Author Archives: nancyleek

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.

Luzena’s “languishing spark of womanly vanity.”

Posted on April 24, 2018 by nancyleek

Luzena and her husband and their two little boys are close to the end of the trail— The first man we met was about fifty miles above Sacramento. He had ridden on ahead, bought a fresh horse and some new … Continue reading →

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The Hard March over the 40-Mile Desert

Posted on April 23, 2018 by nancyleek

We rejoin Luzena Stanley Wilson on her overland journey to California– It was a hard march over the desert. The men were tired out, goading on the poor oxen which seemed ready to drop at every step. They were covered … Continue reading →

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Dealing with the Desert

Posted on April 19, 2018 by nancyleek

Remember the Independence Company? That was the company of young men who set out, with flags flying and a brass band playing, at the same time as Luzena and Mason Wilson’s wagon train left Missouri. Luzena, afraid of the Indians, … Continue reading →

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Lightening the Load

Posted on April 18, 2018 by nancyleek

Wagon train pioneers inevitably had to lighten their loads. First to go were heavy items like the rocking chair and the cast iron stove. Some emigrants took equipment that they thought would pay off in their new home, like pickaxes … Continue reading →

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Monotony and Peril

Posted on April 17, 2018 by nancyleek

Nothing but actual experience will give one an idea of the plodding, unvarying monotony, the vexations, the exhaustive energy, the throbs of hope, the depths of despair, through which we lived. Day after day, week after week, we went through … Continue reading →

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“We were on the road to California”

Posted on April 16, 2018 by nancyleek

Luzena Stanley Wilson and her husband Mason set out for California one bright May morning in 1849. The first day’s slow jogging brought us to the Missouri River, over which we were ferried in the twilight, and our first camp … Continue reading →

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The Adventures of Luzena Stanley Wilson

Posted on April 15, 2018 by nancyleek

The account of Luzena Stanley Wilson is one of the most vivid and charming of all the Gold Rush stories that have come down to us. She told her story to her daughter Correnah in 1881 while Correnah was recovering … Continue reading →

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Happy 102nd Birthday, Beverly Cleary!

Posted on April 12, 2018 by nancyleek

In honor of Beverly Cleary’s 102nd birthday (born April 12, 1916), I am rerunning the post I wrote in 2016. Beverly Cleary is still on this earth, and still a beloved author, and if you have never read a book … Continue reading →

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It’s California Poppy Day!

Posted on April 6, 2018 by nancyleek

April 6 is California Poppy Day, honoring our state flower. The California Poppy was designated the state flower in 1903, and in 2010 April 6 was named an official state holiday (but not one where anybody gets the day off, … Continue reading →

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More from McKinstry

Posted on March 30, 2018 by nancyleek

Continuing George McKinstry Jr’s letter to Edward Kern, December 1851: Old Louis Keseberg,* the Donner Party Man-Eater, has made a fortune and is now running a restaurant on K street in Sacramento City. I would like to board there, I … Continue reading →

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