TWHP


George Yount, 1794-1865   

A native of the North Carolina wilderness, George Yount became a mountain man and trapper as did many of his ilk; he counted Jedediah Smith and Kit Carson as friends. First introduced to the Napa Valley in 1831, Yount subsequently went to work for General Vallejo in Sonoma as a roofer in 1834, replacing the predominant thatch with shake shingles. Impressed with the man's industry and wide-ranging skills, Vallejo granted Yount almost 12,000 acres in the Napa Valley in 1836, making him the area's first non-indian resident. Establishing a blockhouse near the town named after him--Yountville--the mountain man quickly made friends with the indians who had more quickly discovered that the man was dangerous to trifle with. He recruited them as laborers and proceeded to develop his land with various crops and the Valley's first vineyard; his sawmill supplied the lumber to build some of the first buildings in Yerba Buena/San Francisco and Benicia. Over the years, he speculated in real estate with some success, and his progeny went on to play a role in the growing wine industry largely as a result of their land holdings. Yount was known as a generous friend and neighbor--he helped save the Donner Party--and old mountain men often paid him visits, long overstaying their welcomes, but never becoming aware of the fact.


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