God, Aliens, and Other Stuff

  I first heard about John and Annie Bidwell in a book called Under God's Spell: Frontier Evangelists 1772-1915 by Cathy Luchetti, 1989. It’s written from the diaries of Catholic and Protestant missionaries, both men and women, in the 1800’s. Annie’s story is taken from her own writings. I managed to visit the Bidwell mansion many years ago and found the source, a casually published compendium called Rancho Chico Indians, by Annie E. K. Bidwell, edited by Dorothy J. Hill, 1980/1987, Bidwell Mansion Cooperating Association. Some of Annie's most compelling and spiritual narratives were in this publication, but were forgotten until my visit. Fun story about that below. She was born in 1841, related to some of the elite that helped found our nation. Her great grandfather was the surveyor who laid out Washington in 1790. As she grew, her contemporary social circle was full of influential leaders. She married John Bidwell, who went west without her to acquire a 22,000 acre ranch a...