John Marsh (doctor)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dr. John Marsh (1799 - 24 September 1856) was the first Euro-American settler in Contra Costa County, California. Born in Massachusetts, Marsh was a graduate of Harvard University and for a time was the only doctor in all of California, while never completing his medical degree. Marsh taught school in Minnesota, was a justice of the peace in Wisconsin, served in the Black Hawk War against Native Americans, ran a general store in Independence, Missouri, married a Native American woman, compiled a dictionary of the Sioux language, moved to what is now Santa Fe, New Mexico, and then to Los Angeles. In 1836, he moved to what is now Contra Costa County near San Francisco, and in 1848 built a mansion which still stands today.

On 24 September 1856, he was killed by bandits on the road between what is now Pacheco and Martinez, California.