Event
California's militia campaigns against Native peoples, 1850s
In the 1850s California governors called for private and militia campaigns against Native peoples, which the state paid for.
- Dates
- 1850–1859
- The Great Dying30 scenes
- How are California's militia campaigns against Native peoples, 1850s and … connected?
Connections 7
involved
- California the state authorized $1.29 million in 1850s dollars for the militia campaigns, in the state's own 2019 account Primary record 1
- Peter Burnett predicted in 1851 that "a war of extermination will continue to be waged" Primary record 1
- U.S. Congress appropriated money for militia campaigns, per Ostler Scholarship & press 2
- United States government its army killed sixty or more Pomos at Bloody Island in 1850 Scholarship & press 2
appears in
- Newsom's 2019 apology executive order Primary record 1
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An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846–1873
Scholarship & press
3
A USC staff summary of Madley's 2016 lecture, with no words of his own. Ostler writes that more Californians died of disease and malnutrition than of direct killing, though killing may explain most deaths for some nations.
- Genocide and American Indian History Scholarship & press 2
Timeline 1 date
- 1850–1859 California's militia campaigns against Native peoples, 1850s
Proof 3 sources
-
Governor Newsom Issues Apology to Native Americans for State's Historical Wrongdoings, Establishes Truth and Healing Council, Office of the Governor of California, 18 Jun 2019.
Primary record
Between 1850 and 1859, governors of California called for private and militia campaigns against Native peoples in the state.
Subsequently, the state authorized $1.29 million in 1850’s dollars to subsidize these militia campaigns.
In his 1851 State of the State Address, California’s first Governor declared
In the early decades of California’s statehood, the relationship between the state and California Native Americans was fraught with violence, exploitation, dispossession and the attempted destruction of tribal communities.
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Genocide and American Indian History, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, 2 Mar 2015.
Scholarship & press
Archived copy
As well, the state legislature and U.S. Congress appropriated money to support this and other militia campaigns, in some instances with knowledge of militia actions.
On the other hand, the army did engage in punitive massacre in 1850 when it slaughtered sixty or more Pomos in the Bloody Island Massacre.
In 1848 the California Indian population was probably about 150,000. By 1860, it was only 30,000.
Direct killing was a significant factor and may have explained the majority of deaths for some nations, such as the Yukis and Yanas, but overall more people died from disease and malnutrition as they were subjected to coerced labor, land loss, destruction of game, and reservation confinement.
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Benjamin Madley presents on the genocide of California Indians from 1846 to 1873, USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research, 31 Oct 2016.
Scholarship & press
State and federal officials supported these efforts, providing legal protection, financial support, material incentives, weapons and ammunition, and manpower to the killing campaigns.
Page history 1 change
- Add 55 stories, each checked against its sources96e92fe6
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