Hittade av en tillfällighet detta när jag läste efterlysningar i Californien. Någon kanske känner till Thures bakgrund?

Re: Theodore Thure Strombeck

Gena  (View posts)

Posted: 13 Sep 2003 8:57PM GMT

Classification: Query

Hi Lewis,
I am doing work for my daughters. They are from Thure to William to Pauline and Scotty Montgomery to Alvina Johnson to my girls. This is what I have on Thure.
Theodore Thure Strombeck was born in Stockholm,Sweden, the son of a Collector of the Court. He ran away from home when he was 16, abt. 1845, and went to sea as a cabin boy for two years. In 1847 his ship sailed into the harbor of Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, where he got off. His father sailed from Sweden to find his son, and when he got to San Francisco, he did find him, but in a bar at the time, so the father got angry, and left and sailed back to Sweden, leaving his son in CA.
When gold was discovered, Thure rigged up a launch and started up the San Joaquin River to Stockton, which then was the main distributing point to the mining country. After two years shipping freight, Strombeck made another move to the southern mines around Coarsegold Gulch and the Fresno River where he not only engaged in mining but also supplied the adjacent camps with meat. Since there were no roads at the time his supplies had to be taken over the trails by Pack train. By that time, the summer of 1851, the Fresno River country was well populated. About that time he gave himself the name of "Swede Bill".
Many of the Indians in the lower hills were friendly but the Monos, living along the Sierra ranges, viewed the white man with distrust. Warfare developed when Monos murdered two men at Fine Gold, a camp a few miles away from Coarsegold. Then Mariposa Battalion was formed to go in pursuit of the Indians that did it. Strombeck was a member of the expedition. Strombeck was a Company B, commanded by Capt. John Boling. Then Maj. James D. Savage headed the battalion when it discovered Yosemite Valley, and gave it its name after the Indian tribe found there. Strombeck was one of the first to see the beauty of the valley.
Strombeck's ranch in Coarsegold was the rancheria of the Chukchansi tribe of Indians, many of whom still are residents of the district. He married Memerite (Mimimette) Melliot in 1858, the daughter of Chief Hawa of the Chukchansi Indians. Their daughters were Mrs. J. H. Elam, of Coarsegold, Mrs. Fred C. Ninnis of Fresno, Mrs. Tom Jones of Coarsegold, and Kathryn Strombeck. Their sons were Fred, William, Leonard, Charles and John Strombeck. The Strombeck property later belonged to Will Krohn and was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wells.
Strombeck did the 1880 CA U.S. census for District 1 of Fresno County, now Madera County. Because of his Indian wife he was able to survey the Indians in the county, a rare record for that period.