early
May of the year of 1861. Captain John Jordan and his son W. F. (Bill) Jordan
formed a partnership in this trail building. They secured a franchise from
the Tulare County Board of Supervisors to build a toll trail over the Sierra
Nevada Mountains to Owens Valley to the east, a short cut to some newly struck
gold and silver mines. Tolburt was 21 years of age. He was a very strong
young man. He made an all around good hand at helping to build this trail.
Tolburt spoke of seeing and catching golden trout. It was very amazing and
interesting to see these golden fish high up in the mountains. In fact. this
was the very first time that any white man had ever seen these fish. Before
the summer was over, they made and finished two different trails to Owens
Valley. They forked the trail about half way over the mountains. Tolburt
enjoyed telling the experiences that he had helping with the trail building
that summer. He spoke of the golden trout many times.
The next spring early in May 1862. Captain John Jordan
and son Bill decided to rerun the trail. Tolburt and one other man went with
them. They made some improvements here and there. They set up their headquarters
for the eastern end near Fort Independence in Owens Valley. They did some
other business over there and then they started back home. At this early
time in the year they had to use the lower trail across Olanche Pass over
the mountains. It was too early to use the north trail over Cotton Wood Pass,
as there was much snow and ice up there. When they arrived back at the Big
Kern River crossing. they found the river running bank full and just a torrent.
They could not cross, so Captain John Jordan said that they would stay and
wait until the weather turned cooler and the river would go down and then
they would cross. This never happened.
Eliza Jane Jordan, the wife of Captain John Jordan, got
worried when her husband and party had not come home when he said that he
would, and in a day or so she sent a party with plenty of food to locate
him. This party found Captain John Jordan and party on the east side of the
Big Kern River just about starved, as at that time of year the game animals
had not gotten up that high in the mountains. There was no game for food.
The rescue party could not get to them so they went upstream to where a small
bluff overhung the river and it was narrow at this point. They cooked the
food and threw it across the river in a sling. They soon got Captain John
Jordan and his Party fed and made strong in a day or so.
Captain Jordan was anxious to get back as he was to make
a report to the Tulare County Board of Supervisors that the toll trail would
be ready for business on the 4th of June. He decided to make a raft of logs.
They all got busy and in a day or so, they had a good log raft made with
a long pole to Push the raft with. The morning of May 22, 1862, the party
mounted the raft and shoved off into the swift water. They used the pole
to shove off and kept shoving the raft across the river. They were making
good headway across when the raft hit a large boulder busting the raft to
pieces. Captain John Jordan called to the men to grab the pole and he grabbed
for it but missed. He came up for the third time and that was the last time
that they ever saw him. His body was never recovered. They spent some time
searching for it to no avail.
Tolburt helped his mother Eliza Jane to recover from the
loss of her beloved husband and he helped hold the family and farm together
for a year or so. He then went off to the mines in search of work. He was
gone for four years. He came back home and helped his mother for awhile and
then went up into the Yokohl Valley and worked for brother Bill helping him
with his ranch building.
On September 30, 1866. Silas Tolburt Jordan married Mary Elizabeth Brooks
of Yokohl Valley in Visalia. After their marriage. they went up into the
Yokohl Valley and took up a homestead just north of his brother Bill's ranch.
They built themselves a nice cabin and out buildings. Tolburt bought a band
of sheep from his brother Bill, and from this band of sheep, they made a
fair living and good life. When they improved the homestead, they sold it
to his brother Bill. During this stay on their homestead, two children were
born, Mary and Silas.
After the sale of his homestead. Tolburt moved his family to Shasta County,
where he engaged in gold mining. He had a good gold mine in the vicinity
of Redding, California, which he worked for many years. |
 |
There at the mine three more children were born. They
were Minnie, Eliza and Andrew. This part of the family was little known to
the families in Tulare County. Mary made several trips to Tulare County to
visit her sister.
After the sale of his homestead, Tolburt moved his family
to Shasta County, where he engaged in gold mining. He had a good gold mine
in the vicinity of Redding. California, which he worked for many years. There
at the mine three more children were born. They were Minnie, Eliza and Andrew.
This part of the family was little known to the families in Tulare County.
Mary made several trips to Tulare County to visit her sister. On one such
trip she brought her older daughter Mary with her. Mary (Maid) met and married
Edgar Lewis Coburn, who was a farmer and farming in the vicinity north east
of Farmersville. That is where Mary lived the balance of her life raising
a large family.
Tolburt made one or two trips hack to Tulare County. The
last trip he helped his brother Jim Jordan around 1904 to build a wagon bed
for Jim's new wagon. Tolburt was a very good blacksmith. Soon after that
Tolburt went south to old Mexico. He never returned.
Mary Elizabeth Brooks Jordan made several trips to Tulare
County until she could not travel any more. She spent the waning days of
her life with her family in Norhtern California, where she died in 1930
