The newly founded Smithsonian Institution publishes Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, by Ephraim G. Squier and Edwin H. Davis. The first major work on the archaeology of North America, the monograph provides an account of Squier and Davis’s study of burial mounds made by ancient Indians in Ohio (see entries for CA. 1000 B. C. TO A. D. 200; CA. 200 B. C. TO A. D. 400; and CA. 700 TO 1550). Some of the mounds they discuss will later be destroyed by looters, thereby making the writers’ description the only surviving record of the mounds’ existence.
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs proposes Indian “colonies.”
In his annual report to the president, Commissioner of Indian Affairs William Merrill proposes the creation of “colonies”—lands with specific borders in which Indians could be contained. Merrill’s concept is an early articulation of the Reservation policy that will dominate U. S. Indian affairs by 1860. The policy will seek to move Indians to well-defined reservations, where they can be compelled to give up Indian ways and be trained to live as settled, Christian farmers.
The Allegany and Cattaraugus Seneca adopt a written constitution.
Since several hereditary chiefs sold Seneca land against the wishes of the tribe (see entry for 1838), the Seneca’s confidence in their traditional form of government has been shaken. To ensure their chiefs will not make any more unauthorized land sales, the Seneca on the Allegany and Cattaraugus Reservations draft a written constitution that allows them to elect their leaders.
The Qualla Cherokee receive a settlement from the U. S. government.
The state of North Carolina petitions the federal government for monies owed to the Qualla Cherokee. These Cherokee, who live near Quallatown, North Carolina, avoided traveling west on the Trail of Tears (see entries for MAY 1838 and for MARCH 1839) because they owned their own land outside of tribal territory. Due to the persistence of William H. Thomas, a white man who was adopted by a Qualla chief as a boy, North Carolina convinces the United States to give every Qualla the $53.33 payment appropriated to remove each Cherokee. The payments are used to purchase the mountain land that will later become the reservation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Gold is discovered on Nisenan land.
James Marshall, an associate of Swiss settler John A. Sutter, accidentally discovers gold while a sawmill is being constructed near a ranch and trading center known as Sutter’s Fort. Sutter’s estate, which was built by local Indian labor, is located near the village of Culloma in the lands of the Nisenan Indians. To gain exclusive mineral rights to the area,
“The majority of tribes are kept in constant fear on account of the indiscriminate and inhuman massacre of their people for real or supposed injuries. . . . I have seldom heard of a single difficulty between the whites and the Indians in which the original cause could not readily be traced to some rash or reckless act of the former. In some instances it has happened that innocent Indians have been shot down for imaginary offenses which did not in fact exist.”
—Indian agent Adam Johnston on miners’ treatment of Indians during the California Gold Rush
Sutter negotiates an agreement with the Nisenan in which they consent to lease to Sutter for three years the land he occupies in exchange for food and some manufactured items. Sutter forwards the agreement to the military governor of California, who refuses to approve it, maintaining that Indians have no rights to their lands and therefore cannot enter into lease agreements.
Sutter also fails in his efforts to keep his discovery secret. Word of his gold find spreads quickly, first in the West and then throughout the East, sparking the California Gold Rush. Initially, California Indians will be little affected by the influx of miners, some of whom will employ Indian men as prospectors. But as the trickle of whites seeking riches grows into a flood, many California tribes will lose their land and even face extinction.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the U. S.-MexicanWar.
The U. S.-Mexican War concludes with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In the document, Mexico agrees to cede to the United States about half of its territory, including lands in present-day California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Without their consent, millions of Indians in the ceded region are brought under the control of the U. S. government. The treaty also includes a promise by the United States to punish any Indians who cross the international boundary to raid Mexican settlements. This provision will lead to extended conflicts between U. S. troops and the Apache and Navajo.
World History
