Alexis Godey also called Alec Godey and Alejandro Godey, born Alexander Godey, was a

trapper Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

, and

mountain man A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

. He was an associate of

Jim Bridger James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...

and was lead scout for

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

Biography

Godey was born in 1818 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. Although little is known about his early life, it is suspected that he was born in a French immigrant family from Canada. Godey's home at 414 19th Street West in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

number 690. He sustained a long friendship with

, a fellow scout and mountain man.

Career

Godey's reputation as a scout led him to be hired by

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and military officer

. Godey was the lead scout for Frémont's

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

(1843–1844),

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

(1845), and fourth (1848–1849) California expeditions. Frémont wrote that Godey had been key for the success of his expeditions. Godey was instrumental in navigating the Kings River and

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

. This was especially important during the

Conquest of California The Conquest of California, also known as the Conquest of Alta California or the California Campaign, was an important military campaign of the Mexican–American War carried out by the United States in Alta California (modern-day California), t ...

and the

Bear Flag Rebellion The California Republic ( es, La República de California), or Bear Flag Republic, was an List of historical unrecognized states#Americas, unrecognized breakaway state from Second Federal Republic of Mexico, Mexico, that for 25 days in 1846 ...

Bravery

On Frémont's fourth expedition in 1843, Godey could show his skill and bravery again. On the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

Spanish Trail, Godey and

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and n ...

fought off a group of Native Americans, preventing an attack on the expedition and recovering stolen horses. He worked with

Old Bill Williams William Sherley "Old Bill" Williams (January 3, 1787 – March 14, 1849) was a noted mountain man and frontiersman, known as Lone Elk to the Native Americans.California Battalion The California Battalion (also called the first California Volunteer Militia and U.S. Mounted Rifles) was formed during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) in present-day California, United States. It was led by U.S. Army Brevet Lieutenant Co ...

. For a short time, Frémont put him in charge of

Mission San Luis Rey Mission San Luis Rey de Francia ( es, Misión San Luis Rey de Francia) is a former Spanish mission in San Luis Rey, a neighborhood of Oceanside, California. This Mission lent its name to the Luiseño tribe of Mission Indians. At its prime, ...

. Godey spoke French, English, Spanish, and a few Native American languages. During the Battle of San Pasqual on December 6, 1846, when the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

was surrounded and outnumbered, Godey led a small group out of the battle and past enemy lines.

Personal life

In 1848, Godey built a home in Bakersfield and became a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

, rancher, local

guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Expl ...

, and

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

. When gold was discovered for the first time in the

Kern River The Kern River, previously Rio de San Felipe, later La Porciuncula, is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfiel ...

by a group of Native Americans, they gave this to Godey. In 1852,

Robert S. Williamson Robert Stockton Williamson (January 21, 1825 – November 10, 1882) was an American soldier and engineer, noted for conducting surveys for the transcontinental railroad in California and Oregon. Inducted into the Army Corps of Engineers in 186 ...

hired Godey to help the Pacific Rail Road Survey survey the land for the future

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

line that followed the 32nd parallel from Texas to California. The route followed the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of n ...

to the Pima villages and the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

river. He also ran a ferry in

Firebaugh, California Firebaugh is a city in Fresno County, California, United States, on the west side of the San Joaquin River 38 miles (61 km) west of Fresno. State Route 33 (SR 33) and the San Joaquin Valley Railroad, West Side Subdivision, pass through dow ...

. In 1854, Godey was the scout for Kit Carson on his last visit to Kern County. Godey partnered shortly with

Edward Fitzgerald Beale Edward Fitzgerald "Ned" Beale (February 4, 1822 – April 22, 1893) was a national figure in the 19th-century United States. He was a naval officer, military general, explorer, frontiersman, Indian affairs superintendent, California rancher, ...

to raise sheep on his

Tejon Ranch Tejon Ranch Company (), based in Lebec, California, is one of the largest private landowners in California. The company was incorporated in 1936 to organize the ownership of a large tract of land that was consolidated from four Mexican land gr ...

in 1855 and became the overseer of the ranch for a few years. As an Indian agent, he was the overseer of the

Sebastian Indian Reservation The Sebastian Indian Reservation (1853-1864), more commonly known as the Tejon Indian Reservation, was formerly at the southwestern corner of the San Joaquin Valley in the Tehachapi Mountains, in southern central California. It was located in the ...

in 1864. Godey was the overseer for

Rancho San Emidio Rancho San Emidio was a Mexican land grant in present-day Kern County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Antonio Dominguez. The grant was located along San Emigdio Creek in the northeastern foothills of the San Emigd ...

on behalf of Frémont in 1868. In 1870, Godey's divorce from Maria Antonia Coronel was litigated up to the

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

. Maria was the sister of

Antonio F. Coronel Don Antonio Francisco Coronel (October 21, 1817 – April 17, 1894) was a Californio politician and ranchero who was Mayor of Los Angeles and California State Treasurer. Coronel was considered one of the first preservationists in Los Angeles, and ...

, the fourth mayor of Los Angeles. When the US Land Grant Commission turned down ownership of Cuyama Rancho to the Lataillade family, Godey started a cattle ranch on the land. The US Congress returned the land to the Lataillade family in 1872, so Godey moved off the land and returned to Kern.

Death

Godey died on January 19, 1889, at the age of 70 or 71, at the Sister's Hospital Of Los Angeles, Sisters of Charity. He had been scratched by a circus lion, which he had tried to pet, and the scratch became infected. He was buried in the Union Cemetery in Bakersfield. The California State Historical Landmark reads: : ''NO. 690 SITE OF THE LAST HOME OF ALEXIS GODEY - Near this site stood the home of Alexis Godey, frontiersman, and scout, who lived here from 1883 until his death on January 19, 1889. Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1818, he acted as a guide for John C. Frémont's expedition through the Kern area in 1843-44 and was honored for his services at the Battle of San Pasqual in 1846.'' californiahistoricallandmarks.com # 690
/ref>

References