Weekly Trinity journal., 1858-09-25
Help for the Settlers.

We wish torepresent TO Gov. Weller the deplo-
rabe condition of the unprotected settlers in
Humboldt, and to demand immediate relief in the
name of that justice which pioneers advancing
civilization may claim. One after another of
these enterprising men is shot down, some in
sight of their own doors, some on the lonesome
trail by which they are leading commerce to
more distant ouiposts. They are every day men
aced by marauders whom Government protects
and breeds on Reservatons-bestial, worm-eat
ing wretches, incapable of anything but treach-
cry, theft and murder while the white settler has
no reservation but what he can preserve in range
of his rife. The country from the Trinity to
the head of Russian river-about a hundred miles
in length and fifty broad-is swarming with saw
ages, many of them supplied with effective arms,
and instigated to more than savage atrocity by
vagabond white men, who gender with their wo-
men, and share in the spoils stripped from the
settlements. Six or seven of these brave-heart-
ed pioneers have been assassinated, at intervals,
since the first of June, their cattle have been
driven of, their houses burned, their fields dev-
astated, while the individuals to whom they have
appealed have been lingering in the shady groves
of Sacramento, in state of patriarchal placidi-
ty. Orders were given and person was sent to
inquire in 10 the condition of the settlers the an
swer to that inquistion is the sharp crack of an
Indian rife, the death cry of the adventurous set
tier, and the wall of his children as they fly in
the night from their desolate home.
There is no need Of further inquiry ; the set
tiers, surrounded by powerful hostile tribes, de-
mand HELP immediate and powerful They are
in the midst of an appalling Indian war, which
| Is strife of determination or abandonment of
country. They have petitioned the commander
of the United States forces, who has sent few
lazy troops to camp at distance from the scene
of devastation, and less protective than the boys
and women of the settlers-the trails are still un-
protected, and the settlements at the mercy of
the savages who are banding and strengthening
every day They have Reservations on three
sides with Indian Agents less influential than su-
peranuated squaws, and who, they say, have en-
ployed their time in writing sentimental reports,
detailing the virtues of Indian innocents, while
predatory bands are numbering, stealing and
burning. They have now sent courier to the
Executive mansion to implore an order for vol
unteer protection, while they, in the meantime,
by extra taxation and voluntary contribution,
keep the Indians at bay.
Governor Weller is an officer Of quick purpose
and instant execution, and not to be deferred
from justice by technical difficulties, and we hope
that he will instantly order relief There is no
use in longer parleying with these ferocious
brutes who know nothing of the sacredness of
promise or treaty. They or the white settlers
must be exterminated or abandon the rich val
leys where standing grain had begun to promise
the pioneer gratitude for his labor Let no over.
strained sentiment of humanity protect the ma
rauders who respect no arbitration but the rifle
and the knife, and let every white vagabond
found with them suffer the penalty Of treason to
to his race.