The muck of history.

Reply to Ben from post below:

Ben

You should never have “trepidations” when offering your opinions to me. If I had to make a list of all of the researchers that I trust the most, you would be in the top ten of the list.



For those of you that don't know Ben. He is a serious researcher of early north coast history, and especially those things that concern the indigenous people. He has interpreted their language and the place names of the early people. He is a student of early human relations, and speaks from a position of authority on such matters. He has the trust of the indigenous people and the local white people. He has been on many serious field studies. He can tell you about the local history, in the original Indian language, and the English language. I would almost always defer to his opinion, unless I had direct knowledge of a good reason to disagree. Some of my comments are not directed toward Ben, but novice researchers instead. Ben is usually right.



I know that Ben has information on the history of the indigenous people, and the indigenous artifacts of this area that he can never talk about. The reason that I know that, is because any serious researcher of the local history finds out about things that they can't, or won't talk about. It's one of the advantages of being a local historian that can be trusted with the “Local Secrets”. Ben has seen Indian Petroglyphs that few others can be trusted to see. Some times people will allow someone like Ben, that can be trusted, “in on some local history”. History that just plain wouldn't be fair to repeat, but sometimes just a small tidbit of information will put many confusing stories together and make history clear as a bell ringing at the break of dawn. Ben knows those kind of stories, so when he tells you something, you should always give his opinion the benefit of the doubt.



Having said that, I would like to point out a few of the things that a generational native knows that no others do.(A generational native is a person that has lived here for generations, rather than years.) A generational native has been raised here, not only knowing the stories that they hear, but they know the stories that they have heard from their ancestors, people that knew the first white people to settle here. A Generational Native has heard stories from their ancestors that knew the last survivors of the Indian Massacres. They have heard the stories of how terrible the fear was that their families would have been chased off, killed, or ruined by the thugs that ran things on the north coast. Surely only a very naive researcher could have studied very long without saying “hmmm... there was some pretty heavy intimidation back then”. The facts of the intimidation was very under-reported.



Even astute researchers, such as Ben often miss some very big salient points. The point from my prospective is that human life on the north coast was very much about survival. For both the indigenous people and the white interloper. I agree with Ben in that there was a plan afoot to spread the new Americans throughout the land. The tacit plan was called “Manifest destiny”. The plan was to settle and “civilize” the new world.



From Wikipedia:
Manifest Destiny is a term that was used in the 19th century to designate the belief that the United States was destined, even divinely ordained, to expand across the North American continent, from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean. Sometimes Manifest Destiny was interpreted so broadly as to include the eventual absorption of all North America: Canada, Mexico, Cuba and Central America. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only ethical but that it was readily apparent ("manifest") and inexorable ("destiny"). Although initially used as a catch phrase to inspire the United States' expansion across the North American continent, the 19th century phrase eventually became a standard historical term.
The term, which first appeared in print in 1839, was used in 1845 by a New York journalist, John L. O'Sullivan, to urge for the annexation of Texas. Thereafter, it was used to encourage American settlement of European colonial and Indian lands in the Great Plains and the west... ...some commentators believe that aspects of Manifest Destiny, particularly the belief in an American "mission" to promote and defend democracy throughout the world, continues to have an influence on American political ideology.



Another popular saying of the time was “Go West Young Man”. People were encouraged to populate the west, and bring civilization with the settling of the west. People were assured that the United States Military would protect them from the “Native Savages”. Many people were headed to the west even before gold was discovered. Indeed, California was admitted into the union before gold was found at Sutter's Mill. The gold discovery wasn't part of the planned expansion. Many people that had considered moving to California, but hadn't quite decided to do so, changed their minds and "Went West". The discovery of gold enticed many people to move west with the hopes that “they could walk down the creeks in California and find gold nuggets the size of chicken eggs”.



The expansion of the civilized world into California happened much faster than the United States could move troupes west to protect them, and a lot of the soldiers deserted to find their own fortune in the gold fields. Any manner of human being moved to California during the Gold Rush. Many good people moved out here with their wives and families. Many thugs, ne'er do wells, ornery no good S.O.B's moved out here also. Many people failed in the pursuit of gold, and were ran off with there tail between there legs. Some decided to try their luck on the west coast, where gold had been discovered washed up on the beach, and in the remote areas of the Trinity River. Some on the determined people figured out that there was more money in supplying the miners with leather and beef, than there was in the “Golden Opportunity”. They also found that they were in “Indian Territory”. With very little of the “promised” protection that they expected.

Without mentioning names, a few of the mean SOB settlers saw the opportunity to build their empires within a lawless land. Through lies and intimidation, they were able to further their agenda. They killed anybody in their way, settlers, ranchers, Indian people, or anybody that crossed them. They used strychnine poison in peoples food. The shot people to death, and had phony witnesses testify that it was self-defense. To put it in modern terms that you can understand, “you were either with them, or against them”, and it wasn't healthy to be on the wrong side of a thug. Some thugs became very wealthy.



But, even a thug saw the value of having people on his side. The thugs controlled the local sheriff and judges. If you were able to prove your worth to them, you were allowed to live. But, probably not prosper. When the Pony soldiers left for the civil war, private contractors were hired to “keep the peace”. Many of the thugs saw the opportunity to let these people “Prove their worth” and get rid of the Indian problem. Many Indians were killed with the idea that they had refused to move onto the reservations. Many were driven into areas that had cattle. The starving Indians killed the cattle, and in return they were killed by the cattle ranchers.



Now, if you didn't understand any of that, go back and read it again. But, if you are still reading maybe I can share with you some of what the local people know and feel, that the person that wakes up in the new found pond of north coast history doesn't have the prospective to understand. In my particular case the genocide of the local tribes, and marauding tribes from Oregon and Northern California, and Nevada happened five generation ago! Hardly a current event, but still very significant in our local history.



As a lad, I was raised in the local history. Mostly the history of the Laytonville area, but certainly aware of the whole north coast, and northern California. I walked through the swamp of the Laytonville human condition. I felt the muck of local history squeezing up between my toes. I felt the glare of the knowledge that a conflict had happened a long time ago between the Indian people and the whites. I was told about the thugs that everybody had to deal with. It wasn't so much “fear” that was expressed, but the fact that you could be killed for doing something as simple as trying to build a fence around your garden. I had a possible relative murdered by thugs for building a fence. I was raised with the knowledge that those things happened. So, please don't tell me that intimidation was not a factor in north coast history. Some researchers have felt bold enough to do so.



I was raised with stories about the local Indian tribes that would have great battles, for no apparent reason other than that's what they did. There was not even an apparent reason for them to hate each other. But, they did battle and killed each other. If they ran out of arrows they would stand and dare the other side to shoot at them so they could gather the arrows and shoot them back. One of the local tribes, to the south, had a bad habit of cutting the heads off of the enemies that they killed and used them for kickballs. But, in the great wisdom of these waring people, if it rained they would go home, because they didn't believe that they could fight good in the rain. The area at the top of the Bell Springs ridge was a well known spot where the Indians liked to gather to kill each other. Many artifacts have been found from the “wars”.



I was raised hearing many stories of thievery, and the great skill of stealth that the local Indian had. I heard that if they could steal something from you without getting caught, that it belonged to them. I heard that they didn't believe that any body could own an animal, and they had the right to eat it if they killed it.



Many Indian tribes went on marauding missions with the idea of getting rid of the whites. I was raised hearing about a woman and her kids being attacked by Indians in the area of Camp Grant. They chased and hunted the woman and her kids through a long and epic story, and her descendants became great heroes in their own rights in the Laytonville area. One of them blazed a trail up the Eel River canyon that became the 101 highway.





There was a tribe that had decided to kill all the whites. The tribe was from east of Fort Seward. The Pony Soldiers rounded them up and shot them and burned their bodies in front of their own people as a “lesson”.



I know many descendants of murders and rapes by the Indian people on the whites. I've heard all of the stories. Many of the recent students of north coast history seem to find any treachery by the Indian people as “forgivable” because, after all, the white people were the Interlopers. The same people will go on forever about the horror of a rape on an Indian woman. It would seem that a normal person would see BOTH as horrible. If it was your wife, I'm sure you would get my reasoning.



At this point I'm sure that you see my position. The white man ended up in California. Whether he was encouraged to come because of “manifest destiny”. Because of greed, opportunity to own land and raise a family, gold, or any of many reasons that man does the things that he does. He did end up in California. But, there was little, or none, of the promised law and order.



California had thugs, no good rotten bastards, cut throats, thieves, outlaws, opportunists, and ne'er do wells. Some of them were Indians, and some of them were white. But, California also had some good people along with the bad. Some of them were Indian and some of them were white. -We are what we are.- I have no apologies, and I don't want any. None of us alive today had anything to do with the early conflicts.



I have nothing but the most respect for the local Indian people. Indeed, I find them, and their, culture to be most fascinating. I have, and enjoy, many Indian friends, and grieve over what they have lost of their culture and history. Their knowledge of the north coast must have been immense.



But...Anybody that says Early California life wasn't mostly about survival, just doesn't have the muck of north coast history between their toes. Something that always slightly offends me is the arrogance of the people that discover our terrible little secret history and start wagging the finger of blame, when I'm sure that they wouldn't have to look very far back in their own history to find a ruthless no-good bastard. So, if you don't mind, I would invite you to do just a little hunt in your own history, and stop finding fault in mine. If you do what I ask, I'm sure that you will return with a little more humility.