Col John D. Reese

His Parents came to America in 1800

His early life was spent on a farm

At age 8 he moved to Erie, PA

At age 14 he moved to New York City where his Dad was a grocer

Soon after arriving in NYC his father died

The elder Sons, went off to learn trades, John stayed home to help his mom- who passed away in 1832 and John took responsibility for the younger children

John met success as a grocer, but was wiped out in the fire of 1835

By 1845 he had retrieved his losses

In 1836 he joined the First Division of the Light Horse Artillery of the State of New York. He was commissioned a 1st Lt. and later held the rank of Capt., Major, Lt.Col and Colonel

In 1849 he left New York heading to Calif. with $30,000 worth of goods, but met his brother Enoch in St. Joe, MO. and both came West as far as SLC. In 1850 he returned to N.Y. and brought an additional $20,000 worth of goods to SLC.

He pioneered routes from Utah to San Bernardino and had $9000 in gold stolen on one trip which he later recovered.

His wagon train was once attacked by Indians

He was left without provisions and for 8 days had nothing but barley and another 8 days with no food at all.

He found a natural spring which runs to this day and made the desert trip only 30 miles without water instead of 60. The place is called Reese's Cut Off

He pioneered the trail from SLC to Carson used by the US Army and the overland stage and Pony Express

IN 1858, HE WAS THE LEADER OF THE SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO MAKE NEVADA A TERRITORY SEPARATE FROM UTAH

He crossed the Plains 4 times with Ox-teams, shipped goods on the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Ohio and the Missouri Rivers and crossed the Sierra Mountains 4 times. Carried on business in New York, Montana, Utah, Nevada and California