On November 4th the Bidwell-Bartleson Party finally arrived at the home of Dr. John Marsh. Considering the glowing reports of California that Marsh had sent back east, Bidwell was surprised at the primitive conditions he was living in. He had a small adobe house with a dirt floor and no fireplace. ” In fact it was not what I expected to find,” wrote Bidwell.

Dr. Marsh fed the company as best he could. He killed a hog for their dinner. “We had nothing else but beef; the latter was used as bread, and the former (pork) as meat. Therefore I will say we had bread and meat for dinner.”