John Bidwell

John Bidwell (August 5 1819- April 4, 1900) was California settler and politician. He is famous for leading one of the first emigrant parties along the California Trail. He was the founder of Chico, California.

He was born in Chautauqua County, New York. The Bidwell family moved to Erie, Pennsylvania in 1829, and then to Ashtabula County, Ohio in 1831.

In 1841 Bidwell became one of the first emigrants on the California Trail, establishing a homestead in the Sacramento Valley. He worked as a ranch hand and a miner. Bidwell made the rank of major while fighting in the Mexican-American War. He served in the California Senate in 1849, supervised the census of California in 1850 and again in 1860. He was a delegate to the 1860 national convention of the Democratic Party. He was appointed brigadier general of the California Militia in 1863. He was a delegate to the national convention of the Republican Party in 1864 and was a Republican member of Congress from 1865-1867.

He married Ann Kennedy

In 1875 he ran for Governor of California on the Anti-Monopoly Party ticket. He also presided over the Prohibition Party state convention in 1888 and was the Prohibition candidate for governor in 1880.

In 1882, he was the Prohibition Party candidate for President of the United States. The Bidwell/Cranfill ticket received 271,058 votes, or 2.3% nationwide. It was the largest total vote and highest percentage of the vote received by any Prohibition Party national ticket.

See also

• Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park