Author Archives: nancyleek

You can help maintain Chico’s foremost historical landmark by joining the Bidwell Mansion Association. The BMA supports the restoration, preservation, and interpretation of Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park. Member benefits include receiving a newsletter, The Mansion, where you can read … Continue reading →

One of the attractions of California down through the ages has been its healthy climate. While still in Missouri, John Bidwell had met a fur trader named Antoine Robidoux who described California as a place of “perennial spring and boundless … Continue reading →

Bodega, Port of the Russians Upper California, March 30th, 1842 Most Esteemed Sir:–Owing to circumstances I am compelled to abridge my journal and likewise a description of the country so far as I have been able to travel. By perusing … Continue reading →

February 5th. Bright, clear and warm. February 6th. Same. February 7th. Rainy. February 8th. This morning snowed 5 minutes. That was the weather report from the California coast in February 1842. John Bidwell spent all of 1842 at Bodega Bay … Continue reading →

John Bidwell probably discovered miner’s lettuce the first winter that he lived in California. After a steady diet of beef, beans, and game, anything green would be welcomed for the sake of variety, if nothing else. Miner’s lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata) … Continue reading →

In January 1842 Bidwell was living at Bodega Bay and supervising work at Fort Ross. But where was he and what was he doing a year earlier in 1841? He had staked a claim in the Platte Purchase in Missouri … Continue reading →

At Bodega and Fort Ross John Bidwell took charge of removing the Russian property that John Sutter had purchased. It wasn’t just the cannons, the muskets, and other equipment that he took. The houses and buildings themselves were demolished and … Continue reading →

Dan Barnett’s review of John Bidwell: The Adventurous Life of a California Pioneer appeared in the Chico Enterprise-Record today. You can read it here. I’ve been running out in the dark every Thursday morning for the past two months to … Continue reading →

“By the way, I once shot off one of those old muskets. On one occasion when out with two Indians our dogs treed a California lion. The lion stood one hundred and fifty feet above on two limbs looking down … Continue reading →