Murder State: California's Native American Genocide, 1846-1873

455 Pages·2012·9.37 MB·English

by  Brendan C. Lindsay

Murder State

murd er State
California’s
Native
American
Genocide,
1846–1873
Brendan C. Lindsay
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln and London
© 2012 by the Board of Regents of the University
of Nebraska. All rights reserved. Manufactured in
the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lindsay, Brendan C.
Murder state: California’s native American genocide,
1846–1873 / Brendan C. Lindsay.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8032-2480-3 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Indians of North America—California—History—
19th century. 2. Indians of North America—Crimes
against—California. 3. Indians of North America
—California—Government relations. 4. Genocide—
California—History—19th century. 5. California—
Race relations. 6. California—History—19th century.
I. Title.
e78.c15l56 2012 979.4'04—dc23 2011044313
Set in Adobe Caslon Pro by Bob Reitz.
Designed by A Shahan.
for my parents,
Charles Hill Lindsay (1937 – 90)
and Patricia Lindsay-Kieffer

Contents
List of Tables viii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Defining Genocide 1
part 1. imagining genocide
Introduction 35
1. The Core Values of Genocide 43
2. Emigrant Guides 70
3. The Overland Trail Experience 109
part 2. perpetrating genocide
Introduction 127
4. The Economics of Genocide in Southern California 135
5. Democratic Death Squads of Northern California 179
part 3. supporting genocide
Introduction 225
6. The Murder State 231
7. Federal Bystanders to and Agents of Genocide 271
8. Advertising Genocide 313
Conclusion: At a Crossroads in the Genocide 335
Epilogue: Forgetting and Remembering Genocide 349
Notes 361
Bibliography 407
Index 427
Tables
1. Population Estimates for California, 1848–1910 128
2. Native Children Living in Non-Native Households 267
Preface
This book was inspired in part by my experiences in academia over
the past seven years, including time as a university lecturer and gradu-
ate student. As I studied and taught about the history of California
and the United States, I encountered many students, colleagues, and
faculty unwilling to accept the argument that genocide had been com-
mitted upon Native Americans in California and the United States
during the nineteenth century. Some suggested that the tremendous
loss of lives was instead an unintended consequence or even a neces-
sary evil of the advance of Western civilization or national progress.
A common sentiment was that the democracy of the United States
in the nineteenth century bore little resemblance to the Holocaust of
the twentieth century. The urge to compare, I believe, is not uncom-
mon; many people cannot conceive of any study of genocide without
making such a comparison. I am sympathetic to the reasons why one
might find it an inescapable comparison to attempt. The Holocaust is
so monstrous, so recent, and so well documented (by the perpetrators,
in particular) that it often overshadows all else in genocide studies.
But my reason for pursuing this study does not rest upon a desire to
make a comparison of genocides or measure atrocity against atrocity.
Rather the motive for this book rests upon a very practical foundation.
Native Americans in California today are making inroads in matters
of health, cultural renewal, sovereignty, and the reclaiming of lost lands
and other rights. California voters, teachers, courts, and lawmakers
thus continue to face choices that affect Native American people in the
state. If my personal experience serves as any indicator of the percep-
tions of many of these decision makers, it is vital that people should