Butte County
Biographies
GEN. JOHN BIDWELL
GEN. JOHN BIDWELL. The life of Gen. John Bidwell has been so closely interwoven with the pioneer history of the state of California that his name calls up to the old generation a past replete with incident, the events which laid the foundation for California’s present prosperity; the hardships, the trials, the dangers and privations which accompanied every effort of the first settlers of this then practically unknown country. To the present generation General Bidwell is equally well known, for Time dealt gently with him as with an honored landmark which connects a courageous past with a prosperous present, and until April 4, 1900, he remained an important factor in all that marked the progress and development of his adopted state and especially of Butte county, where he had made his home for so many years.
General Bidwell was a native of Chautauqua county, N.Y., born August 5, 1819, the descendant of a sturdy New England family. His father, Abraham Bidwell, was a native of Connecticut, and a farmer by occupation who, in manhood, married Clarissa Griggs. She was born in Massachusetts, a member of the prominent family of that name. They immigrated to the western part of the state of New York, where the birth of John Bidwell occurred. In 1829 his father removed to Pennsylvania and thence in 1831 to Chico. He was there reared to young manhood and trained in the practical duties of a farmer and inculcated with the thrift and energy which distinguishes the character of the New Englander. On account of limited finances he received but scant scholastic training, the greater part being obtained in Kingville Academy, Ashtabula county, Ohio, a distance of three hundred miles from his home, which he walked after working all summer to get means to attend, at wages of $7 per month. The knowledge thus obtained formed a foundation for that which the years of experience and application brought him. In 1839, at the age of nineteen years, Mr. Bidwell determined to seek his fortune among the broader opportunities of the more remote west, and with no capital but his courage and energy he left home and located first in Iowa. From that location he went to Missouri, whose rich lands on the frontier had been thrown open to the settler. In Platte county, about nine miles from Leavenworth, he secured a claim of one hundred and sixty acres, shortly afterward going to St. Louis for supplies. While absent on the journey of four weeks his claim was jumped and as he was neither the head of a family nor twenty-one years of age the other party was upheld at law when an attempt was made in the winter of 1840 to prove up. Just about this time he became interested in California, a returned emigrant describing it as a land of paradise. About five hundred signed an agreement to go to this western land, but shortly afterward the celebrated letter of Farnham’s was published detracting from California and as a result the greater number decided to withdraw their names. Under great difficulties Mr. Bidwell succeeded in reaching the place of rendezvous, from which set out finally a band of sixty-nine men, women and children in a daring attempt to reach the unknown land. They fortunately obtained the guidance of a missionary party which was then on its way to the west and in the spring of 1841 they started upon their journey. They were the first of those courageous emigrants to attempt this perilous journey and a settlement in the west, and they were attracted by the prospect of homes rather than the gold, which later served as the magnet to bring settlers from all parts of the world. Some time after the parting with the missionary party the remainder separated, all but thirty-two deciding to locate in Oregon instead of braving the difficulties which lay in the path of their journey to the “land of sunshine and flowers.” Nothing daunted, the remainder continued upon their way. This was two years before Fremont’s survey of the country, where was practically nothing to prove as guides for them; it was in the fall of the year and the air was full of smoke; consequently they could see but a short distance ahead and could not select their road. Soon after leaving Salt Lake they were compelled to manufacture pack saddles for their mules, horses, and even some of their oxen. During this part of the journey General Bidwell had an interesting as well as dangerous and exciting experience, in search of several of their pack-oxen which had strayed from the camp in the darkness. With another he was detailed to search for them, while the balance of the party went ahead in an effort to find water. His companion becoming discouraged, Mr. Bidwell was left alone, and after finding the oxen rejoined the party, which had sent two men back to meet him. Following this they had several adventures with the Indians, besides wandering too far south into the desert, and on changing their course found difficulties in the canon north. They finally found their way out along the Humboldt river, of Nevada. Later seven of the company, leaving them to find their way as best they could into California. Successfully crossing the Sierras they descended into the beautiful Sacramento valley, reaching Marsh’s Ranch near the foot of Mt. Diablo, November 4, 1841, whence Mr. Bidwell proceeded to Sutter’s settlement (afterwards known as Sutter’s Fort), where he arrived the last of November 4, 1841. It was about this time that Sutter had come into possession of the Russian property on the sea at Fort Ross and at Bodega. He purchased all the property which they were unable to remove when they left the country. This was but a branch of the Russian Fur Company, of which the Czar of Russia was the president and which had a charter from Old Spain, authorizing the company to establish a branch for the purpose of taking furs along the coast at Fort Ross. The charter had nearly expired, so they sold everything to Sutter, including a schooner together with some old muskets, some or most of which were of those lost by Napoleon on the disastrous campaign to Moscow. Mr. Bidwell’s first occupation in California was at Bodega and Fort Ross, in conjunction with Robert T. Ridley, taking charge of the Russian property still remaining at those points, and removing the same as rapidly as possible to Sutter’s settlement at Sacramento.
Upon the completion of his first work in California, Mr. Bidwell took a journey on horseback in February, 1843, to Sutter’s Fort, accomplishing the trip in four days. When about sixty miles on his journey he made a stop for the night. He was accompanied by an Indian and each had his two horses and a pack horse to carry provisions and blankets. That night the horses disappeared. Being very valuable horses Mr. Bidwell lost no time in undertaking to recover them. Borrowing animals with which to enter on the search they started forth in pursuit, an adventurous week following, one experience being a successful crossing of the Putah creek, which is well known on account of the impossibility of crossing it even in a dry season, both banks being exceedingly steep and the sands very soft. Mr. Bidwell’s crossing was made in the night and it was not until afterward that he learned of the nature of the creek. This expedition proved a failure, as they not only failed to recover their lost property, but lost as well their borrowed animals. Finding it necessary to pay an exorbitant price for the lost animals Mr. Bidwell decided to search for them as well as for his own. The latter he found at the ranch of the man from whom he had obtained the extra animals. Setting out in search of those, he heard of a party which had started for Oregon and with the idea that they might have taken them, he followed their trail. The trail of the Oregon company they struck on what is now known as Chico creek, Rancho Chico, Mr. Bidwell’s first view of the spot which was to be his home for the remainder of his life, and the greater part of its progress and development. They overtook the party and recovered the animals and immediately returned south.
The following year General Bidwell enlisted in the defense of California against insurrection of the native chiefs Castro and Alvarado in the revolt of 1844 and 1845, acting as aide-de-camp to General Sutter until the war ended by expulsion of the Mexican governor Micheltorena. In 1846 he was appointed magistrate of San Luis Rey district by General Fremont. A short time before this grants of land had been made, consisting of great cattle ranges, whose boundaries were very indefinite. Among these was one given to William Dickey, the Rancho del Arroyo Chico, of twenty-two thousand acres, which General Bidwell purchased in 1849, and the cultivation and improvement of this property formed the chief interest during his years of activity that followed. In 1852 the first log dwelling was burned and the historic adobe was built. From the time of his residence in Butte county General Bidwell took an active part in its development and upbuilding, and proved a potent factor in all that tended toward the general welfare. Not alone prominent in Butte county, he became a factor in the formation of the commonwealth of California, being chosen in 1849 a member of the first constitutional convention of California at Sacramento, from that time on occupying a place of importance in the history of the state. Owing to his absence in the mountains at the time of his appointment he failed to receive notice in time to attend the convention. In the same year he was elected to the state senate of the first California legislature. In 1850 Governor Burnett appointed General Bidwell and Judge Schoolcraft to convey a block of native gold-bearing quartz to Washington as California’s tribute to the Washington monument. Continuing a power in the governmental life of California, he was chosen delegate to the Democratic National convention at Charleston in 1860, and loyal to his country in its time of need three years later he accepted the appointment of Governor Stanford to command the Fifth Brigade, California Militia, serving until the close of the Civil war. In 1864 he was elected to the Thirty-ninth congress and two years later could have had the re-nomination, but he had decided not to be a candidate and so declined. In 1875 he was nominated for governor of California on the anti-monopoly or non-partisan state ticket, and in 1886 was a delegate to the anti-Chinese convention held in Sacramento. Besides these he was the recipient of many other honors equally as great. In regard to General Bidwell’s political convictions we quote from his own utterance: “My politics are intensely Republican, in the sense of that term as used to bring that party into existence in its mission to preserve the Union, but I am more than a Republican; I am a prohibitionist, a native American, and anti-Chinese in the sense of wholesome restriction of all foreign emigration, and anti-monopolist in the truest sense of the term.” His loyalty to his country in its time of need, his patriotism, his strong integrity, all placed him as the highest type of citizen and one upon whom the honor of the country may safely rest.
General Bidwell’s relation to Chico is that of its founder and the stanch supporter of its growth and progress. In 1860 he laid out the town, where he had been a successful farmer for a dozen years, and where, for ten years more, no railroads came to bring him remuneration for his efforts to build up a city in the midst of the wilderness. His courage, ambition and stirring enterprise called others and his undertaking was eminently successful; the city grew, business enterprises multiplied, the first academy being built upon the Woodman block, a valuable piece of property donated for the purpose by General Bidwell. It was also through his efforts that the city secured the state normal school, he being in Europe at the time and on receiving a cablegram, asking for land upon which to place the building, he sent back the message that they were welcome to any piece of land on his ranch with the exception of his dooryard. This property donated for the purpose was valued at $15,000. He also gave to the city the lot upon which the city hall stands, General Bidwell forestalling the intention of the city to purchase a site, and in addition to this land he gave valuable building sites to the different churches of Chico, the Presbyterian, the Roman Catholic, the North and South Methodist and African Methodist, each of them receiving as much land as they asked for, often supplemented by liberal money donations. He was always a constant supporter of the Free Reading Room and gave liberally for its establishment, it being for some time in one of his own buildings. He has taken the greatest interest in beautifying the city, one of the most attractive drives, over a mile in length, so arranged that there are two carriage ways, two bicycle courses and a road for heavy teaming, being the result of the general’s planning and efforts. His own mansion and grounds are an evidence of the taste and ability which always distinguished his efforts, the numerous driveways shaded by tall, old trees planted many years ago in the pioneer days of the state. He was largely instrumental in opening to the public the famous Humboldt road, which extends over the summit of the Sierras from Chico to Prattville, being sixty-four miles in length. To the building of this road the general gave liberally both of his time and money, interesting others and securing donations which brought about its successful consummation. No enterprise, in fact, was complete without his co-operation and it can truly be said that he never withheld his support from any movement calculated to advance the welfare of the community which knew him and honored him for so many years. Passing on to that which awaits a man beyond the portals of death, General Bidwell left behind him a record of a life well-spent, an example worthy of emulation, and an influence which will outlast the passage of time and make for the betterment of all who come within its radius, either through a personal contact in the past, or through the eloquent language in the works that stand as monuments to the ability, honor and manhood that characterized his entire career.
History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley, California, by Prof. J. M. Guinn, Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1906
Gen. John Bidwell
Transcribed by Betty Wilson