William Marcus "Mark" West was a
Scottish American pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land.
In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...
who
settled
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
in what is now eastern
Sonoma County, California,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
Life
West came to the area in 1832, soon after marrying Guadalupe Vasquez, a sister of
General Vallejo. At the time, the area belonged to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. In 1840, he acquired the
Rancho San Miguel, located north of
Santa Rosa Creek. Mark West established a
hacienda,
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
, and
trading post
A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded.
Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...
near
Mark West Creek
Mark West Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 9, 2011 stream that rises in the Mayacamas Mountains of Sonoma County, California, United States. Tributaries ...
.
Maria Francisca Guadalupe Vasquez y Lugo, who was the daughter of Felipe Vasquez y and Nicanor Lugo, married Mark West at the
Mission San Carlos Boromeo in 1834. She was the granddaughter of Juan Athanasio Vasquez, who was a soldier in the Anza 1776 Expedition. Her father, Jose Felipe Vasquez y Bojorquez, was grantee of
Rancho Chamiscal in 1835
Legacy
Several geographic features in the area were named after him, including Mark West Creek, Mark West School, and the communities of
Mark West and
Mark West Springs, California.
Mark West Area Chamber of Commerce: Mark West history
/ref>
See also
*Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...
References
History of Sonoma County, California
Naturalized citizens of Mexican California
{{California-stub