In commemoration of the 150^th anniversary of the founding of Lake County this year, Lake County News is publishing a series of historical stories about the county, its people and places. In this week's story, excerpted from the files of historian Henry Mauldin, the arrival of the Reeves family is recounted.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Elijah Reeves was born in Kentucky in 1821, and crossed the plains in 1848.

He was one of the first white men to see Lake County when he traveled through with a group of Spaniards. He thought it was so beautiful he returned to Illinois to bring his wife and family back to California.

They left Mt. Sterling, Illinois in May of 1853, and joined a wagon train of 150 wagons. He served as a scout, spending most of his time ahead of the train, searching for water and pasture.

Martha Caroline Lamphier Reeves was born in Holland on March 5, 1825.

Her father worked as a shipbuilder. While Martha was still a young girl, he packed up his family and moved to New York. They eventually settled in Illinois, where she met and married Elijah.

As they crossed the plains, Martha told incredible tales, including how she attempted to lighten the load of their wagon by walking almost the whole way to California while pregnant.

When they arrived in Shasta, Calif., they didn’t even have time to find a house, as her son William was born under an oak tree, with quilts hung from limbs to provide privacy.

The family spent the winter in Shasta working the lead mines. Elijah would not move his family again until the spring of 1854, when they traveled 12 days by way of Howell Mountain and Pope Valley to Lake County (which was then part of Napa County).

They arrived to find a lovely lake, surrounded by meadows of clover and tall grass.

A large settlement of Pomo Indians were living very near where Kelseyville is today. They followed Kelsey Creek down into Big Valley and took up 160 acres about one mile from the lake and two and a a half miles from Kelseyville. They were the first white family to settle in Big Valley.

The only other settlers in this region were the Hammacks in Lower Lake, and a group of cattlemen, Robert Gaddy, Press Rickabaugh, Steve Tuck and Ad Benson – all bachelors.

On Aug. 30, 1855, in a cabin Elijah had built of oak logs, the first white settler was born in Lake County. His name was George Washington Reeves. He was followed by nine more children, with a total of 14 brothers and sisters, of which 11 survived.

Elijah Reeves died on March 7, 1872, and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Kelseyville. His wife Martha died Oct. 9, 1898, and is buried in the Kelseyville Cemetery. George Washington Reeves passed away March 18, 1915, at the age of 60.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .