Henry Francis Yokum: Manslaughter

Henry Francis Yokum was a tough man, roughed by the enlistment of the Mexican Wars in 1846 only being married a short time to his wife Lucinda Laurence. In 1849 they headed west to the California Gold Rush, many of Henry's comrades went there and settled in a town near Grass Valley which they named Rough and Ready, after their General in the Mexican War, Gen. Taylor.

In Dec 24, 1850 the trip was hard and daring and many died, the water supplies would dry up and they wouldn't have any water. 

He was a tough old coot and in

 early spring he went to Bullard's Bar on the Yuba River and mined for gold. He decided in late fall of 1851 to return to Missouri to buy cattle and then return back to California. He built a cabin there to store their belongings. They went to Marysville by stage, then by Riverboat to San Francisco which by then was a bustling town, with a harbor full of deserted vessels as sailors deserted the ships for the gold fields. They took an ocean ship to Panama and when they arrived, they took mules over the isthmus to Charges where the beach had very shallow water. The local natives carried the passengers in a row boat out to the Ocean Ships on the other side. Their ship lost its rudder in a storm and they put down in a Havana harbor for repairs. While waiting for repairs, the men visited Havana and gambled in Spanish casinos. One in the party got into an gambling argument and shot a Spanish gambler and was put in jail. He was very popular among the comrades and just as the ship was ready to clear port, the comrades stormed the jail and took him to the ship. The Spanish police rowed out demanding he be taken prisoner. The comrades stood on the deck with drawn pistols as the ship lifted anchor. The ship sailed leaving the police in anger.

Once in New Orleans, they took a Riverboat up the Mississippi River to St. Louis and a stage on to Springfield. There Henry bought cattle and in the Spring of 1852, headed back once more to California. This trip the Indians were troublesome. Many wagons were abandoned along the route when supplies were used up, and fewer wagons could carry the rest of the load. This was the method many of the immigrants used on their way to California.

t was dangerous to travel in small parties, as the Indians were attacking small groups. They came upon two wagons and found 3 men had been slain by the Indians, stripped of everything and left nothing to identify them with. They were buried beside the immigrant trail. The men moved on camping further along the trail. The next morning some of the men were up early and butchered one of Henry's young animals for the wagon train. Later two Germans were missing a heifer and accused them of killing their animal and a very heated argument followed. Mrs. Yokum was cooking bacon in a frying pan over a fire of buffalo chips when two Germans attacked Henry. He grabbed the frying pan and rapped the Germans over the head in self defense. Others in the party gathered to stop the fight. Shortly afterward, the missing animal came back into camp.

Their next stop was a grave by the immigrant trail. A wagon tongue was at the head of the grave with a board attached with the name of Mrs. Joseph Campbell. After coming to Butte County in northern California, the Yokums had become acquainted with Mr Campbell. He was captain of the train of immigrants coming to California is 1851. A Dr. Browning and his son C.L. Browning, were also in their train. Dr. Browning had practiced medicine in Chico for years afterward. Mr. Campbell had married in Chico and brought up a family and some of his family are still living there.

Crossing the So. Platte River this time, some cattle had drifted down stream and a young man gave his vest and watch to his wife and rode down stream to keep the cattle from further drifting down the river. Unfortunately, he ran into quick sand and he and his horse sank before they could be rescued. At that point there was no turning back, and his wife and three children had to continue on to California. Fortunately, they had friends in Hangtown, which is now know as Placerville.  

At the next camp, they were rounding up the cattle when one went missing. One of the men stayed back thinking the animal would come along and he would catch up with the slow moving train and save the animal. Once the train was out of sight, Indians showed up at the abandoned camp. The man hid in the tall grass. The Indians searched all around but failed to spot him. They set a fire to the grass and left. He was surrounded by fire so he took off his coat and lay in the buffalo wallow with his coat over his head. He almost suffocated from the smoke. About midday the train saw someone approaching from the rear and stopped and waited for the person to catch up. There was great rejoicing by all when they found he was their companion. They thought he had become lost.

They past once more through the Mormon Settlement of Salt Lake, but this time they were not as friendly to them. Once again they camped at Thousand Spring Valley. While there, Indians attacked their train. Warriors on horses riding in a circle kept getting closer to the train letting out a war whoop battle cry. Two men in the party mounted horses and with arrows falling all around, rode full speed, shooting some of the indians from their horses. This move halted the warriors, and suddenly just over the horizon came another immigrant train. The Indians fell back over the hill and disappeared fearing they were outnumbered. They never attack if they feel they are outnumbered. Several arrows pierced canvas covers on the wagons, but no one in the party was injured.

They arrived in Rough and Ready and headed onto Hangtown (Placerville). When they arrived at Bullards Bar, they found their cabin and all its contents had been washed away in the floods during the spring of 1852. There were several great floods that year. They went back to Marysville and then headed up to Shasta, the second largest town in the state at that time. It was the county seat of Shasta County. Mr. Yokum hauled freight to Red Bluff by river boats and wagons to Shasta, pack trains from there to Weaverville, Trinity Center and Scott's Valley. The Oregon trail over Scott Mountain carried millstones by muleback to Scotts Valley for flour mills. They were heavy loads for mules and he used tripods to change the loads when the mules became tired.

He moved back to Butte County and purchased land in Dayton. There he engaged in farming and livestock. In 1861 there was a vacancy on the Butte County Board of Supervisors and he was appointed to fill the balance of the term. He did not run for the elective term.  He was one of the founders and charter members of the Chico Lodge No. 113 and he was in the independent order of the Odd Fellows institution in Butte County at Oroville.

Dry season, and poor prices for grain  started a panic in 1873 and the Yokum's lost their holdings. In 1874, they moved to Helltown on Butte Creek near Chico, and established a general store. That made two stores in Hell Town, a prosperous mining center (now a ghost town). There he mined at Hedge Point across Butte Creek from Hell Town at the left of the north end of the swinging bridge at Bone Yard Flat.

Henry organized a company to build a ditch to furnish water for Hydro-electric mining in Butte Creek Canyon. Just as construction started, a mining company purchased the Hupp Hydraulic Mine at Centerville. They bought out the ditch and water rights of Mr. Yokum's company. The ditch is now owned by P. G. & E and is used to generate hydroelectric power at the Centerville Power house. Mr Yokum and his son Adam, took homesteads just south of the present Centerville Cemetery.

Henry had a short stint in San Quentin Prison because he shot and killed two men, Frank Ballew and Albert Mason, who had come to his house and threatened him. He shot first with his shot gun until he was out of shells then shot with his rifle. These gentlemen obviously didn't know who they were dealing with. 

Inmate #16814 San Quentin Prison

Rec: 6 June 1896

Term: 5 years

Restored: 6 July 1900

Occupation: Farmer

When Henry Francis Yokum was born on August 10, 1824, in Greenbrier, West Virginia, his father, Jacob, was 23 and his mother, Eveline, was 19. He married Lucinda J Laurence in 1847. They had six children in 16 years. He died on June 2, 1901, in Chico, California, having lived a long life of 76 years, and was buried there.

When Lucinda J Laurence was born in November 1826 in Kentucky, her father, Jacob, was 29, and her mother, Elizabeth, was 18. She married Henry Francis Yokum in 1847. They had six children in 16 years. She died in 1926 in Butte, California, at the age of 100, and was buried in Chico, California.

They both had long full lives. 

Top L to R: Nellie Sanders, Lottie Sanders, Carrie Sanders, Alice (Yokum) Pearson, Eunice Ava Pearson  Bottom L to R; Lucinda J. (Laurence) Yokum, Mrs. Sanders

Note: Some of the Biography was taken from Ancestry the original poster unknown.

Sad thing is he died a year after getting out of San Quentin.