Monthly Archives: January 2016

Kanakas in California

When John Sutter came to California it could hardly have been by a more roundabout route. Born in Switzerland, he migrated to America in 1834, leaving behind his considerable debts (thousands of francs) and his considerable family (wife and five … Continue reading

Posted in John Sutter, Kanaka, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Diversity at New Helvetia

The colony that John Sutter gathered around him in California was nothing if not diverse. When John Bidwell made his way to John Sutter’s settlement in November 1841, he found Sutter living amongst a motley crew gathered from the far … Continue reading

Posted in John Sutter, Kanaka, New Helvetia, Sutter's Fort | Leave a comment

Early Photos of Bidwell Mansion

The California State Library has several stereo views of Bidwell Mansion and Chico, designed to be viewed in a stereoscope. The photos depict right-eye and left-eye views of the same scene, and when viewed through the stereoscope appear three dimensional. … Continue reading

Posted in Bidwell Mansion, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Bancroft’s “Literary Industries”

When I was a student at the University of California, Berkeley, back in the late ’60s, I was lucky enough to get a job as a student assistant in the Bancroft Library. Other student assistants fetched books from the stacks, … Continue reading

Posted in Bancroft Library, H.H. Bancroft | 2 Comments

More on the Chinese in Butte County

Liz Stewart of Chico Heritage Association alerted me to the website Butte County California Chinese Immigrants. This project is the work of Bill Jones, former Special Collections librarian at CSUChico, and Paul Johnson. The focus is on a collection of … Continue reading

Posted in Chinese, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

A Bachelor’s Hope for Leap Year

You may wrangle and rave of your Marysville girls, Of the girls of the Capital City, Of the ‘Frisco girls, with their fads and their curls, But the Butte Creek girls are most pretty. Their smiles are far dearer to … Continue reading

Posted in Pres Longley, Uncategorized | 1 Comment