In 1841, the Bartleson–Bidwell Party of thirty-two men and one woman, and her baby daughter, was led by Captain John Bartleson and

John Bidwell John Bidwell (August 5, 1819 – April 4, 1900), known in Spanish as Don Juan Bidwell, was an American pioneer, politician, and soldier. Bidwell is known as the founder of the city of Chico, California. Born in New York, he emigrated at the age ...

. They became the first American emigrants to succeed in a wagon crossing from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. No lives were lost in their difficult trip.

Beginnings

In the winter of 1840, the Western Emigration Society was founded in Missouri, with a few dozen men, women and children ready to go to what they thought was a very prosperous utopia in Mexican California. Members included Baldridge, Barnett, Bartleson, Bidwell and Nye. Organized on 18 May 1841, Talbot H. Green was elected president, John Bidwell secretary, and John Bartleson captain. The group joined Father Pierre Jean De Smet's Jesuit missionary group, led by Thomas F. Fitzpatrick, westward across South Pass along the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

. That trail took them past Courthouse and Jail Rocks, Chimney Rock, Scotts Bluff,

Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (; founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte Rivers. They joi ...

, and Independence Rock. The Bartleson-Bidwell party separated from Fitzpatrick, and the missionary group, at Soda Springs on 11 Aug.

The Trail

The western Emigration Society had resolved to follow the route suggested by Dr. John Marsh. As early as 1837, Marsh realized that owning a great rancho was problematic if he could not hold it. The corrupt and unpredictable rulings by courts in California (then part of Mexico) made this questionable. With evidence that the Russians, French and English were preparing to seize the province, he determined to make it a part of the United States. He felt that the best way to go about this was to encourage emigration by Americans to California, and in this way the history of Texas would be repeated. Marsh conducted a letter-writing campaign espousing the California climate, soil and other reasons to settle there, as well as the best route to follow, which became known as "Marsh's route." His letters were read, reread, passed around, and printed in newspapers throughout the country, and started the first significant immigration to California. He invited immigrants to stay on his ranch until they could get settled, and assisted in their obtaining passports. Marsh's recommended route, the

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

, was based on the prior experiences of

Jedediah Smith Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831) was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartography, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western Unit ...

Peter Skene Ogden Peter Skene Ogden (alternately Skeene, Skein, or Skeen; baptised 12 February 1790 – 27 September 1854) was a British-Canadian fur trader and an early explorer of what is now British Columbia and the Western United States. During his many exped ...

, and

Joseph R. Walker Joseph R. Walker (December 13, 1798 – October 27, 1876) was a mountain man and experienced scout. He established the segment of the California Trail, the primary route for the emigrants to the gold fields during the California gold rush, fr ...

. That route led southwest from Soda Springs along the Bear River and the

Cache Valley Cache Valley ''( Shoshoni: Seuhubeogoi, “Willow Valley”)'' is a valley of northern Utah and southeast Idaho, United States, that includes the Logan metropolitan area. The valley was used by 19th century mountain men and was the site of th ...

. On August 24, 1841, the party headed west and north around the

Great Salt Lake The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, partic ...

, camping in the vicinity of the Hansel Mountains until September 9 while they scouted the route to Mary's River (known today as the

Humboldt River The Humboldt River is the longest river in the northern and central part of Nevada. It extends in a general east-to-west direction from its headwaters in northern Nevada's Jarbidge Mountains, Jarbidge, Independence Mountains, Independence, and ...

). By September 12 wagons and possessions were beginning to be abandoned. By October 9 they crossed Mary's River and headed west to Lake Humboldt,

Humboldt Sink The Humboldt Sink is an intermittent dry lake bed, approximately 11 mi (18 km) long, and 4 mi (6 km) across, in northwestern Nevada in the United States. The body of water in the sink is known as Humboldt Lake. The sink and i ...

, and

Carson Sink Carson Sink is a playa in the northeastern portion of the Carson Desert in present-day Nevada, United States of America, that was formerly the terminus of the Carson River. Today the sink is fed by drainage canals of the Truckee-Carson Irriga ...

. On October 30 they passed through the

Stanislaus River The Stanislaus River is a tributary of the San Joaquin River in north-central California in the United States. The main stem of the river is long, and measured to its furthest headwaters it is about long. Originating as three forks in the h ...

canyon into the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

. On November 4, 1841, the 32 men, one woman and her baby daughter, made it to Marsh's ranch. They discovered a terrible drought was underway and living conditions were bad. Utopia it was not--and the Mexican government did not want them anywhere in California.Stone, Irving. ''Men to Match my Mountains,'' pp 32-37, Berkley Books, New York, New York, 1956, 1982. . According to Doyce Nunis, "...the Bidwell-Bartleson party had successfully made the first planned overland emigrant journey to California, bearing with courage and great fortitude the vicissitudes of their ordeal. These hardy pioneers were the harbingers of many thousands to come."

Roster

Missionary Party * Captain: Thomas "Broken Hand" Fitzpatrick * Jesuit Fathers:

Pierre-Jean De Smet Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ ( ; 30 January 1801 – 23 May 1873), also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Flemish Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He is known primarily for his widespread missionary work in the mid-19t ...

Nicholas Point Nicholas Point; (10 April 1799 – 4 July 1868), was a French Catholic priest, artist, and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He is known primarily for the drawings and watercolors he created during his missionary work in the mid-19th ce ...

, Gregory Mengarini * Jesuit Brothers: William Claessens, Charles Huet, Joseph Specht *

Teamster A teamster in American English is a truck driver; a person who drives teams of draft animals; or a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union. In some places, a teamster was called a carter, the name referring to the ...

s: L. Boileau, E. Chaussie, L.L. Coving * Trappers: Jim Baker, John Grey, William Mast, Piga * Others: Amos E. Frye, Rogers, W.G. Romaine, Reverend Joseph Williams The Bidwell-Bartleson who arrived in California * John Bartleson * Elias Barnett *

Josiah Belden Josiah Belden (May 4, 1815 – April 23, 1892), known in Spanish as Josías Belden, was a Californian politician and trader. He was born in Connecticut, eventually emigrating to Alta California (then part of Mexico). In California, he became a Me ...

* William Belty *

* Henry L. Brolaski * David W. Chandler *

Joseph Chiles Joseph Ballinger Chiles (July 16, 1810 – June 25, 1885), later known by his Spanish name José B. Chiles, was a Californian ranchero, military officer, and entrepreneur. Born in Kentucky, Chiles served as a colonel in the U.S. Army during the Se ...

* Grove C. Cook * Nicholas Dawson * V.W. Dawson * Talbot H. Green * George Henshaw * Charles Hopper * Henry Huber * James John * Thomas Jones * Andrew Kelsey * Benjamin Kelsey * Nancy Kelsey and daughter * John McDowell * Nelson McMahan * Samuel Green McMahan * Michael C. Nye * Andrew Gwinn Patton * Robert Rickman * John Roland * John L. Schwartz * James P. Springer * Robert H. Thomas * Ambrose Walton * Major Walton * Charles Maria Weber The Bidwell-Bartleson who arrived in Oregon * Carroll * Augustus Fifer * Richard Fillan with wife and child * William Fowler * Charles W. Flügge * David F. Hill * J.W. Jones * Samuel Kelsey with wife and five children * Zedidiah Kelsey and wife * Edward Rogers * James Ross * Richard Williams and wife

Beginnings

The Trail

Roster

See also

References

Further reading