Pierson Barton Reading (also referred to as Pearson Barton Reading) was a California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 pioneer.

Life

Pierson B. Reading, was born in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. He came across country to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 with Samuel J. Hensley as a member of the Chiles-Walker party in 1843. In 1844, Reading entered the service of General Sutter

John Sutter

Johann Augus Sutter was a Swiss pioneer of California known for his association with the California Gold Rush by the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall and the mill making team at Sutter's Mill, and for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, the...

 as a clerk, explorer, and chief of trappers, and commanded Sutters Fort in Sutter's absence. He received the 26632 acres (108 km²) Mexican land grant Rancho Buena Ventura

Rancho Buena Ventura

Rancho Buena Ventura was a Mexican land grant in present day Shasta County, California, given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Major Pierson B. Reading . The land grant is named for the former name of the adjacent Sacramento River, Buena Ventura, which meant good fortune in Spanish...

 in 1844 for the area occupied by today's Redding, California

Redding, California

Redding is a city in far-Northern California. It is the county seat of Shasta County, California, USA. With a population of 89,861, according to the 2010 Census...

, and Cottonwood, California

Cottonwood, California

Cottonwood is a census-designated place in Shasta County, California, United States. The population was 3,316 at the 2010 census, up from 2,960 at the 2000 census. Cottonwood is a stagecoach town founded in 1882. Cottonwood is equidistant between Redding and Red Bluff , in both directions...

, along the Sacramento River

Sacramento River

The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...

. In 1846, Reading was a participant in the Bear Flag Revolt. In the Mexican-American War, Reading enlisted under Fremont and was appointed Paymaster of the California Battalion

California Battalion

The first California Volunteer Militia was commonly called the California Battalion was organized by John C. Fremont during the Mexican-American War in Alta California, present day California, United States.-Formation:...

, with the rank of Major. In 1848 Reading was among the first to visit James W. Marshall

James W. Marshall

James Wilson Marshall was an American carpenter and sawmill operator, whose discovery of gold in the American River in California on January 24, 1848 set the stage for the California Gold Rush. The mill property was owned by Johan Sutter who employed Marshall to build his mill...

’s gold discovery in Coloma, California

Coloma, California

Coloma is a census-designated place in El Dorado County, California, USA. It is approximately northeast of Sacramento, California. Coloma is most noted for being the site where James W. Marshall first discovered gold in California, at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848, leading to the California...

 – and shortly after engaged extensively in prospecting for gold in Shasta County

Shasta County, California

Shasta County is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The county occupies the northern reaches of the Sacramento Valley, with portions extending into the southern reaches of the Cascade Range. As of the 2010 census, the population was 177,223, up from 163,256...

, at the head waters of the Trinity River

Trinity River (California)

The Trinity River is the longest tributary of the Klamath River, approximately long, in northwestern California in the United States. It drains an area of the Coast Ranges, including the southern Klamath Mountains, northwest of the Sacramento Valley...

. In the fall of 1849, Major Reading fitted out an expedition to discover the bay into which he supposed the Trinity and Klamath River

Klamath River

The Klamath River is an American river that flows southwest through Oregon and northern California, cutting through the Cascade Range to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The river drains an extensive watershed of almost that stretches from the high desert country of the Great Basin to the temperate...

s must empty. From 1849 to 1850, Reading operated a store in Sacramento

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

 with Samuel J. Hensley and Jacob R. Snyder. He was the Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

 candidate for Governor of California

Governor of California

The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...

 in 1851.

In 1854 Reading went to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 for the US Supreme Court hearing on his land grant claim. There he met and married Fanny Wallace Washington. Reading returned to his Rancho Buena Ventura in Shasta County in 1856, where he remained until his death.