Bidwell Mansion Association

California has undergone massive ecological changes over the past 250 years. Today, join Park Interpretive Specialist Elijah to learn more about the world outside your window in the first of a new series of videos highlighting the changes in the natural landscape around us.

For Black History month -- a North State African-American 49er, Alvin Coffey. https://goldfieldsbooks.com//alvin-a-coffey-african-ameri/

Confirming the date of the gold discovery on January 24, 1848 -- Henry Bigler's diary.

Bidwell's Bar and Bidwell's Ranch on the map.

When John Bidwell met Abraham Lincoln https://goldfieldsbooks.com//02/12/meeting-president-linc/

Look for the latest issue of the Diggin's and read about "John Bidwell and the Lady with the Blue Silk Umbrella."

Teachers! Virtual resources from Bidwell Mansion.

Some nice costume photos from the Sacramento History Museum. Tune in to their page for What-Is-It Wednesday.

The Sacramento History Museum highlights John Bidwell and Nancy Kelsey.

John Bidwell's last journal entry: "Saturday, 6th. Fifteen of the Company started for a Spanish town, called the Pueblo of St. Joseph (which is situated about 40 miles from Marsh's) to seek employment." Members of the Bidwell-Bartleson Party didn't waste any time sitting around at Marsh's rancho, relaxing and recovering from their long and strenuous journey. They were made of tougher stuff than we are.... They arrived on November 4th, and on the 6th half the men set out for San Jose to look for work. The other half of the men went back to the San Joaquin Valley to hunt for game. John Bidwell decided to stay at Marsh's for the time being, keeping an eye on the Company's effects, and doing some local exploring. The men who left for San Jose soon ran into trouble. They were arrested two miles from the pueblo and spent six days in the "calaboose" before they were released. Because of the "Graham Affair" of 1840, in which a few Americans fomented a rebellion against the Mexican governor, the authorities were understandably suspicious of any uninvited Americans coming into the territory. The November 6th entry concludes John Bidwell's overland day-by-day diary. It is not, however, the end of the journal. Bidwell added several pages of "Observations about the Country" detailing the vegetation, climate, and resources of California, including wages and prices. He gives his opinion about the Mexican government and outline the route to California. In conclusion he writes: "To all my acquaintances and friends who may be in bad health I would recommend a trip to California. All whom I have heard speak of the climate as regarded their health say its effects have been salutary." And now it's time for me to take a little salutary break from blogging, but I will be back soon with some book reviews and more explorations of life in Northern California. https://goldfieldsbooks.com//november-6-1841-the-last-jou/

"Thursday, 4th. Left the river in good season and departing gradually from its timber came into large marshes of bulrushes. We saw large herds of elk and wild horses grazing upon the plain. The earth was in many places strongly impregnated with salt -- came into hills. Here were a few scattering oaks -- land appeared various, in some places black, some light clay color, and in other mulatto (between black and white) sometimes inclining to a red soil, but all parched wi...th heat. Finally we arrived at Marsh’s house, which is built of unburnt bricks, small and has no fireplace wanting a floor and covered with bulrushes. In fact it was not what I expected to find; a hog was killed for the company. We had nothing else but beef; the latter was used as bread, the former as meat. Therefore I will say we had bread and meat for dinner. Several of our company were old acquaintances of Marsh in Missouri, and therefore much time was passed in talking about old times, the incidents of our late Journey, and our future prospects. All encamped about the house -- tolerably well pleased with the appearance of Dr. Marsh, but much disappointed with regard to his situation, for among all his shrubby white oaks, there was not one tall enough to make a rail-cut. No other timber in sight, excepting a few cottonwoods and willows." After the skimpy rations of the past few months, the men hungered for fat meat, and the pork was welcome, even if it came in a beef and pork sandwich. Bidwell might have been hoping for bread too. But he had no complaints about the food Marsh gave them that first night. You can tell from this entry that Bidwell is very interested in the potential of the land for farming -- the quality of the soil, the lack of rain, the availability of timber. Considering the glowing reports of California that Marsh had sent back east, Bidwell was surprised at the primitive conditions he was living in. A small adobe house with a dirt floor and no fireplace - hardly what Bidwell had envisioned. He was accustomed to cooking over a fireplace indoors, but in California the cooking was generally done outside in the courtyard. There's more, including a statement from "Cheyenne" Dawson at https://goldfieldsbooks.com//november-4-1841-hurrah-for-c/

"Wednesday, 3d. We waited till Capt. B. came up, and all started for Marsh's about noon; arrived at the St. Joaquin and crossed it -- distance 13 miles -- found an abundance of grass here. The timber was white oak, several kinds of evergreen oaks, and willow -- the river about 100 yds. in width." Now it is just a matter of continuing across the valley and the Coast Range for a few more miles. "Cheyenne" Dawson recalled: "The next morning, under the guidance of Jones and the I...ndian, we left the river we had been following [the Stanislaus], struck northwest, crossed the San Joaquin river, and camped on the further side." They probably crossed the river about five miles west of Tracy. Then the next day they can continue northwest towards Mt. Diablo until they reach Marsh's rancho. https://goldfieldsbooks.com//03/november-3-1841-almost-th/

"Tuesday, 2nd. Capt. B. with his 7 remained to take care of the meat he had killed while the rest of the Company went on. We passed some beautiful grapes, sweet and pleasant. The land decreased in fertility as we descended the stream. Behold! This morning Jones, who left the camp to hunt on the 23rd ult. came to the camp. They (he and Kelsey) had arrived in the plains several days before us, and found an Indian, who conducted them to Marsh’s house, but he brought bad news...; he said there had been no rain in California for 18 months, and the the consequence was, there was little breadstuff in the country. Beef, however, was abundant and of the best quality." Thomas Jones and Andrew Kelsey (younger brother of Benjamin Kelsey) had gone on ahead to hunt for meat on October 23rd. Now they have reappeared with the exciting news that they had been lead by an Indian to the ranch of Dr. John Marsh. "Cheyenne" Dawson recalled the same encounter: "We were traveling along, pretty comfortable on the whole, but casting glances of anxiety towards the mountains ahead, when we saw two men approaching transversely to our route. So rare a sight greatly excited our curiosity, and we stopped and waited. As they drew near, someone said, "Why, one of them looks like Jones! "No, it can't be." But it was Jones, and an Indian, come to find us and pilot us in, if found alive, to Marsh's ranch. Jones' story was short. After getting lost from us he had struck westward, had killed with a rock a rabbit, and had subsisted on this until found by some Indians who took him to Marsh's ranch. He had straightway put back, with an Indian guide, to find his comrades. Jones had some provisions, too. We all felt like hugging Jones. We didn't, but those provisions! We must see them. So we camped right there and ate them." Finding out about Marsh was good news indeed, for Marsh was the man who had set the movement in motion. His letters to Missouri, read by Bidwell and many others, had painted a glowing picture of California life and enticed them across half a continent. As Bidwell said in the 1877 Dictation: "This settled the question that we had actually arrived in California, and were not far from San Francisco Bay. It was an occasion of great joy and gladness." https://goldfieldsbooks.com//november-2-1841-great-joy-an/

The Bidwell-Bartleson Party is still not sure if they are in California yet--- "November, Monday 1st. The Company tarried to kill game; an abundance of wild fowl and 13 deer and antelopes were bro't in. My breakfast, this morning, formed a striking contrast with that of yesterday which was the lights of a wolf." The lights of a wolf being the lungs of a coyote.... Nancy Kelsey was not only walking barefoot and carrying her toddler, Baby Ann, but was also about six months pregnant. She collapsed in exhaustion when they reached the valley. She stated: "At one place I was so weak I could hardly stand, and I lay on the ground while Mr. Kelsey went out and killed a deer. We were then near Marsh's ranch." Bidwell tells it this way in his 1877 Dictation: "The eve of the next day found us surrounded by abundance; thirteen deer and antelope had been brought in. It was about the first of November, and there was no time to delay if we were going to reach California that fall. Most of the party were ready and anxious to press forward. Captain Bartleson and his men thought otherwise. They said we hadn’t yet reached California, we probably still had a long distance to travel, that such a place as we were in could not be found everywhere and they were going to stop and lay in meat for the balance of the journey. Leaving them in camp and crossing the Stanislaus River, we proceeded down the north side of the same and camped. Early the next day the news came that the Indians in the night had attacked them and stolen all their horse. We remained till they came up, carrying on their backs such things as they were able." John Bidwell never did get on with John Bartleson, and there is a note of satisfaction here that once again, Bartleson was wrong and got what he deserved. https://goldfieldsbooks.com//november-1-1841-a-striking-c/

A joyful sight for the Company, but first -- coyote for breakfast. "Sunday, 31st. Bore off in a N.W. direction to the nearest timber; day was warm, plain dry and dusty, reached timber, which was white oak (very low & shrubby) and finally the river which we had left in the mts., joyful sight to us poor famished wretches!!! Hundreds of antelope in view! Elk tracks thousands! Killed two antelopes and some wild fowls; the valley of the river was very fertile and the young tender ...grass covered it like a field of wheat in May. Not a weed was to be seen, and the land was as mellow and free from weeds as land could be made by plowing it 20 times in the U.S. Distance today 20 miles." Bidwell is looking at the valley land with the eye of a farmer. He wrote this on the evening of the 31st, but that morning and the night before was quite a different story. "Night found us scattered on a line four miles in length. Every one traveled as long as he could see and then lay down to sleep. There was absolutely nothing for the horses to eat. Fire had left the valley black and desolate. We had killed a second mule and the meat still held out. At night we would unsaddle our animals and turn them loose. There was nothing for them to eat and not even a bush to tie them to. When morning came the foremost of the party waited for the others to come up. They had found water in a stagnant pond, but what was better, they had killed a fat coyote, and with us it was anything but mule meat. As for myself, I was unfortunate being among those in the rear and not aware of the fest in advance. I did not reach it in time to get any of the coyote except the lights [lungs] and the windpipe. Longing for fat meat and willing to eat anything but poor mule meat and seeing a little fat on the windpipe, I threw it on the coals to warm it and greedily devoured it." (1877 Dictation) https://goldfieldsbooks.com//31/october-31-1841-joyful-si/

"Saturday, 30th. We had gone about 3 miles this morning, when lo! to our great delight, we beheld a wide valley! This we had entirely overlooked between us and the high mountains which terminated our view yesterday. Rivers evidently meandered through it, for timber was seen in long extended lines as far as the eye could reach. But we were unable to reach it today, and encamped in the plains. Here grew a few white oaks. Traveled today about 20 miles. Saw many tracks of elks. T...he valley was wonderfully parched with heat, and had been stripped of its vegetation by fire. Wild geese, fowls, etc. , were flying in multitudes." With what jubilation they must have beheld the sight! Although they could not reach it that day, the Company could see a wide and extensive valley. The sight gave them great hope: hope of good food and easy traveling. When did Bidwell and his companions enter the promised land of California? By present day borders they had already been in California since mid-October. They had been in Mexican territory even longer than that, but the land they traversed was more like the Great Empty Quarter of North America than part of a foreign nation. Although claimed by Mexico, the territory that later became the states of Utah and Nevada was inhabited solely by Native Americans. For the Mexicans, Alta California was a narrow strip of land along the Pacific coast. There had been little exploration and no settlement in the Central Valley. All the missions and ranchos lay between the Pacific Ocean and the Coastal Range. Most of the Company thought that they would not reach California until they crossed another mountain range. How far they still had to travel to get to California was hotly debated in the group, with some insisting that they could not get there before winter set in. But whether or not they knew it, they were in California. California was spread out before them, and it would prove to be everything they had been promised: a fertile land teeming with wild game, with a healthy climate and plenty of room for all. California at last! https://goldfieldsbooks.com//october-30-1841-lo-to-our-gr/

Tough going for the Bidwell-Bartleson Party-- "Friday, 29th. Last night, the Indians stole a couple of our horses. About noon we passed along by several huts, but they were deserted as soon as we came in sight, the Indians running in great consternation into the woods. At one place the bones of a horse were roasting in a fire; they were undoubtedly the bones of the horses we had lost. Travelled no less than 9 miles today; the night was very cool and had a heavy frost. Althoug...h our road was tolerably level today, yet we could see no termination to the mountainsand one much higher than the others terminated our view. Mr. Hopper, our best and most experienced hunter, observed that, If California lies beyond those mountains we shall never be able to reach it. Most of the Company were on foot, in consequence of the horses giving out, and being stolen by Indians, but many were much fatigued and weak for the want of sufficient provision; others, however stood it very well. Some had appetites so craving that they eat the meat of most of the mule raw, as soon as it was killed; some eat it half roasted, dripping with blood." Weary and worn to the bone, barely living on the meat of their own pack animals, struggling down rocky canyons, the Company was in a desperate situation. With no map and no guide, they had not a clue where they were, and they could see no end to their journey. Nancy Kelsey, who had started up into the Sierras riding a horse, with Baby Ann on her lap, was now walking. In her own recollection, taken down by a friend in 1893, she says, I walked barefoot until my feet were blistered. Bidwell recalled in his 1877 Dictation: "As we approached the San Joaquin Valley, the Coast Range Mountains or that portion of which Mt. Diablo is the northern terminus, rose to view in the blue distance, but we had no knowledge of any intervening valley. Our traveling had been so circuitous, so irregular and indirect, that it was impossible for any one to say where we were or how far we had yet to travel. It was the opinion of most if not all that we were not yet within five hundred miles of the Pacific Ocean. That the blue range bounding the western horizon was simply the beginning of other and perhaps great ranges beyond. Then came a time of great discouragement, some saying if California lay beyond other ranges of mountains, that we could never live to get there." And yet they are almost there. Their location was not far from the present-day historic gold-rush town of Sonora, the "Queen of the Southern Mines." They are in gold country, and soon they will be in the fruitful San Joaquin Valley. https://goldfieldsbooks.com//october-29-1841-a-time-of-gr/

Thursday, 28th. Surely no horses nor mules with less experience than ours could have descended the difficult steeps and defiles which we encountered in this day’s journey. Even as it was, several horses and mules fell from the mountain’s side and rolling like huge stones, landed at the foot of the precipices. The mountains began to grow obtuse, but we could see no prospect of their termination. We eat the last of our beef this evening and killed a mule to finish our supper. D...istance 6 miles." Yum! old mule meat. How John Bidwell must have longed for a loaf of bread. And those poor animals, done to death at the bottom of a cliff. It’s a wonder there was anyone with a horse left by the time they got out of the mountains. Nancy Kelsey recalled in 1893: "At one place four pack animals fell over a bluff, and they went so far that we never attempted to recover the packs. We were then out of provisions, having killed and eaten all our cattle. We lived on roasted acorns for two days. My husband came very near dying with cramps, and it was suggested to leave him, but I said I would never do that. We ate a horse and remained over the next day; then he was able to travel" https://goldfieldsbooks.com///28/october-28-1841-starving/

"Wednesday, 27th. It commenced raining about one o’clock this morning and continued till noon threw away all our old clothes to lighten out packs, fearing the rain would make the mts. so slippery as to render it impossible to travel. I have since learned that the Indians in the mountains here prefer the meat of horses to cattle, and here in these gloomy corners of the mts. they had been accustomed to bring stolen horses and eat them. Here and there were strewed the bones o...f horses, so the design of the veteran Indian pilot is apparent in leading us into this rugged part of Creation." (When Bidwell writes something like I have since learned it is an indication that he is rewriting his journal at a later date. The original journal is gone, and the only version is the one he copied and expanded while at Fort Ross.) When he got to California he learned that the mountain Indians were known for rustling horses, all the way from the Central Valley to the coast. They drove off herds into the mountains and slaughtered them for meat. Traveling through the Sierras, the Bidwell-Bartleson Party had brought the horses to the Indians-emaciated to be sure, but the Indians didn’t have to go down to the valley to get them. The men noticed that each morning, after they left camp, Indians would descend on the spot where they camped and go through whatever was left behind. The men suspected their old Indian guide of duplicity, and when he left them, they were positive that his scheme all along had been to lead them to their deaths in the mountains and take everything they had. This conviction led to the only violent encounter the Company had with Native Americans. Bidwell continues: "As we left this place one of the men, G. Cook, remained concealed to see if the old pilot was among the Indians, who always rushed in as soon as we left our encampments to pick up such things as were left. The old gentleman was at the head of this band, and as he had undoubtedly led us into this place to perish, his crime merited death a rifle ball laid him dead in his tracks." Bidwell here writes with the conviction of a justified victim, but in later accounts he seems to look back with regret. In 1877, when Bidwell dictated his recollections for Hubert Howe Bancroft, he says that Grove Cook remained behind unknown to the others. They heard a shot, and Cook told his story when he rejoined the group, but we never knew whether the Indian was killed or not. Perhaps Bidwell was trying to soften the incident. "We proceeded S. about 6 miles. As we ascended out of the ravine, we discovered the high mountains we had passed were covered with new snow for more than a half mile down their summits." They were lucky to have escaped the snow. Rain at their elevation meant snow higher up, from whence they had descended. They narrowly escaped the fate of the Donner Party five years later. https://goldfieldsbooks.com/2020/10/27/october-27-1841-3/

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"Tuesday, 26th. Went S. about 3 miles and camped in a deep ravine. It was urged by some that we should kill our horses and mules dry what meat we could carry and start on foot to find the way out of the mountains. Some of the men still had horses or mules to ride, but as often as not they had to walk anyway because of the rocky terrain. The animals were becoming an encumbrance." Nicholas "Cheyenne" Dawson recalled one time when they were following an Indian guide down a mou...ntain. "We followed the Indian, and he led us along shelves of rock which overhung vast precipices. Here and there great rocks projected over the path and frequently a pack would strike against one of these rocks and over the precipice would go pack and animal, and be lost to us entirely. We all went on foot, leading our animals. Once, I remember, when I was struggling along trying to keep Monte from going over, I looked back and saw Mrs. Kelsey a little way behind me, with her child in her arms, barefoot I think, and leading her horse -- a sight I shall never forget. As we neared the stream and were passing the last projecting rock, old Monte struck the rock and would have gone over had I not braced myself and held him hard." https://goldfieldsbooks.com//october-26-1841-horses-and-m/

"Monday, 25th. Went about 6 miles and found it impossible to proceed. Went back about 2 miles and encamped dug holes in the ground to deposit such things as we could dispense with. Did not do it, discovering the Indians were watching us, among them was the old, rascally pilot." As they came down in elevation, they encountered more and more Indians. The natives were wary of these interlopers -- some of them had experience of the missions and had escaped to return to the moun...tains. Although most of the men did not cache their belongings, one man did. "Cheyenne" Dawson recalled: "Green, whose pack of lead which he clung to most solicitously, had been growing heavier for his weakened animal, took Grove Cook with him, and going off into some gulch secreted or cached it." Talbot H. Green had with him a heavy bundle of "lead," which in spite of its weight he refused to abandon until they were in the Sierras. Later he and Cook, with an Indian guide, would go back to find it. Green and his lead were not what they seemed, and you can read all about it in The Sensational Saga of Talbot H. Green. The Company was on short rations. They had killed their last ox three days before. Game was amazingly scarce in the mountains. They shot a wildcat and a few squirrels, but never any deer. They tried eating acorns, but the bitter tannin in the untreated acorns made them sick. Years later Bidwell could still vividly recall how he longed for good food, especially bread. "Some of the meat of one of the mules had been saved in case of an emergency for it was evident the meat of the last ox would soon be consumed. When it was gone, most if not all of us refused to touch the mule meat for some time. I was always so fond of bread that I could not imagine how any one could live without it. How the people in the Rocky Mountains [the trappers] had been able to live on meat alone was to me a mystery. When our flour began to give out, the idea of doing without bread was painful to me, and by great economy my mess managed to eke out their flour a short time longer than the others. It was bad enough to have poor beef, but when brought to it we longed for fat beef and thought with it we might possibly live without bread. But when poor mule meat stared us in the face, we said if we could only have beef, no matter how poor, we could live." (1877 Dictation) https://goldfieldsbooks.com//10/25/october-25-1841-mule-m/