Chronology of American Indian History

P

payment appropriated to remove each Cherokee.
The payments are used to purchase the mountain
land that will later become the reservation of the
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

January 24

Gold is discovered on Nisenan land.
James Marshall, an associate of Swiss settler John
A. Sutter, accidentally discovers gold while a saw-
mill is being constructed near a ranch and trading
center known as Sutter’s Fort. Sutter’s estate, which
was built by local Indian labor, is located near the
village of Culloma in the lands of the Nisenan In-
dians. To gain exclusive mineral rights to the area,

“The majority of tribes are kept

in constant fear on account of

the indiscriminate and inhuman

massacre of their people for

real or supposed injuries.... I

have seldom heard of a single

difficulty between the whites

and the Indians in which the

original cause could not read-

ily be traced to some rash or

reckless act of the former. In

some instances it has happened

that innocent Indians have

been shot down for imaginary

offenses which did not in fact

exist.”

—Indian agent Adam Johnston on

miners’ treatment of Indians

during the California Gold Rush

Sutter negotiates an agreement with the Nisenan in
which they consent to lease to Sutter for three years
the land he occupies in exchange for food and some
manufactured items. Sutter forwards the agreement

to the military governor of California, who refuses

to approve it, maintaining that Indians have no

rights to their lands and therefore cannot enter into

lease agreements.

Sutter also fails in his efforts to keep his dis-

covery secret. Word of his gold find spreads quickly,

first in the West and then throughout the East,

sparking the California Gold Rush. Initially, Cali-

fornia Indians will be little affected by the influx

of miners, some of whom will employ Indian men

as prospectors. But as the trickle of whites seeking

riches grows into a flood, many California tribes

will lose their land and even face extinction.

February 2

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the

U.S.-MexicanWar.

The U.S.-Mexican War concludes with the sign-

ing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In the

document, Mexico agrees to cede to the United

States about half of its territory, including lands

in present-day California, Nevada, Utah, Colo-

rado, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

Without their consent, millions of Indians in the

ceded region are brought under the control of the

U.S. government. The treaty also includes a prom-

ise by the United States to punish any Indians who

cross the international boundary to raid Mexican

settlements. This provision will lead to extended

conflicts between U.S. troops and the Apache and

Navajo.

1849

March 3

The Bureau of Indian Affairs becomes part

of the Department of the Interior.

Signaling a new emphasis in federal Indian policy,

Congress moves the Bureau of Indian Affairs from

the Department of War to the new Department

of the Interior. In the 1850s, the number of In-

dians in the United States will double with the