SOCIETY. 389 



At this time the American residents of Humboldt county are at 

 war with the Indians there. The poor Indian, afoot, and armed 

 only with the bow and arrow, is no match for the rich Ameri- 

 can, armed with rifle and revolver, and mounted on a horse, 

 which saves him from fatigue, takes him swiftly to the best 

 point of attack, or carries him still more swiftly from danger. 

 For every white man that has been killed, fifty Indians have 

 fallen. 



In 1848, nearly every little valley had^ its tribe, and there 

 w^ere dozens of tribes in the Sacramento basin, but now most 

 of these tribes have been entirely destroyed. Syphilitic dis- 

 eases and brandy have co-operated w^th the bullet and the 

 knife to make room for the white men. The Indians are fond 

 of strong liquor, and when they can get it, frequently become 

 habitual drunkards. The squaws drink as much as the 

 " bucks." Among a tribe of drunken men and women, matri- 

 monial constancy is not to be expected ; nor is it found among 

 the Indian women in California. The infectious disease which 

 threatens to utterly destroy all barbarous and semi-barbarous 

 nations, has slain many of the red men in this state, as well as 

 in other parts of the continent. 



The Indians of California, with the exception of the Mojaves, 

 are supposed to belong to the general division of the Shosho- 

 nees, which includes also the Indians of Nevada Territory, and 

 a majority of those in Utah. They are physically and intel- 

 lectually inferior to their relatives in Nevada Territory, and 

 far inferior to the Indians who dwelt during the last century 

 east of the Mississippi River. The red men of this state hav>3 

 but a small share of the courage, military spirit, and intellect- 

 ual activity of the Shawnees, Miamis, Delawares, and the other 

 tribes who contended so stoutly for the possession of the valley 

 of the Ohio. The majority of the Californian Indians never 

 learned to use fire-arms, and never dared to meet the white 

 men in battle. A few in the northern part of the state have 

 obtained fire-arms, use them w^ell, and fight stubbornly, but 

 they are a small proportion. 



