On this day in 1841, the first wagon train of Easterners reached California led by an ambitious 21-year old from Ohio.
John Bidwell (right) and his partner, John Bartleson, organized the Western Emigration Society and on May 1, 1841, jumped off into the unknown with 69 hardy souls, none of whom had ever been west of St Louis. The party included just five women and an unrecorded number of children.
The 2,008 mile trek across the continent took five months, covering an average of 12 to 15 miles a day. The greenhorn travelers did have some experienced help part of the way, traveling with Father Pierre-Jean De Smet and a group of Jesuit missionaries and their guide, mountain man Thomas “Broken Hand” Fitzpatrick.
Arriving in Soda Springs. Idaho, the party was of two minds. One group wanted to head for Oregon’s Williamette Valley, while another chose to continue to California. Bartleson took the group going to Oregon and Bidwell took 33 members of the group to California.
It was not an easy trip for the Bidwell party. Forced to abandon their wagons in rugged terrain, they faced near-starvation and a severe lack of fresh water crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They finished the journey on horseback and arrived somewhere in the vicinity of present-day Tuolumne County.
Bidwell, along with a number of others in his party, went on to make names from themselves. Proving that much in life is luck and timing, Bidwell was hired on as business manager by John Sutter. He discovered gold on the Feather River before news of the discovery at Sutter’s Mill was made public. He served as a major in the War with Mexico, was elected to the California Senate and supervised the census in California in 1850 and 1860. (Above, Bidwell as elder statesman)
Marrying well at the rather advanced age of 49, he was the friend of presidents, generals and governors, eventually running for governor himself on the Anti-Monopoly Party. He and his wife, Annie Kennedy Bidwell (right), socially prominent and extremely religious, became strong supporters of prohibition, women’s sufferage and a number of social causes.
Other well-known pioneers had made the trip with Bidwell. Josiah Beldon became a successful entrepreneur and the first Mayor of San Jose. Historian Michael Gillis went on to author a number of books and was an emeritus professor at Stanford University. Joseph Chiles didn’t stay in California for long at first, leading seven more wagon trains back. The city of Davis was founded on the site of his grist mill.
Nancy Kelsey, (right) the first Anglo-American woman to make the cross- country journey to California, gave birth to 10 children, survived an attack by Commanche’s and escaped a grizzly bear. Outliving her husband by seven years, she was an herbalist and midwife. Kelsey died August 10, 1896. The Oregon-California Trails Association placed a commemorative marker on her grave April 1, 1995, calling her the “Betsy Ross of California.”
If Nancy Kelsey was the heroine of the story, her husband Benjamin (right) was the villian. During the gold rush in 1848, Ben Kelsey took 50 indigenous men of the Pomo tribe to an isolated mining operation in the Sierra hills. According to contemporary accounts, Kelsey was striken with malaria and decided it was more profitable to sell his supplies to other miners. He returned to his home in Sonoma, leaving the 50 Pomo without food in territory controlled by hostile tribes. Reportedly only two men survived the ordeal.
Bidwell and his party were just the first heroes and scoundrels. Over the next two decades 350,000 emigrants found their way west over the California, Oregon and Mormon Trails.
Bidwell Mansion State Park, 525 Esplanade in Chico, California, was built in 1868. Bidwell and his wife Annie lived in the 26-room Italianate home until Bidwell’s death in 1900. Annie continued to live there until her death 
in 1918. At a cost of $60,000, the mansion was built with state-of-the-art plumbing, water and gas lighting. Both a California Historical Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places, visitors can tour the entire house in hour-long tours begining on the hour Saturday through Monday, 11 to 5. Tour fees are $6 for adults, $3 for youth 5 to 17 and children under 5 free. For more information go to bidwellmansionpark.com or call (530) 895-6144.
© Text Only – 2017 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain.