Author Archives: nancyleek

John Bidwell met President Lincoln in 1864 and was greatly impressed. Bidwell believed whole-heartedly in the Union cause. In 1864 he was a California delegate to the Republican National Convention in Baltimore on June 7-8, where Lincoln was renominated for … Continue reading →

Picture Annie Bidwell, sitting by the fireplace in the newly finished Bidwell Mansion, writing a New Year’s Day letter to “the dear ones at home” in Washington D.C. She misses her family, and she is sometimes lonely when “the General” … Continue reading →

Pres Longley, the “Bard of Butte,” wrote many columns and poems for the newspapers. This column appeared in the Weekly Butte Record on December 26th, 1868. It’s lengthy, so I am just going to give you the beginning, and the … Continue reading →

Enjoy this vignette from 2021, in which the Bidwells entertain guests, General Bidwell and his friend tell the story of a Christmas feast at Sutter’s Fort, and the cook is in despair.

On Monday, December 17, 1849, the California legislature met for the first time in San Jose. They were actually scheduled to meet on December 15th, but it had rained steadily since October, and the roads were so muddy that many … Continue reading →

Come to the Annual Meeting of the Association for Northern California Historical Research and hear archaeologist Greg White talk about his investigations at Rancho del Llano Seco. This new book, and all of ANCHR’s books, will be available for purchase. … Continue reading →

At the end of her diary for the year 1904, Annie Bidwell listed the Christmas gifts she gave that year. She doesn’t record where she bought these gifts, but elsewhere she mentions shopping at Oser’s and at Hibbard and Sommer’s. … Continue reading →