California Biographies
Mendocino and Lake Counties, California
 
Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 

Source:
History of Mendocino and Lake Counties, California
With Biographical Sketches
History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry
Illustrated, Complete In One Volume
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1914



WILLIAM POTTER.� Nomenclature appeals to the student of history 
with peculiar force when it gives permanence to the identification of pioneer 
or prominent citizen with any community. Potter valley is of interest not 
only because it is the abode of a prosperous agricultural population, but also 
by reason of the name recalling the identification therewith and discovery 
thereof by William Potter, a California pioneer of 1845 and a native of Mis- 
souri. Little is known concerning the early life of this adventurous frontiers- 
man. It is evident, however, that the environment of his boyhood was such 
as to develop his inherent qualities of energy, fearlessness, endurance in priva- 
tion and patience in hardships. In all probability the long journey across the 
plains with his parents proved less arduous to him than to them, for to an 
eager youth, sturdy of limb and stout of body, such a trip would prove a con- 
stant voyage of discovery. Nor did his adventures cease with the arrival of 
the family in the Sacramento valley, where his father took up land near the 
present site of Chico. The old homestead later was embraced in the famous 
Bidwell ranch. At the expiration of two years he left that place and settled 
at Healdsburg, Sonoma county, where he remained for three years. 

Accompanied by Moses Briggs, a frontiersman of like tastes and love of 
adventure, William Potter traveled through northwestern California during 
1852. On one of the mountain tops that overlook Potter valley from the east, 
they halted their horses and gazed down upon the vale below that was green 
with the promise of spring. The charming bit of nature at their feet aroused 
their keenest pleasure. With the bold spirit of frontiersmen they determined 
to graze their cattle in the valley and make it their home. Thus for a time 
at least they were masters of the valley and all it contained. Although Mr. 
Potter did not die here (for he was visiting in Texas at the time of his death) 
his later years were intimately associated with the agricultural development 
of the region and he never ceased to cherish a warm affection for the beau- 
tiful little valley of his discovery. Soon after he came into the locality there 
followed him his two brothers, James and Thomas, also a cousin, Abner, and 
four sisters, namely : Ruth Ann, Mrs. Samuel Chase, now deceased ; Rebecca, 
Mrs. Gordon, deceased ; Elizabeth, the widow of Moses Briggs ; and Mary 
Jane. The entire family became vital factors in the local upbuilding and 
joined with their relative, the original discoverer, in developing its large 
resources and laying the foundation of its present prosperity as an agricul- 
tural and horticultural center.