Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-04-20
rhe Indians OF california.

! . We lind In the National lnteiliSehcer, lon
report from Lieutenant Beale, superintendent 9
Indian Affairs in California, which exhibits
shocking course of injustice as having been prac
tised towards the Indians Of the gold region. b.
the miners and other frontier inhabitants of tn
State. He says the United States laws and poll
] CIV with respect to the Indians have been neglect
ed or violated in California. They were drive
away from their homes, and deprived OF tnel
hunting and fishing grounds, at the, pleasure
the whites. and when they come back to procur
food, they are often killed 1t thus became neces
sary for the government agent to furnish then
with food. For this purpose large numbers G
beef cattle were purchased agreeable to Treat
stipulations, but it appears that the agent VIII
made the contracts for these beeves conducted tn
transactions SO loosely that he did not know
whether the Indians ever received any OF the beef
although it was paid for by the government.
In some cases, it was shown that beef was pail
for which the Indians never received at ALL
The contracts weie SO made that the agent sfar
ed the profits with the contractor These pecu
lations have reduced the Indians to nearly star
wing condition, as they have no means Of subsls
tence Added, to this, many of them are cauggh
. like cdILlo dliu W Nithou. SoihPCii
saton, being turned off to starve, and die whel
the work season is over. Mr.. Beale gives tn,
particulars of one instance occurring only 5 mile
from San Francisco, surrounded By settlers ane
their stock, in which 78 Indians were found at ;
rancho sick and destitute of food and clothes.
When the agent found them there had been Il
death from starvation at one camp. These lDdi-
ans were captured By Calfornans, who made 6
| rnuct
per head. They We're the survivors Of band
who were worked by theif owners all last sum-
meef and fall, and turned adrift in the winter
In the expedition to capture them, many were
killed. When found, the Indians mentioned had
been offered to the farmers in the neighborhood al
dollar head, but it was considered too high fol
beings so low in flesh, and rather than lower the
prices they were left to starve.
Lieut. Beale says he knows it to be common
practice to catch Indian children when they are
out gathering acorns, and hold them as slaves. A
great many Indian slaves are held in this way, OF
taken captives in forays. One hundred and thir-
ty-sx Indians were captured and sold as slaves ir
| one county, by Single band of Mexicans, and
they are treated more like biutes than human be-
ings. The statutes of the State afford no protec-
ton against the cruel treatment of the Indians.
Lieut.. Beae gives the details of several horri-
BILE massacres of Indians by whites without cause
One of these wholesale butcheries, which occur.
red in July last, exceeds in barbarity any act tina
has been perpetrated by so-called civilized men,
since the massacre of the Morayian Indians in IL
| 49, Lieut.. Bea says:
1t was upon ''reserration" secured to the In
dams upon the faith of the United States. It was
plotted for weeks and so well known to the whites
that news of it went three hundred miles to agent
Wozencraft, at San Francisco, and he had time
tv get nearly to the place before it was perpetrat
ed and kept so secret ftom the Indians that they
had no suspicion until the attack was upon them.
| 1t was massacre of defenceless women and chill
dren. The men were absent at work !; the head
man, Pasqual,a Christian Indian and a good man,
10 me well known for years, being actu ally at
work on the house in which passed part of last
winter, at another reservation, and when he went
home from work found all his family destroyed.
1t is reality Of the history of Logan's family
and for all this there was no redress in the eoun
try. The Governor Of the State did not answer
the letter officially addressed to him.. The Unit
ed States District Attorney could find no law to
apply to the case and the leader of the massacre
was elected county Judge.
There are from $4,000 to 100000 Indians in
that country, and probably rot. a week passes in
which some are not killed OF worked and starved
to death. Accounts of the killings usually appear
in the newspapers and as such accounts are most
! ly derived from the actors, they aPpear as war
exploits and expeditions for which the United
States is called upon to pay. The total demand
for Indian wars in California, it believed is near
million of dollars
| TO remedy this state of things, Lieut. Beal
makes several recommendations; among others
that ''Nlilitary reserves" shall be established
where few soldiers can be stationed for the pro-
lection of the Indians, who will support themselves
by labor. He says:
The Indians of this country do not hold labor
in disgrace, as those do who live on the Atlantic
side of the continent They labor freely, and in
the time of the missions did nearly all the labor of
the country, cultivating and building and memo
ry and tradition present it as the happest period
of their lives. know they would rejoice to get
back into such condition and they hope to find
it in the military reserves, if established. At a
place where have collected five or six hundred,
between the Mariposas and San joaquin, and
where | make frequent visits and temporary
bode they are now working about twenty ploughs,
and about one thousand acres will be cultivated
this year. The poughing is well done, and 9TH
er Indians are begging the same privilege.
Great credit is due to the late Secretary of the
Interior for his humane efforts in bringing these
outages to light and laying the facts before Con-
gress. We understand that Col. Benton's feel
ings are warmly enlisted in behalf of the Indians,
and that he will spare no pairs during the next
session of Congress to have the proper remedy ap-
piled.