UPCOMING EVENTS

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• John Bidwell’s Involvement in US and California History

  • When
    Sat, March 08, 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
  • Location
    Chico History Museum

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  The Remarkable Legacy of a Humble

  Progressive - - John Bidwell’s involvement in US and California history.

  Amber Drake was a tour guide and supervisor at Bidwell Mansion State Historic

  Park for almost 13 years. She specialized in sharing John Bidwell’s place in

  California history with local school children and the public.

  
  

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• A Special Lecture: “On Becoming John Bidwell”

  • When
    Sat, March 15, 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
  • Location
    Chico History Museum

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  Our speaker Nick Anderson is a member of the Bidwell Mansion Association and is known for his portrayal of John Bidwell at dinners hosted by the BMA. His presentation will be about his experiences and observations playing the man we are all so fond of and how hello’s are in this region even in the modern day.

  
  

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• Gold on the Feather River - John Bidwell and the California Gold Rush

  • When
    Sat, March 29, 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

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  When and how did John Bidwell discover gold on the Feather River? This week's speaker, Nancy Leek, will explore the sequence of events from the first hints of California gold in 1844 to Bidwell’s expedition to search for gold in 1848 and his trading post at Bidwell’s Bar. Nancy has a long and varied involvement with the Bidwell Mansion Association, has presented several times at the CHM, and her book "John Bidwell - The Adventurous Life of a California Pioneer", first published in 2010, stands as one of the best books on Bidwell’s life.

  
  

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• Chico’s Two Communities

  • When
    Sat, April 12, 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
  • Location
    Chico History Museum

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  Michelle Shover, professor emeritus at California State University, Chico, and widely recognized researcher and author, will present on the two communities to go by the CHICO name. The first community of Chico would be on the north side of Chico Creek at John Bidwell’s developing Rancho Chico in 1849-1860. The second Chico Community, and the one we live with today, began late in 1860 when Bidwell laid out the street grid for a new Chico on the south side of Chico Creek.

  
  

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• Yours for Equal Justice: Suffragist in the Big Pink House.

  • When
    Sat, April 26, 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

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  This week's speaker is Sondra Murphy. She grew up in Chico during the Bidwell Mansion’s original State Park Renovations. She has since lived all over California, working as a mother, librarian, reporter, and editor among other things. Returning to her hometown post-divorce, she was a Bidwell Mansion Guide from 2013 - 2024. Her presentation will feature the long-running commitment by Annie Bidwell in support of women’s suffrage Annie’s involvement would take her to a national interaction with the leaders of that movement. The 19th Amendment to the American Constitution would give women the right to vote right after Annie’s death in 1918.

  
  

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• John Muir and the Bidwells - The Forgotten Friendship.

  • When
    Sat, May 17, 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
  • Location
    Chico History Museum

  Register

  Dave Nopel will read the essay written by Micheal J. Gillis in the 1990’s as he researched John Bidwell’s life. The Essay explores the friendship that sprung up between John Muir and the Bidwells, beginning with their trip to Mr. Shasta. The friendship would last for their lifetimes.

  
  

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