Isaac Graham was a fur trader and mountain man

Mountain man

Mountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through the 1880s where they were instrumental in opening up the various Emigrant Trails allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains...

. In 1830, he joined a hunting and trapping party at Fort Smith, Arkansas

Fort Smith, Arkansas

Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...

 that included George Nidever

George Nidever

George Nidever was an American mountain man, explorer, fur trapper, memoirist and sailor. In the 1830s he became one of the first wave of American settlers to move to Mexican California, where he made his living in fur trapping...

. Graham attended the rendezvous of 1832 and took part in the battle of Pierre's Hole

Pierre's Hole

Pierre's Hole, a shallow valley west of the Teton Range that collects the headwaters of the Teton River in what is today the state of Idaho, was a strategic center of the fur trade of the northern Rocky Mountains...

. From there, Graham joined Joseph R. Walker's party headed for California. When Walker returned east in 1833, Graham and several others stayed behind in Mexican Alta California

Alta California

Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...

. Graham established a distillery at Natividad

Rancho La Natividad

Rancho La Natividad was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Manuel Butrón and his son-in-law, Nicolás Alviso. Rancho La Natividad and Rancho Los Vergeles were adjoining ranchos along Gabilan Creek north of present day...

, north of Monterey

Monterey, California

The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...

. In 1836, he led a group of American and European immigrants who supported Juan Bautista Alvarado

Juan Bautista Alvarado

Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo was a Californio and twice Governor of Alta California from 1836 to 1837, and 1838 to 1842.-Early years:...

 in the coup against Governor Nicolás Gutiérrez

Nicolás Gutiérrez

Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez was a twice acting governor of Alta California in 1836 from January to May and July to November.Gutierrez served two abbreviated terms in less than a year as acting governor of Alta California in 1836...

. Later, Alvarado turned against Graham and had him arrested, among a group of about 100 foreigners, in 1840. This action led to a diplomatic crisis, involving Mexico, the United States and the United Kingdom

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

, that became known as the "Graham Affair". After his release in 1841, Graham moved north to the Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...

 area, where he again established a distillery and a sawmill at Rancho Zayante

Rancho Zayante

Rancho Zayante was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Cruz County, California. The grant, measuring one league by one-half league , straddled Zayante Creek, near its confluence with the San Lorenzo River...

, near the present-day community of Felton

Felton, California

-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Felton had a population of 4,057. The population density was 891.2 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Felton was 3,691 White, 25 African American, 29 Native American, 69 Asian, 11 Pacific Islander, 60 from other races, and 172 from...

. Graham Hill Road, now a major route between Felton and Santa Cruz, was built by Graham to transport his timber to the coast for shipment.