The Gaskill Brothers Stone Store (also known as the Campo Stone Store) is a historical building in

Campo, California Campo ( Spanish for "Field") is an unincorporated community in the Mountain Empire area of southeastern San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 2,955 at the 2020 United States census. The United States Census Bureau def ...

, built in 1868 by the Gaskill brothers as a

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

. It is a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

No. 411, listed on November 15, 1948. All goods were stocked in bulk and sold by weight as the customer wanted, except prepackaged Arbuckle Coffee and Lion Coffee. The Gaskill Brothers' Stone Store Museum is run by the Mountain Empire Historical Society.

History

Silas E Gaskill was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

on February 16, 1829. Luman H. Gaskill, the younger brother, was born in

Steuben County, Indiana Steuben County is a County (United States), county in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States census the county population was 34,435. The county seat (and only incorporated city) is Angola, Indiana, Ango ...

, on July 17, 1843. Their parents were Courtland Gaskill and Theresa Brink Gaskill. As part of the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

in 1850, the 21 year old Silas traveled to California in a

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...

. In 1857, Luman and their parents followed Silas, but came by sail ship to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Like many 49ers, the family tried mining for gold and also worked at the Buffalo Gold and Silver Mining Company in

Petaluma, California Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. Silas and Luman departed mining and hunted bears. In 1868, they departed the

gold country The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines t ...

and arrived in the Milquatay Valley, east of

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, just a mile from the Mexican border. Silas and Luman opened not just the store, but a blacksmith shop, and a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

in town. They also ran a bee farm and a small

cattle ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

. Being a small town, Luman was also the town dentist, doctor, and Justice of the Peace. In 1868, Luman married Eliza J. Benson, they had seven children. In 1870, Silas married Kate, but they divorced 1873. In 1881, Silas married Catherine Scott, she died on December 26, 1914. Gaskill brothers sold all their properties in 1901 and retired to San Diego. On May 3, 1914, Luman died in Whittier California. On December 4, 1875, the store was raided by Cruz Lopez and his border bandits. Eight were killed and two wounded after a gunfight between the citizens of Campo and the group of Mexican bandits. Luman was shot in the lung and Silas was wounded in the shoulder. The Mexican bandits had earlier killed the former

Governor of Baja California The governor of Baja California represents the executive branch of the government of the state of Baja California, Mexico, per the state's constitution. The official title is "Free and Sovereign State of Baja California" (''Estado Libre y Soberan ...

Antonio Sosa. It was bought in 1896 by E. T. Aiken, resold to Klauber Wangenheim in 1889, and operated by Henry Marcus Johnson as the Mountain Commercial Company until 1925. In disrepair, it was bought after 1938 by E. M. Statler, given to San Diego County, and restored from 1943 to 48 as a museum. A historical marker was placed at the store in 1986 by

California State Parks California State Parks is the state park system for the U.S. state of California. The system is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, a department under the California Natural Resources Agency. The California State ...

working with the Department of Parks and Recreation and Squibob Chapter,

E Clampus Vitus The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (ECV) is a fraternal organization dedicated to the preservation of the heritage of the Western United States, especially the history of the Mother Lode#California Mother Lode, Mother Lode and gold ...

References

{{Authority control California Historical Landmarks History of San Diego County, California 1868 in California 1868 establishments in California American Old West gunfights American frontier

History

See also

References