Category Archives: Uncategorized

I am working on a picture book biography of Peter Lassen, the old Danish pioneer whose name is all over Northern California. I have written about his mysterious death previously on this blog. Today I went to Susanville to find … Continue reading →

File this under “You learn something new everyday.” Whenever I am looking for an article in an old newspaper (in the California Digital Newspaper Collection — a wonderful resource), my eye always strays to the advertisements. They are frequently entertaining … Continue reading →

It was a full day of celebration in Chico on July 4, 1888. As reported in the Chico Enterprise, Independence Day was packed with patriotic activities. Yesterday morning Chico, the “City of Roses.” looked gay, and her citizens smiled in … Continue reading →

Just a tiny bit more on the first work of fiction published in California.  Entewa, the Mountain Bird is mentioned briefly in Print in a Wild Land, by John Myers Myers (and no, that is not a typo — that … Continue reading →

I have been reading an old book about the Sacramento River and California history — The Sacramento, by Julian Dana. It was part of the Rivers of America series and published in 1939.  The book has some entertaining stories, but … Continue reading →

If you find accounts of life in early California fascinating, as I do, then the Library of Congress has a treasure trove for you. California as I Saw It contains first-person narratives of life in early California, from 1849 to … Continue reading →

It’s been a while since I wrote about Luzena Stanley Wilson and her memoir about life in Gold Rush California, but I have been meaning to get back to it. Her recollections are full of striking detail about everyday life, … Continue reading →

Another tidbit from the Pioneer Collection at the California State Library — a letter from Butte County Sheriff J.Q. Wilbur to John Bidwell: Hamilton, Butte Co. Cal.  July 4, 1851 Dear Major— I should like to come up this morning … Continue reading →

A nice example of a penmanship copybook  is in the Pioneer Collection at the California State Library. The Pioneer Collection consists mostly of letters and oddments that don’t fit into other collections, or don’t rate their own separate collection. This … Continue reading →

I went to the California State Library today. Here’s a little item from the John Bidwell Papers, which I find amusing: It reads: Lassen’s Ranch May 24, 1851 To the hombre in charge at Bidwell’s you will please deliver to … Continue reading →