Bidwell, Annie (1839-1918)

US social reformer and Christian missionary. With her husband, California pioneer and politician John Bidwell, she worked to convert and educate the local American Indian Meechoopda, and improve their job opportunities. She was also an advocate of election reform, women's rights, and Prohibition (the banning of alcohol).

Bidwell was the daughter of a high-ranking Washington, DC official. She married John Bidwell in 1868, and continued to devote her life to a variety of Christian causes following his death in 1900. The Bidwells' 26-room mansion at Rancho Chico, northern California, was bequeathed to the Presbyterian Church for the foundation of a co-educational Christian school, but it proved difficult to establish. The house and grounds were purchased by Chico State Teachers' College (later Chico State University) in 1923, and were designated a state historic park in 1964.