Elijah Stephens

Elijah Stephens was a blacksmith and trapper who was born in South Carolina. In 1844 he left Council Bluffs, Iowa as the captain of the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party, the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains into Alta California. He then moved to Cupertino, California, in 1848. Stevens Creek (then called Cupertino Creek) is named after him.[1]

Elijah Stephens
Only known image of Elijah Stephens. Taken in San Jose. (ca. 1860)
Born1804
South Carolina
DiedSeptember 9, 1887 (age 84)
Kern County Hospital
Resting placeUnion Cemetery, Bakersfield, California
Other namesElisha Stephens
OccupationAmerican pioneer, Blacksmith, and trapper

In 1862, Stephens left the area, heading to Kern County in central California. A state historic plaque in that city marks the approximate site of his homestead. Stephens died in Bakersfield, California in 1887. He was buried in Union Cemetery. His gravesite was discovered in 2009 by members of the Kern County Genealogical Society. [2] On May 1, 2010 the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) California/Nevada Chapter in cooperation with the Kern County Historical Society (KCHS) installed a historical plaque at the gravesite of Elijah Stephens.

References
  1. History of the Rengstorff House from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Bakersfield.com "The Search for Elisha Stephens". Retrieved March 25, 2020.
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