Author Archives: nancyleek

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About nancyleek

Nancy is a retired librarian who lives in Chico, California. She is the author of John Bidwell: The Adventurous Life of a California Pioneer.

Pres Longley’s Christmas Poem

Pres Longley, the “Bard of Butte,” wrote many, many poems for the newspapers. This one appeared in the Oroville Daily Register on December 24th, 1908. A Poem for Christmas About two thousand years ago The Earth was filled with saddest … Continue reading

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Who was the town of Nicolaus named for?

If you are driving on Highway 99, you will see a sign pointing to the small town of Nicolaus. It is situated just to the east of the highway on the south side of the Feather River. In the days … Continue reading

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Holiday Happenings

I’ll get back to writing about northern California history soon, I promise. You might get tired of hearing about my new book, and we don’t want that. But here’s one more tidbit of book news: Yesterday I was interviewed by … Continue reading

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John Bidwell, Jailbird

John Bidwell spent November 16-18, 1841, in jail. He had gone to San Jose to get a passport, since John Marsh had neglected to get one for him. At the order of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, who wanted to know what … Continue reading

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Dan Barnett’s Review

Dan Barnett’s review of John and Annie is in the Chico Enterprise-Record this morning. How nice to get an early morning e-mail from Carla Resnick telling me about it, and just as nice to read it in the print newspaper … Continue reading

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The Book is Here!

John and Annie Bidwell: The Long and the Short of It is now available! It will be in the General’s Store (the gift shop) at Bidwell Mansion starting next weekend. Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park is open Saturday, Sunday, and … Continue reading

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November 1, 1841

From John Bidwell’s trail journal: November. Monday, 1st. The Company tarried to kill game; an abundance of wild fowl and 13 deer and antelopes were brought in. My breakfast, this morning, formed a striking contrast with that of yesterday which … Continue reading

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Goldfieldsbooks.com

This blog has a new name — it is now goldfieldsbooks.com. Don’t leave out the “s” in the middle or you won’t find it. It’s still the same northern California history blog, but I’ll also be promoting my new book … Continue reading

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Coming Soon!

The book is almost here! This is what the cover will look like. It’s at the printer now, and in a week or two a pallet of books will show up on my doorstep, and then the fun begins. I … Continue reading

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Manjiro’s Return Home

Manjiro arrived in Honolulu in October of 1850 with his earnings from the goldfields in his pocket. He went immediately to find his friends, Denzo, Toraemon, and Goemon. Denzo and Goemon were willing to risk the return, but Toraemon, knowing … Continue reading

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