Bidwell, John
soldier, state senator, congressman, was born Aug. 5, 1819, in Chautauqua county, N. Y. He served in the war with Mexico until its close, rising from second lieutenant to major.
He was the first man to find gold on Feather river, in 1848. In 1849 he was a member of the state constitutional convention, and during the same year was elected to the senate of the new state.
He was a brigadier-general of militia during the civil war, and in 1864 was elected a representative from California to the thirty-ninth congress; and in 1875 was a candidate for governor of California.