Hutchinson, W. H. (William Henry), 1910-1990

W.H. (William Henry) Hutchinson, a noted western historian, was born in Colorado in 1911. Hutchinson served in the merchant marines from 1933-1946, seeing duty in World War II. After being discharged, Hutchinson was a freelance writer until 1959, when he received his M.A. from California State University, Chico. He later served as a professor of history at his alma mater from 1964-1978. Hutchinson was nominated for the pulitzer prize for his biography of Thomas Bard, entitled "Oil, Land, and Politics." Bard was a California Senator and the first president of the Union Oil Company.

Thomas Robert Bard was born in Chambersberg, Penn. in 1841 and graduated from Chambersberg Academy in 1858. He served as a volunteer Union Scout during the early years of the Civil War. In 1864 Bard moved to Ventura County, California and was a member of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors from 1868-1873. He is primarily known for his efforts in building and expanding Port Hueneme, Calif. while a Commissioner in Ventura County in 1871. In 1887 Bard became a founding member of Occidental College in Los Angeles, Calif. Thomas Robert Bard served as a United States Senator from 1900-1905 and was a successful businessman in many sectors, especially oil and land.

Author, biographer of Eugene Manlove Rhodes, and executor of Rhodes's literary estate.

William Henry Hutchinson was born in Denver, Colorado on August 13, 1910. He spent his youth in the West, living in Goldfield, Nevada, and also Arizona and Mexico. Hutchinson met his wife Esther, nicknamed 'Red, ' n a troop ship while being evacuated from China during World War II. The couple married in 1942 and moved to San Francisco in 1946. They later settled in Chico, California. 'Old Hutch' and 'Red' eventually had two sons, Warren and James. In 1946, Hutchinson edited a collection of previously unpublished works of Rhodes, "The Little World Waddies." Hutchinson edited other Rhodes writings, including "The Rhodes Reader" and "The Line of Least Resistance." In 1956, Hutchinson published a biography of Rhodes entitled "A Bar Cross Man," followed by an annotated bibliography, "A Bar Cross Liar." Hutchinson also authored works on New Mexico history, including "Another Verdict for Oliver Lee," and "Whiskey Jim and a Kid Named Billie." In 1964, Hutchison began teaching at California State University, and served as professor of Californian and Western history for fourteen years.

Author and historian. William Henry, "Old Hutch", Hutchinson was born in Denver, Colorado. He earned his master's degree from Chico State College in 1961. He worked at various times as a horse wrangler, cowboy, boiler fireman, and a mucker in mines. After World War II, Hutchinson moved to Butte County, where he became a freelance writer and later a professor of history at CSU, Chico. Author of Oil, Land and Politics: The.

California Career of Thomas R. Bard, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Narrated and produced historical pageants of California and had his own weekly radio and television programs.

Biography

William Henry ("Old Hutch") Hutchinson was born on August 13, 1911, in Denver, Colorado. He attended school in Oxford, Mississippi; Newark, New Jersey; Denver and Redondo Beach. He earned his master's degree from Chico State College in 1961.

He worked at various times as a horse wrangler, a cowboy, a boiler fireman, and a mucker in mines. During the Depression, Hutchinson worked as Chief Purser on passenger vessels.

During World War II he served as lieutenant commander in the U.S. Maritime Service where he saw duty in the South Pacific, North Atlantic, and Mediterranean.

After the war, Hutchinson moved to Butte County, where he became a freelance writer. He has sold more than 150 fact and fiction articles to a variety of popular magazines. He also wrote, narrated, and produced several historical pageants of California and had his own weekly radio and television programs. "Hutch" was the author of 15 books, one of which, Oil, Land and Politics: The California Career of Thomas R. Bard, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He also worked as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and frequently contributed to the Chico Enterprise-Record and taught at California State University at Chico until his retirement in 1978. He died of a heart attack in Chico on March 11, 1990.

William Henry Hutchinson was born in Denver, Colorado on August 13, 1910. He spent his youth in the West, living in Goldfield, Nevada, and also Arizona and Mexico.

Hutchinson met his wife Esther, nicknamed "Red," on a troop ship while being evacuated from China during World War II. She was working as a deputy marshal for the U.S. Treasury Department at that time. The couple married in 1942 and moved to San Francisco in 1946. They later settled in Chico, California. "Old Hutch" and "Red" eventually had two sons, Warren and James.

In 1946, Hutchinson edited a collection of previously unpublished works of Eugene Manlove Rhodes, The Little World Waddies . This publication brought renewed interest to Rhodes' writings and recognition to Hutchinson in the literary world. Hutchinson edited other Rhodes writings including, The Rhodes Reader (1957); an anthology of Rhodes features, and The Line of Least Resistance, in 1958.

Interest of Eugene Manlove Rhodes' writings among the literary world after his death took shape in part because of the efforts of Eugene Cunningham and Walter Prescott Webb, who had worked to preserve Rhodes' writings and letters. Cunningham in particular encouraged Hutchinson to develop a definitive biography on Eugene Manlove Rhodes. In 1956, Hutchinson completed his first biography on Rhodes entitled A Bar Cross Man, which was highly acclaimed as one of the ten best Western books of the year. In 1959, he wrote an annotated bibliography of Rhodes entitled A Bar Cross Liar .

Hutchinson also authored other works such as Another Verdict for Oliver Lee, in 1965, and Whiskey Jim and a Kid Named Billie, in 1967. Hutchinson wrote on varied western United States themes, which included music, railroads, and oil. He was also acknowledged as an expert in regional history, including that of his home state, California, as well as Lincoln County, New Mexico. In 1964, Hutchinson arrived at California State University and served as professor of Californian and Western history for fourteen years. He received the Chico State Distinguished Teacher Award in 1968, and the award as Outstanding Professor of California State Colleges and Universities in 1977. He retired in 1978.

Hutchinson received other honors, which included being named a Fellow of the California Historical Society in 1985. Though he lived in California, he spent a great deal of his time corresponding with interested parties concerning Eugene Manlove Rhodes' life and his career in New Mexico.

Professor Hutchinson died on March 11, 1990, in Chico, California. His wife Esther died one month later, on April 12th.