Monthly Archives: August 2019

I travel quite often from our home in Chico to our son’s home in Livermore (because that’s where the grandchildren are). Traveling down I-5 we pass through Stockton. I have never had any reason to stop in Stockton, until I … Continue reading →

John Sutter needed lumber. He was always building — on his fort, around the fort, up at his farm. He also planned to sell lumber to the settlers who were coming into California  in increasing numbers. He needed a sawmill. … Continue reading →

I don’t think I have to tell California readers that Grass Valley is a beautiful place to visit. Gold Rush history, the homes of Lola Montez and Lotta Crabtree, the historic Holbrooke Hotel, a handsome and well-preserved downtown, a grand … Continue reading →

Our trip today to Grass Valley was not only a fun day trip to an historic California town, it was also a quest to find where this picture was taken. This postcard-size photo shows a class of girls at a … Continue reading →

A beautiful quilt show is coming to Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park on September 7th, 8th, and 9th. Annie’s Star Quilt Guild will be sharing historic quilts and reproduction quilts from the 19th and 20th centuries. Quilts will be displayed … Continue reading →

See what your teenager thinks of this– John Bidwell received a letter from S.S. Boynton, editor and publisher of the Oroville Register in 1884, asking him “how he earned his first dollar by work when a boy.” Boynton was writing … Continue reading →

Even more than President Lincoln, John Bidwell wanted to meet General Ulysses S. Grant. It took some wrangling to get a pass from Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War, but Bidwell got it, and then he hurried off to meet … Continue reading →

August 5th marks 200 years since the birth of John Bidwell, California pioneer and founder of Chico.  So wish him a “Happy Birthday!” (wherever he is), and maybe pay a visit to his home, Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park sometime … Continue reading →