Lassic facts for kids

Lassic (who died in 1863) was an important leader of the Wailaki people. He was also known by names like Las-sic, Lasseck, and Lassux. Lassic played a key role during a conflict called the Bald Hills War.

Lassic: A Leader in the Bald Hills War

From 1859 to 1862, during the Bald Hills War, Lassic and his Wailaki group were very successful. They managed to push many settlers out of their traditional lands in parts of Humboldt County. This happened even though local settler groups tried to stop them.

Later, soldiers from the United States Army began to fight against the Wailaki, with help from the local settlers. In 1861, a soldier named Joseph B Collins reported a fight with Lassic's group in the Kettenshaw Valley:

On June 16, we attacked a Native American village near Kettenshaw Valley and four Native Americans were killed. A volunteer soldier was hurt in the arm by an arrow. This village belonged to Lassic's group, who were known as very difficult and troublesome Native Americans in the mountains. They had often been involved in conflicts with settlers, including burning homes and harming animals. I wish more of them had been stopped, but they were always alert. We could only catch them by following them day and night, carrying our supplies on our backs. The attack happened around noon, and since the Native Americans were ready, many escaped into the thick bushes.

After the American Civil War began, soldiers from California, known as California Volunteers, took over from the federal troops. They continued to patrol aggressively. Finally, Lassic and his group were forced to give up on July 31, 1862. They surrendered to Captain Ketcham at Fort Baker. Thirty-two Native Americans were with Lassic, and twelve more of his warriors joined them on August 10.

A total of 212 captured Native Americans from Fort Baker were sent to Fort Humboldt. They were held for a while in a temporary prison on the Samoa Peninsula in Humboldt Bay. In September, 834 Native Americans were then sent by steamship to the Smith River Indian Reservation near Crescent City.

However, in early October, Lassic and about three hundred Native Americans, mostly warriors, escaped from the Smith River Reservation. More Native Americans continued to leave the Reservation through November.

The End of Lassic's Journey

After escaping, Lassic traveled down the Klamath River into the mountains and returned to his homeland. There, he continued to fight against the settlers. Eventually, local settler groups recaptured him.

What the Newspapers Said

On Saturday, January 3, 1863, the Weekly Humboldt Times newspaper reported:

All Right. --- We learned from Mr. Gilkey, who arrived on Tuesday from Long Valley, that the famous Native American leader Lassux (Lassic) was captured by white settlers at Fort Seward. He is likely dead by now. He was the leader of the group taken from near Fort Baker last summer to the Smith River Reservation. He didn't like the food there, so he led his group back to their homeland. He won't need any clothes at the place he is now.

Lassic and several of his men were killed at Fort Seward. According to the January 23, 1863, Humboldt Times newspaper, they were being taken to the Round Valley Reservation. The newspaper sarcastically reported:

but "on the way they took cold and died." This is what we heard. But knowing them, and the strong dislike between these Native Americans and the white settlers along the Humboldt mail route, and the many harmful acts they were thought to have done, we suspect the "cold" they died from was actually bullets.

An official report about the event was made by Captain C. D. Douglas, who was the Commander of Fort Wright:

FORT WRIGHT CAL., February 8, 1863.

Lieut. Col. R. C. DRUM,

Assistant Adjutant-General, Department of the Pacific:

SIR: I want to report to the general commanding the department that the group of Native Americans known as the Wylackees has killed many horses and cattle in the settlements of this valley last month. They killed eight or nine horses belonging to Mr. Owens a few days ago, and I have personally seen several cattle in the valley wounded by their arrows. Messrs. Owens and Eberlee came to me recently and reported that the Native Americans had killed the horses mentioned above. I sent one of my sergeants with them to investigate, and he reports that he saw the remains of what he believed to be eight or nine horses. He also reports that he followed the Native Americans' trail from where they killed the horses to near Eel River, and he thinks there were about forty Native Americans in the group. Colonel Henley just informed me that five or six settlers followed this group of Wylackees last week, and he believes a few of the group were killed. He did not tell me the names of the settlers who went out. Therefore, I ask for instructions on what I should do in this matter, whether these men who killed the Native Americans should be arrested or left alone. I do not believe I have the power to send troops from this post to capture, kill, or punish these Native Americans, as that was not my purpose here. But these Native Americans should be punished, as they are, and according to all reports always were, bad Native Americans.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

C. D. DOUGLAS,

Captain, Second Infantry California Volunteers, Comdg. Post.

Lucy Young's Story

Many years later, Lucy Young, a Wailaki woman and relative of Lassic, shared a different story about the killing of forty Wailaki prisoners, including Lassic.

Finally, I came home. My mother was at Fort Seward. Before I got there, I saw a big fire with lots of timber and treetops burning. At the same time, there was a very strange smell. I thought someone was gathering a lot of wood.

I went to the house. Everyone was crying. My mother told me, "All our men are killed now." She said white men there, and others from Round Valley and Humboldt County too, killed our old uncle, Chief Lassic, and all the other men. About forty Native Americans were lined up with ropes around their necks. "What is this for?" Chief Lassic asked. "To hang you dirty dogs," the white men told him. "Hanging, that's a dog's death," Chief Lassic said. "We did nothing to be hung for. If we must die, shoot us."

So they shot them. All our men. Then they built a fire with wood and brush. The Native Americans had been cutting wood for days. They never knew it was for their own funeral fire.

They built a big fire and burned all their bodies. That was the strange smell I smelled before I got to the house. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It made my stomach sick too.