Death cerficate for Mr. Augustine C. "Gus" LeBrun (1884-1924), the black sheep of the LeBrun family of San Francisquito Canyon. Gus was killed in a police
shootout in which he murdered Deputy Constable Ed Brown. The gunfight ended when Constable Jack Pilcher shot LeBrun in the head.
Read the full story here.
Gus was the son of French-born Constant LeBrun and his wife, Matea, who was born in Baja California. Settling in San Francisquito Canyon,
they set up a well to wash and separate gold from ore-bearing gravel that was hauled by burros out of the
so-called Gold Bowl (per A.B. Perkins) between San Francisquito and Bouquet canyons.
The LeBrun ranch was located where the St. Francis reservoir would go in the 1920s. Gus' death certificate identifies him as a ranch hand.
Gus was born in 1884 in California, probably on the LeBrun ranch. He was killed Sept. 14, 1924, and two days later his body was autopsied.
He was laid to rest down-canyon in the Ruiz-Perea cemetery. That same year,
construction started on the St. Francis Dam on the LeBrun property.