Over the past few decades, thanks to a new generation of historians, our sense of just exactly who were the Founders of nineteenth-century American California has been significantly enlarged and enhanced. With the publication of this meticulously researched and elegantly written biography, what many of us have long suspected now stands clear: namely that Annie Kennedy Bidwell--in her concern for civilized and humane values and her willingness to put such values into practice--ranks among the great women of California in the nineteenth century. Like her husband, Annie Bidwell was a Founder. Historian Lois Halliday McDonald has recovered for us the splendor and moral purpose of an engaged and value-oriented American life. --Kevin Starr, University Professor of History, University of Southern California; State Librarian Emeritus

Correspondence, diaries, deeds, maps, newspapers, pictures, testimonials.

John Bidwell was a trailblazer who organized the first wagon train of Americans to come to California in 1841, where he made the most of every opportunity that came his way. He was a pioneer in the opening of the American West, a Gold Rush entrepreneur, a leader in California politics, an innovator in agriculture, and a generous donor to schools and churches. In 1865, as a new congressman in Washington, D. C., he met Annie Kennedy, who became his wife. Annie was active in the causes of education, Indian rights, women's rights, and temperance. This picture book biography portrays their love of nature, California, the town of Chico, and each other.