"Now that general hostilities against the Indians have commenced we hope that the government will render such aid as will enable the citizens of the north to carry on a war of extermination until the last redskin of these tribes has been killed. Extermination is no longer a question of time - the time has arrived, the work has commenced, and let the first man that says treaty or peace be regarded as a traitor". Editorial - Yreka Herald, 1851

The author confesses to knowing little regarding the history of Native Peoples of the Americas, and -- if possible -- even less about those native to the Northwest. Sadly, like many born and raised in the US - California specifically -- I am woefully ignorant about the histories and plights of these peoples. This paper is an extremely modest effort to develop a basic understanding of two of these peoples -- The Modoc and the Pomo. Their cultures will be briefly examined, as well as their histories. This small introduction, to a crucial and heart-wrenching period of world history, is the author’s attempt to gain some small understanding of a subject that in his lifetime has ignored by many -- himself included. The Pomo The Pomo inhabited a large region of Northern California about fifty miles North of San Francisco. This area …show more content…
Settlers snatched up land by the hectare for grazing. Via the Applegate Trail, thousands of emigrants drove their wagon trains through the heart of traditional Modoc hunting territory, driving away the game that they sorely needed for survival. A group of Modoc began attacking and stealing from settlers along the trail, and in one particularly horrific attack, boarded a train car full of emigrants and killed 65 people. Soon after, a group of white settlers led by Ben Wright ambushed and murdered 40 Modoc that were gathered unawares along the Lost