Edwin Bryant (alcalde)

[2]: 29–30 Bryant was hired to edit the Lexington Intelligencer in 1834 and spent the next decade at the newspaper, eventually becoming its owner before selling it to John C. Noble.

[2]: 30–31 Citing poor health and the desire to write a book about the experience, in 1846 Bryant left the fledgling Courier and embarked on an expedition to California.

[1]: viii–x [2]: 31–35 [5]: 23  Word of Bryant's limited medical experience had spread to other wagon trains and one enlisted him to help a ten-year-old boy with a crushed leg.

[6] In June, concerned about the slow pace of the wagon train, Bryant and a small group of others rode ahead on pack mules, leaving most of the other pioneers, including the Donner Party, behind.

Bryant was concerned that the wagon train was unsuited for such a passage and wrote letters to James Reed and other members of the Donner Party to warn them away from the cutoff.

The next year, General Stephen W. Kearny appointed Bryant the second alcalde of San Francisco, a post in which he served from February to June 1847.

Originally intending to return home by sea, he accompanied General Kearny's overland party bringing Frémont east to stand trial for his actions in California.

[1]: xv–xviii [2]: 39–42 Wealthy thanks to real estate profits, book royalties, and lecture tours, Bryant settled in the literary colony of Pewee Valley, Kentucky.

[1]: xix [2]: 42  Bryant's service was performed at Christ Church Cathedral and his body spent the next twelve years in the public receiving vault of Cave Hill Cemetery, until it was finally buried.