|
||||
  
 
 |
Marker to be tell of 1841 trek to California By
Reuben Wadsworth
The first overland emigrant party to travel to California passed through Cache Valley in 1841 and soon a historical marker will be erected in commemoration of its journey through the present-day town of Amalga. The Utah Crossroads Chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) will place the marker on the site where the Bidwell-Bartelson company camped Aug. 14, 1841. The ceremony will be in May on a day yet to be named. The marker is made of steel rail cut and welded into a T and will stand approximately 4 feet above ground. An engraved aluminum plate describing the historic emigrant site will be attached on top of the T-shaped bar. Engraved that plate on the marker will be an excerpt from emigrant James John's journal, saying, "Travelled about ten miles and camped on Bear River near a place called Cash [Cache] Valley." John Bidwell, the lead organizer of the party, became an important man in California's history. He was a congressman and owned 34,000 acres where the present-day city of Chico lies, said Roy Tea, Utah Crossroads Chapter board member and trail guide. According to Tea, Bidwell was also a horticulturalist responsible for bringing new vegetation into California. Bidwell organized the party because fur trappers in St. Louis told him how wonderful California was, Tea said. Interest in the journey was high at first, Tea explained, but when rumors started flying as to how difficult the trip would be, many backed out. Only 32 men and one woman, Nancy Kelsey, wife of group member Benjamin Kelsey, ended up making the trip. Departing from St. Joseph, Mo., Bidwell and his party didn't know how to get to California. They ran into fur trapper "Broken Hand" Fitzpatrick, who was guiding Catholic priests along what later became the Oregon Trail, and joined Fitzpatrick's group all the way to current Soda Springs, Idaho. Once the group arrived in Soda Springs, Bidwell asked Fitzpatrick how to get to California and Fitzpatrick told him to simply stay below the Snake River and above the Great Salt Lake, Tea said. As the emigrants passed through Soda Springs to Cache Valley, they thought they would be in danger of bear attacks, which is how the Bear River received its name, Tea said. Bidwell Pass near Pilot Peak, near Wendover, Nev., is named after John Bidwell. The party reached California in November 1841. Tea said it is OCTA's mission to preserve emigrant trails such as the Bidwell-Bartelson company's route and mark them. Twelve markers similar to the one being erected in Amalga will be placed along the route within the state of Utah at the same time. Once the markers are in, the Utah Crossroads chapter will periodically inspect them and repair them if necessary.
|
Archived Months:
January
1999 January
2000 January
2001 |
||