Category Archives: Uncategorized

Coming soon! A picture book biography of John and Annie Bidwell for young readers. I want to show you some samples pages. Ever since I did my book on John Bidwell in 2010, teachers have asked me for an easier … Continue reading →

Continuing the recollections of D. F. Crowder. The following appeared in the Chico Enterprise for December 27, 1917. Crowder came to Chico in 1856, at the age of twelve, so he saw it before it was even a town. Bidwell … Continue reading →

In September 1889 John Bidwell wrote to his friend E. Nelson Blake: Your memory is good — true, 39 years ago we brought the news of California’s admission into the Union. Where are those who were our fellow passengers? Except … Continue reading →

A story told by D. F. Crowder in the Chico Enterprise, December 29, 1917— Of women in those days there were very few. In fact, women were somewhat of a curiosity. Men would go many miles just to look at … Continue reading →

Here are four pages labeled Farm Account from Rancho Chico for 1849 and 1850. The paper is very brittle and fragile, and I am grateful to George Thompson for allowing me to handle the originals. The second image here is … Continue reading →

I was vacuuming up cobwebs around the windows this morning, and it recalled to mind this phrase: The rubbish of spiders no mortal supposes which is a line from The Housewife’s Lament, also known as the The Housekeeper’s Tragedy. or … Continue reading →

Jennie Megquier’s letters from Gold Rush San Francisco record a few interesting notes about clothing. In November 1849 she wrote: I have starched twenty shirts this evening. I tell you this to give you an idea of the amount of … Continue reading →

. . . after they’ve seen San Francisco? It didn’t take long for San Francisco to work her magic on Jennie Megquier. She wrote about the folks at home in Maine, “I have seen so much of things a little … Continue reading →

Jennie Megquier ran a boarding house in San Francisco, and the work was never-ending. She writes: I should like to give you an account of my work if I could do it justice. . . In the morning the boy … Continue reading →

The Megquiers shipped a “portable iron house” to San Francisco, figuring it would be a good investment in a city where people were living in shacks and tents, and indeed it was. They used the ground floor for a store, … Continue reading →