Author Archives: nancyleek

Here we are, halfway through the month of March, Women’s History Month, and I have written nothing on women in California. I’ve been very busy with other projects — several presentations (Chico History Museum on March 29 is the next … Continue reading →

Want to meet a real pioneer woman? Meet Nancy Kelsey, a woman who could drive a team, cook over a campfire, sew a shirt, shoot and dress a deer, tan the hide and make moccasins, and anything else she needed … Continue reading →

My grandmother used to sing this song in the car. My grandparents had migrated from cold old Rochester, New York, to sunny Southern California in the 1920s, just when this song was at the height of its popularity. They were … Continue reading →

An ode to “the spring that obtains but one month in the year” by Bret Harte. California Madrigal (On the Approach of Spring) Oh, come, my beloved, from thy winter abode,From thy home on the Yuba, thy ranch overflowed;For the … Continue reading →

On January 29th, 1851, George Murrell wrote from Long Bar on the American River: My Provision speculation this winter did not come up to my expectation. And I had to be very industrious with my mules to save myself. I … Continue reading →

In the spring of 1849 George Murrell, the son of a well-to-do farming family near Bowling Green, Kentucky, joined the great overland trek to the land of gold. Like all forty-niners, George had high hopes of getting rich. George took … Continue reading →

Hidden away in a back gallery at the Haggin Museum in Stockton are three genre paintings of everyday life in early California. The prominent galleries at the front of the Haggin Museum hold an impressive collection of European (mostly French) … Continue reading →

I have several talks and presentations to give in the coming months. A couple of them don’t have dates yet, but I’ve got plans. First up is a talk at Kelly-Griggs House in Red Bluff on Saturday, January 18, at … Continue reading →