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John
Bidwell: The Adventurous Life of a California Pioneer by
Nancy Leek
The life and deeds of the early politician, rancher,
general, and founder of Chico, California
About the Author
Nancy Leek is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and a professional librarian. She and her husband Jim live in Chico, where she takes an active interest in local history and serves on the board of the Bidwell Mansion Association
Index
A
Alta California 31, 40
American River 32, 35, 52
Anti-Monopoly
B
Bartleson, John 11
batea 36
Bear Flag 2, 45
Bear Flag Revolt 45
Bear River 22, 24
bears. See grizzly bears
Belden, Josiah 11
Bidwell, Abram 4
Bidwell, Annie Ellicott Kennedy
meets John Bidwell 78,
personality of 78–79
correspondence with Bidwell 80–83
marriage 83
and Mechoopda Indians 85–86
and temperance movement 97
donates Bidwell Park to Chico 101–102
Bidwell, John
family 4
education 5
settles in Platte Co. MO 6
as teacher 7
plans to go west 8
elected secretary of emigrant party 11
goes to the snow 22
crosses desert 24
astronomy book 25, 29
crosses Sierra Nevada 26
sees giant sequoias 28
enters California 29
hired by Sutter 33
dismantles Fort Ross 34
sees Rancho Chico for first time 35
looks for gold 36
observations of California 37–38
and California Indians 38, 47, 63–64, 66–69, 85–86
becomes a Mexican citizen 41
joins Bear Flag Revolt 45
at Mission San Luis Rey 46
settles in northern California 51
writes contract for Sutter’s Mill 52
discovers gold 55
at Bidwell’s Bar 58
elected to Constitutional Convention 61
elected to state senate 62
and California statehood 64–65
and treaties with Indians 67–69
serves grasshopper pancakes 70
and Civil War 73–75
meets Lincoln 73
meets Grant 74
made brigadier general 74
builds mansion 76
serves in U.S. Congress 76–78
as a Radical Republican 77
meets Annie Kennedy 78
correspondence with Annie Kennedy 81
marriage 83
runs for governor 82–83, 89, 98
founds teacher’s college 87
and agriculture 88–89
and Chinese immigration 90-92
opposition to hydraulic mining 96
runs for U.S. president 97–98
views on women’s suffrage 98
death 102
Bidwell Mansion 83, 93
Bidwell Park 102
Bidwell’s Bar 56
bison. See buffalo
Brannan, Sam 54
buffalo 14
Butte Creek 51
C
Cahuenga Pass 49
Calaveras Big Trees State Park 28
California
early accounts 9
as part of Mexico 31, 40, 43
Bidwell’s description 37–38
American immigration to 43
American conquest of 46–49
California Battalion 46
formation of government 62
statehood 64–65
and Civil War 74–75
and agriculture 88–89
California Constitutional Convention 61
California Indians
American attitude towards 62
at Mission San Luis Rey 47
in 1840’s 38
population 67
proposed laws 63
treaties 67–69
California Trail 43
casaba melons 89
Cherokee Mine 95
Cheyenne Indians 15
Chico 75
Chico Creek 35, 41
Chinese 90–92
Civil War 73, 76, 79
Coloma 52
Colton, Walter 54
Colusa 41
D
Dame Shirley 56
Dawson, Nicholas "Cheyenne" 15
De Smet, Father Pierre Jean 13, 17
Dickey, William 41
F
Farmers’ Union 89
Farwell Grant 51
Feather River 54, 55, 58
Fillmore, Millard 65
Fitzpatrick, Thomas "Broken-Hand" 13, 17, 21, 22
Fort Hall 17
Fort Laramie 16, 17
Fort Ross 33, 34
Fremont, Capt. John C. 44, 46, 49
G
Gage,
Helen Sommer,
See Sommer, Helen
Geography of the Heavens, The 25
Gillespie, Captain Archibald 48
Gold 35, 51, 53
Gold Rush 2, 51, 52, 54
Grange 90
Grant, Gen. Ulysses S. 73, 83
Gray, Asa 94
Gray, George M. 89
Great Salt Lake 22, 24
Green, Talbot H. 11
grizzly bears 23, 37, 38
Gutierrez, Pablo 36
H
Hayes, Pres. Rutherford B. 95
Henshaw, George 10
Hock Farm 35
Hock Nisenan 36
Hooker, Sir Joseph 94
Humboldt
River 22.
See Mary’s River
hydraulic mining 96
I
Independence Rock 16
J
Jenks, Daniel A. 20
John, Jimmy 22, 27
Johnson, Andrew 76, 83
K
Kelsey, Benjamin 21, 35
Kelsey, Nancy 21, 22, 29, 46
Kennedy, Joseph 79
Kingsville Academy 6
Knights of the Golden Circle 75
L
Lake Erie 3, 4
Lassen, Peter 35, 55
Lemm Ranch 91
Lincoln, Pres. Abraham 76
Longley, Alexander Preston 93
Los Angeles 40, 49
M
Marshall, James 52
Marsh, John 9, 30, 31
Mary’s River 22, 24, 25
McIlhany, Edward 61
McKinstry, George 58
Mechoopda Indians
and Annie Bidwell 85–86
employed by Bidwell 66
Mexico 31, 40
Mission San Luis Rey 46, 48, 52
Mission San Rafael 53
Monterey 40, 46, 54, 61
Mount Diablo 30
Muir, John 94, 97
N
Native
Americans 38, 62.
See also Cheyenne Indians;
See also California Indians;
See also Mechoopda Indians
New Helvetia 32, 34
Nopanny 70
O
olive oil 88
Order of Caucasians 91
Oregon Trail 12, 17
P
People’s Independent Party 90
Petaluma 46
Pico, Gov. Pio 43, 46
Platte Co., MO 6
Platte River 13
Polk, Pres. James 44, 54
prohibition 98
Prohibition Party 97, 99
R
Radical Republicans 77
Rafael 65, 68
raisins 88
Rancho
del Arroyo Chico
(Rancho Chico) 60, 66, 88
Rancho Ulpinos 41
Robidoux, Antoine 9
Russian-America Fur Company 34
S
Sacramento 32
Sacramento River 32
San Diego 40, 48, 49
San Francisco 40, 54
San Joaquin Valley 28
San José 31
San Pedro 48
sequoias, giant 28
Sherman, Gen. William T. 83, 95
Shotwell, George 16
Sierra Nevada 25
Sloat, Commodore John D. 46
Soda Springs 17, 21, 22
Sommer, Helen 102
Sonoma 44
Southern Pacific Railroad 89
South Pass 16
Stanford, Gov. Leland 74
Stanislaus River 26, 28, 29
Stockton, Commodore Robert F. 48
Sutter, Eliza 71
Sutter, John 2, 32, 33, 41, 52, 53, 71
Sutter’s Fort 45, 53
T
temperance movement 97
Todd, William 45
U
Union Party 82
V
Vallejo, Gen. Mariano Guadalupe 32, 44, 45
Vallombrosa 101
vaqueros 34, 39
W
Washington, D.C. 64, 76, 83
Washington Monument 64
Western Emigration Society 10
wheat 70, 75, 89, 93
Wozencraft, Oliver M. 68
