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Americans were forced from their homelands and the most valuable lands, and conflicts erupted. In addition to the loss of land and resources, and the conflicts over new settlements, Native
Americans suffered from introduced diseases and were subject to violence and murder at the hands of the newcomers, sometimes aided or led by U.S. military troops. Legal loopholes or the absence of a strong, local judicial system also prevented the white killers being brought to justice. Tall tales and rumors circulated by words of mouth or by the press also contributed to mass participation in the killings and galvanized people's tacit consent to those killings.
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a result, killing
Indians was another way to "stop their misery." These notions may partially explain the indiscriminate killing of Native men and women in California after disputes in land settlements erupted. The white settlers saw themselves as a superior race; as a result, they saw themselves as having a "manifest destiny" to hold all the land to the Pacific Ocean. They sincerely believed that they could make better use of the land by farming. This land would be "wasted" left in the hands of the Indians. Accounts and rumors describing Indians as "bloodthirsty killers" also helped to demonize the Indians in the minds of the white people.
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200 dollar fine (Lindsay, 202). Many White settlers apparently found such a measure too lenient and not enough to deter the
Indians from stealing their livestock. They often raided Indian villages and executed the men and women on the spot. More gruesome still, they often put down the children and infants as well. This is clearly a violation of state law and outright murder. Unfortunately, because of the legal loopholes and widespread support for those killings, these men were never prosecuted by law.
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258:, meaning skinned hide) where they had made camp. They waited until early morning before attacking, to ensure that nobody could escape. When daylight broke they attacked the Wintu, who were just beginning to awaken. More than 150 Wintu people were killed, with only about five scattered children surviving the attack.
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The white settlers often found it convenient to portray
Indians as subhuman and inferior to white people. In this way, it became justifiable in their conscience to kill their fellow human beings of "the other" race. Indians were perceived as "savages" and seen as living in "misery" (Lindsay, 194). As
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While mid-19th century
California law did not explicitly permit the killing of Native Americans, it also prevented any non-white (i.e., Native American) witnesses providing evidence against white defendants. According to Californian state law, the punishment for stealing livestock was 25 lashes and a
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Native
Americans in California experienced several decades of genocide as the white settlers started to arrive from the east and the Midwest. Miners, ranchers and other settlers flooded into the region to occupy lands belonging to Native Americans. As more and more white settlers arrived, Native
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Descendants of those massacred have stated that about 500 or 600 Wintu were massacred, and the few survivors escaped by hiding in nearby caves. Those Wintu killed in the massacre were not responsible for the death of John
Anderson, who was killed by Wintu from a different band.
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There was a massacre of
Indians there, 5 or 6 hundred were killed there, some ran in caves there. Wash Hyustes (phon.) was one of the white men in that massacre. Some of her relations and Billy's were in that massascre, and informant does not like to talk about
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The natural bridge is 150 feet (46 m) long and about 30 feet (9.1 m) high, on
Dobbins Gulch Road. Trails are administered by the U.S. Forest Service at the Natural Bridge Picnic Area off of Wildwood Road (County Road 302) in Trinity County.
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The massacre was in response to the killing of
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247:. The Americans tracked the Wintu to a part of Hayfork Creek south of the
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448:"Early California Laws and Policies Related to California Indians"
399:"J.P. Harrington Papers 1907-1959 (Yana/Achomawi/Wintu/Chimariko)"
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Genocide in Northwestern California: When Our Worlds Cried
421:"Natural Bridge of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest"
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Native American history of California—related topics
382:. San Francisco: Indian Historian Press. pp.
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219:, occurred on April 23, 1852, when more than 150
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353:Historic Spots in California: Fourth Edition
351:Hoover, Mildred Brooke and Douglas E. Kyle,
227:men led by William H. Dixon, the sheriff of
137:Round Valley Settler Massacres of 1856–1859
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16:1852 murder of Wintu people in California
527:Massacres committed by the United States
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507:Native American history of California
502:History of Trinity County, California
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160:California's Pitt River Expedition
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468:Natural Bridge Interpretive Trail
446:Johnston-Dodds, Kimberly (2003).
397:Harrington, John Peabody (1931).
293:Indigenous peoples of California
151:Northeast California Indian Wars
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184:Mojave Desert Indian Campaign
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147:Second Pitt River Expedition
132:Klamath and Salmon River War
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405:. Smithsonian Institution.
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455:California Research Bureau
321:40.4920222°N 123.1039889°W
251:known as Bridge Gulch (in
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127:Sacramento River Massacre
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326:40.4920222; -123.1039889
223:were killed by about 70
170:Bitter Spring Expedition
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217:Natural Bridge massacre
192:Calloway Affair of 1880
175:Owens Valley Indian War
122:Sutter Buttes Massacre
72:Bloody Island Massacre
54:California Indian Wars
374:Norton, Jack (1979).
209:Bridge Gulch massacre
117:Kabyai Creek Massacre
97:Bridge Gulch Massacre
211:, also known as the
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522:California genocide
427:on February 5, 2012
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512:1852 in California
403:collections.si.edu
517:April 1852 events
492:Conflicts in 1852
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481:Categories
431:January 3,
336:References
233:California
188:Modoc War
180:Snake War
287:See also
225:American
92:Yuma War
239:History
487:Wintun
451:(PDF)
384:51–54
253:Wintu
245:Wintu
433:2013
278:Site
207:The
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