- Settlers attempted a genocide against Native Americans during the
California Gold Rush. - Violent attacks against Native Americans were often supported and funded by new state governments.
- Legislation also used to strip Native Americans of legal rights and protections.
For many, growing up on the US west coast can mean learning about Sutter's mill, the infamous 49ers and their hunt for gold. But that's only one part of the sta gold rush story.
Historians tell Insider the era touted for discovery and expansion is actually responsible for one of the bloodies periods in
Government propaganda spread lies about Native Americans, said Jayden Lim, a Trial youth ambassador.
"The post-gold rush era was the most dangerous time in our history to be a California Indian. Most people did not survive it," Lim said.
Greed for gold in California was pushed through violent articles, advertisements, and cartoons. Some depicted 49ers carrying pistols and rifles, even carrying knives while wielding mining tools.
About 300,000 heavily-armed settlers descended to California to hunt for gold. This set the stage for the "violence of genocide," said Benjamin Madley, an Associated Professor of Native American history at UCLA and author of "An American Genocide."
Large ranches recruited hundreds of Native men and sent them up to work in the mines. At that time it was common practice for Native people to be treated as disposable workers. Beyond this mistreatment, some white miners wanted to eliminate competition from Native Americans mining freely.
This elimination became an excuse for brutal slaughter. But, this Gold Rush genocide is rarely cited in history books.
"We've had a kind of institutionalized amnesia about the genocide of California Indians here in the state," Madley said.
Hundreds of Native American people were killed in what is known as the Bloody Island Massacre. Madley's research estimates roughly 9,000 to 16,000 people suffered violent deaths at the hands of militiamen, vigilantes, US army soldiers and more during the gold rush years.
"The men who committed these acts were not censured. They weren't court-martialed, they weren't kicked out of the army. In fact, all of the men who participated were eventually promoted. Several of them became generals, and one, later in life, became governor of the state of California."
In fact, Governor Peter Burnett, the first governor of California, declared a "war of extermination" on California Indians during his first speech to the citizens of California.
The state's newly established government then passed an act that authorized the organization of ranger militias.
These volunteer groups were sent on 24 killing campaigns in just 11 years, from 1850 to 1861.
No one was held accountable, Madley said.
"I think it's not an exaggeration to say that California legislators established and then funded a state sponsored killing machine with the aim of capturing or killing all California Indian people," Madley said.
How was this history whitewashed? Insider spoke with the California Indian Museum to find out.