Shortly before 9:00 p.m., on the evening of February 27, 1900, John A. McFeely left his hardware store on Second Street and headed for home. As he neared the footbridge over Chico Creek he heard Charles Cunningham’s dogs barking at the rear of Bidwell Mansion.

Inside Bidwell Mansion, a maid, Florence Blake, heard them too.

This incident is important in fixing the time of the crime for the reason that Miss Florence Blake, a domestic at the Bidwell home, tells that she never knew of one of the dogs acting as he did at that time. She called the dogs to quiet them, and one of them growled at her viciously and then darted out in the direction of the place where Simpson was killed.

Chico Record 1 March 1900

Charles Cunningham, who worked for the Bidwells as a gardener, lived on Lincoln Avenue near the Esplanade, but evidently kept his dogs near the mansion.

Imagine Florence sitting in the kitchen, having a cup of tea before retiring for the evening. She is feeling a bit nervous. It has been an unsettling day. General Bidwell is in his office, making notes in his diary. Mrs. Bidwell is up in their bedroom, writing letters. Florence hears the dogs making a commotion outside. She opens the back door in the laundry room and tells the dogs “Quiet!” Rather than obeying, they growl and run off toward the creek. What is going on?

Florence shut the door and locked it. She had already had one disturbing caller that evening and didn’t want any more trouble. Only an hour before she had answered a knock on the door to find a stranger asking to speak to General Bidwell. The man was clearly intoxicated. She told him that the General was busy, but to call again later and he could speak to the General.

Strangers knocking on the door of the mansion, looking for work or a handout, were common enough, but Florence didn’t care for such an interruption by a drunk on a dark night.

The man went away, but did not return. About a half or three-quarters of an hour later, one of the young ladies employed there [this was Florence] heard the dog growl fiercely and jump from the porch. The young lady was quite nervous after the visit of the drunken man, and she called the dog back to the porch.

This morning the tracks of the dog show that he had started straight for the spot where Simpson’s body was found, and it is confidently believed that he was aroused by the scuffling made during the time the deed was committed.

Chico Weekly Enterprise 2 March 1900

The police hunted for the drunken stranger the next day and found him. They decided he was not the murderer, but only a common troublemaker.

The mysterious drunken man who called at the Bidwell mansion on the evening of the murder, turned out to be James Wilson, the drunk who broke jail that day.

Chico Weekly Enterprise 2 March 1900

Tuesday morning one of Constable Potter’s prisoners broke out of the city prison by prying out one of the staples which held the gate to the prison yard. The prisoner was Jim Nelson [sic — the headline has the name Wilson] who was arrested for indecent exposure on the Shasta road [the Esplanade]. . . .

Yesterday he was identified as the man who had escaped from the jail. Further investigation proved that he was the fellow who, while intoxicated, had visited the Bidwell mansion Tuesday evening two or three hours before the murder of Simpson, and had frightened Miss Blake.

Chico Record 1 March 1900

After questioning Jim Wilson, the police decided he was not their man. Their attention turned to the men on the Mechoopda rancheria. Could this have been a case of revenge?