goldfields

Something they want,
Something they need,
Something to wear, 
Something to read.

(Detail from Charles C. Nahl’s Sunday in the Mines. Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento.)

As a librarian and devoted book reader, I have always given the gift of books. Everybody needs a good book (or many good books) for Christmas!

So if you are shopping for books this holiday season, please consider my books as gifts for children or adults. You can order online on Amazon or at anchr.org. Chico vendors like Bidwell Mansion, Chico History Museum, Made in Chico, and Bidwell Supply Co. carry my books, as well as Treasures from Paradise and the Rusty Wagon in Orland. The Tehama County Genealogical and Historical Society is selling great local history books at the Tehama County Library.

At the ANCHR website you will find a host of other titles about Northern California history. History makes great gifts!

There’s more information about where to buy and how to order my books on the My Books tab at the top of this page.

Happy holiday reading!!!

Thanksgiving in California / At the Cabin, 1849 — D.W.N.

Or maybe it was really 1850. In Daniel W. Nason’s (unpublished) memoir of his two years in California, written twenty years later, he recalls the Thanksgiving feast he had with his friends in November 1850, even though he labels the poem 1849. But no matter. Whatever the year, the memory of “chowdered clams” and “mountain dudes” was still bright.

For more about Daniel Nason and his experiences in the Gold Rush, see this article from the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Three hardy sons from New England's shore,
With bronzed face and scarred hands,
Sat down to talk old matter o'er,
And feast on smoking chowdered clams.

Amid the wild California scenes,
'Mong stately pines our cabin stood;
On rolling hills and deep ravines,
Where roving deer and grizzlies brood.

Thanksgiving Day we here enjoyed,
The bivalves from the Merrimac;
While all about us wild and void,
We pioneers our jokes would crack.

Three thousand miles from home and friends
Was nothing to these roving boys;
'Twas digging Gold in wooded glens,
Those mountain dudes were thus employed.

Free from all creeds, or labor strikes,
And every political clan;
Freedom was not in petty fights,
Revolvers backed up every man.

We thus look backward two score years
To that log cabin on the hill;
The boys still live, those pioneers,
I hope, and wish, they always will.

Whatever is on your menu, I hope you enjoy a bountiful and satisfying Thanksgiving Day.

On October 24, 1849, Governor Bennet C. Riley, the military governor of California, issued a proclamation designating Thursday, November 29th, as a day of thanksgiving.

Proclamation

In conformity with the customs of other states and territories, and in order that the people of California may make general and public acknowledgement of their gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for his kind and [?] care during the past year, and for the boundless blessings which we now enjoy, it is recommended that Thursday, the 29th day of November next, be set apart as a day of Thanksgiving and Prayer.

Given at Monterey, California, this 24th day of October, A.D. 1849. (Signed) B. Riley. Bvt. Brig. Gen. U.S.A. and Governor of California

How was that first Thanksgiving Day celebrated? That’s hard to know. I can’t find any extant newspaper articles or letters.

In 1849 Thanksgiving Day was not yet a national holiday. That wouldn’t happen until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln called for a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise.” Up until then, the holiday was left to individual states.

As the San Francisco Call noted, it was a holiday mainly associated with New England, and men from those states would have marked the day, perhaps with an especially good meal of game or delicacies from the nearest trading post.

For men who remembered a bountiful meal at a family gathering, it must have also been a day of homesickness and longing.

I’ll be signing and selling my books tomorrow (Wednesday, November 9) at the Chico Library. If any of you are in the area, please stop in and say “Hi!” It’s an after-school event from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Alvin Coffey: The True Story of an African-American Forty-Niner is the fourth book in the Golden State Biographies series. Steve Ferchaud has illustrated all four of them. He is always a pleasure to work with.

It was exciting to work on this book. The quest for freedom is such an important subject. We all should recognize the diversity of men and women who came to California and the challenges and struggles they faced with determination.

Steve will be joining me. Here we are at a book-signing in 2017. I hope we see you tomorrow!

How many capitals has California had? More than I knew. I might have been able to list three or four, but seven? Who knew?

The California State Library knows. Here is a link to a page on Previous Capitals — and Capitols — of California. (A capital is a city, the seat of government. A capitol is a building, where the legislators and lawmakers find their seats.)

Here they are:

Monterey: 1774-1849. The capital of Mexican California and the site of the Constitutional Convention.

San Jose: 1849-1851. The first legislature met in San Jose.

Vallejo: 1852-1853. For only a few days in those two years, with Sacramento in between.

Benicia: 1853-1854. For just one year. The Benicia capitol building is a State Historic Park.

Sacramento: 1852-present day. After all that moving around, they finally settled on Sacramento.

But wait — that’s only six capitals. What was the seventh?

San Francisco: 1862. The legislators adjourned to SF when flood waters became to much for them. Sacramento was inundated during the Great Flood of 1862 as the American and Sacramento Rivers overflowed their banks.

How would a group of well-brought-up young people entertain themselves on Halloween 115 years ago? Annie Bidwell’s diary gives us a glimpse.

In 1905 Harriett Alexander came to Chico to live at Bidwell Mansion and attend Chico High School. She was fifteen years old. Although her home was in Oakland, Harriett had  been coming to Bidwell Mansion for lengthy visits since she was a baby. Her mother, Minnie Carroll Alexander, and her mother’s parents, the Carrolls of Sacramento, were old friends of the Bidwells.

Annie Bidwell enjoyed having young people around her, and liked to see them having a good time. In her diary for 1907 (when Harriett was 17) she reports on Harriett’s Halloween Party at the mansion.

Thurs., October 31.
Harriett’s Halloween Party.
Bought $l0.00 candy & prizes for Harriett’s party this evening.
Very busy all day and evg. Very tired.
Party.
Harriett’s party this evg. from 8.30 to l2.l5 A.M. Guests – (30-),came disguised in sheets & white masks. I did not recognize one person. A merry time they had. After masks were removed & sheeting, very bright games were played to my great amusement and that of some others. Ten O’C – supper, in library. Very elaborate & good. A pumpkin near each end of table & an enormous one in middle, well lighted, & red, & low candles at each plate, lighted, set in apples, added to the merry making. No lights but from pumpkins when ghosts entered. Immense pumpkins everywhere & lights in some. Harriett’s idea & work. Isabell, [indecipherable] McGregor & others helped her. Mansion a bower for party.

The Butte Record for November 1st reported that “the mansion was profusely decorated with smilax and chrysanthemums, and each guest appeared attired in a sheet, in keeping with the traditions of the night.”

At 10 o’clock there was a grand march, followed by the unmasking of the guests, music and games, and supper at a long table set up in the library.  The next day Annie records that she was up at 6 a.m. to help clear away the results of the party. Plenty of sheets to pick up and fold, no doubt.

And that’s how to throw a Halloween party, turn-of-the-century style.

Having wrapped up the last days of Black Bart, I think I will take a little vacation from blogging. I will be posting now and then, but I have family activities coming up and other projects to work on. Just a couple of notes:

I spent an enjoyable Saturday at the Dairyville Orchard Festival in Tehama County. Here I am with my comrades-in-arms, Ron Womack (center) and Eric Ritter (right). It was a successful day for Goldfields Books (me) and for the Association for Northern California Historical Research (ANCHR). I have assisted on several ANCHR books and if you are interested in exploring our publications, go to anchr.org, where you will find a complete list available for purchase online.

I have a book-signing event coming up on Wednesday, November 9th at the Chico Branch of the Butte County Library. I hope you can join me at 4:00 p.m.

Steve Ferchaud will be there too — a great opportunity to meet the illustrator.

My books are ideal for children interested in history, for 3rd and 4th grade teachers doing local and California history, for school libraries, and for parents and grandparents who are looking for a great true read-aloud.

Buy a book (Christmas is coming), pick up a free bookmark, enjoy a treat, and chat with Steve and me.

I’d love to meet you, so please come!