Riley and most of his family left from Fort Smith, Arkansas for the gold fields of California in early 1851-2 by way of "the Southern Route" and Los Angeles. The choice of this trail would prove tragic as this wagon train was attacked by Indians along the Gila River, and his father and an older sister were killed. His new step-mother tried to hold the band of pioneers and family together, but the effects of the attack left the group in disarray allowing his older brother to wander off from the group near San Bernardino.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles, the family unit disintegrated without the patriarch of the family. Two older sisters were married off in December 1852 soon to be followed by his step-mother. As soon as possible, the remaining boys had to strike out on their own. In 1860, Riley was living in the fledgling town of Visalia working as an apprentice mason. He took up a homestead as a pioneer settler of the Tule River/Pleasant Valley area.
A farmer and stockraiser, he and Ashbel Post Osborn were the creators of the Graham-Osborn Ditch that drew water from the Tule River above Springville. The water was necessary for his crops and hog farm. Hogs were a popular source of meat for prospectors in the mountains and were driven up to the buyers. The ditch is still in use today and is the main source of irrigation water for the area once known as Globe in the Pleasant Valley area. After Riley's death in 1900, the family left the area where the life was not so hard for the remaining family of mostly women.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles, the family unit disintegrated without the patriarch of the family. Two older sisters were married off in December 1852 soon to be followed by his step-mother. As soon as possible, the remaining boys had to strike out on their own. In 1860, Riley was living in the fledgling town of Visalia working as an apprentice mason. He took up a homestead as a pioneer settler of the Tule River/Pleasant Valley area.
A farmer and stockraiser, he and Ashbel Post Osborn were the creators of the Graham-Osborn Ditch that drew water from the Tule River above Springville. The water was necessary for his crops and hog farm. Hogs were a popular source of meat for prospectors in the mountains and were driven up to the buyers. The ditch is still in use today and is the main source of irrigation water for the area once known as Globe in the Pleasant Valley area. After Riley's death in 1900, the family left the area where the life was not so hard for the remaining family of mostly women.
Riley and most of his family left from Fort Smith, Arkansas for the gold fields of California in early 1851-2 by way of "the Southern Route" and Los Angeles. The choice of this trail would prove tragic as this wagon train was attacked by Indians along the Gila River, and his father and an older sister were killed. His new step-mother tried to hold the band of pioneers and family together, but the effects of the attack left the group in disarray allowing his older brother to wander off from the group near San Bernardino.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles, the family unit disintegrated without the patriarch of the family. Two older sisters were married off in December 1852 soon to be followed by his step-mother. As soon as possible, the remaining boys had to strike out on their own. In 1860, Riley was living in the fledgling town of Visalia working as an apprentice mason. He took up a homestead as a pioneer settler of the Tule River/Pleasant Valley area.
A farmer and stockraiser, he and Ashbel Post Osborn were the creators of the Graham-Osborn Ditch that drew water from the Tule River above Springville. The water was necessary for his crops and hog farm. Hogs were a popular source of meat for prospectors in the mountains and were driven up to the buyers. The ditch is still in use today and is the main source of irrigation water for the area once known as Globe in the Pleasant Valley area. After Riley's death in 1900, the family left the area where the life was not so hard for the remaining family of mostly women.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles, the family unit disintegrated without the patriarch of the family. Two older sisters were married off in December 1852 soon to be followed by his step-mother. As soon as possible, the remaining boys had to strike out on their own. In 1860, Riley was living in the fledgling town of Visalia working as an apprentice mason. He took up a homestead as a pioneer settler of the Tule River/Pleasant Valley area.
A farmer and stockraiser, he and Ashbel Post Osborn were the creators of the Graham-Osborn Ditch that drew water from the Tule River above Springville. The water was necessary for his crops and hog farm. Hogs were a popular source of meat for prospectors in the mountains and were driven up to the buyers. The ditch is still in use today and is the main source of irrigation water for the area once known as Globe in the Pleasant Valley area. After Riley's death in 1900, the family left the area where the life was not so hard for the remaining family of mostly women.
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