Young Swift, whose great-uncle was the legendary explorer Daniel Boone, hoped he would make his fortune in fur trapping — but he soon made his name as an insurrectionist. This defiance led to the famous Bear Flag Revolt of 1846, where 33 American settlers, among them Swift and Ford, responded to the rumors that the Mexican military commandant planned to expel all foreigners. He stayed on in Sonoma for another year, commanding a company and earning the rank of captain, before the lure of wealth called to him again. "Swift was one of the best miners I ever knew," a fellow prospector said. "It seems as if he could almost smell the gold. He made an immense amount of gold. When these three men had worked all winter and fall, I believe they must have made $100,000 apiece and maybe more.” Swift coined his money into octagonal slugs of $50, each bearing his private mark. Granville buried it up there alongside Hambreck Creek, and they had a flood that winter, and it all washed away.” 
 
 With his gain from the gold fields, Swift, his brother William and his cousin Frank Sears purchased 15,000 acres of Gen. Vallejo’s Petaluma Rancho, located near Sears Point. Swift also reburied his gold hoard, an estimated $100,000, in seven bottles, two “Stoan Jugs in one other hoal” and “1 tin box & 1 Little Bottle Boath in the saim hoal.” The list in his handwriting miraculously survived. The Kentuckian had come to California as a 19-year-old, nine years before the Gold Rush would change the state forever. The family left Sonoma County to start a new life in Solano County, settling in Green Valley in 1864. Hoping to turn his luck around, Swift moved his family to Solano County in 1864, purchasing a ranch in Green Valley (today, it's the Green Valley Country Club) and setting out into the Berryessa area to prospect once more. Swift returned to prospecting, this time for quicksilver in the mountains between Berryessa Valley and Knoxville. I knew him well during prosperity and adversity and all his life he was never known to turn his back on his old friends who were poor.
– On the heels of a renewed hunt for treasure in a tiny French village comes the tale of buried treasure in California. The San Francisco Chronicle takes a look back at one of the state's colorful historical figures: Granville P. Swift, the great-nephew of Daniel Boone who came to the state in the mid-1800s with a plan to be a fur trapper. Gold called his name instead. He found it at Bidwell's Bar, with the paper quoting a fellow prospector as saying Swift was an exceptional miner who "must have made $100,000" in one prospecting season. Indeed, reports at the time indicate he arrived in San Francisco with more than $500,000 in gold, which he had minted into octagonal slugs—and began to bury around the Bay Area. The Vacaville Reporter previously reported that Swift reburied roughly $100,000 in gold after building his mansion in 1858, but the Chronicle reports a "scatter-brained" Swift failed to recall where he had put much of it. He died in 1875 with much of his haul secreted away in forgotten locations. Some was found in the early 20th century, including $30,000 found in 1904 while repairing a chimney on his property. But the last big find was in 1914, suggesting, in the Chronicle's view, there's more out there to be found ... and not much more than unhelpful-seeming clues to go on. The Reporter notes a "list in his handwriting miraculously survived," but the clues are of this sort: "1 tin box & 1 Little Bottle Boath in the saim hoal."