1897 Map of Bidwell Bar

About this map

Butte Co. and Plumas Co. are divided by the winding path of the Feather River during this late nineteenth-century survey, a landscape defined by gold-era extraction and mountain ranching. The terrain is marked by numerous family-named outposts and stopping points like Bucks Ranch, Spanish Ranch, and Fields Ranch, indicating a network of high-country agriculture and freighting. Industry is concentrated along the steep drainages where Harts Mill, Big Bar Mill, and Clipper Mill processed timber, while Snows Mine suggests the ongoing mineral interest in the Sierra foothills.