48 RESOURCES OP CALIFORNIA. 



39. Indians. The Indians are a miserable race, destined 

 to speedj^ extinction. Twenty-five years ago they numbered 

 fifty thousand or more ; now there may be seven thousand of 

 them. They were driven from their hunting-grounds and 

 fishing places by the whites, and they stole cattle for food ; 

 and to punish and prevent their stealing, the whites made war 

 on them and slew them. Such has been the origin of most of 

 the Indian wars which have raged in various parts of the State 

 at intervals since 1849. 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 

 were dozens of tribes in the Sacramento basin ; but now most 

 of these tribes have been entirely destroyed. Disease and 

 brandy have cooperated with 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, matrimonial con- 

 stancy 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, and a major- 

 ity of those in Utah. They are physically and intellectually 

 inferior to their relatives in Nevada, and far inferior to the 

 Indians who dwelt during the last century east of the Missis- 

 sippi River. The red men of this State have but a small 



