Florida was featured in the last story from former editor Charles E. Bunnell (Charlie to his friends) recently compiled Bonnells & Bunnells of Note (And a few Burnells & Burrells for Good Measure). The complete work is available on Internet Archive at this link: Charlie Bunnell's Bonnells & Bunnells of Note
California is featured in this story, written by William Austin and originally published in the Bunnell/Bonnell Newsletter, vol. VII, No. 2.
Lafayette Bunnell's books are available online at Internet Archive through these links: Discovery of The Yosemite, and the Indian war of 1851 Which Led to that Event and Winona (We-no-nah) and its environs on the Mississippi in ancient and modern days
His father was a physician, a native of Fairfield County, Connecticut; his mother was born in Vermont. They married in Vermont and began to raise a family there. They are said to have had twelve children, six of whom grew to adulthood. By 1814 they had moved to Homer, Cortland County, New York, where Lafayette's older brother Willard Bradley was born. The 1820 census found them in Barre, Genesee (now Orleans) County, New York. Their next move took them to Rochester, Monroe County, New York. Lafayette Houghton Bunnell was born there 13 March 1824.
They were still living in Rochester when the 1830 census was taken, but two or three years later Dr. Bunnell removed his family to Detroit, Michigan. Here, on the edge of the frontier, Lafayette grew up, acquiring, along with an education in the classics, a useful knowledge of the customs and language of the Chippewa Indians.
Bradley Bunnell wanted Lafayette to follow in his own footsteps and become a doctor. When he was 16 years old, after a short experience working as a salesman and collector for a pharmaceutical company, Lafayette reluctantly began to study medicine in his father's office. He endured this for a couple of years, then followed his trader brother Willard to Wisconsin, and took up 160 acres at LaCrosse.
He came back to Detroit in 1844 and entered the office of a Dr. Scoville, to continue the study of medicine. His studies were interrupted by the Mexican War. On 2 November 1847 he enlisted in Company B, First Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered in as a Hospital Steward. The DETROIT SOCIETY OF GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH MAGAZINE, Vol. 41, #1, Fall 1977, has the following:
"Descriptive Roll of the First Regiment of Michigan Volunteers 1847-1848: Lafayette H. age 25 years. Height 5'10". Light complexion, dark eyes and hair. Born in Rochester, N. Y. Druggest. Appointed Hospital Steward 12 Nov. 1847."
Lafayette did not participate in any of the engagements of the war, since he did not enlist until after the termination of hostilities. The American forces were in complete control of all Mexican strong points by the end of October 1847. The War Department records show that Lafayette Bunnell was a hospital steward at Cordova. One account states, "During the illness of the doctors, he had entire charge of the hospital at Cordova, Mexico, for a time, and at the close of the war be had medical charge of one battalion." I have not found confirmation for this statement, but a comment on page 357 of THE MEXICAN WAR, by Edward D. Mansfield, 10th edition, 1849, lends credence to it: "Fifty thousand men remained in service, chiefly in Mexico, from the 1st of January, 1848, till the 1st of July, 1848. In this time, the hospitals were full of the sick, many of whom died."
Lafayette Bunnell was mustered out of the service with his company on 26 July 1848. He later demonstrated a working knowledge of the Spanish language, which was probably acquired during his service in Mexico.
In January 1848, while Lafayette was in Mexico, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California. As soon as he was mustered out, he traveled on to California to begin placer mining in the creeks and rivers in Mariposa County, California. The 1850 census found him there and listed him as age 27, born in New York. (An Isaac B. Bonnell, age 27, born in Pennsylvania, is also listed in the 1850 census in Mariposa County, but I have not been able to determine who he was.)
During the year 1850 the miners in Mariposa County were exposed more and more to the depredations of the Indians. Resenting the steady takeover of their lands by the white gold hunters and settlers, the Indians sporadically raided trading posts and mining camps, murdering the occupants and carrying off as plunder whatever they found of value. They developed a strong taste for the flesh of horses and mules, and Lafayette himself lost all of his animals to one of their raids. "No horse was considered too valuable for them to eat," was his comment.
In response, aid was requested of the state, and the governor issued a proclamation calling for the enrollment of first 100, then 200, able-bodied volunteers. Most of the miners in Mariposa County, including Lafayette Bunnell, enlisted in what became known as the "Mariposa Battalion." The volunteers had to provide their own mounts and equipment, and the State furnished camping gear and supplies. They were mustered in on 24 January 1851 and reported for duty on 10 February. They elected their own officers, who were then commissioned by the governor.
The brigade was placed under the direction of the United States Indian Commissioners, who negotiated with the various tribes, offering food and supplies if the Indians would settle peaceably on lands designated for them. The brigade was given the job of searching the mountains and bringing in the Indians who refused to come in voluntarily.
It was on one of these missions, in late March 1851, that a selected group of 50 or 60 of the volunteer soldiers became the first white men to enter the Yosemite Valley. The spectacular natural beauty of the scene which met his eyes created an impression of almost religious awe in Lafayette Bunnell. "My devout astonishment at the supreme grandeur of the scenery by which I was surrounded continued to engross my mind." Although the exalted emotion of his first experience of the Valley did not recur in the many other trips he made there, Lafayette never lost the feeling of wondering admiration for the glorious natural beauty of Yosemite. Many years later he published his account under the title, "Discovery of The Yosemite, and the Indian war of 1851 Which Led to that Event."
As the men were seated around the campfire after supper on their first night in the Valley, Lafayette raised the question of what to call it. Several names were proposed, but none received general approval. Lafayette then suggested that it be named "Yosemity," the name of the local Indian tribe their troop was seeking to remove. Acclaimed by a voice vote, the name "Yosemite" still commemorates a small Indian tribe to whom the Valley once was home.
Many of the natural features of the Valley bear names today which were first applied by Lafayette Bunnell. His interest in nomenclature led him to search out the Indian names and their meanings. When he did not feel the Indian name was appropriate in either the original or in translation, he chose a descriptive English name.
Lafayette was known as "Doc" to his companions. Although he was not one of the battalion surgeons (and was not an MD at all), he did perform some medical services and received extra pay for doing so. In his history he mentions the damage to his medical and surgical supplies when he received a dunking in a mountain stream. He also refers to his treating and caring for a wounded comrade.
The Battalion was mustered out on 25 July 1851 and its members returned to their former occupations. For the next several years Lafayette Bunnell engaged in mining and trading operations. In partnership with E. G. Barton he established a trading post on the north side of the Merced River above the mouth of the North Fork, from which they served the miners from a wide area. During the winter of 1853-54, their store was plundered by Indians, and the two employees who had been left in charge for the winter were murdered.
During the summers of 1854, 1855 and 1856, Lafayette took part in surveying operations testing the possibility of bringing water from the Merced River down to mining areas in Tuolumne County. In 1856, after the completion of his survey work, he engaged, with George W. Coulter and others, in building "The Coultersville Free Trail," into Yosemite Valley. Apparently he invested money in this operation, for he said be never got any return for it.
Before the end of 1856 Lafayette wound up his affairs in California and moved back home. On 24 August 1859, at Homer, Winona County, Minnesota, he was married by Rev. John Quigley to Miss Sarah A. Smith. The marriage was witnessed by his brother and sister-in-law, Willard B. and Matilda Bunnell.
The next period for which we have information includes the years of his Civil War service. Hank Johnston says that he served in both the First and second Battles of Bull Run, and that he was present at Appomattox at the end of the war. His regiment took part in the First Battle of Bull Run on 21 July 1861, and Lafayette was presumably with it. However, he was no longer in the Army when the Second Bull Run took place on 29 August 1862. He was back in service at the time of the surrender at Appomattox, but I have not seen evidence as to where he was serving at the time.
He enlisted the first time on 18 April 1861, at Lacrosse, Wisconsin, in Company B, 2nd Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, as a hospital steward. He served until 9 May 1862, when he was discharged at Falmouth, Virginia, apparently on account of bronchitis, for which he received a pension many years later.
During the summer of 1863 he was employed by Major Hatch, of Hatch's Battalion In gathering in and removing the Winnebago Indians to the Missouri River. The service for which he was paid included medical attendance.
On 4 November 1863, at LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Lafayette enlisted a second time, as a private in Company B, 2nd Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry. The following summer he was at Vicksburg, Mississippi, caring for and putting sick men on board steamers to be sent north by order of the medical officers of the department. His company commander, Capt. Thomas J. LaFlesh, later deposed that Private Bunnell became disabled on or about 31 July 1864 from exposure to the sun and over work while in the line of duty. He was given sick leave beginning 21 August 1864, and he returned to Wisconsin. He returned to Vicksburg when his sick leave terminated on 30 November 1864.
While he was home in Wisconsin, he finally received his degree as Doctor of Medicine. It was granted on 2 October 1864 by The LaCrosse Medical College of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Although his diploma implies that he took courses at the College and states that he was tested by the professors, the LaCrosse Medical College never held any classes nor actually graduated anyone. I suppose we would call it an honorary degree. In Lafayette's case, however, his years of study with his father and Dr. Scoville, combined with all his practical experience, would seem to have justified the degree.
The new degree paid off several months after his return to the Army. On 19 March 1865 he was promoted to Assistant Surgeon in the 36th Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers. In that position he was mustered out of the Army with his regiment on 12 July 1865.
Lafayette's brother Willard had died in 1861 and left him his home in Homer, Winona County, Minnesota, across the Mississippi from Lacrosse, Wisconsin. The 1870 census found Lafayette and Sarah living there engaged in farming. They had no children of their own, but his 12-year-old nephew Willard Bradley Bunnell, Jr., was living with them.
Sometime during the ensuing decade, concerned that the true story of the Mariposa Battalion and Yosemite had not been told, he compiled his best-known work, DISCOVERY OF THE YOSEMITE AND THE INDIAN WAR OF 1851 WHICH LED TO THAT EVENT. The book was published in 1880 and was successful enough to call for second and third revised editions by 1892.
Lafayette Bunnell received several pensions based on his military service, On 21 June 1881 pension #191,126 was issued providing him $4.00 per month from 10 May 1862, when he was discharged the first time for bronchitis, but excluding the period of his second enlistment between 4 November 1863 and 12 July 1865.
In 1887 congress provided for pensions for veterans of the Mexican War. Lafayette applied, and pension #8346 was approved for $8.00 per month from 29 January 1887. His first pension was then dropped.
On 20 October 1890, after Congress passed a law providing pensions for invalid veterans of the Civil War, whether or not their disabilities were service related, Lafayette's pension #191,126 was reinstated at $12.00 per month. It was paid for the rest of his life.
He was still living in Homer, Minnesota, when the 1900 census gave his occupation as "author." Besides his book about Yosemite, he had written a number of magazine and newspaper articles, as well as WINONA AND ITS ENVIRONS ON THE MISSISSIPPI, almost 700 pages of information about Winona County, Minnesota.
Lafayette Houghton Bunnell died at his home in Homer, Minnesota, on 22 July 1903, nearly 80 years old.
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