Category Archives: Steamboat Belle

  John Bidwell was proud of what he called his “self-possession.” He prided himself on keeping calm and cool during a crisis. Decades after the wreck of the steamboat Belle he recollected the incident as an example of this trait. … Continue reading →

Luckily for Major Bidwell, the Sacramento Daily Union was in error. After the explsion of the steamboat Belle, John Bidwell was taken back to Sacramento and to a doctor.  Evidently (if the newspaper notice can be trusted that far) he eventually … Continue reading →

Have you ever seen a photograph of John Bidwell that so clearly showed him with a hole in his head? This photograph, taken at the Mathew Brady studio in Washington, D.C. in 1865, shows the injury he suffered in a … Continue reading →