Historical Marker · No. 686

Site of Kelsey House, Calistoga

Calistoga, Napa County · California

No plaque stands at the Kelsey house site, on private land a mile south of Calistoga, and NoeHill found no trace of the hearthstone the register describes. Nancy Kelsey was eighteen and the only woman left in her party when it crossed the Sierra in 1841; she came down on foot carrying her daughter. She is widely credited with stitching the Bear Flag in 1846. A mile north, John York's obituary gave that same credit to his wife. Nancy died at Cuyama in 1896, having known, in her own telling, both riches and poverty.

Where it stands

38.56735, -122.56649 · Directions

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