The U.S. Government Pushes for Tribal Land Relinquishment
Federal legislators secure funding for moving California tribes and pushing the Nez Perce off their reservation in Washington Territory.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The U.S. Senate has passed an appropriation bill providing $50,000 to pay the cost of removing California Indians to two reservations. Upon motion of Mr. Nesmith, $10,000 was appropriated for the new treaty with the Nez Perce Indians in Oregon and Washington Territory for the relinquishment of a portion or all of their present reservation in exchange for other lands. Mr. Nesmith stated that there were at least 10,000 miners now on this reservation.
“Mr. Nesmith stated that there were at least 10,000 miners now on this reservation.”
This 1862 account highlights the immense pressure white settler-colonialism exerted on Indigenous lands to accommodate resource extraction—in this case, gold miners. The history of the Nez Perce and the systematic dispossession of Washington's Indigenous people remains a core, unresolved civic struggle in the region.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.