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150-462: The California Gold Rush drew in an influx of outsiders into California in the late 1840s eager to gain mineral wealth. For the Shasta, this was a devastating process as their lands soon had thousands of miners operating along various waterways. Conflicts arose as the outsiders did not respect the Shasta or their homeland. Introduction to new diseases and fighting against invading Americans rapidly reduced

300-540: A bartering medium. Konomihu produced buckskin leggings, robes and skirts that were painted with black, red and white patterns and adorned with dentalia and abalone beads. Okwanuchu crafted tubular wooden pipes similar in design to those made by Wintu. Raccoon and fox pelts were used for protection against the harsh mountain winters. Moccasins were kept waterproof and soft with oils derived from either deer, fish, cougars or bears. Charles Wilkes described Shasta made weaponry in 1845: "Their bows and arrows are beautifully made:

450-464: A businessman who went on to great success was Levi Strauss , who first began selling denim overalls in San Francisco in 1853. Other businessmen reaped great rewards in retail, shipping, entertainment, lodging, or transportation. Boardinghouses, food preparation, sewing, and laundry were highly profitable businesses often run by women (married, single, or widowed) who realized men would pay well for

600-586: A button from 20 yards (18 m) distant. At this demonstration was an elder Shasta man who was a father-in-law to Michel Laframboise . Shortly after this peaceable dialogue and trade Emmons ordered the party to depart for "Destruction river" (the Upper Sacramento River) exiting Shasta lands for those of the Okwanuchu and later the Wintu. The irregular contact with European descendants became far more frequent by

750-476: A few years, there was an important but lesser-known surge of prospectors into far Northern California, specifically into present-day Siskiyou , Shasta and Trinity Counties . Discovery of gold nuggets at the site of present-day Yreka in 1851 brought thousands of gold-seekers up the Siskiyou Trail and throughout California's northern counties. Settlements of the gold rush era, such as Portuguese Flat on

900-494: A fort located in this vicinity until 1858, when Fort Gaston was established in modern Hoopa . The terms drafted by McKee for an agreement were not particularly favored by the Shasta or American settlers. The reservation was placed in Scott Valley although the majority of the valley was to remain in colonist possession. The location of the Shasta reservation was apparently accepted, albeit grudgingly, by most American colonists of

1050-611: A gold rush in the region. The Mexican–American War ended on May 30 with the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , which formally transferred California to the United States. Having sworn all concerned at the mill to secrecy, in February 1848, Sutter sent Charles Bennett to Monterey to meet with Colonel Mason, the chief U.S. official in California, to secure the mineral rights of

1200-467: A group of Takelma of the Rogue Valley , getting injured and losing several companions. They considered the Shasta to be acceptable targets to attack for revenge. A Shasta man was found and shot to death by Gay and Bailey. They also attempted to murder the Shasta youth that had joined the cattle herders but he escaped. While officer Ewing Young was furious at the murder, the majority of the party condoned

1350-469: A large sea; underwater volcanoes deposited lava and minerals (including gold) onto the sea floor. By tectonic forces these minerals and rocks came to the surface of the Sierra Nevada, and eroded . Water carried the exposed gold downstream and deposited it in quiet gravel beds along the sides of old rivers and streams. The forty-niners first focused their efforts on these deposits of gold. Because

1500-413: A long dentalia shell or ornate feathers, while ear piercings held an assembled group of dentalia. Warfare was principally performed in asymmetrical small raids. Leaders of these attacks were determined by raiding party members. An armed group was organized usually to redress aggression and violence against village members. Prisoners gained in raids were not often killed and instead were allowed to live as

1650-488: A method that involved digging a shaft 6 to 13 meters (20 to 43 ft) deep into placer deposits along a stream. Tunnels were then dug in all directions to reach the richest veins of pay dirt . In the most complex placer mining, groups of prospectors would divert the water from an entire river into a sluice alongside the river and then dig for gold in the newly exposed river bottom. Modern estimates are that as much as 12 million ounces (370  t ) of gold were removed in

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1800-454: A possession of the United States, but it was not a formal " territory " and did not become a state until September 9, 1850. California existed in the unusual condition of a region under military control. There was no civil legislature, executive or judicial body for the entire region. Local residents operated under a confusing and changing mixture of Mexican rules, American principles, and personal dictates. Lax enforcement of federal laws, such as

1950-410: A previously claimed site. Disputes were often handled personally and violently, and were sometimes addressed by groups of prospectors acting as arbitrators . This often led to heightened ethnic tensions. In some areas the influx of many prospectors could lead to a reduction of the existing claim size by simple pressure. Approximately four hundred million years ago, California lay at the bottom of

2100-415: A prospector, but that claim was valid only as long as it was being actively worked. Miners worked at a claim only long enough to determine its potential. If a claim was deemed as low-value—as most were—miners would abandon the site in search of a better one. In the case where a claim was abandoned or not worked upon, other miners would "claim-jump" the land. "Claim-jumping" meant that a miner began work on

2250-504: A rule head coverings were made from elk hide, sometimes placed in several layers thick. Notably Shasta women could join in both preparations for an upcoming attack and as active participants in the battle itself. Dixon recorded in such instances women would be armed with obsidian knives and attempt to disarm or destroy the weapons of enemy combatants. Armed warriors came largely from the Klamath River and Ahotireitsu Shasta in conflicts with

2400-413: A service done by a woman. Brothels also brought in large profits, especially when combined with saloons and gaming houses. By 1855, the economic climate had changed dramatically. Gold could be retrieved profitably from the goldfields only by medium to large groups of workers, either in partnerships or as employees. By the mid-1850s, it was the owners of these gold-mining companies who made the money. Also,

2550-436: A slave. Slavery was reportedly not widespread among the Shasta and wasn't seen as a favorable practice. Dixon stated that "persons owning slaves were said to be, in a way, looked down upon." Shasta warriors wore protective adornments when headed into a conflict. Stick armor was preferred over the alternative elkhide. Materials for stick armor were largely sourced from serviceberry trees and woven together tightly with twine. As

2700-615: A small gold nugget in the roots among the bulbs. He looked further and found more gold. Lopez took the gold to authorities who confirmed its worth. Lopez and others began to search for other streambeds with gold deposits in the area. They found several in the northeastern section of the forest, within present-day Ventura County . In November, some of the gold was sent to the U.S. Mint , although otherwise attracted little notice. In 1843, Lopez found gold in San Feliciano Canyon near his first discovery. Mexican miners from Sonora worked

2850-504: A small number (probably fewer than 500) traveled overland from the United States that year. Some of these "forty-eighters", as the earliest gold-seekers were sometimes called, were able to collect large amounts of easily accessible gold—in some cases, thousands of dollars worth each day. Even ordinary prospectors averaged daily gold finds worth 10 to 15 times the daily wage of a laborer on the East Coast. A person could work for six months in

3000-531: A state . At the beginning of the gold rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of "staking claims" was developed. Prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such as panning . Although mining caused environmental harm, more sophisticated methods of gold recovery were developed and later adopted around the world. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service. By 1869, railroads were built from California to

3150-528: A third group of people that was named Shatasla. Maloney argued that Shatasla was an archaic variant of Shasta, something Garth later conjectured as well. This interpretation has been contested by other scholars based on linguistic and historical evidence. Previous to Maloney's assertion, Frederick Hodge in 1910 noted the word Shatalsa as being related to word Sahaptin. This older etymology was defended by Stern against Maloney's interpretation, in addition to recently being accepted by Clark as well. The Shasta were

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3300-413: A tiny settlement before the rush began. When residents learned about the discovery, it at first became a ghost town of abandoned ships and businesses, but then boomed as merchants and new people arrived. The population of San Francisco increased quickly from about 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 full-time residents by 1850. Miners lived in tents, wood shanties, or deck cabins removed from abandoned ships. There

3450-506: A variety of preserved foodstuffs, animal pelts, and obsidian blades. Merchandise found desirable by the Shasta included Tan Oak acorns , Yurok produced redwood canoes, a gamut of baskets of varying designs, seaweed, dentalia and abalone beads. The Karuk also were the primary source of dentalia for the Konomihu as well. Baskets and hats used by the Shasta were acquired primarily with these Klamath River nations. The delimitation of territory with

3600-424: A villager had too many guests for their house, permission would be secured to use the okwá'ŭmma instead. Okwá'ŭmma were owned by a prominent individual, often the headman, and constructed with communal labor. They were uncommon buildings, as along the Klamath River perhaps only three existed. Male relatives of the owner inherited the structure, if only female relatives remained it was burnt down. Dwellings utilized by

3750-405: A winter house started with excavating a pit. Common dimensions rectangular or oval shaped excavation were 16.3 feet (5.0 m) by 19.8 feet (6.0 m), with a depth of 3.3 feet (1.0 m). Once the area was cleared load bearing wooden poles were placed in the excavated corners. Additional wooden supports and posts placed throughout the structure. After the pit walls were covered with cedar-bark,

3900-532: Is either dam or race work." As the population of non-natives rose in the north genocide of the indigenous was considered. Miners argued that natives along the Klamath River and its tributaries impeded access to gold deposits. They were deemed "the only obstacle to complete success in those mines." The Sacramento Daily Union argued that "the Indians must soon be removed by the Government Agents, or be exterminated by

4050-634: Is not known what the autonym of the Tlohomtah’hoi Shasta was. However it is known that the Shasta likely referred to them as " tax·a·ʔáycu ", the Hupa called them " Yɨdahčɨn " or "those from upcountry (away from the stream)", while the Karok called them " Kà·sahʔára·ra " or "person of ka·sah". The Tlohomtah’hoi Shasta largely lived in the Salmon River basin despite the scholarly appellation, though they did reside on

4200-416: Is that some US$ 80 million worth of California gold (equivalent to US$ 2.6 billion today) was sent to France by French prospectors and merchants. A majority of the gold went back to New York City brokerage houses. As the gold rush progressed, local banks and gold dealers issued "banknotes" or "drafts"—locally accepted paper currency—in exchange for gold, and private mints created private gold coins . With

4350-617: Is true for most native groups in California . In the 1990s some Shasta stated upwards of 10,000 Shastan peoples lived in the 1840s. Alfred L. Kroeber put the 1770 population of the Shasta proper as 2,000 and the New River, Konomihu, and Okwanuchu groups, along with the Chimariko , as 1,000. Using population information on a nearby culture, Sherburne F. Cook largely agreed with Kroeber and concluded there were about 2,210 Shasta proper and another 1,000 related peoples. Subsequently, however Cook raised

4500-709: The Accessory Transit Company . Many gold-seekers took the overland route across the continental United States, particularly along the California Trail . Each of these routes had its own deadly hazards, from shipwreck to typhoid fever and cholera . In the early years of the rush, much of the population growth in the San Francisco area was due to steamship travel from New York City through overland portages in Nicaragua and Panama and then back up by steamship to San Francisco. While traveling, many steamships from

4650-621: The Californian Ranchos as they maintained their territorial autonomy and protected position against European descendants. Sometime around the 1820s the Modoc and Klamath adopted horses from the Sahaptin peoples to the north. With their new equestrian rides they began to attack the Shasta, Achomawi and Atsugewi for property, food stores and slaves to be sold at the Dalles. The Shasta actively fought against

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4800-616: The Chinook Jargon word for an American, "Boston," the Shasta word for whites is "pastin." The Shasta were isolated from the Spanish to the south and their Californian colonies. When the Mexican War of Independence erupted Mexican officials assumed control of the Spanish settlements and missions by forming the Alta California territory. This didn't change matters for the natives north of

4950-606: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 , encouraged the arrival of free blacks and escaped slaves. While the treaty ending the Mexican–American War obliged the United States to honor Mexican land grants, almost all the goldfields were outside those grants. Instead, the goldfields were primarily on " public land ", meaning land formally owned by the United States government. However, there were no legal rules yet in place, and no practical enforcement mechanisms. The benefit to

5100-730: The Isthmus of Panama and the steamships of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company . Australians and New Zealanders picked up the news from ships carrying Hawaiian newspapers, and thousands, infected with "gold fever", boarded ships for California. Forty-niners came from Latin America, particularly from the Mexican mining districts near Sonora and Chile. Gold-seekers and merchants from Asia, primarily from China, began arriving in 1849, at first in modest numbers to Gum San (" Gold Mountain "),

5250-521: The Oregon White Oak . After leaching the acorns of tannins the nuts were turned into a dough. Black Oak meal was preferred compared to the slimier and less popular White Oak meal for both consumption and trade. Canyon Oak acorns were often buried and allowed to turn black before being cooked. Often nuts from Sugar pines were steamed, dried, and stored for future consumption. Pitch from the Ponderosa pine

5400-437: The Rogue Valley . Alfred Kroeber would in turn claim that Shasta territories extended as far north as modern Trail, Oregon . Based on a review on accounts by Takelma and Shasta informants and the journal of Ogden, Gray has determined and proposed a revised cultural boundary. During the early 19th century the southern Bear Creek valley was used by both the Shasta and Takelma peoples as Sapir had speculated. The higher portions of

5550-631: The Sacramento River , sprang into existence and then faded. The Gold Rush town of Weaverville on the Trinity River today retains the oldest continuously used Taoist temple in California, a legacy of Chinese miners who came. While there are not many Gold Rush era ghost towns still in existence, the remains of the once-bustling town of Shasta have been preserved in a California State Historic Park in Northern California. By 1850, most of

5700-535: The San Francisco Bay in 1849, only 700 were women (including those who were poor, wealthy, entrepreneurs, prostitutes, single, and married). They were of various ethnicities including Anglo-American, African-American, Hispanic , Native , European, Chinese, and Jewish. The reasons they came varied: some came with their husbands, refusing to be left behind to fend for themselves, some came because their husbands sent for them, and others came (singles and widows) for

5850-574: The Shasta River and Scott River , along with the Bear Creek in the Rogue Valley . Four bands of Shasta existed with variations in custom and differing dialects. Each band had names derived from nearby waterways. In this way people from Shasta River or Ahotidae were the " Ahotireitsu ", those from the Upper Rogue Valley or Ikiruk were the " Ikirukatsu ", and inhabitants of Scott River or Iraui were

6000-481: The tailrace of a lumber mill he was building for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter —known as Sutter's Mill , near Coloma on the American River . Marshall brought what he found to Sutter, and the two privately tested the metal. After the tests showed that it was gold, Sutter expressed dismay, wanting to keep the news quiet because he feared what would happen to his plans for an agricultural empire if there were

6150-629: The " Irauitsu ". Shasta families located directly along the Klamath River were referred to by the Ikirukatsu as " Wasudigwatsu " after their particular words for the Klamath River and gulch. The Irauistu knew them as " Wiruwhikwatsu " and the Ahotireitsu called them " Wiruwhitsu ", terms derived from "down river" and "up river" respectively. Shasta settlements often only contained a single family. In larger villages headmen held sway. The responsibilities of this position were varied. They were expected "to exhort

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6300-403: The "first world-class gold rush," there was no easy way to get to California; forty-niners faced hardship and often death on the way. At first, most Argonauts , as they were also known, traveled by sea. From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take four to five months, and cover approximately 18,000 nautical miles (21,000 mi; 33,000 km). An alternative

6450-471: The 1840s. Military forces of the United States conquered Alta California during the Mexican–American War . American control was initially limited to areas that had been administered by the Mexican government. The California Territory was established in 1849 although much of the claimed land still remained in indigenous hands. The California State Legislature organized Shasta County in 1850. Once it

6600-421: The California foreign miners tax passed in 1851, targeted mainly Latino miners and kept them from making as much money as whites, who did not have any taxes imposed on them. In California most late arrivals made little or wound up losing money. Similarly, many unlucky merchants set up in settlements that disappeared, or which succumbed to one of the calamitous fires that swept the towns that sprang up. By contrast,

6750-810: The Grand Ronde and Siletz Reservations, while others are in Siskiyou county at the Quartz Valley Indian Reservation or Yreka . Many former members of the Shasta tribe have also been inducted into the Karuk and Alturas tribes. Preceding contact with European descendants the term Shasta likely wasn't used by the Shastan peoples themselves. Among the Shasta proper they called themselves "Kahosadi" or "plain speakers". Variations of Shasta used by whites include Chasta, Shasty, Tsashtl, Sasti, and Saste. Dixon noted that

6900-632: The Karuk. The Konomihu likewise largely imported their baskets from abroad. Baskets made by Shasta were generally a composite of plant materials gathered from the Ponderosa pine, California hazelnut , several species of Willow , Bear grass , and the Five-fingered fern . Their designs took influences from the nearby Hupa , Karuk and Yurok peoples. Pigments were made by the Shasta for the beautification of baskets and other personal possessions. Red and black dyes were

7050-617: The Klamath and the Indigenous peoples of California . Both the Modoc and their Klamath relatives gained horses in the 1820s. This greatly enhanced their military capabilities which began a period of attacks on their southern and western neighbors. Both the Ahotireitsu and Klamath River Shasta bands were targets of Modoc slave raiding. The Achomawi and Atsugewi speakers resided to the east in the Pit River basin. Not much has been recorded on interactions

7200-494: The Konomihu varied according to season like the Shasta. During the salmon runs of spring and summer huts created from plant brush were used. These were abandoned in the autumn in favor of bark houses while deer were hunted. These winter houses were markedly different from the Shasta, Karuk and Yurok. While partially underground their houses were built in 15 to 18 foot wide circles with sloped conical roofs. An important item for Shasta households were baskets which principally came from

7350-536: The Methodist church deemed it necessary to send missionaries there to preach the gospel, as churches in that part of the state were not to be found. The first missionary to arrive was William Taylor who arrived in San Francisco in September 1849. For many months he preached in the streets to hundreds of people without salary, and ultimately after saving often generous donations from successful miners, he built and established

7500-431: The Modoc. These clashes have been speculated to have been the most violent for the Shasta by scholars. While disputes and raids occurred with the Wintu, they were apparently not as destructive as warfare with the Modoc. Attacks on Wintu and Modoc villages included torching the settlement. This was not practiced in raids between Shasta villages. The Shasta were located at the crossroads of several major cultural regions. This

7650-620: The Modocs . The first people to rush to the goldfields, beginning in the spring of 1848, were the residents of California themselves—primarily agriculturally oriented Americans and Europeans living in Northern California , along with Native Californians and some Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians; at the time, commonly referred to in English as simply 'Californians'). These first miners tended to be families in which everyone helped in

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7800-618: The Native American population's decline from disease, starvation, and the California genocide . The effects of the gold rush were substantial. Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called "forty-niners" (referring to 1849, the peak year for gold rush immigration). Outside of California, the first to arrive were from Oregon , the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), and Latin America in late 1848. Of

7950-468: The Okwanuchu had 60 square miles (160 km), and the Konomihu only occupied 20 square miles (52 km). The Shasta called the Konomihu " Iwáppi ", related to the term used for the Karuk. The Konomihu referred to themselves as " Ḱunummíhiwu ". They inhabited portions of the north and south forks of the Salmon River, in addition to part of the combined waterway. Seventeen settlements are recorded to have existed within Konomihu territory. Political authority

8100-838: The Shasta River hadn't yet been exploited it was considered by miners to contain rich gold deposits. In the winter of 1850 advertisements appeared in the Daily Alta California promoting the mineral potential of the Klamath River basin. These notices appealed for Americans to venture north where opportunities for acquiring wealth abound. In addition to maintaining extensive mining operations, whites began to cut forests down for sale in Sacramento. A thousand acres of Shasta river had been prospected to varying amounts by April 1851. Scott River became touted as having "the richest mines in all California." Contemporaries described an influx of miners into

8250-641: The Shasta and Klamath rivers in October a confrontation erupted in which miners killed six Shasta. The Indian Superintendency gave a report to Congress in November 1848. It was an overview on native population figures in the recently gained Pacific Coast and Southwest. Congress was advised to fund and hire new Indian agents in these new territories. A report presented to Congress in 1850 by William Carey Jones surmised information he gathered on land title in California. Jones concluded that Spanish and Mexican law didn't recognize

8400-659: The Shasta and Scott Valleys in particular. It was concluded that only the Scott could support a reservation and the agricultural work necessary to feed the Shasta. This assessment was due to the scarcity of agriculturally viable land in the Klamath Mountains. More promising areas did exist nearby but they were in Oregon. The Shasta wanted to retain the entirety of Scott Valley for their designated reservation. American colonists from Scott Bar and Shasta Butte City contended for possession of

8550-640: The Shasta and these ethnicities formed the southern terminus "of that great and distinctive culture [...] common to all peoples of the Pacific coast from Oregon to Alaska." Additional members of this grouping included the Tolowa further to the west and the Takelma located to the north. The Karuk culture was held in a favorable regard by most Shasta, particularly for their manufactured items. Shasta merchants would bring stockpiles of trade goods in demand down river, which included

8700-563: The Shasta had with them. It is known that the Shasta were the principal source of dentalia for both peoples. There was some direct contact with the Atsugewi though it was probably minimal. Atsugewi informants agreed that they traditionally had many shared cultural traits with the Shasta especially their similar "religion, mythology, social organization, political organization, puberty customs, and paucity of ceremonial." The Madhesi band of Achomawi were known to have had occasional disputes. Villages in

8850-697: The Shasta have some linguistic affiliations. Kroeber placed the Achomawi and Atsugewi with the northeastern Modoc and Klamath into the "Northeast" cultural group. They received cultural influences from the Columbia Plateau and Columbia River Sahaptins , far more than the Shasta did. Coming from the Shasta word for "down the river" the Karuk were known as " Iwampi ". Along with the Yurok, both nations inspired many facets of Shasta society and were their principal trading partners. These peoples were particularly similar to

9000-480: The Shasta homelands. The following known interaction with whites wasn't peaceable as Ogden's visit had been. A group of Willamette Valley colonists traversed Shasta territories in the autumn of 1837. With them were several hundred cattle purchased from Alta California Governor Alvarado . Driving their herd north along the Siskiyou Trail, they encountered several Shasta settlements. The Shasta were welcoming to

9150-533: The Shasta proper. These were the Okwanuchu of the upper Sacramento and McCloud rivers, and the Salmon River based Konomihu and Tlohomtah’hoi Shasta. There is little recorded information on the Tlohomtah’hoi Shasta, Konomihu and Okwanuchu. Merriam concluded that "any extended discussion of their culture, customs, beliefs, and ceremonies is out of the question..." Each group had particularly small territories. The Tlohomtah’hoi Shasta held 45 square miles (120 km),

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9300-403: The Shasta territories led to many confrontations with other California Natives keen on gaining animal meat and pelts. Strategies to procure and later store these foodstuffs shared similarities with adjoining cultures. Undergrowth in forests was removed with controlled fires to promote advantageous plant species that were often food sources. Fishing runs began in the spring and continued throughout

9450-405: The Shasta who relished them. Once the bulb was husked ipos roots were consumed raw or dried in sunlight and later stored. Shastan cuisine had many meals that included dried ipos. Guests were often given small servings of serviceberries and dried ipos while the main meal was cooked. One particularly popular dish was powdered ipos root mixed into manzanita cider. Another consumed flowering plant species

9600-400: The Shasta. Fires were created and maintained at weirs to enable efficient night fishing. Fishing net designs were nearly identical to those created by Karuk and Yurok. Catfish and crawfish were caught with bait tied to lines. Once stuck on the line, the prey would be captured with a thin basket. California mule deer were hunted according to one of several strategies employed by the Shasta. In

9750-428: The Shasta. For example, a Shasta informant reported that "How could you settle anything with them? They didn't have any money." There was an amount of commercial transactions between the Shasta and the Klamath but these were apparently rare occurrences. Spier reported that Shasta manufactured beads were exchanged for animal pelts and blankets. Outside of trading with the Modoc, this was some of the only trading done between

9900-548: The Shastan peoples didn't refer to themselves as Shasta traditionally; the nearby Klamath likely did. Scholars have largely accepted Dixon's etymology for Shasta. Renfro questions its validity however as Ogden used a variation of the term before Sustika was likely prominent. In 1814, near the Willamette Trading Post a meeting occurred between North West Company officer Alexander Henry and an assembled Sahaptin congregation of Cayuse and Walla Walla , in addition to

10050-487: The Shastan peoples didn't use "Shasta" as a place name and likely wasn't a word at all in their languages. In interviews with Shasta informants Dixon was informed of a prominent man of Scott Valley that lived up until the 1850s with the name of Susti or Sustika. This was the probable origin of the term according to Dixon, an interpretation that Kroeber agreed with. Merriam reviewed information from Albert Samuel Gatschet and fur trader Peter Skene Ogden , concluding that while

10200-565: The Takelma to the north has been a matter of controversy between scholars. Shasta informants told Roland B. Dixon that they previously occupied the Bear Creek Valley southward and eastward of the Table Rocks . He was additionally given Shasta place names of this area. This information was forwarded to Edward Sapir who suggested that the Shasta and Takelma both utilized this disputed region of

10350-460: The Tlohomtah’hoi Shasta group has not been adopted by other scholars. What information has been preserved about the Okwanuchu amounts to little. The origin of the word Okwanuchu is unknown. They were called " ye·tatwa " and " Ikusadewi " by the Achomawi. Intermarriage between Okwanuchu and Achomawi speakers was apparently common. Estimates for historic Shasta, Okwanuchu, New River Shasta, and Konomihu population figures have substantially varied, as

10500-557: The Trinity and Klamath rivers. In the Shasta heartland along the banks of the Salmon, Scott and upper Klamath gold was found during the following two years. Incoming miners founded the towns of Scott Bar and Yreka near these newer sources. The Shasta weren't seen favorably by incoming miners, being considered to have "inherited a spirit of warfare, and delight in [...] perilous incidents of daring thefts or bold fighting. This image of native aggression

10650-547: The adventure and economic opportunities. On the trail many people died from accidents, cholera , fever, and myriad other causes, and many women became widows before even setting eyes on California. While in California, women became widows quite frequently due to mining accidents , disease, or mining disputes of their husbands. Life in the goldfields offered opportunities for women to break from their traditional work. Because of many thousands of people flooding into California at Sacramento and San Francisco and surrounding areas,

10800-473: The approximately 300,000 people who came to California during the gold rush, about half arrived by sea and half came overland on the California Trail and the California Road ; forty-niners often faced substantial hardships on the trip. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the gold rush attracted thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, and China. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout

10950-563: The area. Some had purchased expensive land grants from other Americans. A variation of the Donation Land Claim Act was expected to soon be enacted in California. Financial compensation from Congress or the Indian Department was expected by Americans with properties within the reservation boundaries. California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold

11100-407: The autumn at mineral licks deer were forced by controlled burning of oak leaves into gaps between the flames where hunters would wait. Shasta also chased deer into nooses that were tied to trees. Alternatively dogs were trained to chase deer into creeks. Hidden until their prey was in the water, Shasta hunters would then kill the deer with arrows. There were a number of societal conventions related to

11250-579: The building of the San Francisco Mint in 1854, gold bullion was turned into official United States gold coins for circulation. The gold was also later sent by California banks to U.S. national banks in exchange for national paper currency to be used in the booming California economy . The arrival of hundreds of thousands of new people in California within a few years, compared to a population of some 15,000 Europeans and Californios beforehand, had many dramatic effects. A 2017 study attributes

11400-515: The clear intent to distinguish their higher class power over those that could not afford those accommodations. Supply ships arrived in San Francisco with goods to supply the needs of the growing population. When hundreds of ships were abandoned after their crews deserted to go into the goldfields, many ships were converted to warehouses, stores, taverns, hotels, and one into a jail. As the city expanded and new places were needed on which to build, many ships were destroyed and used as landfill. Within

11550-468: The cooked grasshoppers were collected and dried. When grasshoppers were served with particular grass seeds the insects were pounded into a fine powder. Visitors to Shasta Valley would join Ahotireitsu during periods of abundant insect populations to collect their own food stores. Acorns were a valuable foodstuff in Shasta cuisine. Local sources of the nut included the Canyon Oak , California Black Oak and

11700-634: The dominant activity held throughout the steamships was gambling, which was ironic because segregation between wealth gaps was prominent throughout the ships. Everything was segregated between the rich vs. the poor. There were different levels of travel one could pay for to get to California. The cheaper steamships tended to have longer routes. In contrast, the more expensive would get passengers to California quicker. There were clear social and economic distinctions between those who traveled together, being that those who spent more money would receive accommodations that others were not allowed. They would do this with

11850-567: The easily accessible gold had been collected, and attention turned to extracting gold from more difficult locations. Faced with gold increasingly difficult to retrieve, Americans began to drive out foreigners to get at the most accessible gold that remained. The new California State Legislature passed a foreign miners tax of twenty dollars per month ($ 730 per month as of 2024), and American prospectors began organized attacks on foreign miners, particularly Latin Americans and Chinese . In addition,

12000-402: The eastern United States. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. Gold worth tens of billions of today's US dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few, though many who participated in the California gold rush earned little more than they had started with. Gold

12150-419: The eastern seaboard required the passengers to bring kits, which were typically full of personal belongings such as clothes, guidebooks, tools, etc. In addition to personal belongings, Argonauts were required to bring barrels full of beef, biscuits, butter, pork, rice, and salt. While on the steamships, travelers could talk to each other, smoke, fish, and other activities depending on the ship they traveled. Still,

12300-404: The effort. Women and children of all ethnicities were often found panning next to the men. Some enterprising families set up boarding houses to accommodate the influx of men; in such cases, the women often brought in steady income while their husbands searched for gold. Word of the gold rush spread slowly at first. The earliest gold-seekers were people who lived near California or people who heard

12450-823: The establishment of US Army post at or near the confluence of the Trinity and Klamath Rivers. He felt it was necessary to maintain peaceable relations between the colonists and various natives peoples in the Klamath Basin. The government was suggested to model its native policies in Northern California after those of employed by the Hudson's Bay Company in the Columbia Department. Select individuals would be given material patronage which would assist them in gaining prominence among their local settlements. This in turn would simplify interactions with various native cultures as power gradually centralized under amendable leadership. There wasn't

12600-456: The figure to 5,900 total Shasta, inclusive of the smaller related cultures. Kroeber estimated the population of the Shasta proper in 1910 as 100. The Shastan peoples had a diet based around locally available food sources. Many plant and animal species that existed in Shasta territories were located in adjacent areas. These food sources were commonly gathered and used by the Shasta and other regional cultures. The large populations of game animals in

12750-483: The first Methodist church in California, and California's first professional hospital. When the Gold Rush began, the California goldfields were peculiarly lawless places. When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, California was still technically part of Mexico, under American military occupation as the result of the Mexican–American War. With the signing of the treaty ending the war on February 2, 1848, California became

12900-437: The first five years of the Gold Rush. In the next stage, by 1853, hydraulic mining was used on ancient gold-bearing gravel beds on hillsides and bluffs in the goldfields. In a modern style of hydraulic mining first developed in California, and later used around the world, a high-pressure hose directed a powerful stream or jet of water at gold-bearing gravel beds. The loosened gravel and gold would then pass over sluices, with

13050-506: The first supply stores in Sacramento, Coloma, and other spots in the goldfields. Just as the rush began, he purchased all the prospecting supplies available in San Francisco and resold them at a substantial profit. Some gold-seekers made a significant amount of money. On average, half the gold-seekers made a modest profit, after taking all expenses into account; economic historians have suggested that white miners were more successful than black, Indian, or Chinese miners. However, taxes such as

13200-507: The forks of the New River . There were at least five reported settlements inhabited by Tlohomtah’hoi Shasta according to information gained from particular informants. Residents of the New River forks were proposed by Merriam to speak a distinct language from the Salmon River inhabitants. Dixon criticized the idea and presented evidence for the linguistic unity of the cultural group. Merriam's conclusion of there being two differing languages between

13350-540: The former are of yew and about three feet long; they are flat, and an inch and a half to two inches wide: these are backed very neatly with sinew, and painted. The arrows are upwards of thirty inches long; some of them were made of a close-grained wood, a species of spiraea, while others were of reed; they were feathered for a length of from five to eight inches, and the barbed heads were beautifully wrought from obsidian... Their quivers are made of deer, raccoon, or wild-cat skin; these skins are generally whole, being left open at

13500-400: The forty-niners was that the gold was simply "free for the taking" at first. In the goldfields at the beginning, there was no private property, no licensing fees, and no taxes . The miners informally adapted Mexican mining law that had existed in California. For example, the rules attempted to balance the rights of early arrivers at a site with later arrivers; a " claim " could be "staked" by

13650-445: The four Shasta bands had individual headmen as well. While only the Ikirukatsu were reported to have had hereditary succession to the position it is thought the other three bands had some form of hereditarian succession as well. While each of the four band headmen were considered equal, in particularly trying disputes the Ikirukatsu headman would negotiate an end to the issue. Three related groups of Shastan speakers resided adjacent to

13800-454: The gold in the California gravel beds was so richly concentrated, early forty-niners were able to retrieve loose gold flakes and nuggets with their hands, or simply " pan " for gold in rivers and streams. Panning cannot take place on a large scale, and industrious miners and groups of miners graduated to placer mining , using " cradles " and "rockers" or "long-toms" to process larger volumes of gravel. Miners would also engage in "coyoteing",

13950-559: The gold settling to the bottom where it was collected. By the mid-1880s, it is estimated that 11 million troy ounces (340 t) of gold (worth approximately US$ 15 billion at December 2010 prices) had been recovered by hydraulic mining. A byproduct of these extraction methods was that large amounts of gravel, silt , heavy metals , and other pollutants went into streams and rivers. Court rulings (1882 Gold Run and 1884 "Sawyer Act" ) and 1893 federal legislation limited hydraulic mining in California. As of 1999 many areas still bear

14100-440: The gold-bearing quartz. Once the gold-bearing rocks were brought to the surface, the rocks were crushed and the gold separated, either using separation in water, using its density difference from quartz sand, or by washing the sand over copper plates coated with mercury (with which gold forms an amalgam ). Loss of mercury in the amalgamation process was a source of environmental contamination . Eventually, hard-rock mining became

14250-423: The goldfields and find the equivalent of six years' wages back home. Some hoped to get rich quick and return home, and others wished to start businesses in California. By the beginning of 1849, word of the gold rush had spread around the world, and an overwhelming number of gold-seekers and merchants began to arrive from virtually every continent. The largest group of forty-niners in 1849 were Americans, arriving by

14400-702: The hills near Genoa , Italy were among the first to settle permanently in the Sierra Nevada foothills ; they brought with them traditional agricultural skills, developed to survive cold winters. A modest number of miners of African ancestry (probably less than 4,000) had come from the Southern States , the Caribbean and Brazil. A number of immigrants were from China. Several hundred Chinese arrived in California in 1849 and 1850, and in 1852 more than 20,000 landed in San Francisco. Their distinctive dress and appearance

14550-634: The huge numbers of newcomers were driving Native Americans out of their traditional hunting, fishing and food-gathering areas. To protect their homes and livelihood, some Native Americans responded by attacking the miners. This provoked counter-attacks on native villages. The Native Americans, out-gunned, were often slaughtered. Those who escaped massacres were many times unable to survive without access to their food-gathering areas, and they starved to death. Novelist and poet Joaquin Miller vividly captured one such attack in his semi-autobiographical work, Life Amongst

14700-420: The invaders although they didn't gain sizable numbers of horses. The first recorded encounter with European descendants for the Shasta came in 1826. A Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) expedition under Peter Skene Ogden departed from Fort Vancouver to trap beavers in the Klamath Mountains. Arriving from the east, Ogden's party was favorably received by Shasta. Ogden was disappointed by the small number of beaver in

14850-402: The land where the mill stood. Bennett was not to tell anyone of the discovery of gold, but when he stopped at Benicia , he heard talk about the discovery of coal near Mount Diablo, and he blurted out the discovery of gold. He continued to San Francisco, where again, he could not keep the secret. At Monterey, Mason declined to make any judgement of title to lands and mineral rights, and Bennett for

15000-487: The large amount of travelling necessary to create treaties with every native group. This meant they were operating independent of each other. McKee was assigned the task of creating treaties with natives of Northern California. He and his entourage created agreements with natives in Humboldt Bay and the lower Klamath River. Later in September 1851 he arrived in Shasta territory. McKee toured the Shasta territories; inspecting

15150-505: The late 1890s, dredging technology (also invented in California) had become economical, and it is estimated that more than 20 million troy ounces (620 t) were recovered by dredging. Both during the gold rush and in the decades that followed, gold-seekers also engaged in "hard-rock" mining, extracting the gold directly from the rock that contained it (typically quartz ), usually by digging and blasting to follow and remove veins of

15300-495: The local Neil and Emigrant Creeks, in addition to the northern Siskiyou slopes close to Siskiyou Summit were Shasta areas. Regardless of their conflicts over the Bear Creek Valley, the Takelma were active trading partners with the Shasta and were a major source of dentalia. Known as the " Ipaxanai " from the Shasta word for "lake", the Modoc were traditionally held in low regard and were seen as without much material wealth by

15450-424: The manufactured goods created by the other nation. Ahotireitsu Shasta considered clothing made by Wintu fashionable and made hats from Indian hemp after their style. Upper Sacramento Valley and McCloud Wintu admired the smooth headgear used by the Shasta. These twine hats were copied by the Wintu, who used material from Woodwardia ferns in their reproductions more often than among their own designs. Originating from

15600-490: The midst of the gold rush, towns and cities were chartered, a state constitutional convention was convened, a state constitution written, elections held, and representatives sent to Washington, D.C., to negotiate the admission of California as a state. Shastan languages The Shastan (or Sastean ) languages are an extinct language family which consists of four languages, spoken in present-day northern California and southern Oregon : Konomihu appears to have been

15750-492: The most commonly used and come from acorns and alder bark respectively. Ropes, cordage and manufactured goods such as mats, nets and clothing were largely derived from Indian hemp . During the winter snowshoes were often necessary to traverse their homeland. These were made primarily from deer hide with the fur left on. Dentalium shells were an important possession for the Shasta. Principally they were used for ornamentation through being sown into clothing, in addition to usage as

15900-424: The most divergent Shastan language. Okwanuchu may have been a dialect of Shasta proper, which is known to have had a number of dialects. The entire Shastan family is now extinct . Shasta was the last language that was spoken. Three elderly speakers were reported in the 1980s. Shastan has often been considered to be in the hypothetical Hokan stock. This article related to the Indigenous languages of

16050-566: The mountainous region and shifted the party north to the Rogue Valley across the Siskiyous. Shasta guides accompanied them until shortly before modern Talent . The HBC continued to send expeditions southward through the Klamath Mountains to harvest beaver populations in Alta California. These groups of fur trappers and their families traveled along the Siskiyou Trail which traversed portions of

16200-631: The murder. Bailey and Gay faced no punishment for their actions and the party continued toward the Willamette Valley. Several years later a portion of the United States Exploring Expedition under the command of Lieutenant George F. Emmons (1838–1842) visited the Klamath Mountains. Emmons had been given instructions by Charles Wilkes to explore the headwaters of the Klamath, Sacramento, and Umpqua rivers. The assembled men had departed from Fort Vancouver to Fort Umpqua during

16350-542: The name given to California in Chinese. The first immigrants from Europe, reeling from the effects of the Revolutions of 1848 and with a longer distance to travel, began arriving in late 1849, mostly from France, with some Germans , Italians , and Britons . It is estimated that approximately 90,000 people arrived in California in 1849—about half by land and half by sea. Of these, perhaps 50,000 to 60,000 were Americans, and

16500-440: The news from ships on the fastest sailing routes from California. The first large group of Americans to arrive were several thousand Oregonians who came down the Siskiyou Trail. Next came people from the Sandwich Islands , and several thousand Latin Americans, including people from Mexico, from Peru and from as far away as Chile, both by ship and overland. By the end of 1848, some 6,000 Argonauts had come to California. Only

16650-493: The northern region. "The tide of emigration to Scott's River [...] flows due north, sweeping everything in its way..." Redick McKee visited the Scott River in October 1851. He reported that "squatter' tents and cabins may be seen on almost every little patch or strip where the soil promises a reward to cultivation." Additionally he noted the Scott River was under heavy modification by miners. "Every yard almost for three or four miles

16800-645: The number of Shasta. The Shasta residents of Bear Creek were active in Rogue River Wars and assisted the Takelma until they were forcibly removed to the Grande Ronde and Siletz Reservations in Oregon . In the late 1850s the Shastan peoples of California were forcibly removed from their territories and also sent to the same two distant reservations. By the early years of the 20th century perhaps only 100 Shasta individual existed. Some Shasta descendants still reside at

16950-589: The numerically largest of the Shastan speakers. Their territories spread from around modern Ashland in the north, Jenny Creek and Mount Shasta to the east, southward to the Scott Mountains , and westward to modern Seiad Valley and the Salmon and Marble Mountains . This area had four important waterways, each of which had a distinct group of resident Shasta. These were the Klamath River and two of its tributaries,

17100-400: The occasional skirmish there was some commercial and cultural exchanges between the peoples. The Wintu were an active source of Tan oak acorns and abalone beads. The Shasta were the primary distributors of dentalia to the Wintu, along with some obsidian and buckskin. A drink made by both the Shasta and the Wintu was a cider created from Manzanita berries. Members of both cultures were inspired by

17250-456: The outsiders despite difficulties in communication. Philip Leget Edwards recorded that the cattle drivers were "at their mercy, but they have offered no injury to ourselves or property." A Shasta boy estimated by Edwards to be the age of ten accompanied the settlers for some time. As the group continued north some of the cattle men began to discuss killing natives of the area. William J. Bailey and George K. Gay had previously had fought against

17400-406: The ownership of the deer. For example, whoever killed the prey had right to its pelt and hind legs. Other reported conventions regulated the divisions of meat in a fair manner and when Shasta were allowed to hunt. Additional nutritional sources included several smaller animal species. Mussels were collected from the Klamath River by women and children that dived for the organisms. During the autumn

17550-457: The people to live in peace, do good, have kind hearts, and be industrious." A common requirement to hold the position was that the individual had to be materially wealthy. This came from the expectation for them to use their property in negotiations to settle disputes between members of their village or with other settlements. In raids on enemies the headman did not participate but negotiated with enemy headmen to establish peaceable relations. Each of

17700-456: The placer deposits until 1846. Minor finds of gold in California were also made by Mission Indians prior to 1848. The friars instructed them to keep its location secret to avoid a gold rush . In January 1847, nine months into the Mexican–American War , the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed, leading to the resolution of the military conflict in Alta California (Upper California). On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall found shiny metal in

17850-467: The population and economy of California had become large and diverse enough that money could be made in a wide variety of conventional businesses. Once extracted, the gold itself took many paths. First, much of the gold was used locally to purchase food, supplies and lodging for the miners . It also went towards entertainment, which consisted of anything from a traveling theater to alcohol, gambling, and prostitutes. These transactions often took place using

18000-555: The recently recovered gold, carefully weighed out. These merchants and vendors, in turn, used the gold to purchase supplies from ship captains or packers bringing goods to California. The gold then left California aboard ships or mules to go to the makers of the goods from around the world. A second path was the Argonauts themselves who, having personally acquired a sufficient amount, sent the gold home, or returned home taking with them their hard-earned "diggings". For example, one estimate

18150-466: The record-long economic expansion of the United States in the recession-free period of 1841–1856 primarily to "a boom in transportation-goods investment following the discovery of gold in California." The gold rush propelled California from a sleepy, little-known backwater to a center of the global imagination and the destination of hundreds of thousands of people. The new immigrants often showed remarkable inventiveness and civic mindedness. For example, in

18300-475: The rest were from other countries. By 1855, it is estimated at least 300,000 gold-seekers, merchants, and other immigrants had arrived in California from around the world. The largest group continued to be Americans, but there were tens of thousands each of Mexicans, Chinese, Britons, Australians, French, and Latin Americans, together with many smaller groups of miners, such as African Americans, Filipinos , Basques and Turks . People from small villages in

18450-495: The right of natives to owning their homelands. After the admission of California as an American state the topic of relations with its indigenous peoples was raised in the Senate once more. Charles Fremont presented legislation that promoted the forced seizure of their lands for resale to American colonists. He however felt that the natives had legal right to their own territories and had to be compensated for their territorial losses. This

18600-416: The river shrunk in size, leaving exposed populations of mussels along the river banks. Once gathered in a sufficient quantity the mussels were steamed in earthen ovens. Then the shells were opened and the meat dried with sunlight for future use. Grasshoppers and crickets were consumed by both the Ahotireitsu and Ikirukatsu Shasta. Parcels of grasslands were set ablaze by Shasta men. After the fires had died down

18750-510: The scars of hydraulic mining, since the resulting exposed earth and downstream gravel deposits do not support plant life. After the gold rush had concluded, gold recovery operations continued. The final stage to recover loose gold was to prospect for gold that had slowly washed down into the flat river bottoms and sandbars of California's Central Valley and other gold-bearing areas of California (such as Scott Valley in Siskiyou County). By

18900-515: The single largest source of gold produced in the Gold Country . The total production of gold in California from then until now is estimated at 118 million troy ounces (3,700 t). Recent scholarship confirms that merchants made far more money than miners during the gold rush. The wealthiest man in California during the early years of the rush was Samuel Brannan , a tireless self-promoter, shopkeeper and newspaper publisher. Brannan opened

19050-441: The state to meet the needs of the settlers. San Francisco grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California. In 1849, a state constitution was written . The new constitution was adopted by referendum vote; the future state's interim first governor and legislature were chosen. In September 1850, California became

19200-489: The sugar-pine or cedar wooden roof was finally put into place. The okwá'ŭmma ("big house") was a structure maintained in populous Shasta villages. A pit up to 26.3 feet (8.0 m) wide, 39 feet (12 m) wide and 6.6 feet (2.0 m) deep was dug, with a building process similar to winter dwellings employed. Their functionality was primarily for assemblies, such as seasonal religious ceremonies and dances. Dixon incorrectly reported that okwá'ŭmma were used as sweat houses. If

19350-545: The summer and autumn. The White Deerskin dance by the Karuk determined the appropriate time for the Shasta to eat fish. Held sometime in July, the dance was an important event for Shasta to witness and known as "kuwarik". Prior to the event Coho salmon could be caught and dried, but not consumed. Rainbow trout had to be released before the Karuk dance. Not doing so was seen as particularly egregious and made one liable to be killed. Spears were reportedly uncommon for use in fishing among

19500-406: The summer of 1841. During September and October they traveled through Shasta territories by generally following the Siskiyou Trail. On 1 October the party crossed the Klamath River. The explorers visited a Shasta village where inhabitants gave them salmon and sold several yew bows and arrows in exchange for trade goods. Inhabitants of the village demonstrated their archery skills by repeatedly shooting

19650-408: The sword of the whites." Violence and murder against natives were often promoted as the only way to end their "thieving and other annoying propensities." Violence began to erupt across the Klamath River in the summer of 1850. In August it was reported that miners had killed fifty to sixty Hupa and burnt down three of their villages around the juncture of the Klamath and Trinity rivers. At the junction of

19800-421: The tail end." Body decoration and modification were common practices among the Shasta. For example, they employed dyes of red, yellow, blue, black and white in their artwork. These dyes were created from plant matter and natural clay deposits. Reportedly body painting was largely used by shamans and those preparing for warfare. The latter group generally used white and black colors during their war preparations. Red

19950-600: The tens of thousands overland across the continent and along various sailing routes (the name "forty-niner" was derived from the year 1849). Many from the East Coast negotiated a crossing of the Appalachian Mountains , taking to riverboats in Pennsylvania , poling the keelboats to Missouri River wagon train assembly ports, and then traveling in a wagon train along the California Trail . Many others came by way of

20100-530: The third time revealed the gold discovery. By March 1848, rumors of the discovery were confirmed by San Francisco newspaper publisher and merchant Samuel Brannan . Brannan hurriedly set up a store to sell gold prospecting supplies, and he walked through the streets of San Francisco, holding aloft a vial of gold, shouting "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!" On August 19, 1848, the New York Herald

20250-531: The valley as well. Federal officials consulted with them for what they desired in a treaty with the Shasta. They called for the removal of all Shasta to a reservation placed on the headwaters of the Shasta River. George Gibbs was a member of McKee's delegation and left a record of its activities. There was a repeating cycle of violence and reprisals then ongoing in northern California. Local American militias were reported to be excessively violent in "revenging outrages" supposedly committed by natives. Gibbs argued for

20400-519: The vicinity of modern Big Bend were liable to be raided by Shasta warriors. Bands of Wintu located around modern McCloud, California and in the Upper Sacramento Valley had the majority of interactions with the Shasta. While clashes did occur with Wintu speakers, it wasn't nearly as common as conflict with the Modoc. These conflicts earned the Shasta the Wintun name of "yuki" or "enemy". Despite

20550-542: Was Fritillaria recurva . Commonly called "chwau", the bulbs were prepared by either roasting or boiling. Shasta architecture appears to have largely been derived from the downriver Hupa, Karuk and Yurok peoples. Permanent houses were constructed by the Shasta for the winter. These dwellings were built in the same locations annually, commonly near a creek. Klamath River Shasta winter villages commonly had only 3 families, while Dixon has suggested that both Irauitsu and Ahotireitsu villages usually had more families. The beginning of

20700-568: Was applied by shamans upon their buckskins in geometric patterns. Permanent tattooing was performed by elder women who used small obsidian flakes. Tattoos for women were generally several vertical marks on the chin that occasionally were prolonged to the edges of the mouth. Women without chin tattoos were seen as unattractive and targets of ridicule. For men tattoos had an important functionality in bartering and exchanges. Applied in lines on their hands or arms, these lines were used to measure dentalia and beads. Septum piercings were made to hold either

20850-457: Was discovered in California as early as March 9, 1842, at Rancho San Francisco , in the mountains north of present-day Los Angeles. Californian native Francisco Lopez was searching for stray horses and stopped on the bank of a small creek (in today's Placerita Canyon ), about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of present-day Newhall , and about 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Los Angeles. While the horses grazed, Lopez dug up some wild onions and found

21000-638: Was far from a universal opinion in the Senate as some legislators felt California Indigenous had no legal right to their own homelands. In September the Senate passed two bills that formulated Federal policy with Californian Natives. Three commissioners were authorized to draft treaties with California Natives. Redick McKee , O. M. Wozencraft , and George W. Barbour were appointed and began negotiations in 1851. However, they collectively lacked expertise and familiarity with either California natives or how their societies utilized their territories. The Commissioners eventually divided California into three areas to cover

21150-742: Was firmly in control by American colonists it was speculated to become an important region for its agricultural and mineral potential. In 1852 Siskiyou County was formed from the northern portions of Shasta County. This new American division contained the Shasta homelands of California. The lure of achieving material wealth created the California Gold Rush and drew in outsiders by the hundreds of thousands. The newly arriving miners and colonists had little respect for California Natives and frequently spread violence against indigenous peoples. Miners progressively went north from Sutter's Mill in search of more gold. During 1850 discoveries of gold were made on

21300-608: Was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California . The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy; the sudden population increase allowed California to go rapidly to statehood in the Compromise of 1850 . The gold rush had severe effects on Native Californians and accelerated

21450-467: Was highly recognizable in the goldfields. Chinese miners suffered enormously, enduring violent racism from white miners who aimed their frustrations at foreigners. Further animosity toward the Chinese led to legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and Foreign Miners Tax. There were also women in the gold rush . However, their numbers were small. Of the 40,000 people who arrived by ship to

21600-495: Was more fragmented than the Shasta, reportedly there being no form of appointed or hereditary village headmen. Most knowledge of Konomihu interactions with neighboring peoples has been lost. It is known that despite occasional disputes with the Irauitsu Shasta, intermarriage was common. The Irauitsu appear to have been important trading partners as well. In return for their buckskin garments the Konomihu received abalone beads. It

21750-410: Was no churches or religious services in the rapidly growing city, which prompted missionaries like William Taylor to meet the need, where he held services in the street, using a barrel head as his pulpit. Crowds would gather to listen to his sermons, and before long he received enough generous donations from successful gold miners and built San Francisco's first church. In what has been referred to as

21900-428: Was pounded into a fine dust and consumed or used as chewing gum. Many fruits were harvested once ripe and often dried. This included Chokecherries , Whiteleaf manzanita berries , Pacific blackberries , San Diego raspberries , and Blue elderberries . Flower bulbs were gathered seasonally to supplement other food stores. Camas roots were commonly collected. Members of the calochortus genus were known as "ipos" to

22050-638: Was reflected in their neighbors, each with distinct material and cultural conditions. To the southwest on the lower Klamath River were the Karuk , Yurok and Hupa . Past the southern borders of Shasta territory resided the Wintu . They were the northernmost extension of a central Californian culture focused on the Russian River Pomo and the Patwin . To the east and southeast were the Achomawi and Atsugewi , with whom

22200-512: Was repeatedly mentioned in contemporary newspapers. The Shasta and other natives in the north were apparently found to be "more warlike than those of any other section of the State, and bear the most implacable hatred towards all pale faces." By August 1850 there were over 2,000 miners prospecting on Klamath and Salmon rivers. Over a hundred miles of the Klamath River had been searched for gold deposits and portions were occupied by mining operations. While

22350-605: Was the first major newspaper on the East Coast to report the discovery of gold. On December 5, 1848, US President James K. Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in an address to Congress . As a result, individuals seeking to benefit from the gold rush—later called the "forty-niners"—began moving to the Gold Country of California or "Mother Lode" from other countries and from other parts of the United States. As Sutter had feared, his business plans were ruined after his workers left in search of gold, and squatters took over his land and stole his crops and cattle. San Francisco had been

22500-495: Was to sail to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama , take canoes and mules for a week through the jungle, and then on the Pacific side, wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco. There was also a route across Mexico starting at Veracruz . The companies providing such transportation created vast wealth among their owners and included the U.S. Mail Steamship Company , the federally subsidized Pacific Mail Steamship Company , and

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