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.

One of Those Strange Individuals

Posted on February 23, 2018 by nancyleek

John Bidwell told many fascinating stories about his life and experiences. Here is one about his friend and trail companion, James John, and an encounter with a grizzly bear in California. The grizzly bear was an hourly sight. In the … Continue reading →

Posted in James John, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Runaway Horses in 1851

Posted on February 13, 2018 by nancyleek

I’ve been going through letters in the John Bidwell Papers in the California State Library. Bidwell was the kind of man who held on to all his correspondence, and kept it well organized. Most of the letters deal with mundane … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

More about Sutter and the Mormons

Posted on February 9, 2018 by nancyleek

At the same time that Captain Sutter was bragging to General Vallejo (in Spanish), about his wheat fields and his new saw mill and flour mill, he was also writing to Thomas O. Larkin (in slightly awkward English) on the … Continue reading →

Posted in John Sutter, Mormon Battalion, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Best of Days for John A. Sutter

Posted on February 4, 2018 by nancyleek

1847 was a good year for Captain John Sutter. Things were going well and prosperity lay all around. Here is a letter written from John A. Sutter to Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo on October 31, 1847. (The original letter, in the … Continue reading →

Posted in John Sutter | Leave a comment

Sutter’s Fort Restored

Posted on February 3, 2018 by nancyleek

“In its broken, withered and dilapidated condition it offers sublime evidence of the devastation of time.” So wrote the Sacramento Daily Union on September 2, 1891. But by 1890, nostalgia for “the days of old, the days of gold, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Sutter's Fort | Leave a comment

Sutter’s Fort As It Was

Posted on February 2, 2018 by nancyleek

This painting hangs in the California History Room at the State Library in Sacramento. It shows Sutter’s Fort, what was left of it, as it looked before its restoration in the 1890s. The fort had deteriorated quickly after the gold … Continue reading →

Posted in Sutter's Fort | Leave a comment

Sarah Pellet’s Philanthropic Scheme

Posted on January 31, 2018 by nancyleek

According to the Butte Record for December 23, 1854, Sarah Pellet had a brilliant plan for promoting temperance among the California miners. Five thousand young ladies! Miss Pellet certainly did not think small. The same item was also reported in … Continue reading →

Posted in Sarah Pellet, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Sarah Pellet in the Mining Camps

Posted on January 29, 2018 by nancyleek

Sarah Pellet came to Bidwell Bar to lecture in the Fall of 1855. The Butte Record of November 3rd noted her plans for a tour of mining camps: Miss Pellett delivered a lecture at the Court House in Bidwell, on … Continue reading →

Posted in Sarah Pellet, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Sketch of California Life in the Waverley Magazine, 1856

Posted on January 27, 2018 by nancyleek

After reading the article on Chico in the Waverley Magazine, Nelson Blake wrote “I don’t understand it and await an explanation from you.” I don’t know if he ever got his explanation from John Bidwell, since Bidwell’s letters to Blake … Continue reading →

Posted in Nelson Blake, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Adventures in Research

Posted on January 26, 2018 by nancyleek

Last month I went to the California State Library to look at the Sutter’s Fort Pioneer Collection, which contains a file of John Bidwell material. In it was one letter from E. Nelson Blake, a Massachusetts man who had worked … Continue reading →

Posted in Nelson Blake | Leave a comment