Michael Gillis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007) |
Michael Jerome Gillis (1949 – April 7, 2007) was an American academic and writer.
Born in Walpole, Massachusetts, Gillis served as a history instructor at Butte College (1981-1985) and, for twenty-five years, as a lecturer at California State University, Chico.
His articles and reviews have appeared in the History/Social Science Journal, Diggins (Butte County Historical Society), the Dogtown Territorian Quarterly, John Muir Newsletter, California Territorial Quarterly, Overland Journal, Canadian Social Studies, California History, the American Indian Quarterly, Journal of the West, Pacific Northwest Quarterly, and Nevada Historical Society Quarterly.
During the course of his career, Gillis published three books (see bibliography). As part of his research for the Bidwell book, Gillis undertook an exploratory backpacking trip during which he and his wife located and retraced the probable route taken by the Bidwell-Bartleson party during its famous trek across the Sierra Nevada in 1841. Gillis later published an account of the trip, along with his findings, in an article that appeared in the Winter 1998-99 issue of the Overland Journal.
Gillis served as vice president of the Bidwell Mansion Association (1997-2000) and was a member of the association’s board of directors from 1995 to 2005. Gillis was also a member of the Butte County Historical Society and the Association for Northern California Records and Research, serving as ANCRR’s president from 1994 to 1998.
He was known and respected by every Historian on the Western Seaboard and was an Emeritus Professor.[1]
[edit] Bibliography
- Gillis, Michael J. (editor) (1990). Essays in North American Indian History. Kendall/Hunt. ISBN 978-0840362636.
- Gillis, Michael J.; Michael Magliari (2003). John Bidwell and California: The Life and Writings of a Pioneer, 1841-1900 (Western Frontiersmen Series, 30). Spokane: Arthur H. Clark. ISBN 978-0-87062-316-5.
- Gillis, Michael J. (2004). Soper-Wheeler Company: A Century of Tree Farming. Documentary Media LLC and University of Washington. ISBN 978-0971908444.

