Round Valley Settler Massacres of 1856–1859 facts for kids

The Round Valley Settler Massacres of 1856–1859 were a series of terrible attacks. White settlers in California worked with and were paid by the California government. They attacked the Yuki people who lived in Round Valley, Mendocino County, California.

More than 1,000 Yuki people were killed. Many others were taken as slaves. Only about 300 Yuki survived these attacks. The goal of the attacks was to get rid of the Yuki people and take their land. Later, U.S. Army soldiers came to the valley and helped stop most of the killings. In 1862, California changed a law that allowed people to kidnap and enslave Native Americans.

History

Why the Attacks Started

In 1848, many white immigrants came to Northern California because of the California Gold Rush. The number of settlers grew from 13,000 to over 300,000 in just ten years. This sudden rush of people meant there was less space and fewer resources for everyone, including the nearly 300,000 Native Americans already living there.

On April 22, 1850, California's new government passed a law. It was called the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. This law made it legal for white settlers to kidnap Native Americans and force them to work. In 1851, California's governor said that a "war of extermination" would continue until Native Americans were gone. This idea soon became part of the law.

A law in 1851 allowed settlers to form groups to kill Native Americans. It even let them send the government the bills for their expenses. By 1852, the state had approved over a million dollars for these claims. In 1856, a newspaper in San Francisco said that "extermination" was the fastest and cheapest way to solve problems when Native Americans fought back.

When the first six white settlers arrived in Round Valley in 1854, between 6,000 and 20,000 Yuki people lived there. These first settlers immediately attacked the Yuki without being provoked. They killed 40 Yuki people. This event is known as the Asbill Massacre.

By 1855–1856, many Yuki women were being kidnapped. They were sold to miners and settlers. Pierce Asbill, who started the Asbill Massacre, stayed in the area. He personally kidnapped at least 35 Yuki women in one year. In 1856, an Indian Agent named Simon Storms reported that the Yuki people were afraid of white men because of these kidnappings. Another agent, Vincent Geiger, said in 1857 that there were "very few children" among the Yuki in Round Valley. He believed most had been stolen and sold. By 1860, a settler named William Frazier said there were no children left among the Yuki he met. He blamed outsiders for kidnapping them.

Historians believe these kidnappings were a main reason for the violence in the valley. William Brewer, who was part of a California survey team in the 1860s, also said that stealing Native American children led to more conflict and terrible acts.

Another reason for the conflict was the fight over resources. The new settlers killed many deer. They also blocked the Yuki people from areas where they gathered plants and hunted small animals. This meant the Yuki faced starvation. Sometimes, Yuki men killed and ate settlers' cattle to survive. Many cattle and horses also died naturally. But settlers often blamed these deaths on Native Americans. This made settlers even more angry at them.

U.S. Army Lieutenant Edward Dillon said that some important people, like Thomas Henley (Superintendent of Indian Affairs), Serranus Clinton Hastings (a ranch owner and former judge), and H.L. Hall (Hastings's ranch manager), planned to make settlers hate Native Americans. They held public meetings where settlers complained about Native Americans, whether the complaints were true or not. This way, they could get the community to support their attacks. Their goal was to drive the Native Americans off the land so they could have the valley for themselves.

The Attacks Happen

Between 1856 and the summer of 1859, a group of 20–30 white settlers attacked the Yuki people many times. This group was a large part of the few dozen white settlers in the valley.

Dryden Lacock, a settler in Round Valley, told the California State Legislature that he often went on trips to kill Native Americans. He said they would kill 50-60 Native Americans per trip, sometimes two or three times a week, from 1856 to 1860. Another settler, William Scott, told the legislature that H.L. Hall was a leader of these groups. He said Hall killed all the Native Americans he found and even poisoned their food. Army Lieutenant Edward Dillon also said Hall was responsible. Dillon called Hall a "monster" who killed men, women, and children, no matter what. He said Hall had almost cleared the county of Native Americans.

By September 1857, Superintendent Henley had said that the attacks against the Yuki would continue until they were all gone or driven away. In September 1858, a government agent named J. Ross Browne called it a "war of extermination" against the Yuki. He said 20–30 armed white men were attacking them constantly for months. By August 1859, after three years of these terrible attacks, a newspaper called the Sacramento Union wrote that the local Native Americans seemed doomed to be wiped out.

Because so many killings happened, no one knows the exact number of deaths. But government agents and newspapers estimated that well over 1,000 Yuki people died because of white settlers.

The Yuki people could do little to fight back or defend themselves. On September 24, 1857, more than three years after the first massacre in Round Valley, an Indian Agent reported that a white man had been killed by a Yuki for the first time. Another white man was killed in early 1858. By the end of 1858, a total of four white men had been killed. Reports from the U.S. Army suggest that at least two of the killed men were known for their terrible actions against Native Americans. The reports also said the Native Americans had been provoked in both cases.

What Happened Next

Jarboe's War

In July 1859, a white settler named Walter S. Jarboe, who was already known for his brutal killings, created an army of forty paid fighters. His goal was to destroy the Round Valley Native Americans. He asked the state of California for approval and payment. The governor officially appointed him to kill Native Americans.

With the state government's help, Jarboe started a new, organized campaign of terrible attacks in the valley. Settlers called this "Jarboe's War" or the "Mendocino War." In the middle of his campaign, Jarboe told the governor that "nothing short of extermination will suffice to rid the Country of them [the Yuki]." This meant he believed only killing them all would solve the problem. Within six months, Jarboe's fighters had killed 283 "warriors" in 23 attacks. They also killed hundreds of women and children. They captured nearly 300 Yuki people to move them to reservations.

California Government Looks Into It

In 1860, a special committee of the California government was formed. They were asked to investigate the "Mendocino Indian War" and complaints from powerful ranchers about Native American harassment. The main report from this committee (written by four of the five members) said:

"Stories are coming in daily from the Coast Range counties about horrible acts and mass killings of many defenseless Native Americans. In the last four months, more Native Americans have been killed by our people than in the entire century of Spanish and Mexican rule. Someone is responsible for this huge problem. Either our government, or our citizens, or both, are to blame.

"No reason has been shown, if any could be, to excuse such acts. We must admit that the Native American has been wronged. The blame is with their white brothers. About the recent trouble between whites and Native Americans in Mendocino County, your committee wants to say that no war, or need for a war, has existed, or exists now. We do not want to call the killing of people, who at least look human, and who do not fight back or attack citizens, a 'war'."

The main report suggested that to save the Native Americans, the reservation should be made four times bigger to include almost all of Round Valley. They also suggested buying out the white settlers who owned land in the valley. And they recommended spending more money to make sure Native Americans were protected and had enough food.

However, one member, Joseph B. Lamar, wrote a different report. He suggested that the settlers had acted correctly. He thought the only solution was to gather Native Americans as slaves. He also thought the government should give land to their white masters to support them.

Even though 4 out of 5 committee members supported the main report, the California government chose to ignore it. It was never read to the full government. Instead, the government generally agreed with Lamar. They blamed the Native Americans for the conflict. Lamar also helped pass laws that made it easier to force more Native Americans into slavery.

State Support for Killings Continues

Even with criticism, California lawmakers continued to support the ongoing killings. On April 12, 1860, they set aside $9,347.39 to pay for the "expedition against the Indians in the county of Mendocino." They also passed a law that allowed more Native Americans of different ages and conditions to be forced into slavery. A newspaper article from that time accused powerful people who wanted to profit from enslaved Native Americans of pushing this law through. It gave examples of how rich people had used the law to get Native American slaves from reservations. The article said, "The Act allows a complete system of slavery, without any of the checks and good rules of slavery, as ever was created."

End of the "War"

In 1861, the editor of the Mendocino Herald visited Round Valley. He said there were only about five or six hundred Yuki Native Americans left. This was a huge drop from their original population, which had been more than ten times larger just five years before.

Finally, in 1862, a group of federal soldiers from the U.S. Army stopped the violence against the Native Americans. The law that allowed the kidnapping and enslavement of Native Americans was removed in 1863.

By 1864, only 300 Yuki Native Americans remained.