Excerpt from The California Indians: A Clever Satire on the Government's Dealings With Its Indian Wards

No aid was given by government beyond the grants of land necessary for missionary purposes; yet they soon grew wealthy, owned immense herds of cattle, supplied agricultural products to the ranch eros, and carried on a considerable trade in hides and tallow with the'united States. If the Spanishpriests could do this without arms or assistance, in the midst of a savage country, at a period when the Indians were more numerous and more powerful than they are now, surely it could be done in a com paratively civilized country by intelligent Ameri cans, with all the lights of experience and the co operation of a beneficent government.

At least Congress thought so; and in 1853 laws were passed for the establishment of a reservation system in California, and large appropriations were made to carry it into efiect. Tracts of land of twenty-five thousand acres were ordered to be set apart for the use of the Indians; oflicers were ap pointed to supervise the affairs of the service; cloth ing, cattle, seeds, and agricultural implements were purchased; and a general invitation was extended to the various tribes to come in and learn how to work like white men. The first reservation was establish ed at the Tejon, a beautiful and fertile valley in the southern part of the state. Headquarters for the employes, and large' granaries for the' crops, were erected. The Indians were feasted on cattle, and everything promised favorably. True, it cost a great deal to get started, about but a consider able cr0p was raised, and there was every reason to hope that the experiment would prove successful. In the course of time other reservations were establish ed, one in the foothills of the Sacramento Valley, at a place'called Nome Lackee; one at the mouth of the Noyo River, south of Cape Mendocino; one on the Klamath, below Crescent City; besides which. There were Indian farms, or adjuncts, of these res ervations at the Fresno, Nome Cult or Round Val ley, the Mattole Valley, near Cape Mendocino, and other points where it was deemed advisable to gim aid and instruction to the Indians. The cost of these establishments was such as to justify the most sanguine anticipations of their success.

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