 After moving to Newport (now Fountain City), Indiana, Venard became the first teacher of the joint town and township school.Because of his participation with the Underground Railroad, a bounty was put on him, so he headed to California in March 1850 with a group of 24 others in covered wagons, arriving in September 1850.Early on upon reaching California's Gold country, Venard tried his hand at gold mining, settling first in Colfax, but by December 1850, he had moved to the North Fork of the American River.