Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Chico Fourth of July

How did 19th century Chicoans celebrate Independence Day? Here’s an entry from John Bidwell’s diary for 1876 that will give you a glimpse: Tues. July 4 Warm, very – no wind. = Bells rang & cannon & anvils roared all … Continue reading

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A Visit to the Bayliss Library

The Bayliss Library, in Glenn County, celebrates its centennial this year, and yesterday the community marked one hundred years of library service to this rural area with everything you could want in a community celebration: speeches, music, food, activities for … Continue reading

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My New Project

I am working on a picture book biography of Nancy Kelsey, the first American woman to come over the Sierra Nevada into California. Nancy was seventeen years old when she set out across the plains with her husband Ben and … Continue reading

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Lassen Volcano — 102 Years Ago Today

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 — Part 2

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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Sunday Morning in the Mines

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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Eureka!

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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The Mysterious Death of Peter Lassen — Part 3

Whodunit? Lemericus Wyatt was quick to blame the Paiute Indians. The natives always made  convenient and believable scapegoats. A man named Fred Kingsbury, whose father had been Peter Lassen’s partner, later pointed out that: When Indians kill they want something … Continue reading

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The Mysterious Death of Peter Lassen — Part 2

Peter Lassen (or Larsen, since his father’s name was Lars) was born near Copenhagen in 1800.  He became a blacksmith. In 1830 he applied to the king for permission to immigrate, probably because the depressed European economy made it hard … Continue reading

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The Mysterious Death of Peter Lassen

On April 26, 1859 — 158 years ago — Peter Lassen was murdered at Black Rock Canyon in what is now Nevada. He had gone prospecting for silver with two men, Edward Clapper and Lamericus Wyatt. Clapper also lost his … Continue reading

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