01Biography
John Bidwell grew up in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. At 17 he went to an academy in Ohio and soon became its principal. In 1841, at 21, he was secretary of the Bartleson-Bidwell Party, the first American emigrant company to travel from Missouri to California overland. About half the travelers turned off for Oregon at Soda Springs. Bidwell's group abandoned their wagons in present-day Nevada and reached California on foot and horseback in November 1841.
02Why they matter
Helped lead the first emigrant company from Missouri to California in 1841, the first year of the wagon emigration.
03How they died
He founded the town of Chico, served in Congress from 1865 to 1867, and ran for president in 1892 as the Prohibition Party's candidate. He died at Chico on April 4, 1900, aged 80.
04Legacy
In 1905 his widow, Annie Bidwell, gave Chico the land for Bidwell Park, now about 3,670 acres and one of the largest city parks in the country. Their home is Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park.