Iverson Cabin Site

Christian Iverson, the first European settler of record at this site, lived in a two-room cabin of hand-split redwood built in the 1860s that stood until the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989. He made his living locally by splitting redwood shakes, working for farmers, doing road work, and taking other odd jobs. Iverson had earlier worked as a Pony Express rider and a stagecoach shotgun guard. The most famous episode of his past was a shootout in the streets of Santa Clara with Captain Harry Love, the former head of the California Rangers, who had been responsible for the capture of the outlaw Joaquin Murrietta. At the time, Iverson was working as bodyguard and foreman for Mrs. Love, to her husband's displeasure. Harry Love tried to ambush and kill him, but Iverson suffered only minor wounds in the gunfight, while Harry Love died from the wounds Iverson inflicted and Mrs. Love later died of gunshot wounds received during the fight.

California · United States