Juliet Brier

Portrait of Juliet Brier

Photos courtesy of Security Pacific National Bank Collection / Los Angeles

Quick Facts

Significance:

Early Women in DEVA, ‘49ers, The “Best Man” of the Death Valley ‘49ers

Place of Birth:

Manchester, Vermont

Date of Birth:

09/26/1813*

Place of Death:

Lodi, California

Date of Death:

05/26/1913

No history of the Death Valley '49ers is complete without Juliet Brier. Juliet Brier was born Juliette Wells in Manchester, Vermont in 1813 and soon shortened her name to “Juliet,” which is how the Death Valley ‘49ers referred to her. She is also recorded as “Julia” is some cases. She married Rev. James W. Brier in 1839 and they were called to ministry in California a mere ten years later. They packed up their three sons, all under the age of 10, and made the trek from Maquoketa, Iowa to Salt Lake City, Utah. They were too late in the season to cross the Sierra Nevadas, especially when the fate of the Donner party was still fresh in the news, however Salt Lake City was a new Mormon town at this point in time. There were not enough resources for everyone to winter in Salt Lake, so over 100 wagons turned south. The Briers joined this exodus, joining a group called the Mississippians, but could not keep pace with them. Thus, the Briers ended up bringing up the rear of the Jayhawker Party to cross Death Valley. 

Juliet Brier is memorialized in all accounts of the ’49ers’ trek across Death Valley. One of the most detailed and trusted sources, William Lewis Manly, wrote, “all agreed she was the best man of the party.”1 Mr. Brier fell ill soon after entering Death Valley, so Juliet Brier took on almost all of the duties of keeping her family alive during their trip. She drove one team of oxen every day, packed and unpacked the oxen, built the fires, cooked food, and helped her children survive on scraps by herself. At one point, she even had to pick her husband up and help him stand by the last month of the expedition. She was recognized for her “untiring zeal” and determination to weather anything they faced in their overland journey.

Traveling to California was expensive and draining, but once they arrived in California, they still had to make a living. While most oxen died or were slaughtered during the treacherous trip across Death Valley, Juliet Brier managed to keep most of their oxen alive and well enough to sell. With those funds, the Briers were able to invest in a share of a boarding house to facilitate the constant influx of people arriving over the Sierra Nevadas in search of gold. She spent the rest of her life assisting her husband in his ministries throughout California, and died at age 99 in Lodi, CA.