As a businessman, he worked as a land agent with the Central Pacific Railroad, which named the town of Redding, California after him.

He subsequently was associate editor of the Shasta Journal, was employed in drawing up papers for the sale of claims, and acted as arbitrator.

Having established a local reputation, Redding was elected as a member of the California State Assembly, 1853–1854, from Yuba and Sierra counties.

During the session, he wrote for the San Joaquin Republican and Sacramento's Democratic State Journal, of which he was an editor and proprietor.

With a change in administrations, Redding left state government in 1868, becoming a land agent of the Central Pacific Railroad.

When the Central Pacific reached Shasta County in the summer of 1872, the railroad company named the town of Redding, California, in his honor.