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.

February 1842

Posted on February 6, 2011 by nancyleek

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 →

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Miner’s Lettuce

Posted on February 1, 2011 by nancyleek

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 →

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January 1841

Posted on January 29, 2011 by nancyleek

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 →

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Adventures in Fort Management

Posted on January 23, 2011 by nancyleek

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 →

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Dan Barnett reviews John Bidwell

Posted on January 20, 2011 by nancyleek

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 →

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More on those muskets

Posted on January 16, 2011 by nancyleek

“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 →

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A Long and Curious Journey

Posted on January 10, 2011 by nancyleek

Arriving at Fort Ross in January 1842, John Bidwell undoubtedly found it cold, wet, and windy. But he went right to work, overseeing the job of packing and shipping every useful item at the Russian settlement to Sutter. “Sutter bought … Continue reading →

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January 8, 1842

Posted on January 7, 2011 by nancyleek

“On the 8th of January ’42, I left Capt. S’s, in his employ for the Russian settlement. I descended the Sacramento in a launch of 30 tons, into the Bay of St. Francisco. I landed at Sousalita [Sausalito] pronounced Sow … Continue reading →

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Do svidaniya, Russian-American Company!

Posted on January 2, 2011 by nancyleek

The Russians are leaving! the Russians are leaving! — that was the news going around Sutter’s Fort when John Bidwell arrived there in the fall of 1841. The Russian-American Company had established itself in northern California first in 1811. They … Continue reading →

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Christmas in California, 1841

Posted on December 24, 2010 by nancyleek

John Bidwell spent his first Christmas in California at Sutter’s settlement. Sutter himself hadn’t been there very long, and was only just getting started with his plans for fields and a fort. “The settlement, if it could then be so … Continue reading →

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