"Some interesting horse-races were had at Chico in 1854. Thomas Wright, an early settler of that region, was a great lover of horses, and given considerably to horse-racing. He had the name of possessing some of the finest pieces of horseflesh in the country at that time. On the eighth of July, 1854, a race of only a quarter of a mile was run, between a horse of Wright's and one belonging to a Mr. Brown, the winning horse to win for his master the other animal. Wright's horse came off best and added to his stock. On the twenty-ninth of July, 1854, Wright's gray mare, Pocahontas, ran a half-mile against Williamson's bay stallion Belmont, from Colusa. Five thousand dollars were put up on each side and a large number of people witnessed the contest. Pocahontas came off winner. The track over which they ran extended from below the depot to where the Fashion stable now stands. Pocahontas ran again at Neal's ranch some time after, and made a good deal of money for her owner. She was sold to Sam Neal, and by him to C. F. Lott, who now drives one of her colts."

Source: History Of Butte County, CHICO CITY, 1882.
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THOMAS SHELTON WRIGHT. --
Thomas Shelton Wright was born in Alabama, on May 29, 1821. He acquired a good education and had taught school prior to migrating to California, in 1849, when he came overland via the Lassen Trail from Missouri, arriving here in the fall of that year. The trip was made with ox teams and the journey consumed some six months. In his company were Doctor Card, Jesse Mulnix and Joe Hood. When Mr. Wright landed on this coast he had just twenty-five cents in his pocket, but he had indomitable courage, self-confidence and a determination to succeed, that in due time made him one of the most prominent men and a potent force in the development of this section of the Sacramento Valley. He became a prominent rancher of pioneer days and was loved and respected by all who knew him.
In passing through the Sacramento Valley, Mr. Wright was much pleased with the country along Butte Creek, just below what is now the city of Chico, and said that if he did not find a place further south that suited him better, he would come back and settle on Butte Creek. The place that he was most pleased with was the ranch that is now the home of Adam M. Compton, but when he returned he found that the property had been taken up by William Northgraves, so he came north and took up what was later known as the Patrick place. He and his party camped, for the winter of 1849-1850, along the banks of Feather River, about fifteen miles north of Marysville. In 1850 he returned to Butte Creek and soon established his home, after which he returned to Missouri and induced his sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Patrick, to come to the coast and make their home, which they did in 1858.
In the winter of 1852 Mr. Wright built a hotel, locating the building on the main road from Oroville to John Bidwell's store. The house had been built from lumber purchased from a Mr. Kinston, at what is now Magalia, and hauled to the ranch. This was the first hotel to be built in the section and was a boon to the traveling public passing through this part of the state. Previous to erecting this hotel Mr. Wright had built a small house, the lumber for which had been cut and measured in the East and shipped around the Horn. Two of the doors and two of the windows that were in that house are now in the house occupied by W. G. Patrick, on the old homestead south of Chico.
When Mr. Wright negotiated for his property, which comprised eleven hundred forty acres of land, he was offered the customary quit-claim deed by Mr. Bidwell, but this he refused to accept and demanded a general warranty deed, such as he had been accustomed to in the East. Bidwell did not want to give that kind of a deed, but finally acceded to Mr. Wright's demand and signed the deed that Mr. Wright wrote himself. After his death some trouble arose in Washington over the title to the land, but having given a general warranty deed to the land, General Bidwell had to pay the government price, $1.25 per acre, to the heirs of Mr. Wright. When Mr. Wright bought the land it was heavily wooded and there were no fences, but he soon brought sixty head of cattle and five head of horses, that had come across the plains in 1852, to the ranch and began the stock business on a small scale. The ranch was surveyed in May, 1853, and part of it fenced that year and in 1854, by Frank Davis. There were no farming implements, but he did have a wagon, and this was used to haul the lumber from Magalia for the hotel. The first cemetery in the vicinity was near the site of the hotel built by Mr. Wright and later, at his request that he be buried on his ranch, a plot was set aside which marks his resting-place. This was before there was any cemetery at what is now Chico. Mr. Wright planted an orchard on Butte Creek in 1856, there being some fifteen acres in trees, and it was from this orchard that General Bidwell gathered some peaches for an exhibit he was making at Washington, D. C., and which took the premium for Indian peaches.
When the hotel was built there was no furniture in the country, and benches were made from timber cut on the place, for the use of the guests, but one day a man stopping at the hotel decided he would make some chairs, and accordingly he went into the timber and cut some trees, from which he made a few chairs; two of these chairs are now in the possession of Mrs. Bee Compton. In 1859 the hotel was moved from its original location on the ranch to near what is now the main Oroville road, which site has ever since been used for the home ranch buildings.
The principal amusement for men in those days was racing horses, and in 1855 the celebrated race between Belmont, a horse owned by a Mr. Williams, of Colusa, and Pocahontas, a horse owned by Mr. Wright, took place. The race was for a purse of $5,000 and was won by Wright's horse. This animal was afterwards purchased by Judge Charles Lott of Oroville.
At an election held in 1852, Mr. Wright was elected justice of the peace for the surrounding country, being the first justice in what is now Chico Township, and he served about two years. At one time while he was justice, a man named Jim Denning claimed Bidwell owed him seventy-five dollars for labor. Mr. Bidwell had secured Judge Lott of Oroville as his attorney. Before the suit came to trial, Bidwell and Denning decided they would settle the suit out of court by a horse-race, each man to pick his horse. Bidwell chose his own saddle-horse and Denning chose a horse that some man had ridden in. Denning's horse won and Bidwell had to pay him the seventy-five dollars as per agreement. It was always the policy of Squire Wright, as he was known by all the old settlers, to deal out justice according to the law and equity of the case, and he seldom made an error in his judgments.
The original ranch retains some historical interest, in that when Mr. Wright settled on the place there was an old Indian rancheria with some thousand Indians there. The rancheria covered some forty acres of ground and many relics are picked up on the place to this day. The present owner of the ranch has preserved about four acres of this spot, by fencing it, to keep it as near its original condition as possible, barring the natural elements.
In 1857, Mr. Wright made a trip via water back to Missouri, and in the following year came back to California, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Patrick and their children. Upon his death, Mr. Wright willed two hundred forty acres to his sister, to which she added two hundred thirty-three acres, and when she died one hundred acres came into the possession of Mrs. Eastman, and the balance, three hundred seventy-three acres, are owned by Mrs. Bee Compton and William G. Patrick, and this land, which includes the original buildings, has never had an incumbrance placed upon it. Mr. Wright passed to his reward on December 9, 1863. He was one of the early settlers of the Golden State, and one to whom honor is due for the public spirit he displayed upon every occasion where the welfare of the citizens and the up-building of the state were in question. His descendants, who are numerous, revere the memory of the man who founded the family in California.

Source: "History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 414-415, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.