Ceri and I read and liked John Humphries, "Man From the Alamo," about John Rees and the Chartist rebellion.

The Chartists were a political and social reform movement in the UK. Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century between 1838 and 1848. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838, which, among other things, called for equal voting rights for men and election reforms. A major Chartist uprising occured in Newport, Wales, on 4 November 1839, following a huge march and protest. John Rees, a former soldier who served at the Alamo before returning home to Wales, led an armed group and had to flee the country after the incident. Returning to the US, Rees had been given a Texas land grant for his service in the Mexican-American war which he then sold several times before traveling west to join the Gold Rush in northern California.

Humphries wrote that he believed that John Rees had died in Hornbrook, California of TB in 1893. Homewood isn't too far a drive for us, just across the border into California on interstate 5, and we've often fantasized going camping in the Siskyous nearby and seeing what else we could find out about this John Rees, whether it really was Humphries' John Rees and whether we could find his grave. I've spent a lot of time online looking for any mention of it and cemetery records from that area and tonight I found a directory for the Henley and Hornbrook Cemetery, which lists what we think is him:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~casiskiy/Cemeteries/Hornbrook/Part1/hornbrook1.htm
"Rees, John Mar 4, 1815 Nov 13, 1893 Native of Wales"

There is no other "Rees" listed and no other listing that mentions Wales, although, there are plenty of Welsh names.

Hopefully, sometime soon, we really can go and find some more information about this John Rees and whether it really is the same.