, 1891-10-28
LIFE OF A PIONEER COLONIsT.
from the Victoria COlOmist.)

John Kqrtz, a pioneer of the pioneers,
and the friend of all who enjoyed the plea
sure of knowing him, departed q busy. use
full and adventurous life, at 4 o'clock yester-
day morning, at the Jubilee Hospital.
While Mr.. Kurtz had aged much during
the past few years, and was growing notice
ably feebler each month, few suspected that
the dissolution was so close at hand; the
news OF his death comes as a sudden and
personal bereavement to hundreds i'm this
province, of whose resources he was so
proud and so worthy an advocate. The de-
ceased was a man of unsurpassed geniality
and rare kindness OF heart, and while none
was fonder Of good practical joke or more
ready for ore, his hum0ur found expression
only In words and action which entertained
all and dlSpleased no one. Public spirited
TO a degree, his name will ever remain as
ISOLATED with those who gave life, energy,
everything they possessed, to the upbuild-
ing of British Columbia.
The late pioneer was born of German pa
rents, in Philadelphia, Pa, SO years ago.
de received a liberal education in his native
city, where he started life as druggists ap-
prentice, and in l849, made his way to Cali
tornla, then just beginning to come before
the world as a country of glorious possibi-
lities. In the infant city of San Francisco
Mr.. Kurtz embarked in the tobacco business
an partnership with a man named Drink
house. The business was q profitable one,
and the young Pniladelpbian soon became
recognized as a leader in every movement
for the public good. He was one of the Or
ganlSerS OF the California State militia, in
which he held the rank of captain of a com
pany, and also of the San Francisco fire de-
partment. lie was a member, and an out
spoken one, OF the vigilance committee of
1856, which hanged and drove out the gam
'blerS and rOughs who had usurped the civic
government, and purged San Francisco of
as desperate a collection of thieves and cut
throats as ever were found in one locality.
In 1858 when the great wave of miners
anu prOSpectOrs swept up the Fraser to
Yale, Mr.. Kurtz was one of the company,
ana III the Same year, Kurtz & Go.
entered into business at Yale. For a
tins the deceased had for a partner at
Yale,o hugh Nelson, another pioneer mer-.
chant, and now Lieut-GovernOr of the pro-
vince, in whose capabilities he has alwayshad
unOounded confidence. In 1861 Mr.. Kurt
was instrumental in organizing, and became
secretary OF the Yale steamboat Co., which
built the Fort Yale in Victoria harbOr, and
established a regular service up the Fraser
to Yale, when Hope had previously been
recognized as the head of steam navigation.
For his services, the secretary of the COM
pany was honored with a public dinner and
presented with a handsome gold watch, a
souvenir which he treasured as one of his
most valued possessions. The boat on it's
third trip exploded, and many lives were
lost,
In 1852 the deceased again made Califor-
MA bis home, but only for a few months,
Carlboo. next claiming his attention. He
was the owner of the famous 'Point" claim
on Williams creek, in which he made q
large sum of money. With this fortune he
once more returned to California, but the
spirit OF adventure was strong in him, and
ne next came prominently before British
Columbians as the organizer of the Lane &
Kurtz Mining Co., formed for the purpose
of working the meadows at the mouth of
Williams creek, which were popularity sup
posed to be enormously rich in alluvial de-
posts. Giant pumps ard other massive
machinery were introduced at an expense
of hundreds of thousands, but the water
came in SO quickly that operations had
finally to be abandoned, after q fortune had
been spent. From Cariboo, Mr.. Kurtz went
"a Nevada silver region, then an unknown
land, and where he at one time was the