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The Eighteen Unratified Treaties of 1851 - 1852 between the U. S. Government and the California Indians Background and Historical Perspective Between the period Apr. 29, 1851 and Aug. 22, 1852, President Millard Fillmore appointed three treaty commissioners to negotiate a series of treaties of friendship and peace with eighteen tribes of Indians in California. The treaties took place between more than 100 Indian tribes and bands on one side and the U. S. government on the other. 18 million acres of land was set aside as a permanent reservation for the Indians.
Although, eighteen treaties were executed, the senate refused to authorize them in its executive meeting held on July 8, 1852. The government faced objections to the treaty from the representatives of the state of California who contended that a lot of valuable agricultural and mining property was being given away to the Indians. The newspapers of the day echoed this sentiment and helped build popular opinion against the treaty. The Los Angeles Star stated "to place upon our most fertile soil the most degraded race of Aborigines [sic] upon the North American Continent... is planting the seeds of future disaster and ruin... " Consequently, the treaties were filed under an injunction of secrecy and were not made public. The tribes were evicted from their lands and moved to interim reservations.
The government did not fulfill its promise of a permanent settlement of the Indians and access to education. The genesis of the treaties can be traced to the governments desire to pay off the debts accumulated during the Civil war by forcible appropriation of Indian lands. In 1849, government emissaries presented an inaccurate and fallacious picture at Washington regarding the manner in which the Mexican government viewed the rights of the Indians to the lands. With the discovery of gold, the government was eager to evacuate the Indians to prevent a conflict of interests with the white settlers. The prospectors were left alone during the early stages of the Gold Rush and were even helped by the Indians.
However, when the Indians realized that the whites had taken to squatting on their lands, they began to grow restless and skirmishes started. More often that not, these resulted in loss of property and life for the Indians. The treatment of the Indians at the hands of the government in the period 1848 1868 resulted in the deaths of 100, 000 Indians. The forcible evictions led to demographic chaos as the Indians, having lived on their lands for countless millennia, were suddenly forced to adapt to an alien environment that not only severely curtailed their movements but also led to irrevocable loss of the traditional knowledge, which many senior Indians took with them to their graves.
This happened because in their new environments, the Indians were unable to fully practice their cultivation techniques and other important lifestyle habits and they did not have a tradition of writing to pass on the knowledge. The manner in which the treaties were arrived at was an indicator of the lack of sentiment in the government with respect to the welfare of the Indians. The treaties were signed by Indians who could not have had the authority to do so. Some Indian signatories had Spanish sounding names while some did not. This indicates that at some places the content of the treaties was explained to the Indians who understood Spanish whereas some tribes must have not understood the context at all.
Several tribes kept away from the treaties and those who could be persuaded to attend had only a vague notion of its purposes and what it entailed for their future. Yet, they have signed the treaties. The treaties, although similar in meaning have been worded differently. Even though, many tribes refrained from signing, they too were forced to evacuate their lands. In return, the tribes were assured of 7, 466, 000 acres of land by the federal government.
The Treaties The three commissioners, George Barbour, O. M. Wozencraft, and Redick McKee initially covered the state as a three-member committee; however, time constraints forced them to assume greater responsibility and individually working out the treaties with the Indians. Barbour and McKee organized four treaties whereas Wozencraft organized eight treaties. The commissioners did not have an understanding of the Californian Indians way of life. Although, the Indians did not enjoy citizenship of California, they were obliged to pay taxes on their lands and personal property.
As it turns out, the groups that they labeled as tribes were sometimes no more than small hamlets of a given tribe. The heads of these hamlets were not authorized to take a decision on the lands of the tribes, yet the commissioners persisted in dealing with them. Their sole objective was to obtain title to the Indian lands for the state of California, which they managed to do to the satisfaction of the senate. The commissioners were not even authorized to take up the issue of land reservation, which they did. In retrospect, it can be said that the entire affair was ill conceived and poorly executed and that the white government did not appear too worried about the impact of the treaties on the Indians. The eighteen treaties are mentioned in brief, as follows Treaty of Camp Belt, May 13, 1851: Concluded between George Barbour and the Ta Chees, Cah Wai and other tribes at Camp Barbour set up on the San Joaquin river.
Treaty of Camp Keyes, May 30, 1851: Concluded between George Barbour and the Nu-Chow-We, Ko-Ya-Re, Wack-Sa-Che and other tribes. Treaty of Camp Burton, May 30, 1851: Concluded at Paint Creek, between George Barbour and the Chu-Lute, Yo-Lum-Ne, Wo-Wol and other tribes. Treaty of Camp Persifer F. Smith, June 10, 1851: Concluded between George Barbour and the Castle, San Imirio, Buena Vista, Uvas and other tribes at the Texan Pass. Treaty of Dent and Valentine's Crossing, May 28, 1851: Concluded between O.
M. Wozencraft and the Co-To-Pla-Ne-Mis, Suc-Class, Iou-Ol-Uses and other tribes. Treaty of Camp Union, July 18, 1851: Concluded on the Yuba River, between O. M. Wozencraft and the Des-Die, Ya-Ma-Do, Nem-Shaw, and other tribes. Treaty of Camp Bidwell, Aug. 1, 1851: Concluded on Chico Creek, between O.
M. Wozencraft and the Mi-Chop-Da, Su-Nus, Ho-Lo-Lu-Pi and other tribes. Treaty of Reading's Ranch, Aug. 16, 1851: Concluded on CottonWood Creek, between O. M.
Wozencraft and the Noi-Ma, Noi-Me, Y-Lac-Ca and other tribes. Treaty of Camp Colus, Sept. 09, 1851: Concluded on Sacramento River, between O. M. Wozencraft and the Colus, Cha, Williams and other tribes. Treaty of Camp Cosumnes, Sept. 18, 1851: Concluded on the Cosumnes River, between O. M.
Wozencraft and the Su-Lu, Loc-Num-Ne, Wo-Pum-Nes and other tribes. Treaty of Temecula, Jan. 7, 1852: Concluded at Temecula Village, between O. M. Wozencraft and the San Louis Ray, Kah-We-As and other tribes. Treaty of Santa Isabel, Jan. 7, 1852: Concluded at Santa Isabel Village, between O. M.
Wozencraft and the Dieguino Indians. Treaty of Camp Fremont, Mar. 19, 1851: Concluded between O. M. Wozencraft and the Po-To-Yun-Te, Co-Co-Noon, Apache and other tribes. Treaty of Camp Barbour, Apr. 29, 1851: Concluded between Redick McKee and the How-Ech-Ees, Talking-Chees, No-to-No-Tos and other tribes. Treaty of Lipayuma, Aug. 20, 1851: Concluded at Clear Lake, between Redick McKee and the Ca-La-Na-Po, Mo-Al-Kai, Cha-nel-Kai and other tribes.
Treaty at Camp Feliz, Aug. 22, 1951: Concluded at the Russian River, between Redick McKee and the Sai-Nell, Po-Mo and other tribes. Treaty of Lower Klamath, Oct. 6, 1851: Concluded at the Klamath River, between Redick McKee and the With-Peck, Coc-Ko-Man, Mor-Ri-Ahs and other tribes Treaty of Upper Klamath, Nov. 4, 1851: Concluded at Scotts Valley, between Redick McKee and the O-De-I-Lah, I-Ka-Ruck, E-Eh and other tribes. The treaties broadly stated the following points: The Indians were to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the United Sates government and promise to maintain peace with the government and all the tribes at peace with the government. For a redress for any grievance, the aggrieved parties were to approach the concerned civil authorities and not attempt any personal vendetta. In addition, the tribes were to cooperate with the authorities and support the process of binging to justice any guilty tribesmen. The tribes were to relinquish their claims to the lands that they held, in favor of the United States government.
An understanding was arrived at regarding the lands that were to be set aside for Indian habitation. The treaties promised to provide the Indians with articles for sustenance, such as, plows, hoes, spades, harnesses, etc and animals for food as well as work. These included oxen, bulls, cows, mules etc. Seeds, blankets, cloth, needles, scissors, grindstones were also to be provided to facilitate smooth rehabilitation and growth of the Indians on the reservations. Teachers, carpenters, blacksmiths were to provide training and assistance to the Indians until they became self-sufficient in the above areas.
The white population regarded the process of establishing reservations as a good way to segregate the Indians from the mainstream society. The treaties did not mention any financial support to the Indians in terms of annual annuities to help them tide over the period of resettling. Repercussions of the Unratified Treaties The Indians displaced by the treaties faced several hardships; they were gainfully employed only during the growing and harvesting times. For the rest of the year, they worked as itinerant laborers on the sawmills or railroads. Very often, the Indians found the white population to be too hostile to bear. Even though, the Indians tried to sever all contacts with the whites, they had to venture out of their domains in search of work.
On being uprooted from their ancestral lands, the Indians were too disoriented to resist the laws enacted in the state of California that legalized the slavery of Indians. Indians could be indentured to work for their white masters. Children were indentured at a young age and could be made to work until the age of 30. The federal government made a weak effort to establish a policy in 1854 that was aimed at streamlining the management of the affairs of the Indians. Edward Beale was appointed the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California. Beale proceeded to establish a 50, 000 acre preserve for the Indians at San Sebastian, the San Joaquin Valley.
The tribes that were made to shift to this preserve included the Gabrielino and You tribes. Beale had been authorized to create more such reserves, but he did not. In fact, popular opinion states that of the $ 250, 000 that was allocated to him, he embezzled most of it and was dismissed in 1856. The responsibility of settling the Indians on various reserves was handed to Col. T. J.
Henley who established reserves on the Klamath River and at Mendocino County. The shifting of the Indians to these reserves was carried out in an unsystematic manner, the area marked as a reserve had not been properly evaluated and it lacked in game, farming land and water sources that would enable the Indians to pursue their traditional lifestyles. The reserves were meant to be for exclusive use by the Indians. However, whites too started living in these areas and very soon had ownership of the lands that had been set aside for the Indians.
They also passed several diseases, mainly venereal diseases to which the Indians did not have a natural resistance. Indians actually had to loan farms, which were originally meant for them, from the whites. With the connivance of the authorities, the corruption continued unabated until the 1860 s. Indians who wanted to be a part of the farming plans could not do so because of the policy of indentured labor, which meant that their efforts were for the benefits of their masters. Indians could be randomly picked from the streets, charged with loitering, and charged with vagrancy. The punishment was forced labor.
Movements for Justice The eighteen treaties lay lost until 1905, and when they were made public, it led to the beginning of a series of struggles by the Indians to reclaim their lands, recognition as U. S. citizens and the execution of the treaty in its entirety. The Commonwealth Club of San Francisco was one of the earliest bodies to take up the issue of the rights of the Indians under the treaties. The California Grizzly Bear published a series of articles in the years 1922 and 1925 to galvanize public opinion in favor of the Indians. The Womens Christian Temperance Union, the Northern California Indian Association, the Indian Welfare Committee of the Federated Womens Clubs were some of the organizations that worked actively toward furthering the cause of Californian Indians.
Jonathan Tickets, a white man from Southern California led the Mission Indian Federation, which also had several Indians on board. Frederick Collett, who was a Methodist minister, founded the Indian Board of Cooperation in 1910. The objectives...
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