Redwood History Basic Data

A. DAVID BUELL and FARMING OPERATIONS—1858-1861

The Office of Indian Affairs determined to dump Subagent Heintzelman, because Superintendent Henley held that the movement of the Tolowa to the Klamath had been premature and had sparked the conspiracy that ended in the fight on Wau-Kell Flat. Heintzelman's successor, David Buell, took charge of the Klamath Indian Reservation in 1858.

In addition to the subagent in charge, the agency staff consisted of six positions—a physician, farmer, blacksmith, interpreter, overseer, and teacher. All of these positions except one, the overseer, were at Wau-Kell. The overseer was stationed at Kepel. The physician in 1859 was paid $1,200 per year, while the other incumbents received $900, each, per year for their services. [1]

Superintendent Henley resigned under fire in 1859, and he was succeeded as Superintendent of the California District by James Y. McDuffie on June 7. McDuffie in August visited the Klamath River Reservation and found that the agency at Wau-Kell was located in a beautiful valley, containing about 800 acres. Walking about the area, he was delighted to see that the land was fertile and well-adapted to the "growth of a variety of grain and vegetables." A large portion of the flat was not cultivated, and "although not densely timbered, contained considerable undergrowth which will require labor & expense in clearing." About 160 acres were under cultivation. The yield of the farm, McDuffie found, spoke well for "the industry & good management of the agent and employees & promises great success in the future." [2]

At Ho'pau, one mile below the agency and on the opposite side of the Klamath, a small 40-acre farm was being cultivated. Adjoining this farm, Superintendent McDuffie saw another 80 acre which could be farmed. Visiting Fort Ter-Waw, McDuffie was well received by Lieutenant Crook. The flat at the fort contained about 80 acres of ground, "unsurpassed in fertility and of easy cultivation." [3] At Pecwan, ten miles above the agency, he visited a small 18-acre farm, adjoining which there was about 50 acres that "could be turned to a profitable account." Kepel, 17 river miles above Wau-Kell, was a beautiful location, and it was "surrounded by a country unsurpassed for grazing purposes & is entirely isolated & protected from the invasion of white settlers." The 15 acres cultivated here, under the supervision of the agency overseer, were rich. As the country was gently undulating, it would be easy to bring additional acres under cultivation. [4]

In addition to these areas, McDuffie had seen other flats, which could be brought under cultivation. When they were, it would be possible for the Reservation to support at least 5,000 Indians.

At the Wau-Kell Agency there were six major buildings—a residence, mill, blockhouse, barn, stable, and granary; at Pecwan there was another residence and granary; at Kepel a second blockhouse; and at Lop-El there were three well-built houses. The residence at the agency was "commodious and comfortably arranged," while the other government buildings were frame and "sustained well the purpose for which they were designed." Also located on the Reservation and belonging to the government were two stores (one clapboard and the other log) and 39 log houses occupied by Yurok. [5]

The number of work animals (22 oxen, six mules, and one horse) were insufficient to meet the area's agricultural needs. One bull, 22 cows and calves, 87 hogs, and a number of chickens helped provide food to supplement the diet.

McDuffie was so impressed with what he saw on the Klamath that he dashed off a letter to Commissioner A. B. Greenwood, calling his attention to the prosperous condition of the Reservation. An incomplete census indicated that not less than "2,000 Indians were residing on & frequenting this place." Near Wau-Kell there were between 200 and 250, whose services were available for farming purposes. They appeared to be "obedient & contented, as is the case when an abundance of food & occupation is found for them." He cited conditions on the Reservation as proof of the practicality of expediting the policy of settling the California Indians in self-sufficient farming communes. [6]

The year 1860 was a good year on the Reservation. In June 1860 Congress had enacted legislation reorganizing the California Superintendency and dividing it into a Northern and Southern District, each to be under a superintending agent at a salary of $3,600 per year. John A. Dreibelbis was named by President James Buchanan to head the Northern District. [7]

Touring the Reservation and its farms with Agent Buell in the autumn of 1860, Dreibelbis was reminded of a "well regulated plantation." He complimented Buell on the efficient management of the area. Land under cultivation had been substantially increased. On one 5-acre plot, Buell boasted, 60,000 potatoes had been grown, while a perch of ground would produce 360 pounds of carrots. [8]

Before returning to San Francisco, Dreibelbis examined Buell's books, and reappointed all the staff, as he was assured by the agent that they were faithfully discharging their duties. He was told that $1,200, not counting the salaries, would be sufficient to fund the Reservation in Fiscal Year 1861, as the reserve was self-sufficient in foodstuffs. Unlike most Indians, the Yurok did not require beef, because the Klamath salmon runs provided them with an abundance of meat. Already, predatory whites had attempted to trespass on their fishing rights at the mouth of the river. They had been checked, however, by the "prompt & decided interference of Agent Buell." The whites, although they had been rebuffed, promised to return with their lawyers and occupy the three small islands, near the mouth of the Klamath. To checkmate this land grab, Superintendent Dreibelbis called upon Commissioner Greenwood to allot funds to survey and blaze the boundaries of the Reservation. To prevent any disputes, the point of beginning should be in mid-channel at the mouth, "thence one mile on each side thereof and parallel with the River for 20 miles," which would preclude any arguments that the islands did not belong to the Reservation. [9]

Another index of the success of the Reservation was the census figures, which showed 3,000 Indians in residence. And, Dreibelbis boasted, these are "healthy, well-fed, well-clad, peaceable, happy, and contented." There had been a "few-discontented spirits among those removed to the area from Eel River, but they had vanished in to the mountains." [10]

President Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated in March 1861, and the officials charged with administrating the Klamath River Reservation became victims of the spoils system. George M. Hanson replaced Dreibelbis as Superintendent for the North District. Hanson was not so optimistic as his predecessor. Then he visited the Klamath in July 1861, he found about 300 acres in crops—wheat, barley, corn, oats, peas, potatoes, carrots, and beans. He believed that with little additional expense another 600 acres could be brought into cultivation. The agency buildings were in tolerable condition, the teams old, and the implements "so worn as to be nearly useless." Twenty-five hundred dollars were needed to purchase younger work animals and modern farming equipment. Lieutenant Crook's company having been pulled out of Fort Ter-Waw and not knowing that Captain Hunt's unit had been ordered to the area, Hanson called for the War Department to surrender the buildings and gardens to the Office of Indian Affairs, because they were located "on the most valuable portion of the farm land." [11]

B. THE RESERVATION as a HAVEN of REFUGE

Subagent Buell on February 23, 1860, left Wau-Kell for San Francisco on official business. He stopped off at Humboldt Bay on the 26th, and there he learned of a "terrible massacre" committed the night before on the Indians of that area. "A more brutal, heartless deed cannot be found recorded in the history of our country." [12]

By the post commander at Fort Humboldt, Maj. Gabriel Rains, Buell was briefed on the background to the murders. In January an effort had been made to raise a volunteer company under Capt. Seaman Wright, "as the fishing season was over and many men out of employ." This force planned a campaign against the Indians of the area, who had fled the Mendocino Reservation. Wright outfitted his unit on credit, promising to repay the Eureka merchants on the completion of the campaign. His company, about 30 strong, advanced up South Fork of Eel River, killing indiscriminately about 40 redmen. Wright then applied to have his company mustered into state service. Governor John B. Weller turned down this request, as he had learned that Colonel Clarke had ordered another company of regulars to Humboldt County. The California legislature at the same time had before it a report of a committee adverse to the payment "to murders of women and children" in a similar case.

Captain Wright and his men were infuriated by the State's refusal to muster them in or pay them for their services, and they held a meeting on Eel River, and "resolved to kill every possible Indian man, woman, and child in this part of the county." On the night of February 25, a score of these men rode to Humboldt Point, stole several small boats, crossed the bay, and murdered nine men and 47 women and children. They then retraced their route and rode into Eureka, while it was still dark, took a ship's boat and rowed out to Indian Island. Disembarking, they gunned down three men and caused the rest to take to their heels. Wright and his followers then entered the Indians' huts. Five of the more bloodthirsty of the whites bludgeoned to death, with axes and hatchets, 57 women and children. Returning to the mainland, the killers proceeded to Eagle Prairie and murdered another 30 to 35 Indians. [13]

Major Rains, in forwarding details of the massacre to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, observed:

These Indians were the most inoffensive I ever saw—killed nobody, troubled nobody, and nobody's cattle, were useful furnishing fish and clams to the whites . . ., living apart by themselves, orderly, never drank liquor; and were in hostility with the Mountain tribes, whom they were accused of supplying with ammunition. [14]

Buell now continued on to San Francisco, where he described the atrocities to Superintendent McDuffie. Former agent Whipple, who now edited the Northern California, told McDuffie that the survivors had sought protection of the more enlightened whites, but, he cautioned, the security afforded was limited and temporary. Unless the survivors were removed to a reservation, they were in danger of sharing the fate of their slaughtered friends and families. [15]

McDuffie, after listening to what Buell and Whipple had to say, determined that the survivors should be taken to the Klamath River Reservation. Buell was told to proceed with their removal.

Accordingly, he left San Francisco on March 5, for the Klamath, traveling by way of Humboldt Bay and Uniontown. Upon landing at Eureka, he learned that Major Rains had concentrated a number of fugitive redmen at Fort Humboldt to whom he was issuing rations. As it was necessary for him to return to the Reservation to complete arrangements for the reception of the refugees, Buell did not call on Rains. But, at his request, Whipple did, and told the army officer of the steps taken by Superintendent McDuffie for the Indians' removal to the Klamath. Rains gave Whipple the impression that he was satisfied with this situation. He promised to write Buell, assuring him that the military would cooperate by providing "an escort & transportation for the old & helpless Indians." Buell, however, received no letter from Rains. [16]

By April 7 Buell had seen that a number of huts were renovated and others erected at Wau-Kell for the reception of the refugees, and he started for Eureka. He reached Humboldt Bay, 48 hours later, and called on Major Rains. The army officer seemed willing to permit the Indians to accompany Buell to the Klamath, but he observed that "he had no authority to compel them or to use any force in their removal & that if there was any compulsion brought to bear, it must proceed from the Indian Department." Buell answered that if the issuance of rations was stopped, no force would be required. There the subject was dropped.

The next morning, the 10th, Buell called on Rains to implement his mission. Rains called him aside and told him that if the Indians were willing to go, it was satisfactory; but if not, he would permit no compulsion. Moreover, the soldier continued, he would not allow them to starve. Calling for an interpreter, Agent Buell told the redmen that he would see that they were provided with homes and protection on the Reservation. They shook their heads, indicating that they preferred to remain at Fort Humboldt. [17]

Buell retired to his hotel in Eureka and wrote Rains an "official letter," informing him of his readiness to receive the Indians and conduct them to the reserve, where he was prepared to subsist them. Rains was a boor and refused to reply. [18]

On April 11, Buell rode out to Uniontown where he found the surviving Mad River Indians, living with liberal-minded whites. Told by their friends that they could no longer vouch for their safety, the Mad River Indians agreed to go to the Klamath with Buell. First, they returned to their homes to get their possessions, after which they fired their huts, stove in their canoes, and destroyed all nonportable property. Accompanied by 124 Indians, Buell, with no other force than J. C. Chapman and his pack mules, headed up the Crescent City trail to the Klamath. The column, after five days on the road, reached Wau-Kell on April 16. [19]

Major Rains, on learning that Agent Buell had started for the Klamath with the Mad River Indians, had second thoughts. He ordered Lt. A. B. Hardcastle to take a detail and escort the 322 Indians who had sought the protection of the army to the Klamath River Reservation. Hardcastle's column moved out on April 21. In an effort to screen his failure to cooperate with Buell, Rains charged that the agent "without authority apparently in direct violation of Section 2d, Chapter 122, Laws of the State of California, for the government and protection of the Indians, passed April 22, 1850, forceably removed the Indians from their homes on Lower Mad River." [20]

Lieutenant Hardcastle and his soldiers of the 4th Infantry pushed the Indians too hard. By the time they reached Redwood Creek, 100 of the old and infirm were too weak to continue up the trail. They were left behind, guarded by a small detachment. Hardcastle, with the rest of the Indians, reached the mouth of the Klamath on April 26. From there he sent a messenger to the Wau-Kell Agency, with a letter telling of his arrival with 180 Indians.

Buell turned out a number of Yurok with canoes and headed down to the mouth of the river, returning with the newcomers to the agency. The next day, the 27th, the agent sent a pack train to the relief of the Indians camped on Redwood Creek. Subsequently, another 40 Indians were brought up to the agency from Fort Humboldt. [21]

Thus in 1860 the Klamath River Reservation became a haven of refuge for the Indians of the Mad and Eel rivers. Here, among pleasant surroundings, they found for the time being peace and security from that vile class of whites which believed the only good Indian was a dead one.

C. SUPPLYING the RESERVATION with HARD GOODS from CRESCENT CITY

The Crescent City Herald in May 1858 reported, "Quite a fleet of canoes, manned by forty Indians, arrived from the Klamath on May 22d. They came for the purpose of taking down provisions for their use on the reservation." In August 1860 the Herald observed, "The tugboat Maryann came to the Klamath with freight for the reservation, but it was unable to enter for want of water, so most of the freight was landed in canoes; the rest was thrown overboard to float ashore."

Agent Buell with his wife and a young female visitor, accompanied by John Daggett and a boatman, started from Crescent City for the mouth of the Klamath in a surfboat. The river was high and the breakers strong, and the boat was driven ashore on the north spit. A number of Yurok rushed to their aid, and they succeeded in getting the boat into the river and reaching the agency in safety, though thoroughly drenched and cold. [22]

D. FLOODS DESTROY the AGENCY and WREAK HAVOC on the RESERVATION

The same floods which doomed Fort Ter-Waw destroyed the agency at Wau-Kell. The floods which ravaged the lower Klamath in late December 1861 and January 1862 swept across the flats, wrecking buildings, fences, and storehouses, and left an estimated 2,000 Indians destitute. Superintendent Hanson, who had replaced McDuffie, wired the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on January 5, "The cries of over two thousand Indians now in a state of starvation . . . will reach the ears of the authorities in Washington." [23]

Superintendent Hanson in mid-January visited the flood stricken Reservation. He found the farm "fields of bare cobble stone, on one side, and Sand, 3 feet deep on the other, which had taken the place of nearly every acre of arable land on the Reservation." The floods, he wailed, had destroyed the plan to establish on the Klamath agricultural communes capable of sustaining in peace and prosperity all the Indians of northwest California.

On the flats "every panel of fencing, every Indian village, and every government building (over 30), except a barn," had been swept away. This included the mill, along with crops stored in granaries and all government stores. Gone were the farming and blacksmith tools, swine, poultry, and most of the cattle, "all swept into the Pacific."

Questioning the oldest Yurok Hanson learned that this was the worst flood in their memories. [24]

A soldier-diarist visiting Wau-Kell in March recorded, "Little is left of what was once the beautiful residence of the U. S. agent." All that remained of the agency was "a lone white cottage-like looking building, a barn & what was once a mill standing in the midst of a barren sandy bar." [25]

E. THE SMITH RIVER RESERVATION

Superintendent Hanson, having found a scene of desolation where there had formerly been prosperous farms and gardens, determined to relocate the Indians and agency employees. He toured the Northern District. An area that was suitable would have to have: (a)fertile ground for farms; and (b) be "secluded from white settlements." After satisfying himself that there was no public land nearby meeting these criteria, he determined to move the destitute Indians from the Klamath to Smith River. Reporting on the lower Smith River Valley to Commissioner William P. Dole, Hanson wrote, it is "impregnable to floods, provided with an excellent growth of timber and living springs, and 20 farms." The settlers, when questioned, indicated that they were willing to sell out to the government. Hanson therefore, without clearing the matter with his superiors in Washington, purchased 5,000 acres on the north bank of Smith River.

After securing the land for the Smith River Reservation, Hanson began to remove the Indians from the Klamath. The Yurok were no more eager to live among the Tolowa than the Tolowa were among them. Refusing to go to Smith River, they remained on the Klamath. The Indians from Mad and Eel rivers, however, were eager to move. Numbering between 400 and 500, they "traveled thro snow, rain, and mud, barefooted for 40 miles to where they expected to find something to eat." While en route up the trail to Crescent City, two of the women gave birth to children. Superintendent Hanson and his staff were surprised to see these women pushing on up the trail the next morning, "with the newcomers on their backs, as thou nothing of the kind had happened." [26]

Commissioner Dole, confronted as he was by a fait accompli, sanctioned Hanson's actions, and on May 3, 1862, the Secretary of the Interior formally established the Smith River Reservation. The agent and his staff were formally transferred to the Smith River Reservation, and the Yurok left to shift for themselves on the Klamath. With the assistance of the military, Hanson soon concentrated the Tolowa on the new reserve, along with the Indians from Mad and Eel rivers. The post to which Captain Stuart moved Company G, 2d California Volunteers, was designated Camp Lincoln.

In 1864 the Hoopa Valley and surrounding mountains were selected by Superintendent Austin Wiley as an Indian Reservation, on which to concentrate the Indians of northwest California. Sixty thousand dollars was appropriated by the Congress in the following year to pay the settlers for their improvements. Many of the Yurok moved up from the Klamath and settled in Hoopa Valley. The Secretary of the Interior on July 27, 1867, discontinued the Smith River Reservation. In 1868 the Tolowa and Mad and Eel River Indians were brought to Hoopa Valley. The Tolowa still refused to live with the Yurok and most of them fled the Reservation. [27]

F. SQUATTERS ATTEMPT to TAKE OVER the KLAMATH RIVER RESERVATION

During the late 1860s and 1870s the word spread that the Klamath River Reservation would be opened to settlement by whites. This belief led a number of them to locate on the Reservation and to make improvements to the land. Martin Van Buren Jones of Crescent City established a fishery at the mouth of the river. A tavern for the accommodation of travelers was built by Morgan G. Tucker, and a ferry put into operation. A dozen settlers had taken up homesteads nearby, and others were preparing to locate there, as soon as the Indians' title was extinguished and the Reservation declared open for settlement. Those who had already squatted felt secure. [28]

United States Representative J. K. Luttrell, urged on by his constituents, applied to the Department of the Interior for information as to whether the Klamath River Reservation was still held by the Federal Government. He received a letter from Commissioner of Indian Affairs Edward Shuter, dated February 27, 1874, informing him that the land in question was one of the two reservations for Indians in California authorized by a clause in the Indian appropriation act of March 3, 1855. In 1861-62 floods had destroyed nearly all the arable land in the Klamath River Reservation, and the Secretary of the Interior on May 3, 1862, had established the Smith River Reservation. That reservation had been discontinued on July 27, 1867. Since the great flood, the Klamath River Reservation had not been used for any public purposes, Shuter informed Luttrell, and "the department has no claim upon it." [29]

The Shuter letter was circulated by those interested in securing land on the lower Klamath. Just as the squatters were congratulating themselves on a successful land grab, H. R. Clum, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs on August 15, 1874, notified Del Norte County Clerk P. H. Peveler that the Reservation had not been relinquished. This was in reply to an inquiry from Peveler asking, "whether the lands formerly occupied as an Indian Reservation at the mouth of the Klamaht" have been abandoned and whether the land was open "to settlement the same as any other unsurveyed Government land." [30]

An attempt was now made to rally support to pressure the United States into opening the Reservation to settlement. One hundred and forty-four citizens of Del Norte County petitioned the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to declare the reserve abandoned. They pointed out that since the great flood the land had not been "occupied and used as an Indian Reservation; that on the lands formerly used . . . there are not to exceed 50 Indians of all ages, whose chief occupation is hunting & fishing." These Yurok, at the moment, were not supervised by an agent. Within the Reservation, they wrote, were about 10,000 acres "well adapted to grazing & agriculture, be sides a large quantity of land valuable for lumbering." According to the petitioners, the few Yurok living on the Reserve had expressed a desire to remove to Hoopa Valley. [31]

The Yurok, however, had some friends in the region. E. Steele and others forwarded a memorial for consideration by the Senate. They challenged the assertion that there were few Indians on the lower Klamath, pointing out that they were quite numerous, "living upon the fish caught in the stream, the game found in the redwoods, and by means of such employment as they can obtain in passing travelers & freight in their canoes up & down the river."

Continuing, Steele and his friends pointed out:

The Reservation passes through a close canon with high precipitous mountains rising from the water's edge, with small sand bars or flats at each bend in the river, and where is generally found a little brook of water flowing down from the Mountain side. The Mountains are covered with a heavy growth of redwood trees and a dense underbrush, and when combined with the rough, steep and rugged hills renders the country impassable by even men afoot.

Most of the flats were occupied by rancherias. Many of the Yurok had excellent gardens, while some had orchards. Steele and his partisans were satisfied that the land grabbing whites would have no use for this area, "until the redwoods of other more accessable districts are exhausted, which will not happen for at least 100 years."

Instead of the government abandoning the Reservation, it should be expanded to the topographic crests of the ridges north and south of the Klamath. The Yurok, they petitioned, should "be allowed to remain and to provide for themselves as long as they shall be orderly and peaceable." [32]

Confronted by these contradictory statements, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs called on the army at Fort Gaston for help. A thorough reconnaissance of the Klamath River Reservation was desired. Second Lieut. George S. Wilson of the 12th U. S. Infantry was given the assignment. He left Fort Gaston by canoe on May 19, 1875, and took two days to reach Wau-Kell Flat. The return to the agency required five days. [33]

Taking a rough census of the Indians living on the reserve, he calculated their number at 1,125. He counted 225 houses, exclusive of sweathouses and other small structures not used as dwellings. [34]

Many of the Yurok were in a "very miserable condition, physically, the result of veneral diseases, and their number was rapidly decreasing." They seemed well fed, living on an abundance of salmon, sturgeon, and acorns. In each house that Wilson visited, he found large supplies of food on hand, with a good surplus of dried fish left over from the winter. Many of the young men were in the habit of traveling to Humboldt Bay to work on farms, cultivating potatoes.

The Yurok had learned to garden and to build log and board cabins, which were beginning to replace the hewn-plank huts. Farming was on a small scale, and consisted usually of a potato patch.

Whites, with whom he had chatted, complained that the Yurok were "adept at petty theft." A Mr. Masters claimed that they had killed 30 of his cattle, but when asked by the lieutenant for proof, he was unable to produce any. Another source of complaint was the high charges made for ferrying whites and their goods across the Klamath. Captain Spott, who owned a ferry at Rekwoi, had stated that a white-operated ferry at that point was unthinkable.

Lieutenant Wilson's presence caused the Yurok to fret, because they associated him with the scheme to remove them from the Reservation. If the government sought to force them to go to Hoopa Valley, they promised to flee to the mountains and fight. If this occurred, they were well provided with firearms, especially muzzleloaders, had a large number of canoes and some horses.

The Yurok did not object to miners trespassing on the Reservation, nor did Wilson get the impression that they would complain about logging, but they hated and feared cattle ranchers, because their stock destroyed the supply of acorns and berries and frightened away the game. If the whites continued to trespass on the Yurok's fishing rights at the mouth of the Klamath, Wilson foresaw serious trouble.

If the United States wished to negotiate with the Yurok, it would be difficult, as "there was no tribal relations of any force." No chief or headman was recognized by the entire tribe. Each village had its leader: its wealthiest individual. [35]

After reviewing Lieutenant Wilson's report, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs decided he lacked authority to declare the Reservation abandoned. At the same time, he would not risk alienating the whites by ordering them off the land on which they were squatting. The squatters, however, felt certain of victory, when on April 10, 1878, the Postmaster General, in response to a plea, authorized the establishment of a postoffice at Requa, as Rekwoi was called by the whites. Morgan G. Tucker would be postmaster. [36]

To avoid a nasty situation, the Secretary of the Interior on May 14, 1877, transferred administrative responsibility for the Hoopa Reservation to the War Department. [37] That spring Lt. James Halloran, who like Lieutenant Wilson was posted at Fort Gaston, visited the Klamath River Reservation and "reported a condition of affairs likely to lead to hostilities between the whites and Indians if the cause of disagreement was not speedily removed." The inciting cause was not stated in Halloran's report, but it was hinted that liquor was being sold to the Indians. [38]

Lieutenant Halloran's report was forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior, through the War Department. Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz, after reviewing the report, called on the army to see that the squatters were removed. Acting under orders from the War Department, Brig. Gen. Irwin McDowell, the Commander of the Department of the Pacific, on October 17, 1877, called upon Capt. Charles Parker at Fort Gaston to notify the settlers on the Klamath River Reservation that they were to leave immediately. Parker saw that this order was executed, and eviction notices were served on 14 persons to leave with their property. Four of these individuals, it was admitted, were living outside the Reservation. [39]

Morgan Tucker, knowing that the California legislature was in session, wrote his representative from Del Norte County, James E. Murphy, pleading that he employ his influence to secure a stay of execution, and barring this, to obtain a period of grace to enable them to remove their property from the reserve. [40]

Murphy contacted the California Congressional delegation, and they in turn descended on Secretary of War George W. McCrary. They told him that Congress would, in its current session, pass legislation opening the Reservation to settlement. After checking with Secretary of the Interior Schurz, McCrary directed the Adjutant General on December 19, 1877, to telegraph General McDowell that "the execution of the order to remove the settlers from the Klamath River Indian Reservation be suspended for six months." [41]

The settlers used this period to file protests that they had lived on the Klamath for years in the belief that they were on public lands, and

such belief was strengthened by the universal impression that such was the fact, and that the Government had relinquished its claims as evidenced by the letter . . . of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs addressed to the Hon. J. K. Luttrell, Representative from California. [42]

G. THE ARMY MOVES AGAINST the SQUATTERS

The 45th Congress, however, failed to take action. In June and again in November 1878, the grace period was extended another six months. The final extension ended on May 27, 1879. [43] The Adjutant General accordingly on May 22 issued instructions for General McDowell to see that the trespassers were evicted from the Klamath River Reservation. [44] General McDowell delegated responsibility for seeing that this order was carried out to his commander in northern California, Col. Henry R. Mizner. The colonel in turn contacted the officer in charge at Fort Gaston, Capt. E. B. Savage of the United States Infantry.

Captain Savage, accompanied by 11 men armed and equipped for field service, left Fort Gaston by boat on June 11. His orders were: To suppress all fishing by whites and require all citizens residing on the Reservation to leave without delay with all property belonging to them. [45] The troops reached Requa on the 16th and called on the five squatters (Martin Van Buren Jones, Morgan G. Tucker, Robert Gibbs, James Pryor, and John M. Harrington) living in and around the village. Written notices to remove their property and vacate the reserve were served on these trespassers. On June 18 similar notices were served by the military on P. D. Holcomb near Requa; Henry K. Pilgrim of Wau-Kell, with a copy to his partner James Isle who was not at home; while a notice was left at George Richardson's house. Two days later notices were served on Benjamin Coy of Turwar, George Parker, and Joseph Ewing of Hoppaw, and Charles Jones of Requa. Savage, on inspecting the property, found that all the interlopers had horses, cattle, and crops under cultivation, which because of the rugged configuration of the terrain and lack of roads they would be compelled to abandon. [46]

The whites were unanimous in stating that they would ignore the order to get off the reserve, but their resolve weakened when Captain Savage, pointing to his armed men, warned that he was ready to use force. After Gibbs, Holcomb, and Pryor were placed under arrest and ejected from the Reservation, Harrington and Martin Jones complied with the eviction order. It was necessary to make a show of force to start Ewing, Coy, and Pilgrim packing. Soldiers were turned to breaking up Martin Jones' fishery and Tucker's trading house. Three infantrymen were posted at Hoppaw with orders to visit Wau-Kell and Turwar once every two days to see that those residing on those flats left and stayed off the Reservation. [47]

Savage by July 2 was able to report that all squatters had been ejected or had complied with the orders to move off the Reservation. Buildings and crops had not been removed, only portable property. The majority of the trespassers had expressed a desire to be forcibly evicted, as they believed "their claims to property upon the Reservation would be improved thereby." [48]

Martin Jones had raised a question which Captain Savage was unable to answer. He wished to know if he would be permitted by the military to anchor boats in mid-channel of the Klamath and take salmon with gill nets, provided he did not land them on the Reservation. Jones argued that the river was navigable, as it had 31 feet of water where he would anchor, and there the Klamath was one-half mile wide. Also, if he took fish above the reserve would he be permitted to ship them down the Klamath and across the bar by boat. [49]

Colonel Mizner, Savage's superior, could make decisions. He notified Savage that Jones' request could not be entertained. In his opinion, it would constitute an "erosion of the spirit of the orders." Under no circumstances, he warned, must the Yurok be "deprived of the Salmon as it is their main subsistence." In addition, claims by the squatters for buildings, crops, and gardens would not "be entertained, as the parties were in unlawful possession of the same & had acquired no right to the land and are liable to prosecution for trespass." [50]

H. THE SQUATTERS and THEIR ALLIES FIGHT BACK

The eviction of the squatters caused an outcry in Del Norte County that reached all the way to Washington. United States Representative Campbell Berry introduced a bill seeking to open the Reservation to settlement by whites. The Committee on Indian Affairs to whom the bill was referred made a study. On May 7, 1880, the Committee reported that not more than 115 Indians were living on the Reservation. These Indians were said to belong to several tribes and were continually at war with each other. Homicides and murders were frequent. It was found that in the absence of soldiers, the restraining influence of white settlers was needed to preserve the peace.

So far the Indians had failed to make any advances in the "arts of civilized life." As proof of this, it was pointed out that all of them together did not cultivate more than five acres of land, and that amount was found in small parcels around their huts. Next, the Committee assailed the configuration of the Reservation as "an injustice, if not an outrage."

According to testimony submitted, the Committee found that from the year 1862 until 1877, the reserve had been abandoned by the United States. It appeared that those Indians on the Klamath should be on "the reservation set apart for them, which is the Hoopa Reservation on the Trinity River." In view of the statement of Indian Commissioner Shuter to Representative Luttrell in 1874, the settlers were justified in believing the Government had abandoned the reserve. While the Committee would not do an injustice to the Indians, it at the same time could not sanction an "outrage to be inflicted upon the white settlers who entered upon these lands in good faith."

It was the opinion of the Committee that the United States could have no use for the Klamath River Reservation. Their study had shown that the Hoopa Reservation was capable of sustaining many more Indians than were now settled upon it. "Why, then," it was asked, should these "lands in question be kept from settlement and improvement by white citizens who are eager to expend their labor and means in the development of these resources?"

The recommendation of the Committee was that the Klamath River Reservation be "restored to the public domain, and again made free for the access of labor and capital of white settlers seeking homes and fields for their energy and enterprise." [51]

Although the Committee on Indian Affairs had endorsed Berry's bill to open the Reservation to settlement by whites, the legislation failed to pass. The squatters, undaunted, returned to their homes as soon as Captain Savage and his soldiers returned to Fort Gaston. Several of the settlers made arrangements with friendly Yurok to hold their land in their absence. Finally, a non-commissioned officer and several privates were posted at Requa to prevent this subterfuge. [52]

Again in 1884 legislation was introduced in the House by Representative Barclay Henley for restoration of the Reservation to the public domain. This legislation, as drafted, was opposed by some of the settlers and it failed to pass. [53]

I. THE YUROK in 1886 and 1887

The army throughout Fiscal Year 1886 continued to man the outpost at Requa to "prevent intrusions on the Indians' land," and to protect the redmen in their only industry—salmon fishing. The agent for the Hoopa Valley Reservation, who also had responsibility for the Klamath River Reservation, who also had the responsibility. The captain reported that the 400 Yurok living on the reserve were friendly and well-disposed and maintained "amicable relations." But if the troops were withdrawn, the Reservation would be overrun and the Yurok dispossessed. [54]

Captain Dougherty in 1887 took a census of the Indians living on the Klamath. He found that there were about 1,200 residing in villages along the river. These villages, which were several miles apart, extended from the mouth of the river to well above Weitchpec. The Yurok were "self-sustaining, relying to a great extent for subsistence upon salmon." Of the 1,200, a little over 200 Yurok claimed the Klamath River Reservation as home. About one-half of these were absent from the reserve for part of each year, working on farms in Humboldt County and in lumber camps. They returned to the river during the salmon runs, however.

Within the Klamath River Reservation were eight villages or rancherias, containing about 60 houses, some of which were modern. Not since the destruction of the agency at Wau-Kell by floods in 1861-62 had the Yurok had any schooling. Only when they grew to adulthood did the children learn English. [55]

While the Yurok continued to be on good terms with the whites, Captain Dougherty was concerned with their blood feuds, which all too frequently resulted in murders. The agent had called the civil authorities' attention to this situation. When he replied, the California Attorney General was evasive, while the District Attorney for Del Norte refused to prosecute in any case in which Indians alone were involved. [56]

J. CANNERIES COME to the KLAMATH

In May 1887 R. D. Hume of Gold Beach, Oregon, took a light-draft steamboat over the bar and anchored in the Klamath. Aboard the ship were a number of Oregon fishermen. Hume proceeded to establish a floating cannery. The Yurok complained bitterly that this was an intrusion of the worst sort, and they went to see Captain Dougherty. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs hesitated to take action, unless he could get a ruling from the Attorney General as to whether he had jurisdiction over the floating cannery. The Yurok were dissatisfied with this reasoning, and they threatened to resort to violence to drive off Hume and his people, provided the United States courts failed to take action. [57]

As soon as the fall salmon run on the Klamath was over, Hume's vessel hoisted anchor and returned to Gold Beach. The courts, as the Indians and agent feared, failed to act, and Hume's floating cannery was back on the Klamath in 1888 for the salmon run. Hume's craft was now seized by a United States Marshal and the case taken into a Federal court. After lengthy litigation, the case was decided in Hume's favor, and he proceeded to build a cannery ashore.

Meanwhile, the Yurok had entered into a partnership with John Bomhoff of Crescent City. Bomhoff supplied the Yurok with boats, nets, etc. A cannery to compete with Hume's was soon in operation at Requa. Bomhoff's enterprise gave employment to all the Yurok at Requa "and for some distance up the river." During the autumn salmon run, the Indians employed by Bomhoff made $200 per day, in addition to their subsistence. [58]

Commercial fishing continued on the lower Klamath, with Bomhoff and his Yurok allies in competition with Hume's cannery. In June 1889, the commandant at Fort Gaston recalled the troops manning the outpost at Requa, and on October 1, 1890, Capt. Frank H. Edmunds relieved Captain Dougherty as agent-in-charge of the Hoopa Reservation. In November, Edmunds was replaced by a civilian, Isaac Beers. For the first time since 1877, an employee of the Department of the Interior would be responsible for the Hoopa and Klamath River Reservations. [59]

K. THE RESERVATION—1890-1892

When the Superintendent of Indian Schools visited the Klamath in September 1890, he was deeply impressed with the Yurok. Lacking the prejudice of many of the local whites, he reported that they were "physically a good type of Indian, vigorous, self-supporting, and in some degree progressive." But, he complained, since 1861 "the United States had done nothing for their education." [60]

Agent Beers was likewise impressed with the Yurok. He found that several of them had taken up land under the Allotment Act, while one or two others had secured homesteads. Although they had received little or no assistance from the government since the flood of 1861-62, a number of them were "living in comfortable houses and are well advanced in civilization." Generally, they were more independent and self-reliant than the Hupa, "being good workers, and as they say in this Western Country, many of them are good 'rustlers.'" [61] As the Yurok and Hupa were of the same culture, the only difference being their language, it was apparent that the Hupa suffered from an excess of paternalism on the government's part. In the years since 1862, the Yurok had had little contact with the agent, while the Hupa had been closely supervised by personnel assigned to the Hoopa Valley Agency.

A number of nearby stock ranches, the salmon fisheries, and the diggings at Gold Bluffs and on the middle reaches of the Klamath afforded the Yurok opportunity to earn wages. Many of them spent part of the summer working for farmers, while in the fall scores moved into the migrant labor camps near Arcata, where they dug potatoes. Agent Beers had heard the farmers say that "they could not secure this crop were it not for these Indians." Most of the work was done by contract, the men, women, and children toiling together. The men did the digging, while the women and children sacked the potatoes. [62]

Beers admired the skill of the Yurok in riving redwood lumber from which they erected their dwellings and sweathouses. Their canoes were works of art. They built all vessels used on the Klamath, as well as the Trinity. They were quick to discover and adopt the better features of the boats brought to the Klamath by the canneries. He had seen canoes made by the Yurok from "a redwood log as finely shaped as a yawl boat," which they had learned to navigate with sail. [63]

During Fiscal Year 1892 there had been some difficulties between the Yurok and land-grabbing whites. So far as Beers could ascertain, the whites had generally been the aggressors. Generally, however, the Indians and whites lived on good terms, and both looked "anxiously for final settlement of the land question along the lower Klamath." [64]

L. THE KLAMATH RIVER RESERVATION IS OPENED for SETTLEMENT

Representative Thomas J. Geary accordingly introduced at the 2d Session of the 52d Congress legislation opening the Klamath River Reservation to settlers, and reserving to the Indians only such land as they might require for village purposes. [65] This time the Senate and House of Representatives passed an act declaring the reserve, as established by President Pierce's Executive Order of November 16, 1855, open "to settlement and purchase under the laws of the United States granting homestead rights," provided:

That any Indian now located on said reservation may, at any time within one year from the passage of this act apply to the Secretary of the Interior for an allotment of land for himself and, if the head of a family, for the members of his family under the provisions of the act of February eighth, eighteen hundred and eight-seven, entitled "An act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes," and if found entitled thereto, shall have the same allotted as provided in said act . . . Provided, That lands settled and . . . improved, and now occupied by . . . qualified persons under the land laws shall be exempt from such allotment unless one or more of said Indians have resided upon said tract in good faith for four months prior to the passage of this act.

And any person entitled to the benefits of the homestead laws of the United States who has in good faith prior to the passage of this act, made actual settlement upon any lands on the same reservation not allotted under the foregoing proviso and not reserved for the permanent use and occupation of any village or settlement of Indians, with the intent to enter the same under the homestead law shall have the preferred right, at the expiration of said period of one year to enter and acquire title to the land so settled upon, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, upon the payment therefore of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre.

Proceeds from the sale of the reserve were to be paid into a fund to be used by the Secretary of the Interior for "the maintenance and education of the Yurok." [66]

Subsequently, the period in which the Indians could take up their allotments was extending from one to two years. Captain Dougherty, who had replaced Beers as agent responsible for the Hoopa Reservation in June 1893, reported on August 23, 1894, that 744 allotments had been made to date from the mouth of the Klamath to the mouth of the Trinity. [67] One hundred and twenty-five patents from whites had been received, of which 72 had been delivered to the patentees. While most of the land allotted could never be used for agriculture, it did guarantee to the Yurok the "tenure of their homes." [68]

Information that land on the former reservation would soon be available to those interested in acquiring a homestead was carried by the Del Norte Record in April 1894. The announcement read:

To Whom it may Concern
The Klamath Indian Reservation opened
May 21, 1894, a.m. Now prepared
to receive applications for homesteads. [69]

Although the Yurok had been freed from most Federal administrative controls, the majority of the Del Norte County whites were unwilling to recognize their civil rights. The establishment was unable to see "the wisdom of bringing Indians who were able to maintain themselves by industry within the provisions of the laws of the State, or according them and their property the protection of the courts." [70] Especially disconcerting was the failure of the state and county courts to take cognizance of torts committed by one Indian on another redman. This left the Yurok with no legal remedy, and resulted in actionable offenses becoming standing grievances, which could lead to bloodshed. [71] Time, however, was on the side of the Indians, and before many years had passed, the state and local courts accepted the Yurok of the Klamath as first class citizens.

Within four years of the discontinuance of the Reservation, Captain Dougherty was able to report that "since the allotment of lands their [the Yurok] condition has very materially improved." [72] Those wishing free medical attention could still receive it by visiting the hospital at the Hoopa Valley Agency. [73]

By 1894 many of the Yurok had intermarried with whites. According to the census taken by Captain Dougherty in 1895 there were 673 Yurok, comprising 168 families. One hundred and thirty-seven of these family units lived in modern dwellings (sawed or split lumber) while 31 resided in the hewn slab huts of their forefathers. The Yurok owned 76 horses or mules, and 26 head of cattle. About five-sixths of the cultivated land was in small tracts or gardens. Over half the Yurok spoke English, and most of the adult males made their living in what Captain Dougherty described as "civilized pursuits." [74]

M. COMMENTS and RECOMMENDATIONS

The story of Indian and white relations on the Lower Klamath has important historical, economic, and sociological ramifications. The Indians in northwest California found themselves in the early 1850s engulfed by a flood of miners, adventurers, and packers. Despite the efforts of Colonel McKee, war came. In 1855 as a result of the Red Cap War, the Klamath River Reservation was established, with its agency at Wau-Kell. During the years, 1855-1861, the Yurok were encouraged to develop self-sufficient agricultural communes. These gave every promise of success. Other Indians were moved onto the Reservation. The Tolowa, having engaged in blood feuds with certain of the Yurok villages, refused to stay. After the massacre of February 1860, the surviving Mad and Eel River Indians found the Reservation a haven of refuge.

The floods of 1861-62 destroyed the Wau-Kell Agency and devastated the farms, causing the agency employees to abandon the Reservation. While the Mad and Eel River Indians were moved to the newly established Smith River Reservation, the Yurok remained on the Klamath. For the next 15 years, the Department of the Interior seemingly forgot about its reserve on the Klamath, and the Yurok were permitted to shift for themselves. In the 1870s squatters moved on to the Reservation, and the Department of the Interior was compelled to call on the army to evict the trespassers. Unlike most reservation Indians, the Yurok had not been dependent on the government, and they had been compelled to make their own way. By the time the Congress enacted legislation in 1892 abandoning the Klamath River Reservation and permitting the Yurok to take up allotments, they had abandoned many of the customs of their fathers and had adopted the way of life of the white man. Economically the Yurok were better off than most reservation Indians, who had suffered from an excess of paternalism. Today the Yurok, though the number of full-bloods is limited, have been integrated into the economic and social life of the region.

As the former Klamath River Reservation played an important role in the political, social, economic, and military history of the area, the portion included in Redwood National Park should be designated Class VI Land. The best site on which to tell the story of the Klamath Indian Reservation would be at Wau-Kell Flat. If it is impossible to acquire Wau-Kell Flat, the story of the Reservation should be interpreted at both the Park Visitor Center and at an interpretive station near Dad's Camp.

ENDNOTES

1. Rept. of Employees Connected with the Klamath River Reservation, Sept. 1, 1859, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt. As of September 1, 1859, these positions were held by: physician, Dr. S. S. Welton; farmer, G. W. Terrill; blacksmith, J. Davison; interpreter, M. G. Tucker; overseer, Thomas Sherwood; and teacher, Mrs. N. L. Buell.

2. McDuffie to Greenwood, Sept. 30, 1859, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt. A. B. Greenwood had replaced Denver as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid. Of the land under cultivation, 33 acres were in potatoes, 75 in peas, 7 in carrots, and 18 in beets, cabbages, corn, melons and other garden vegetables.

5. Ibid.; Dreibelbis to Greenwood, Nov. 22, 1860, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

6. McDuffie to Greenwood, Sept. 30, 1859, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

7. Hoopes, Indian Affairs and Their Administration, pp. 67-68.

8. Dreibelbis to Greenwood, Nov. 22, 1860, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt. George Terrill was promoted from overseer to supervisor by Dreibelbis.

9. Ibid.

10. Ibid.

11. Hanson to Dole, July 15, 1861, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt. Hanson estimated the population of the Reservation at 1,800.

12. Buell to McDuffie, Aug. 1, 1860, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

13. Rains to Hendricks, April 30, 1860, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt. Hendricks had succeeded Greenwood as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

14. Ibid.

15. Buell to McDuffie, Aug. 1, 1860, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid.

19. Ibid.

20. Rains to Hendricks, April 30, 1860, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

21. Hardcastle to Buell, April 26, 1860, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt. The Indians left on Redwood Creek by Hardcastle had been supplied with rations to last for four to five days.

22. McBeth, Lower Klamath Country, p. 39.

23. Hanson to Wright, Dec. 31, 1861, and Hanson to Dole, Jan. 5, 1862, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

24. Hanson to Dole, Feb. 14, 1862, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

25. Rogers, "Early Military Posts of Del Norte County," California Historical Quarterly, 26, 3.

26. Hanson to Dole, Feb. 14, 1862, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

27. Humboldt Times, "Jubilee Edition," Dec. 7, 1904.

28. Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, p. 150.

29. Ibid., pp. 153-154.

30. McBeth, Lower Klamath Country, p. 47.

31. Petition, Citizens of Del Norte to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Jan. 1875, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

32. Steele & Others to U.S. Senate, Jan. 1875, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

33. Wilson to Parker, June 1, 1875, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

34. Ibid. The settlements and number of houses in each were: Rekwoi, 15; Wetlkewali, 7; Ho'pau, 7; Sa'aiti 5; Erner, 4 including one ten miles up Blue Creek; Serper, 4; Wohkero, 10; Ko'otep, 7; and Pecwan, 19.

35. Ibid. Wilson found that small schooners could ascend the Klamath as far as Turwar Flat. He also delineated the redwood belt as extending from the mouth of the Klamath to Klamath Bluff.

36. Records of the Post Office Department, NA, RG 28, Records of Appointment of Postmasters. Tucker held the position of postmaster at Requa until March 6, 1882, when he was succeeded by Henry Albert. On January 10, 1883, the office was discontinued and transferred to Crescent City. Six weeks later, it was re-established with E. D. Smith as postmaster. The Requa Postoffice was again discontinued on June 28, 1883, and was not re-established until February 29, 1888, with Mary Ann Feheley as postmistress. It has been in continuous operation since that date.

37. Secretary of War to Secretary of the Interior, Sept. 6, 1877, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

38. Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, pp. 155-156.

39. Ibid., p. 156; Secretary of War to Secretary of the Interior, Sept. 6, 1877, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

40. Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, p. 150.

41. McCrary to Secretary of the Interior, Dec. 19 & 27, 1877, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

42. Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, pp. 150-151, 156.

43. McDowell to Adjutant General, Dec. 19, 1877, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

44. Ibid., July 23, 1879, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

45. Savage to Mizner, June 18, 1879, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd. Calif. Supt.

46. Ibid.

47. Savage to Mizner, June 25, 1879, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt. George Parker's house at Turwar was over a mile from the Klamath, but he had improvements between his residence and the river.

48. Savage to Mizner, July 2, 1879, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt. Charles Wilson had reached Requa on June 27 and had been served an eviction notice. A measurement had disclosed that Ewing's dwelling was one mile and eight yards from the Klamath.

49. Savage to Mizner, June 25, 1879, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt.

50. Mizner to Savage, July 2, 1879, NA, RG 75, 01A, Ltrs. Recd., Calif. Supt. Typical of the claims were those of Martin Van Buren Jones and Morgan Tucker. The former listed his abandoned property with its valuation: Building (45 x 25) $800; building (16 x 24) $375; building (16 x 20) $200; kitchen, smokehouse, storeroom, and woodshed $425; 35 tons of salt, $900; 1,400 half-barrels, $1,400; material for 500 half-barrels, $200; 1 seine, $300; 1 seine, $150; 6 gill nets, $300; 1 gill net, $125; 9 tanks $180; 1 set of cooper tools, $60; 1 sailboat, $50; 1 lighter $280; 1 plow, $25; 1 wagon, $75; household furniture, $100; 8 head of cattle, $800; 4 horses, $200; 1 pig, $10; 300 feet 1-inch pipe and 50 feet of hose, $100; 5 acres of fenced pasture; and a 1-acre garden. Tucker valued his property at: One building, 30-foot square, frame 1-1/2-story; one building (16 x 12); and stock in trading house, $500; 1 horse, $80; and a 1-acre garden.

51. Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, pp. 157-160.

52. McBeth, Lower Klamath Country, p. 47.

53. Ibid.

54. Rept. of Secretary of the Interior, Nov. 1, 1886, found in U. S. House, Executive Documents, 49th Cong. 2d Sess., 8, 261.

55. Rept. of Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year 1887, found in U. S. House, Executive Documents, 50th Cong. 1st Sess. 11, 91. The Lower Klamath Reservation contained about 26,000 acres.

56. Ibid.

57. Ibid.; McBeth, Lower Klamath Country, p. 50.

58. Rpt. of Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year 1888, found in U. S. House, Executive Documents, 50th Cong. 2d Sess. 11, 10; McBeth, Lower Klamath Country, p. 50.

59. McBeth, Lower Klamath Country, p. 48; Rept. of Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year 1891, found in U. S. House, Executive Documents, 51st Cong. 2d Sess., 12, p. 252.

60. Rpt. of Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year 1891, found in ibid., p. 252.

61. Beers to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Aug. 15, 1892, found in U. S. House, Executive Documents, 52d Cong. 2d Sess., 13, 230.

62. Ibid.

63. Ibid.

64. Ibid.

65. McBeth, Lower Klamath Country, p. 48.

66. Rept. of Secretary of Interior for Fiscal Year 1892, found in U. S. House, Executive Documents, 52d Cong., 2d Sess., 13, pp. 710-711.

67. Del Norte Record, June 25, 1892.

68. Rpt. of Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year 1894, found in U. S. House, Executive Documents, 53d Cong., 2d Sess., 15, 117.

69. McBeth, Lower Klamath Country, p. 48.

70. Rept. of Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year 1896, U. S. House Executive Documents, 54th Cong., 2d Sess. 13, 125.

71. Rept. of Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year 1897, found in U. S. House, Executive Documents, 55th Cong., 2d Sess. 13, 116.

72. Rpt. of Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year 1896, House Executive Documents, 13, 125.

73. Rpt. of Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year 1894, House Executive Documents, 15, 117.

74. Rpt. of Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year 1895, found in U. S. House, Executive Documents, 54th Cong., 1st Sess. 15, 130.