Tag: California

California Natives, General HistoryLeave a comment

General Wool in California

David G. Lewis, PhD

The following is a series of statements by General John E. Wool and his underlings in the 1850s, from their administrative moorings in Benecia, California, the offices of the Department of the Pacific. General Wool was in this time pacifying California for settlers, working on arrangements with Mexico following the Spanish-America War, and also dealing with the new territories on the west coast, Oregon, and Washington and Utah. In this territory there were innumerable tribes of Native peoples, and a huge number of American immigrants who flooded the territories in the tens of thousands causing numerous conflicts with the tribes. … Continue reading General Wool in California

General HistoryLeave a comment

Red Caps Murder Patora

David G. Lewis, PhD

In March 1855, Patora a chief of the Yurok tribe was murdered by volunteers on the Klamath River in California. The Yurok at this time were peaceful and trusted the military and distrusted a band of volunteers called the Red Caps. The Military under Capt. Judah was organizing to arrest the Red Caps with the help of the Yuroks who knew the territory well. The following is an account of how Patora was murdered, and account which is remarkably similar to other genocides in California and Oregon. Capt. Judah and Mr. Whipple arrived in the Indian Country March 22nd. They … Continue reading Red Caps Murder Patora

California Natives, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Native Issues, Oregon indians, Siletz Reservation3 Comments

Ka’hosadi Shasta Peoples of Oregon and California

David G. Lewis, PhD

Chief John, Tecumtum, was the leader of the Rogue River Confederacy for over a year in southwestern Oregon. The Confederacy formed when tribal bands on the Table Rock Reservation were attacked by Americans seeking to punish and exact retribution on the Indian there for previous battles, skirmishes, and petty thefts in the region. The region of southwestern Oregon and northern California was a conflict zone for about eight years by 1856 with settlement and gold mining causing numerous territorial conflicts in the region. Gold miners, in particular, were apt to make a try at gold mining for a year or … Continue reading Ka’hosadi Shasta Peoples of Oregon and California

California Natives, General History, Native Issues, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Uncategorized1 Comment

A State of Open Warfare: the Chetko Massacre revisited

David G. Lewis, PhD

Rape, threats of violence, and Murder were the tools used by the Whitemen who came to the region encompassing northern California and southern Oregon in search of opportunity and gold. The coastal towns of the tribes, in the vicinity of the much more recent white settlements were particularly susceptible to violence owing to the concentration of a variety of white settlers and the continual push for greater opportunity for any who visited the region. The tribes were in the way of White settlements and many of the Whites sought to hunt them out and to exterminate them like wolves. Indian … Continue reading A State of Open Warfare: the Chetko Massacre revisited

California Natives, General History, Oregon indians, Uncategorized1 Comment

Memorial on behalf of the Indians of California, 1850

David G. Lewis, PhD

The appeal below, suggests the reservation system for the tribes of California. Pastor Woodbridge’s detailed memorial addresses what scholars today are discovering about the 19th century tribes. The Tribes were not simply savages as suggested for some 100 years of histories written about the region, but instead they were losing resources and food sources and would periodically, forced by hunger, raid the American farms and ranches for food. They were undergoing massive environmental changes and cultural adjustments. At the same time they were being starved, they were under a constant barrage of attacks from the Americans who killed indiscriminately. The … Continue reading Memorial on behalf of the Indians of California, 1850