So now we have gotten John Bidwell to California in November of 1841. On the 1st they arrived on the Central Valley floor, where they found an abundance of game–good eating at last!–and by November 4th the company was at John Marsh’s rancho, near Mt. Diablo, eating pork and beef. Things were looking up for the Bidwell-Bartleson Party.

If you are interested in following these intrepid emigrants for the entire journey, you may wish to revisit my blog posts from May to November 2011, when I traced their progress day by day from Missouri to California. For now I am going to leave them at Marsh’s adobe house and take a look at some other aspects of the history surrounding John Bidwell.

In upcoming posts I’ll be looking at some of Bidwell’s companions on the journey and what became of them. Who found success in California and who returned to the United States?  Did any of them (other than Bidwell) become prominent in their new home? What became of Nancy Kelsey, the lone woman in the company?

So stay tuned for more news from old Northern California, and thanks for  visiting.