goldfields

I thought I knew a lot about the 1841 Bidwell-Bartleson Party — the first group of emigrants to leave the United States on the overland trail. But I didn’t know about the letter carried by Elias Barnett to John Marsh, which is the earliest letter to be carried overland from Missouri to California. I have the Overland Journal of the Oregon-California Trails Association to thank for bringing this to my attention.

When the Bidwell-Bartleson Party left Missouri in May 1841, Elias Barnett was carrying a letter from William B. Barnett and William Hague, merchants of Independence, Missouri. The letter was addressed to John Marsh and began, “you will receive this by the hands of our friends Elias Barnett and Michael Nye whom together with a number of others visits California for the purpose of exploring the country and returning to the United States.” This implies that the men did not come to California with the intention of settling, but instead wanted to explore and scope out the country and report back whether or not it was suitable for American settlement.

They asked John Marsh to inform them about “the government, if they would willingly admit Americans to the rights of citizenship . . . and what would be the reception of an American population by the government of California.” They also desired a report on ” soil, climate, timber, water, productions of the country, etc. etc.” and the “commercial and mercantile and manufacturing advantages” of California.

But it wasn’t John Marsh who fulfilled their request. It was John Bidwell. During his first year in California, he polished up his overland journal and added an extensive report entitled “Observations about the Country.” He describes the trees, the grasses, and vegetables like potatoes and beans. He gives a day-by-day weather report from November 1841, when he arrived, to April 1842 (“2nd. Very fine, strawberries will be ripe in a few days”), and a general description of the summer (“heat is intense”) and fall.

He gives a lengthy report on the “Resources of the Country,” including information about fruit trees, livestock, the missions, the healthy climate (“the fever and ague are seldom known”), water, timber, fish, and birds. He describes houses made of unburnt bricks, and mills run on horse power. It is a country where a little bit of industry might make a man rich. “Wealth here principally consists in horses, cattle, and mules.”

He admired the horsemanship of the Spaniards.

The dexterity with which the Spaniards use the lasso is surprising; in fact, I doubt if their horsemanship is surpassed by the Cossacks of Tartary. It is a common thing for them to take up things from the ground going upon a full run with their horses; they will pick up a dollar this way.They frequently encounter the bear on the plain in this way with their lassos and two holding him in opposite directions with ropes fastened to the pommels of their saddles.

It is not known how Bidwell’s journal was carried back East; possibly it was taken by a returning emigrant like Joseph Chiles, who made a trip back to the States in the summer of 1842. Bidwell said later that he did not intend for it to be published, but published it was, although where or when or by whom is unknown. The only extant copy belonged to George McKinstry, who used it as a guidebook for his 1846 journey to California. That copy is now in the Bancroft Library.

Bidwell’s descriptions of California influenced other would-be emigrants. Zach Montgomery, a friend of John Bidwell’s younger brother Thomas, recalled:

It was by reading this journal of young John Bidwell that the mind and heart of this narrator first became fascinated with California.

in Quest for Flight, by Craig S. Harwood, p. 5

That first overland letter taken to California by Elias Barnett caused John Bidwell to write a description of California, both factual and glowing, that inspired many an emigrant to set out on the trail, even before the news of gold in California reached the States.

When Mrs. B.M. Evoy asked John Bidwell to supply her with fresh vegetables for her boarding house (See “Send a Basket by the Stage”), she wasn’t the only one. As she said in her letter, she heard about this source of produce from Mrs. Myers of Red Bluff — (“please send me such vegetables as you furnish Mrs. Myres.”)

The John Bidwell Papers at the California State Library have several letters from Mr. William Myers. Bidwell was a great saver of letters, which is a boon for historians. Here is one letter requesting vegetables:

Red Bluffs  June 20th / 53

Mr John Bidwell

Dr Sir I Rec’d your note of this morning Requesting me to state wheather the vegetables you send me are the kind that I want or not. I have only to say that the peas & lettice are getting prity hard [?] the cukes particularly I would be glad to get a few more. Turnips the carrots & Beats is very nice tho. Kinds are such as I want and I will leave it with you to judge when thear are Eatable and if a cucumber or two should make its appearance why I should not Refuse. I would be glad if you would send me my Bill by the 25th Instan.

Very respectfully yours Wm. Myers

William Myers was a farmer, but he was concentrating on livestock and wheat. He must not have been growing a big kitchen garden.

The Myers vegetable letters start May 17, 1853 and end on July 5, when Mr. Myers writes that “I Rec’d your note this morning stating that I could not Rec’d any more vegetables on account of the unwillingness of the drivers to take them aboard.” The stage driver didn’t want to be bothered with baskets of vegetables, so that may have been the end of Bidwell’s delivery of produce by stagecoach.

Maybe it’s because I enjoy growing a vegetable garden, but I love these letters about peas and lettuce and turnips and “beats.”

I had to sympathize with the writer of this item on SFGate about the argument over whether to say “the Sierra” or “the Sierras” when referring to the mountain range between California and Nevada. (SFGate is the online media outlet of the San Francisco Chronicle.) The author, Freda Moon, is a travel journalist who wrote “a breezy little story” about traveling from the Bay Area to Lake Tahoe in which she referred to the mountains as “the Sierras.”

Like you do. But a number of readers took her to task, and not all of them were polite about it.

It’s a question I have wondered about myself. When writing a book or a blog post about pioneers coming over the mountains into California, I have puzzled over how to refer to the mountains. Is it simply Sierra Nevada? Is calling them the Sierras okay? Since I often write for children, should I clarify by writing “the Sierra Nevada range” or “the Sierra Nevada mountains”? Even though that is redundant? Do kids know what a “range” is in this context? ‘Tis a puzzlement.

The word “sierra” in Spanish is already plural and means a range or chain of mountains. No need to add an “s”. Ms. Moon goes deep into the pros and cons. She consulted historians and grammarians. She asked Paul Brians, retired Professor of English at Washington State University and the author of “Common Errors in English Usage.” He concluded that “Some object to the familiar abbreviation ‘Sierras,’ but this form, like ‘Rockies’ and ‘Smokies’ is too well-established to be considered erroneous.”

My own conclusion is that if you are just chatting with your friend about going hiking in the Sierras, that’s fine. But if you are writing formally, and don’t want snarky comments from language purists, go with Sierra Nevada. But not just Sierra, because that might be mistaken for the Sierra Madre in Mexico or the Sierra de Cordoba in Argentina.

My idea of a fabulous 4th of July includes eating a hamburger, corn on the cob, and watermelon, singing the Star Spangled Banner, watching fireworks, and listening to a live band play The Stars and Stripes Forever.

I would like to hear The Declaration of Independence read aloud too, but I haven’t heard that on the 4th in decades.

I may not get all those wonderful things this year, but at least I can watch and listen to the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldier’s Chorus play and sing the Stars and Stripes Forever.

Did you know that John Philip Sousa not only wrote the march, but he wrote lyrics for it too? And I don’t mean “Be kind to your web-footed friends,” as fun as that is. I mean real patriotic lyrics.

I didn’t know that until quite recently. Here they are:

First strain
Let martial note in triumph float
And liberty extend its mighty hand
A flag appears ‘mid thunderous cheers,
The banner of the Western land.
The emblem of the brave and true
Its folds protect no tyrant crew;
The red and white and starry blue
Is freedom’s shield and hope.

Let eagle shriek from lofty peak
The never-ending watchword of our land;
Let summer breeze waft through the trees
The echo of the chorus grand.
Sing out for liberty and light,
Sing out for freedom and the right.
Sing out for Union and its might,
O patriotic sons.

Second strain
𝄆 Other nations may deem their flags the best
And cheer them with fervid elation
But the flag of the North and South and West
Is the flag of flags, the flag of Freedom’s nation. 𝄇

Trio
Hurrah for the flag of the free!
May it wave as our standard forever,
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.
Let tyrants remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever.

Grandioso
Hurrah for the flag of the free.
May it wave as our standard forever
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.
Let tyrants remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray,
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever.

The “first strain” must be very tricky to sing at the pace the march is usually played. The Army chorus in this video sing the “Trio” and “Grandioso” which really function as the chorus of the piece.

And if you want something thoroughly silly, you can watch a rendition from the Muppet Show, with Sam the Eagle, the Swedish chef, Beaker, Bobo, Animal, a bewigged penguin, and some chickens.

Hurrah for the flag of the free! Long may it wave. Have a fabulous Independence Day!

Our celebrations of Independence Day are pretty tame compared to the way they enjoyed the Fourth in Chico in 1876. Here’s the July 4th entry from Bidwell’s diary in 1876:

Tues. July 4
Warm, very – no wind. = Bells rang & cannon & anvils roared all last night – Celebration went off well – good oration by Rev. Mr Dickerman – Fireworks & ball in evening. = Lost our greyhound, Roamer = Haynes had watermelons ripe in town. =

The celebration was announced in the newspaper a few days before the event. Citizens were urged to decorate their buildings with “evergreens, flags, and appropriate emblems.”

The Butte Record published a report of the proceedings the following Saturday. Everybody turned out for the “patriotic exercises”. Here is an excerpt about the parade and the speeches:

The Pavilion, where the parade concluded and the speeches were given, stood on Broadway between 4th and 5th.

An oration by a public figure was a must. That would be followed by the reading of the Declaration of Independence and a lengthy patriotic poem, which the Record printed in full. It was a day-long event, and as Bidwell notes, it started the night before, and went on well into the evening of the 4th with fireworks and dancing.

Watermelons were a feature, then as now. Roamer the greyhound was frightened by all the noise. He was found a few days later seven miles away at Hog Springs, on the Humboldt Road.

Bells ringing and cannon firing were a popular way to mark Independence Day.  But what’s this about “anvils roared?” How do they do that?

If you didn’t have a cannon (or even if you did), “firing the anvil” was a great way to generate noise and excitement in the 19th century. All you needed were two anvils and some black powder, which you could get from your friendly neighborhood blacksmith. Here’s what you do:

(I don’t recommend trying this at home, even if you do happen to have an anvil. It’s very dangerous.)

Take one anvil and turn it upside down. On the underside is a hollow about the size of a brick. Pour in some gunpowder and place a fuse or a trail of gunpowder. Then place the other anvil right side up on top. When you light off the gunpowder, you will get a terrific explosion and the top anvil will fly at least a hundred feet in the air. It will come down too, so clear the deck.

You can find some examples of anvil firing on YouTube, like this one.