Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Western Emigration Society

Posted on May 6, 2020 by nancyleek

John Bidwell promoted the California plan throughout the winter of 1840-41. Missouri folks interested in going to California formed the Western Emigration Society and signed a pledge “binding each one to dispose of his property, purchase a suitable outfit, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidwell-Bartleson Party, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Going West

Posted on May 5, 2020 by nancyleek

Join the Party! The Bidwell-Bartleson Party, that is. It is May 1841 and John Bidwell is getting ready to set out for California. The Party organized on May 18th and set out on the trail on May 19th. But before … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidwell-Bartleson Party, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The First Pioneer Child Born in California

Posted on April 27, 2020 by nancyleek

Ann Gregson Reid wrote or dictated her memories for the Golden Jubilee edition of the San Francisco Call, January 23, 1898. She had seen fifty years of California history.  Here is her memoir: Being the first white child born in … Continue reading →

Posted in Gregson Family, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Man in the Red Flannel Shirt

Posted on April 26, 2020 by nancyleek

Who doesn’t love a picture of a miner, a gold prospector, a forty-niner? Here he is, on the cover of the Wasp for October 17, 1891, in his red flannel shirt, blue Levis, tall brown boots, and broad-brimmed hat. Those … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Bidwell and the Bear Flag

Posted on April 21, 2020 by nancyleek

  What did John Bidwell think of the Bear Flag Revolt and the famous Bear Flag raised at Sonoma? Not much, if you asked him, and more than one person did ask. He mentions it briefly in “Fremont in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How to Write a Constitution, According to the Wasp

Posted on April 19, 2020 by nancyleek

More cartoons! 1889 was the year that North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Montana all were admitted to the Union. And here we have those four fair ladies, sitting down to write their state constitutions. Columbia, on the right, is … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Scandalous Saga of Cartoons

Posted on April 18, 2020 by nancyleek

The Wasp delighted in lampooning the Sharon trial in cartoons. There were far more than it is worth showing here. So — one more cartoon, probably the last, showing what the principal players would look like if the trial dragged … Continue reading →

Posted in Sharon v. Hill, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Allie and Judge Sullivan

Posted on April 17, 2020 by nancyleek

“The trial of Althea’s divorce suit began in March of 1884, without a jury, before Judge Jeremiah Sullivan of the superior court of San Francisco. It continued, off and on, until September. In court, Althea told her story with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Sharon v. Hill, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Wasp Loved a Juicy Scandal

Posted on April 15, 2020 by nancyleek

And there was none juicer in 1880s San Francisco than the case of Sharon v. Sharon, which pitted elderly millionaire William Sharon against his mistress/wife (take your pick) Sarah Althea Hill. I wrote about this Scandalous Saga last year and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sacramento History Tours

Posted on April 13, 2020 by nancyleek

The Sacramento History Museum has some fun and short video tours you can enjoy during this time of confinement. The museum is closed, and they probably don’t encourage you wandering around the streets of Old Sacramento, but there are still … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment