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.

The Sensational Saga of Talbot H. Green — Part 6

Posted on May 23, 2017 by nancyleek

For four years, from 1851 to 1855, Talbot Green languished in Tennessee, writing plaintive letters to Thomas O. Larkin and watching the return mail. He maintained that his former partners and friends, W.D.M. Howard and Joseph P. Thompson, owed him … Continue reading →

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Lassen Volcano — 102 Years Ago Today

Posted on May 22, 2017 by nancyleek

This is really neat footage of the eruption of the volcano in our backyard. Lassen Peak erupted on May 22, 1915 and the event was caught on film by Justin J. Hammer of Red Bluff. The film comes from the … Continue reading →

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The Sensational Saga of Talbot H. Green (and Sarah Montgomery) — Part 5

Posted on May 21, 2017 by nancyleek

Sarah Armstrong Montgomery was eighteen years old when she came to California. She married Allen Montgomery, a gunsmith, in Missouri in 1843. In 1844 they set out with the Stephens-Murphy Party for California. This was the first group of pioneers … Continue reading →

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The Sensational Saga of Talbot H. Green — Part 4

Posted on May 19, 2017 by nancyleek

Talbot H. Green had two valuable assets that he brought to California in 1841. One was his lump of “lead.” Whatever it was, however much it was worth, and however he managed to turn it into spendable currency, it helped … Continue reading →

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The Sensational Saga of Talbot H. Green — Part 3

Posted on May 18, 2017 by nancyleek

Paul Geddes left Pennsylvania and made his way to New Orleans, probably by ship from New York City. From New Orleans, he took a steamboat up the Mississippi. He was getting as far away from the scene of his crime … Continue reading →

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The Sensational Saga of Talbot H. Green — Part 2

Posted on May 17, 2017 by nancyleek

No extant portrait of Talbot H. Green exists. In a day when forty-niners right and left were having their likenesses made, he avoided the camera. He is absent from a group photograph of Thomas O. Larkin and his business associates. … Continue reading →

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The Sensational Saga of Talbot H. Green

Posted on May 16, 2017 by nancyleek

San Francisco in 1851 was a booming, bustling place. Fortunes were made and lost daily. Men who had come to California with hardly a penny in their pockets rose to prominence, while others who had struck it rich in the … Continue reading →

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Sunday Morning in the Mines

Posted on May 7, 2017 by nancyleek

This being a Sunday morning, I’d like to share one of my favorite paintings with you: Sunday Morning in the Mines, by Charles Christian Nahl. It was painted in 1872, but harks back to the “Days of ’49.” The painting … Continue reading →

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A Piece of California History

Posted on May 4, 2017 by nancyleek

Who doesn’t like to see and hold in their hands a genuine piece of California history? Today I was lucky enough to see and admire the gold-headed walking stick that belonged to Joseph B. Chiles, one of the earliest American … Continue reading →

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Eureka!

Posted on May 1, 2017 by nancyleek

No, I haven’t struck gold. But I found something I’ve been looking for — an old episode of Death Valley Days. A year ago or so I found out that John Bidwell featured in the episode The Lady With the … Continue reading →

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