Memories of the Rebel Clerk of Fresno County
The Rebel Clerk Project 2010 Harry St. John Dixon was elected County Clerk of Fresno County, California in 1869. As a lawyer, he became Fresno’s first city attorney and designed its first city seal. He was the father of Maynard Dixon, the famous artist of the West. In this book, Dixon lays out the pathos […]
Outlaws and Lawmen
The Sheriffs Project 2018-19 In 2019-20, five 8th grade classes in four schools– Dixieland, Eastin-Arcola, Howard, and Lavina– researched the history of criminal activity in Madera County. Under the direction of their teachers, the students from all four schools collaborated on a project, which was named Outlaws and Lawmen: Crimes of the Century and The […]
Gillum Baley: Fresno County’s Frontier Judge
“Gillum Baley: Fresno County’s Frontier Judge” was researched and written in the 1995-96 school year by students in Bill Coate’s 5th-grade class at Bullard T.A.L.E.N.T. School (Fresno, California). Gillum Baley was taken by the gold fever and joined the rush to California in 1849. After only minimal success at mining, Baley returned to his family […]
Anatomy of a Frontier Town: Maynard Dixon’s Fresno
“Anatomy of a Frontier Town: Maynard Dixon’s Fresno” was researched and written in the 1995-96 school year by students from Bullard T.A.L.E.N.T. School, Bill Coate’s 5th-grade class (Fresno, California). Maynard Dixon, a renowned artist of the West, was born in Fresno California in 1875, just three years after its founding. Dixon left his hometown when […]
Frontiersman to Statesman
The Lippincott Project was researched and written in the summer of 1994 by students from Sisk Elementary School in Salida School District. 1846 has been called “the year of decision.” In that year, more than 2,500 individuals took to the Oregon/California Trail in covered wagons. Three years before the gold rush, these emigrants traveled along […]
John Willson Laird: His Life and Legacy
“John Willson Laird: His Life and Legacy,” was written in the 1993-94 school year by students at Salida Middle School, Bill Coate’s sixth-grade class (Salida, California). “Uncle Johnny Laird” was born in 1806, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. At the age of 40, he joined the westward migration of easterners traveling to California. Little did he […]
A Rebel in Sentiment
Harry St. John Dixon came home from the Civil War completely demoralized. Not only had the Confederacy lost the struggle, but the social fabric of his own hometown had also been rent asunder. Reconstruction had given African-Americans political equality, and Dixon simply could not accept it. He and his brother, Jimmy packed their bags and […]
From Nogales to Madera
Madera Method Wagon Train 1993-94 In 1993, the Madera Method added a new domension to its projects. In addition to performing research from primary sources, the students were taken on wagon trips to increase their historical empathy—to give them “seat knowledge” to compliment their “head knowledge.” The first Madera Method wagon train took place in […]
The Forgotten Field, the Forgotten People
The Borden Chinese Project 1991-92 The Borden Chinese project was conducted in the 1991-92 school year by 6th-grade students in James Monroe School (Madera, California). Chinese immigrants came to Madera County during the California gold rush. Many stayed on to work on local ranches and on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Later they built their own […]
The Civil War Diary of Samuel James Corbett
The Civil War Diary Project 1991-1992 “The Civil War Diary of Samuel James Corbett” was researched in the 1991-92 school year by students from the following schools: James Monroe Elementary, Bill Coate’s 6th-grade class (Madera, California); Kent Middle School, Linda Storek’s 4/5th grade class (Kentfield, California). Samuel James Corbett loved a good fight, and so […]
