The Mystery of Peter Lebec - Part 2
A Page of History
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When I finished my last column on Peter Lebec I thought I had put him to rest. That is, until I received a phone call from local historian Del Troy.
She told me she had some more information concerning the mystery surrounding his death. I met her at the Tehachapi Museum and she showed me a book, one of several volumes written by Bonnie Ketterl Kane entitled, “A View from the Ridge Route, Volume One: The First People. “
For those of you who are too young to remember, the Ridge Route was the early version of what is now called the Grapevine, or I-5, which goes from Bakersfield to the Santa Clarita area, before continuing to the Los Angeles area.
In the first volume Kane addresses the first Native Americans who settled in the area. She included a short chapter about Peter Lebec.
Kane noted that it was, “the first marked burial of a non-Indian person located in the mountains near Fort Tejon.” She said there were four stories that had developed since his death. We explored some of them in the last column.
One that Kane described came from a Texan who once served on the Board of Supervisors in Bakersfield, who said that Peter Lebec (which she spelled as Lebeck, as it was on the tree carving) was a Louisianan of Arcadian descent who lived in Texas.
In 1836 he was sent to California from the newly formed Republic of Texas to encourage trouble between the Indians and Mexico. This was to be done so that the territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and California might be added to the new Texas Republic.
The third possibility, which may relate to the one above is the most factual, Kane wrote. It was the latest theory at the time of this writing, which was presented by Walt Whitlock. He postulated, after a great deal of research that Lebec was a member of the group called the “Chaguanosos” a band of men, many of them Indians, under the leadership of a French Canadian leader that came into California from New Mexico.
Such gangs, or soldiers of fortune, were not uncommon in that period. Their leader was Jean Baptiste Chalifoux, a Canadian trapper who had made his way to New Mexico. He and his group were recruited by the Mexico governor to protect the area from troops from Alta California in the north, in exchange for “all the beaver they could hunt”.
They became known as one of the strongest forces in California. Feeling secure they retreated to their mountain retreat near Fort Tejon. In October 1837, the month of Peter’s death, the group made a recorded raid on Mission Santa Ynez, taking horses.
This is the only record that has been located as to who would have been in that area in October of 1837. It is very possible, Kane wrote, that Peter could have been a member of this gang.
Earliest inquires of local Native Americans brought the response that Lebec was a trapper, buried by his companions, Kane noted. This could place Lebec with any of the stories told about him.
In 1890 a group from Bakersfield, known as the “Foxtail Rangers”, went on “picnic” outings to explore the far reaches of Kern County and get out of the heat in Bakersfield. They had found the grave on a previous trip and, after much discussion when they returned home, they decided they had to go back and try to unearth the remains of Peter Lebec to prove there was really a grave there.
Before they began to dig the group of men, women, and children held a short service and sang a hymn. They then proceeded to dig, which Kane said was not easy because the ground was hard.
Lebec was buried four feet deep. When they carefully removed the dirt they found Lebec’s remains. The skeleton was six feet tall. His left arm was missing and his hand to his right arm was gnawed off by the bear.
They carefully covered everything back up, hoping to find some artifacts, but did not.
And now you know some more of the “rest of the story” of Peter Lebec – thanks to Del Troy!
