DWP archaeologists uncover grim chapter in Owens Valley history (LA Times)

[petronius]

LONE PINE, Calif. — Oral histories of Native Americans and U.S. Cavalry records offer insights into a horrific massacre here in 1863: Thirty-five Paiute Indians were chased into Owens Lake by settlers and soldiers to drown or be gunned down.

But the records are silent on one important point. Exactly where did the massacre occur on the moonlit night of March 19, 1863?

An archaeological find in what is today a vast alkali playa has revealed a cache of bullets, musket balls, cavalry uniform buttons and Native American artifacts that Paiute tribal members and researchers believe are evidence of the grim chapter in Owens Valley history.

--- Snip ---

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-massacre-site-20130603,7025848,4697920.story?page=1

I knew there had been violence in the Owens Valley in the 19th Century, but this was news to me...

[SunSeeker]

1. Thanks for the post. nt

[DreamGypsy]

2. I have been to Lone Pine at least three times...

...once passing through in 1978 on the way to Whitney Portal to hike the John Muir trail with a friend, twice as tourist in 1985 and 1987 to run the Wild, Wild West marathon. The location is spectacular but incredibly rugged. Life there must have been very difficult, both for the Native American peoples and for later emigrants and settlers. I didn't know about the conflicts in the Owens Valley, a sad reflection on man's indifference to the suffering of fellow men.

From The Owens Valley Indian War, 1861-1865

The winter of 1861-62 was one of the most severe in the history of the Owens Valley. The plight of the Paiutes was exceedingly bad. The bad weather had driven away almost all of the game and had killed what little game remained. Cattle were now beginning to forage on the Indian's fields of wild hyacinth and yellow nutgrass. It seemed only natural to the Paiutes that the cattle could be killed for their own use, since the cattle were feeding on their fields. A cowboy named Al Thompson caught an Indian butchering a steer and shot and killed him. The tribe, indignant at this outrage, struck back. They captured and killed a man named Yank Crossen, who was traveling from Aurora, Nevada to Southern California, and had stayed a few days with Allen Van Fleet.

<snip>

On March 20, 1862 the settlers in the Owens Valley decided to raid an Indian camp in the Ambama Hills, just north of Owens Lake. The attack was a success because the Paiutes had.few firearms. Eleven Indians were killed and a ton of dried meat was destroyed. Only three of the settlers were wounded.

<snip>

On March 19th, a citizen brought information that thirty to forty Indians were killing livestock eleven miles south of Camp Independence in the Alabama Hills. The Indians were dislodged and chased in a running battle down into Owens Lake Thirty five Indians died. in the battle and the Army had only one man wounded.

<snip>

The Owens Valley Indian War lasted a little longer than two years. It originally started, because of the white man s disregard for the property and rights of the Indians. It is estimated that about sixty white men and about two hundred Indians died during the conflict. The tactics employed by the Indians were mainly hit and run and harassment. The Indians seldom fought in large groups and when they did the results were usually not favorable. Improper maintenance of firearms and the destruction of food for the winter season were key factors that brought the conflict to a speedy conclusion.

History according to the conqueror, and the rest ... erased.

Thanks for the post, Petronius.

[petronius]

3. Thanks for finding that link, it provides a lot of background

The OV really is a beautiful place, and well-watered places on the valley floor can be wonderful. I mainly go into the Sierra from the west side now, but I do love that eastern scarp. I've never been there in the winter, however, except for zipping through on the highway.

This is totally off-topic, but one of my favorite poets wrote about the peaceful past of the Sierra. History like this makes that a bit ironic...

Ascent To The Sierras

Beyond the great valley an odd instinctive rising
Begins to possess the ground, the flatness gathers
to little humps and
barrows, low aimless ridges,
A sudden violence of rock crowns them. The crowded
orchards end, they
have come to a stone knife;
The farms are finished; the sudden foot of the
slerra. Hill over hill,
snow-ridge beyond mountain gather
The blue air of their height about them.

Here at the foot of the pass
The fierce clans of the mountain you'd think for
thousands of years,
Men with harsh mouths and eyes like the eagles' hunger,
Have gathered among these rocks at the dead hour
Of the morning star and the stars waning
To raid the plain and at moonrise returning driven
Their scared booty to the highlands, the tossing horns
And glazed eyes in the light of torches. The men have
looked back
Standing above these rock-heads to bark laughter
At the burning granaries and the farms and the town
That sow the dark flat land with terrible rubies...
lighting the dead...
It is not true: from this land
The curse was lifted; the highlands have kept peace
with the valleys; no
blood in the sod; there is no old sword
Keeping grim rust, no primal sorrow. The people are
all one people, their
homes never knew harrying;
The tribes before them were acorn-eaters, harmless
as deer. Oh, fortunate
earth; you must find someone
To make you bitter music; how else will you take bonds
of the future,
against the wolf in men's hearts?

-- Robinson Jeffers

[antiquie]

4. Excellent thread.

Thank you Petronius for the OP and the poetry.