California Indian Reservations and Cessions
Between 1851-52, the United States Army forced California's tribes to sign 18 treaties that relinquished each tribe's rights to their traditional lands in exchange for reservations. Due to pressure from California representatives, congress failed to ratify the treaties and ordered them to remain secret. In 1896 the Bureau of American Ethnology report on major native American Indian interactions with the United States Government was the first time the treaties were made public. The report was compiled By Charles C. Royce that includes the 18 lost treaties between the state's tribes and a map of the reservations. Below is the California segment of the report listing the treaties. The full report covered all 48 states tribal interactions nationwide with the U.S. government.
California Indian Reservations and Cessions
The following database is an extraction of all the United States' formal actions between 1851–1892 with California Indians documented by the Bureau of American Ethnology in its Eighteenth annual report to the Smithsonian Institution in 1896.History
Upon becoming a state in 1850, California was required by law to allow the United States government conduct all formal relationships with tribal communities. Because of California's previous Mexican government had no formal relationships with the Indians following the 1833 Secularization Act that closed the Spanish era's Catholic Missions, most of the 150,000 surviving tribal people either became servants for the Ranchos of California owners or migrated east to the Sierra Mountains or to the north where they mixed with other non-Mission tribes that had been left alone by Mexico.California's farmers and gold miners demanded that Indian "Diggers" and other aliens be heavily taxed or removed from the gold fields. In 1851, at the same time that the United States was setting up the Public Land Commission as required by the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with the Republic of Mexico to verify the legality of the Ranchos of California Land Grants given California citizens prior to 1846, the government also set up a commission with military support that resulted in 134 of the state's 300 plus Indian tribes signing 18 treaties that gave away their sovereign rights in exchange for 7.4 million acres of "reservation" lands spread across the state.
Between 1851 and 1865, California carried out the wishes of its citizens: the removal of tribal communities from their ancestral lands by military force across California. The United States went along with these actions, rather than using its resources to stop the state from this period of California Genocide that was legitimized by the 1850 Indian Protection Act and numerous bond and financing actions that went to that hunted down and killed tribal members.
During the first years between 1851 and 1852, John Frémont, a U.S. Senator for the state of California, organized the
Mariposa Battalion to round up tribal representatives who were living on his Mariposa Rancho. Frémont pushed for federal troops and three Indian Commissioners who obtained treaty agreements from tribal representatives to abandon their lands in exchange for what would be the first round of reservations for land actions in California. The state, however, refused to even allow these massive land takeaways, resulting in the , and by a Senate order their very existence was hidden from the public for over 45 years.
One of the three appointed commissioners Oliver M. Wozencraft reported that the government's action would lead to a "war of extermination" against the state's tribal people , even going public by laying out the impacts, but for speaking out he was by September of the same year.
The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, which was originally part of the U.S. War Department, eventually set up four reservations as prescribed by congress, followed later by additional tracts of lands ceded to various Mission Indians located mostly in Southern California. In 1896, the Smithsonian Institution produced a report documenting all historic actions by date and tribe of lands taken from or reservations created by the U.S.
Larisa Miller documented how the Northern California Indian Association petitioned President Roosevelt in 1903 to buy federal lands for thousands of homeless Indians across the state because "title and ownership to this beautiful land have never been extinguished." Their campaign led to the rediscovery of the 18 Treaties that were signed by 134 bands of Californians and the removal of the senate's order of secrecy on January 18, 1905.
The United States Bureau of American Ethnology produced annual reports to the Smithsonian Institution on various Native American subjects. In their 18TH annual, two volume report, they published a complete list of all U.S. takings, treaties and reservations prior to 1896. The report was Compiled By Charles C. Royce, with a 122-page introduction by Cyrus Thomas documenting legal claims for the actions the United States had based its actions on, with a focus on U.S. Supreme Court's 1823 Discovery doctrine decision.
It was Thomas' following statement that set the tone for the introduction:
"Its extent afforded an ample field for the ambition and enterprise of all, and the character, low culture-status, and religious beliefs of the aborigines afforded an apology for considering them a people over whom the superior genius of Europe might rightfully claim an ascendancy. The sovereigns of the Old World therefore found no difficulty in convincing themselves that they made ample compensation to the natives by bestowing on them the benefits of civilization and Christianity in exchange for control over them and their country."
The report included color maps for each state, two for California, with numbered areas to identify each cession or reservation. These can be used to locate the land.
Indian Land Cessions in the United States
The spreadsheet section in part 2, pages 781 – 948 is titled "Indian Land Cessions in the United States". The data are extracted from the U.S. government's treaties, reservations and land cessions with California's tribal people in the years 1851–1986. The California instances in the spreadsheet include page references to legal citation and historic materials. All links embedded in the spreadsheet, including the names identifying particular "Mission Indian" Tribes, have been added to make the original report clearer. Some sections on individual tracts in the Public Land Survey System were omitted from the original.Note that the below database identifies the land involved in each transaction with a number that can be located on the above maps. Later transactions are located on the 2nd map or "Ca-2", plus the appropriate number. The first 18 entries described below as unratified treaties were not listed in the 1896 Smithsonian report, but as stated lands ceded in exchange for tracts of land.
| Tribe | Date | Map # | Page | Reference | Authority | Cession or Reservation | Historic data and remarks |
| Treaty M Tribes | 3-19-1851 | 273 274 | 780 | Unratified Treaty | Ca. Militia: Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioners: , Col. George W. Barbour, and Dr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | Reserve a tract between Mercede and Tuolumne river | Negotiations held at Camp Fremont |
| Treaty N Tribes | 4-29-1851 | 275 | 782 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioners: Col. Redrick Mckee, Col. George W. Barbour, and Dr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | Reserve a tract between Chowchilla and Cah-wia rivers Cede all territory not reserved by said treaties. | Negotiations at Camp Barbour |
| Treaty A Tribes | 5-13-1851 | 276 | 782 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Col. George W. Barbour | Reserve a tract between Cah-wia and Chowchilla rivers Cede all territory not reserved by said treaties. | Negotiations at Camp Belt |
| Treaty B Tribes | 5-13-1851 | 276 | 782 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Col. George W. Barbour | Reserve a tract for between Tule river, Paint creek, Emigrant road, and Sierra Nevadas. | Negotiations at Camp Keyes |
| Treaty E Tribes | 5-28-1851 | 280 281 | 782 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioners Dr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | Reserve a tract on Stanislaus river Cede all territory not reserved by said treaties. | Negotiations at Dent and Vantine Crossing |
| Treaty B Tribes | 5-30-1851 | 277 278 279 | 782 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioners: Col. Redrick Mckee, Col. George W. Barbour, and Dr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | 1. Reserve a tract between Cah-wia and King's rivers 2. Reserve a tract on King's river Cede all territory not reserved by said treaties. | Negotiations and Camp Keyes |
| Treaty C Tribes | 6-3-1851 | 282 283 284 | 782 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Col. George W. Barbour | 1. Reserve a tract for Chu-nute and Wo-wol tribes between Tulare and Buena Vista lakes 2. Reserve a tract for Yo-luiu-ne and Co-ye-tie tribes between Tule river. Paint creek, Emigrant road, and Sierra Nevadas. Cede all claims to territory outside of reserved tracts | Negotiations at Camp Burton |
| Treaty D Tribes | 6-10-1851 | 285 286 | 782 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioners Col. George W. Barbour, and Persifer F. Smith | Reserve a tract between Tejon pass and Kern river Cede all claim to territory outside of reserved tract | Negotiations at Camp Persifer F. Smith |
| Treaty F Tribes | 7-18-1851 | 287 288 | 784 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Dr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | Reserve a tract between Bear and Yuba rivers Cede all claim to other territory | Negotiations at Camp Union |
| Treaty G Tribes | 8-1-1851 | 290 291 | 784 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissionerDr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | Reserve a tract on Feather river Cede all claim to other territory | Negotiations at Bidwell Ranch |
| Treaty H Tribes | 8-16-1851 | 293 294 | 784 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Dr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | Reserve a tract on Sacramento river Cede all claim to other territory | Negotiations ad Reading Ranch |
| Treaty O Tribes | 8-20-1851 | 295 296 | 784 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Col. Redrick Mckee, | Reserve a tract on Clear lake Cede all claim to other territory | Negotiations at Camp Lu-pi-yu-ma |
| Treaty P Tribes | 8-22-1851 | 297 | 784 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Col. Redrick Mckee | Cede all claim to territory and agree to remove to Clear lake reserve | Negotiations at Camp Fernando Feliz |
| Treaty I Tribes | 9-9-1851 | 298 299 | 786 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Dr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | Reserve a tract on Sacramento river Cede all claim to territory | Negotiations and Camp Colus |
| Treaty J Tribes | 9-18-1851 | 301 302 | 786 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Dr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | Reserve a tract on Consumnes river Cede all claim to territory | Negotiations at Fork of Cosumnes River |
| Treaty Q Tribes | 10-6-1851 | 303 304 | 788 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Col. Redrick Mckee | Reserve a tract on Klamath river Cede all claim to territory | Negotiations at Camp Klamath |
| Treaty R Tribes | 11-4-1851 | 305 306 | 788 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Col. Redrick Mckee | Reserve a tract on the upper Klamath river Cede all claim to territory | Negotiations Scotts Valley camp. The first of these tribes was commonly called Upper Klamath; the next three, Shasta Valley Indians; and the last two, Scotts Valley Indians. |
| Treaty K Tribes | 1-5-1852 | 307 308 | 788 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Dr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | Reserve a tract in SW. California Cede all claim to territory | Negotiations at Village of Temecula |
| Treaty L Tribes | 1-7-1852 | 309 310 | 788 | Unratified Treaty | California Mariposa Brigade U.S. Indian commissioner Dr. Oliver W. Wozencraft | Reserve a tract on S. line of California Cede all claim to territory | Negotiations at Village of Santa Isabel |
| Tejon, Castake, San Imirio, et al. | 9-1853 | Ca-2 311 | 788 | Superintendent of Indian Affairs EF Beale | E.F. Beale establishes a reserve, called Tejon Pass Reservation | Reservation location and History | |
| Rogue River Indians Table Rock Oregon Territory | 9-10-1853 | Ca-2 312 | 788 | Stat. L.,X, 1018 | Cede tract along N. Cal border and Oregon: Applegate creek, Rogue river, Althouse creek, along Siskiyou mountains; Cascade range to Pitt's peak. Indians to retain temporary occupancy of a portion of the ceded country until a reserve is assigned them. | The boundaries of the country reserved under this clause are shown by dotted red lines. It was known as Table Rock reserve, and was abandoned and the Indians removed in 1855. See Rogue River Wars | |
| Nome Lackee, , Nir-muck, et al. | 9-1-1854 | Ca-2 331 | 794 | Reservation size and history | - | ||
| Klamath | 11-16-1855 | Ca-2 400 | 794 | Executive Order | President sets apart a reserve of 25,000 acres on both sides of Klamath river in California, the same being a strip commencing at the Pacific Ocean and extending 1 mile in width on each side of the Klamath river for a distance of 20 miles. | Reservation size and history | |
| Camel-el-po-ma Pomo et al. | 5-22-1856 | Ca-2 522 | 816 | Executive Order | President set apart Mendocino reserve in California in compliance with recommendation of Superintendent Henley of Nov. 17, 1855. | This reserve was abandoned for Indian purposes on Mar. 31, 1866, and was restored to the public domain by act of Congress of July 27, 1868 | |
| Tule River or Madden Farm reservation Indians | 1856 | Ca-2 402 | 814 | This tract was informally established in 1856 as an Indian reservation. | Tule Reservation size and history | ||
| Round Valley reservation Indians | 9-4-1856 | Ca-2 | 816 | Superintendent Henley reports selection of temporary reservation at Round valley or "Nome Cult." | Round Valley Reservation size and history | ||
| Yokuts Chow-chilla & Mono people, Miwok, Chook-chancie, et al. | 11-19-1859 | Ca-2 423 | 822 | Superintendent McDuffie reports abandonment of Fresno River reservation. | Reservation size and history | ||
| Shoshone, | 10-1-1863 | Ca-2 444 | 828 | Executive Action | Stat. L.,xviii,689 | Possession status | Reservation size and history |
| California Indians | 4-8-1864 | 830 | Act Of Congress | Stat. L.,XIII, 39. | Authorizing the establishment of four Indian reservations within the limits of the state. | Statute limited the number of reservations in California to a total of 4. Recognized under this act were Round Valley, Hoopa Valley, Smith River, and Tule River | |
| Hupa | 8-21-1864 | Ca-2 461 | 832 | Stat. L., XIII, 39. | Under act of Congress April 8, 1864. | Superintendent Wiley locates the whole of Hoopa valley as one of the reserves contemplated by act of Apr. 8, 1864 | Reservation size and history |
| Washoe | 7-10-1865 | Ca-2 473 | 836 | Order of Sectary of Interior. | Country claimed by Washoes was taken possession of by settlers between 1855 and 1865 without purchase of their title by U. S. | Reservation size and history | |
| Smith River Reservation Closed | 7-27-1868 | Ca-2 521 | 850 | Act of Congress | Stat. L.xv.221. | Removal of Indians to Hoopa Valley and Round Valley reservations | Reservation history |
| Mendocino Indian Reservation | 7-27-1868 | Ca-2 522 | 850 | Act of Congress | Stat. L.xv.223. | Reservation status Mendocino Reservation size and history | - |
| San Pasqual, Pala Valley Mission Indians | 1-31-1870 | Ca-2 527 528 | 852 | Executive Action | President sets apart a reserve for Indians near San Bernardino | Trouble arose with the settlers and the reserve was abandoned in Apr., 1871. | |
| Round River Valley Reservation expanded | 3-30-1870 | Ca-2 Round River inset | 852 | Executive Action | President enlarges Round Valley reservation in California | Nome Cult Reservation size and history | |
| Tule river, King's river, Owen's river, et al. | 1-9-1873 | Ca-2 607 | 860 | Executive Order | President sets apart a reserve at Tule river | Canceled and a new reserve established Oct. 3, 1873 | |
| Round River Valley Reservation | 4-8-1873 | Ca-2 583 | 862 | Executive Order | President withdraws from sale certain lands in Round valley, specified by act of Mar. 3, 1873, until report of commissioners is received fixing N. boundary. | The commissioners made their report Nov. 1, 1873. It was approved by the Secretary of the Interior Aug. 4. 1874. and proclamation of the boundaries made by Executive order of May 18, 1875. | |
| Tule river, King's river, Owen's river, et al. | 10-3-1873 | 547 607 | 864 | Executive Order | Tule Reservation Expansion and location | Reservation location and history | |
| Paiute | 3-23-1874 | Ca-2 562 | 872 | Executive Order | President establishes reservation at Pyramid Lake, as surveyed by Eugene Monroe on January 23, 1865 Plat taken from original in Office of Indian Affairs | Reservation location and history | |
| Round Valley Reservation | 5-18-1875 | Ca-2 583 | 880 | Executive Order | President proclaims the boundaries of Round Valley reservation in accordance with act of Congress Mar. 3, 1873 | Reservation boundaries and history | |
| Mission Indians – Portrero – Rincon, Gapich, La Joya, Cahuila, Capitan Grande, Santa Ysabel – Mesa Grande, Pala, Agua Caliente, Sycuan, Inaja, Cosmit | 12-27-1875 | 884 | Executive Order | President sets apart reservations for Mission Indians, in San Diego county, California | See Executive orders of May 3, 1877, Aug. 25, 1877, and Sept. 29, 1877; also that of Jan. 17, 1880. | ||
| Colorado River | 5-15-1876 | Ca-2 593 | 886 | Executive Order | President alludes to previous errors and correctly defines boundaries of Colorado River reservation – partially in California. | See act of Congress of Mar. 3, 1865, and executive order of Nov. 22, 1873 and Nov. 16, 1874 | |
| Mission Indians – Portrero, Agua Caliente, Torros, Cabezons | 5-15-1876 | 886 | Executive Order | President sets apart additional tracts for Mission Indians | See Executive orders of Dec. 27, 1875, May 3, 1877, August 25, 1877 and September 29, 1877 | ||
| Hupa et al. | 6-23-1876 | Ca-2 461 | 886 | Executive Order | President proclaims the boundaries of Hoopa Valley reservation as one of the reserves authority by act of Apr. 8, 1864. | This reserve was established Aug. 21, 1864 by Superintendent Wiley | |
| Round Valley Indians | 7-26-1876 | Ca-2 594 sec.2, T.22N.,R.13W. | 886 | Executive Order | President adds late Camp Wright military reservation to Round Valley Indian reservation | See Executive order of Mar. 30, 1870, Apr. 8, 1873, and May 18, 1873 | |
| Mission Indians Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation | 5-3-1877 | 890 | Executive Order | President restores to public domain a portion of lands withdrawn by Executive orders of Dec. 27, 1875, and May 15, 1876 T.7S, R.2E, T.14S.,R.2E & T.9S.,R.2W. | See Executive orders of August 25, 1877 and September 29, 1877 | ||
| Mission Indians – Morongo Band | 8-25-1877 | Ca-2 825 | 890 | Executive Order | President withdraws and sets apart further tracts for reservation T.2S.,R.1E | See Executive orders of Dec. 27, 1875, May 15, 1876, May 3, 1877, and Sept. 29, 1877 | |
| Mission Indians Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians | 9-29-1877 | 892 | Executive Order | President withdraws and sets apart further tracts for reservation: Palm Springs – T.4S.,R.4E. | See Executive orders of Dec. 27, 1875, May 15, 1876, May 3, 1877, and Sept. 29, 1877 | ||
| Tule River, King's River, et al. | 8-3-1878 | Ca-2 607 | 892 | Executive Order | President restores to public domain part of reservation set apart by Executive order of Oct. 3, 1873. | ||
| Mission Indians – Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians | 1-17-1880 | 898 | Executive Order | President cancels a, part of Executive order of Dec. 27, 1875, as follows: All that portion of said order relating to the Agua Caliente Indian reservation, and also that part relating to the Santa Ysabel Indian reservation. T.11S., R.3E. | |||
| Mission Indians | 3-9-1881 | 902 | Executive Order | President sets apart additional tracts for Mission Indians | |||
| Mission Indians – Pechanga | 6-27-1882 | 906 | Executive Order | President sets apart additional tracts for a reserve T.8S, R.2W | See Act of Mar. 3. 1873. | ||
| Mission Indians | 7-24-1882 | 908 | Executive Order | President cancels order of Dec. 27, 1865. | |||
| Mission Indians | 2-5-1883 | 910 | Executive Order | President restores to public domain certain lands withdrawn by Executive order Dec. 27, 1875. sec. 3 T.12S, R.2E | |||
| Mission Indians Barona Band | 6-19-1883 | 912 | Executive Order | President sets apart certain tracts for Mission Indians sec. 9, T.5S., R.1E. & T.14S., R.2E. | |||
| Mission Indians Tribe | 1-25-1886 | 918 | Executive Order | President cancels Executive order of June 27, 1882, so far as relates to lot 2 in sec. 28, T. 8S., R.2 W. | |||
| Mission Indians | 3-22-1886 | 918 | Executive Order | President cancels and revokes Executive order of June 19, 1883. Sec. 28 T.4S., R.1E. SE of Freemont Ca. | |||
| Mission Indians | 1-29-1887 | 924 | Executive Order | President amends order of Mar. 22, 1886, relative to reservation for Mission Indians. Sec. 28 T.4S., R.1E. SE of Freemont Ca. | |||
| Mission Indians – Cahuilla | 3-14-1887 | 924 | Executive Order | The President sets apart as an addition to the Mission Indian reservation of Cahuilla Sec. 23, T.7S.,R.2E. | |||
| Mission Indians – | 5-6-1889 | 934 | Executive Order | The President orders certain lands to be withdrawn from sale and set apart as a reserve for the Mission Indians West of Gilroy T.10S., R.4E., & secs. 3&4. T.11S., R.4E. | Reservation lands and history | ||
| Mission Indians – ALL | 1-12-1891 | 938 | Act of Congress | Stat. L., XXVI, 712 | Authorizes Secretary of the Interior to appoint three commissioners to select a reservation for each band or village so as to include as far as practicable the lands now occupied to a sufficient extent to meet their just requirements. It also authorizes all allotments in severalty on certain conditions. | ||
| Hoopa et al. | 10-16-1891 | Ca-2 400 461 | 942 | Executive Order | The President extends the limits of their reservation so as to include a tract of country 1 mile in width on each side of the Klamath river, and extending from the then limits thereof to the Pacific Ocean. | Reservation size and history | |
| Klamath River Reservation | 6-17-1892 | Ca-2 400 | 944 | Act of Congress | Stat. L., XXVII, 52 | Restores the original Klamath River reservation to the public domain. Provides for allotments to Indians settled thereon. | See executive order, Oct 16, 1891 |