goldfields

Looking for something completely different in John Bidwell’s diaries, I came across this notation for June 26, 1881:

Events: Slept in tower to watch the comet

The tower of Bidwell Mansion would be a great viewing platform for watching a comet, and it was a comet well worth watching. It was considered a “Great Comet” — a majestic comet, visible to the naked eye, with a long, prominent tail. I have never been lucky enough to see such a spectacle during my lifetime.

The room at the top of the tower is small, but big enough to hold a cot or a mattress, where the General could get a little shut-eye before waking up to admire the heavenly visitor. And without the light pollution that we suffer from today, the comet would have stood out brilliantly from the dark night sky.

Discovered just a month previously by astronomer John Tebbutt in New South Wales, Australia, this unpredicted comet is designated C1881 K1.

It was much remarked on by the newspapers of the day. The San Jose Mercury-News, for instance, showed its readers how the comet would look at various times. It was visible both in the evening and the morning, leading some viewers to surmise that it was two comets.

Astronomical photography was in its infancy, so few photos exist of the Great Comet of 1881. But a French artist and amateur astronomer, E.L. Trouvelot, created this beautiful chromolithograph, based on his observations.

How I wish I could see that from the tower of Bidwell Mansion!

Noodling around the Internet Archive and I found this, a collection of brief autobiographies of the members of the California legislature.

The first legislature consisted of 36 Assemblymen and 16 Senators. They began their deliberations on Monday, December 17, 1849. At some point during the first session, Assemblyman John S. Bradford asked his fellow legislators to write down some particulars about themselves and 30 members complied. Here are three selections:

Born Chautauqua Co. N.Y. 5 Aug. A.D. 1819 — emigrated to Penn. – thence to Ohio — thence to Missouri — thence in 1841 to California — Single — term in Senate one year — Democrat — etc. etc. J. Bidwell

Here is Elisha O. Crosby, whom I have written about before. Not all the men indicated their party affiliation, but he did, with emphasis:

Elisha O. Crosby. Senator from Sacramento District. Native of New York State. Emigrated from New York Decr. 25, 1848. Age 34. Married. Democrat all the time.

Since all but two of the legislators were born in other states, it was important for them to indicate their home state. Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee — nearly every state in the Union was represented.

Two Senators, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and Pablo de la Guerra, were native-born Californios. Here is Vallejo’s statement:

M. G. Vallejo born in Monterey of Alta California on the 7 of July, 1807. . . .

If anyone would like to translate the rest of his statement, I would be happy to post it. I am pretty good at reading old handwriting, but unfortunately I do not read Spanish.

Once again the Bidwell Mansion Association was unable to celebrate the holidays in person at Bidwell Mansion with a party for members and guests. Instead we created a virtual holiday celebration.

Join with John and Annie Bidwell and their dinner guests as they hear the story of Christmas dinner at Sutter’s Fort in 1845, based on the recollections of William Swasey. Our thanks to Nick Anderson (John Bidwell), Robyn Engel (Annie Bidwell), LaShona Haskell (Mrs. Swasey), Mike Swann (Mr. Swasey), and Saralysette Stauffer (Katie). Mrs. Blake the cook is played by yours truly, Nancy Leek. The scene was written by me and filmed and edited by Adrienne Glatz.

My final selections from the Christmas pictorial issue of the Oroville Daily Butte Record for 1857.

That last image of false teeth was usually employed in advertisements for dentists.

And as long as we are on the subject of roast turkey and Christmas dinner, how about this phoenix? The image was usually used in advertisements for fire insurance and fire-proof building supplies.

Like the editor of the Butte Record, I wish all my readers:

A few random bits from the Butte Record’s Christmas pictorial. The text was dictated by the engravings available and the imagination of the editor.

Quartz mills for extracting gold were common, but not quite that small.

The printer’s devil was the lowest man on the totem pole in a print shop, doing all the dirtiest, heaviest work. That turtle must have been the closest image to a devil he could find.

If you have a picture of a running dog and an arm and hammer, what do you do? Put them together and give a warning to stray dogs.

Here is a really lovely cut of a sailing ship. You wouldn’t want not to use it. But who is John Kirk? He had been in the news as a road contractor, responsible for the building of a road from Placerville to the Carson Valley. The editor of the Butte Record labeled him “Hangtown John, the Road Overseer.” I’m not sure what he was guilty of, but Mr. Editor wanted him run out of town.

The only Emma Stanley I can find in this period was a singer and actress, popular on the San Francisco stage. She gave a farewell performance in January 1858 before returning to the East Coast. Perhaps the editor had seen her on stage.

Lady Liberty takes center stage in this clever item.

This lady was born in Philadelphia, on the 4th of July 1776. She was raised by a gentleman named Washington, and brought out into society by Mrs. John Adams, Mr. Thomas Jefferson and several other kind people, until she got to be big enough and old enough to go it alone, when she was married to the Constitution of the United States . . .

Mrs. John Adams was Abigail, a suitable lady to introduce a young woman to the world. The Constitution was written in 1789, making the young lady 13 years old when she was “old enough to go it alone.”

. . . the Constitution of the United States, with whom she has lived ever since, and had several children, among whom are Nebraska Bill and various valuable and useful members of society.

The “Nebraska Bill” (Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854) was much in the news in the 1850s. It repealed the Missouri Compromise and created two new territories. Its popular sovereignty provision led to a violent uprisings as pro-slavery and anti-slavery activists flooded into the territories to influence the vote.

In 1856 she was mighty badly scared by John C. Fremont and Horace Greely, but she was really in no danger, being duly backed up by James Buchanan, a very “clever gentleman.” Her price (she has a price) is eternal vigilance.

John C. Fremont was the first presidential candidate of the new Republican Party and Greeley was his running mate. Buchanan is now ranked as one of the worse presidents, but he was a Democrat, so the editor of the Butte Record endorsed him.

Quiz time: Who said, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance?” This familiar quotation is usually attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but it seems he never said or wrote it. According to researchers at Monticello.org, it can be traced back, ultimately, to John Philpot Curran’s statement, “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.”

Note: When I wrote yesterday’s post, I said that this Christmas pictorial appeared in 1856. It was actually 1857, and the post has been corrected.

This one is almost like a rebus:

A tree on one side and a house on the other equals a small town, with a barrel in the center signifying the chief entertainment in that place. Put a sun above, and there you have it — Bangor by the light of a rising sun.

Miss Julia Budson is most likely fictional, but Ned Pratt was a real person, the driver of the stagecoach on the Marysville to Bangor route.

The Butte Record was a Democratic paper, so the editor here compliments Ned on his political advertising. Ned turns up in news stories every so often, and here’s a good one.

The Oroville Daily Butte Record had some fun for its readers on Christmas Day, 1857, which it “Furnished to our readers gratuitously as a Christmas present!”

Using standard newspaper engravings that were usually seen in advertisements and patriotic announcements (“obtained at a reckless disregard of expense”), the editor, George Crosette, put together fake news stories and entertainments for his readers. I’ll share some of these for your Yuletide amusement over the next few posts.

The page starts off with a grand illustration of the new Hotel St. Nicholas, located on the corner of Montgomery and Huntoon Streets.

Oroville in 1856 had nothing so magnificent. I doubt any building in Oroville at the time was more than two stories high. The real St. Nicholas Hotel can be seen on the left in this drawing:

Here the American eagle is shown with arrows clutched in “his right paw,” while “the vegetable productions on the other side represent roots” (actually an olive branch) as an “allegory meaning that nobody can play any root on the American people.” I am sorry to say I can’t explain the pun.

Then there is a cart and a horse, because “by giving the eagle’s picture priority to that of Franklin, we have placed the cart before the horse.” Benjamin Franklin being, of course, the patron saint of American printers.

Franklin is shown with two deer, one above and one below his portrait, because he said he once “paid two deer for a whistle.”

How the readers must have groaned at this desperate pun.

Stay tuned for more merriment from the Christmas issue of the Butte Record.

My books are available for holiday shopping! You can order by contacting me at goldfieldsbooksca@gmail.com, or by shopping at some of our great North State businesses like Made in Chico, ABC Books, Bidwell Mansion (open Wednesdays and Saturdays), The Rusty Wagon in Orland and Treasures from Paradise.

A great place to order my books and other fabulous books on Northern California history is ANCHR.org. History is best when shared!

My books are on Amazon and if you order there it comes straight to me and I put the book in the mail right away.

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!!!

Just like last year, the Bidwell Mansion Association is not able this year to host a live holiday event at Bidwell Mansion for members and guests. But do not despair! A virtual holiday extravaganza is in the works, coming soon to the BMA YouTube channel.

In the meantime, you can enjoy last year’s virtual “Christmas with the Bidwells.” In this YouTube video you will tour General Bidwell’s office, find out what’s cooking in the kitchen with Florence the cook, hear stories from Peter the coachman, and listen to Annie tell you about her plans for Christmas shopping. You’ll also enjoy piano and fiddle music in the parlor, just like John and Annie might have done.

Adrienne Glatz plays Annie, Nick Anderson is John Bidwell, Mike Swann is Peter, and that’s me as Florence the cook. Video recording by Elizabeth Quivey, editing by Adrienne Glatz, and music by Alicia Glatz (piano) and Joel Quivey (violin).

The new “Christmas with the Bidwells” is on its way and will be ready soon. Happy Holidays to you!