When my column came out this Friday, my immediate boss-man informed me thatJohn Bidwell is believed to have introduced Bermuda grass to California.

Apparently Bidwell believed the tough and tumble grass would be good for stabilizing levees.

I tracked down an article about this topic on the Chico State Web site:
http://www.csuchico.edu/pub/inside/archive/97_09_25/top_story1.html

From that article:

"Bidwell sold the Bermuda grass seed in his stores in Chico and Oroville, and records suggest he may have been the first person to import this tenacious species into California. It may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but in fact Bermuda grass has an unsung role in the Central Valley.

'Bermuda grass played a major role in the settlement of Northern California, and we know Bidwell promoted planting it as a way to shore up the levees,' Gillis said. 'Floods were a real problem for the early settlers, and Bermuda grass was a cheap and efficient way to keep levees from eroding.' "