John gunnison biography

published: May 12th, 2012

In 1841, Lieut. John Gunnison, U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers was put in charge of Great Lakes Surveys. Three years later he invested his savings and his wife’s dowry in Kent County land.

John gunnison biography

In an 1846 letter to his wife John said, “I am now pondering on another project—it is a cranberry plantation.” Subsequently he purchased the entire SE quarter of section 26 in Walker Township with its boggy marshland.

On his higher ground, he had an octagonal house built. Gunnison’s name is dotted throughout the United States and especially in the American West. In 1853 he was despicably massacred leaving his wife, three children, a large extended family and many friends, including those in Grand Rapids, to mourn his loss.

This is the story of a promising young West Point cadet, a competent and upright man, who served his country well. (Find more information to your right in Related Items)