Monthly Archives: February 2019

The Great Flood of 1862

I had planned to drive to Sacramento today, but this wet and windy weather is keeping me home. My journey can wait until next week. As it happens, the weather on February 25th, 1862, was nearly identical. But at least … Continue reading

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Dining at Bidwell Mansion

Dec. 31, 1866 Miss Annie E. Kennedy Annie, with your assent I will ask permission of your parents to address you. I must go further or turn away and not see you at all, for you are constantly in my … Continue reading

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New Book!

Got delivery today on 500 copies of my new book. Here they are: Peter Lassen: The True Story of a Danish Pioneer in California tells the story of Lassen’s adventures coming to America and settling in California. Steve Ferchaud did … Continue reading

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Seeing the Grizzly

Just posting these pictures here because grizzly bears are cool and not very scary at all if you have a nice thick piece of glass between you and the bear. This grizzly lives at the Oakland Zoo. The Oakland Zoo … Continue reading

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The M & T Ranch Water Tower

Here is a little more on the water tower on the M & T Ranch. Liz Stewart and John Gallardo alerted me to the existence of a drawing of the ranch in Butte County Illustrated, a book that was published … Continue reading

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The Ohmura Letter

This is the letter that was in the same box with the Ohmura bowl. It was written from Cleveland, where the Ohmuras had been relocated in 1944. They both found work there, but never at the same level of prosperity … Continue reading

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A Visit to the M & T Ranch

Today I was lucky enough to get a tour of the M & T Ranch to the west of Chico. The tour was arranged by April Morehead Pryor for her OLLI Butte County history class. The tour was led by … Continue reading

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The Ohmura Bowl — part 2

Evacuation of Japanese residents in Chico began in early July of 1942. Evacuees from Butte County were sent to the camp at Tule Lake in Siskiyou County. May Ohmura, who had just completed two years of study at Mills College … Continue reading

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The Ohmura Bowl

This bowl was a gift to my husband’s maternal grandparents, Robert and Mary Grace DeBeque, who lived in Chico during the 1940s and ’50s. I don’t know everything I would like to know about the bowl, but the letter accompanying … Continue reading

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A Poem for All Seasons

The following unattributed poem appeared in the Butte Record on November 12, 1853. I WOULD NOT DIE AT ALL I would not die in Springtime, When worms begin to crawl; When cabbage plants are shooting up, And frogs begin to … Continue reading

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