Shaped by the expansion of the american democracy and the cotton economy. Indian nations like the cherokees were victimized by the United States government, the state of georgia as well as land hungry settlers, but the nations willingness to adapt and press all possible advantages illustrates how indians continued well beyond the colonial area to change to make colonialism work in their favor. With that in mind, i want to revisit california today. And consider the ways Californian Indian societies continued the practice after the mission era, and helped to build californias economy, attract settlers, and transform the territory into a economically vital american state during the gold rush. This transformation hinged on the work of indian people. As you remember, catholic missionaries where the vanguard of Spanish Colonial settlement in california. Franciscan missionaries envision the Northern Frontier in which indians would be converted into spanish subjects loyal to the crown and willing to defend spains claim to north america. In their approach, this meant economic conversion. As well as spiritual conversion. On one hand, doing the lords work meant getting the indians to do spanish work, farming, herting skilled trades, Domestic Service and so on. On the other hand, the lords work required money, which was scarce, but sometimes that money could be made in ways that aligned with the spiritual goals of the missions. The high end tallow trade was the backbone of californias economy before the gold rush, indian cowboys to the herd with was the most important work force in the era. The Richard Henry dana was an american sailor aboard the boston based ship the pilgrim. He observed that Mission Santa clara and san jose did in his words, a greater business in hides than any in california. And capable of caring 1000 hides apiece are sent down to the vessel to bring away goods in return. He spent much of his two years in california. From 183436, curing those hides and helping them aboard the ship. He had a healthy appreciation for the Economic Significance of indian labor at the mission. Thousands of pound of hides. Dana in this portrait bears more than a passing resemblance to 1980s heavy metal legend glenn danzig separated at birth . He was one of many contenders for california hides. The Hudson Bay Company began trading out of the San Francisco bay, all produced by indians. These commodities were exchanged for british and american manufactured goods. Especially calico cloth, as you remember from our discussion of the french colonies, it was some major trade item. The Russian American Company established a fort, fort ross on the northern coast in 1812 to produce wheat. To ship to its main fur trade outpost. They failed to produce enough and then the Russian American Company became a buyer of California Mission wheat as well. The pilgrim, the ship, was a company ship. A bryant and state of emergen emergency spur jess ship. The hide trade was the most important official Economic Activity in california, but unofficially the trade in stolen cattle, horses and mules became another source of trade, livestock. Beginning in 1830, new mexico trading parties began to visit california to purchase mules. Part of what was then called the santa fe trail. Historians associate the santa fe trail with the connection between missouri, santa fe, new mexico, but the trail extended on to a lesser extent into california, ending in los angeles. They carry trade goods and ranged throughout the interior of california looking for the best and least expensive livestock. Much on tailbacked through trade with the indians. In 1831, a new mexican Trading Party arrived adMission San Gabriel with wool and blankets. An american for trapper reported that the parties returned to santa fe later that year with many mules in very fine form. To cost of those mules, quote, brought in barter for blankets and caused a sensation in mexico. Mules purchased with blank ends were then resold in santa fe at trade fairs between 6 and 10 a piece. You can see turning blankets into cash would have been immensely valuable. The following year, 1832, santa fe traders returned to california and came back to santa fe with 600 mules and 100 horses, so that was an opportunity too good to pass up. Some animals were purchased through legitimate trade, meaning purchased from the actual owners of the animals. But much of the stock that theen traders bought out of indians was stolen. In february 1833, one priest reported that new mexican traders had made off with 108 mules stolen by indians from mission san miguel. A priest at san gabriel complained that the introduction of articles and commerce into this territory by natives of new mexico has caused extensive robberies, both open and concealed. They sell, they trade, they induce indians to steal to sell. When they required new mexican traders to submit to inspections, before leaving california, the traders tried to elude the authorities. When caught, the extent of their theft was outstanding. In one raid, authorities confiscated 200 stolen animals. In another raid, 430 stolen an molls next month, so pretty big herds of hot livestock. In northern california, the situation was no better. The trade was so lucrative that the british fur trade company Hudson Bay Company bought into the action with independent american fur trappers. So even corporations were involved in purchasing livestock they knew the stock was stolen. In april 18 33, the governor california complained the british and americans on the columbia river, referring to the Hudson Bay Company, makes frequent incursions into the country on the pretext of trapping beaver and other quadrupeds. You have to love to language of the 19th century. Scattering over various regions, they identify themselves with the wild natives, following the same life, live in a wandering fashion and become familiar and gain their confidence. From that has come roapidly one positive evil, namely the influence the net natives have dedicated themselves to the stealing of horses. The natives in question were indian people from the San Joaquin Valley of california, speakers of a language called yokuts, much like the chumashan, that you remember earlier in the semester. Politically independent, but culturally related groups, and each group saw themselves as separate and distinct, but had a common languages. Always plains speakers from independent villages but speaking the same language. These were a mix of wild indians, and indians who had received baptism in the missions. So missionized indians, who never had the benefit of baptism in the missions. Drawing on stock handling skills they had learned in the mission, wrestlers could make off with large herds of Mission Stock and find shelter in Indian Villages in the interior. This is an image of Mission San Gabriel by los angeles. It is washed out because of the lighting, but you could notice there are some indian men here in the photo in the painting, rather, that are dressed pretty elegantly, especially by contrast with the women in the image who are dressed in sort of like spanish peasant garb. Theyre dressed really, really nicely. That kind of shows you the value missionaries placed on the work these cowboys did. They were allowed to ride horses, which was generally forbidden to indians, and they dressed pretty nice. They were not dressed in the garb of peasants, which is what the priests always hoped the indian converts could be. A common technique used in Livestock Theft was for raiders or thieves to approach the mission in the middle of the night and open the gates of the horse corral. They have a good sense of the lay of the land. They would wait patiently, sometimes for hours for the horses to wander out of the corral slowly of their own will. Once the herd had left the corral and hopefully ideally wanders a good half mile or so away, the wrestlers would drive the animals at full gallop until dawn, then find a secluded spot to hide out and rest the horses. Once night fell again, continue to drive to the destination. However long it took. When horses that tried to break from the herd, the wrestlers brought them back in line using a native technique. They would fire their arrows, but tied to sticks around the arrowhead so when they fired it would just stick them a little bit, enough to hurt, but not do any damage. To this valuable livestock. One observer of the technique noted, quote, the horse immediately takes his place again in the band, and its seldom the indians are required to punish one unruly horse twice for that offense. This is bad if you have from the perspective of the missionaries, but wrestling often went handinhand with running away. In june 1819, a priest reported that one village in Central California harbored 60 stolen horses from Mission San Juan batista as well as quote numerous christian fugitives, friends and neighbors. This is a map that shows the locations of the missions. You have san gabriel down by los angeles. San Juan Baptista is further up in northern california. The priests asked the governor of california for 12 soldiers to send to the field to attack the village and retrieve both the horses and fugitives that had run away from the mission. The governor granted his request. Livestock theft was a serious enough problem. The priest reported back months later that the expedition had succeeded in rescuing 49 of the 60 horse, but, in the priest words, not a soul was brought back to the mission. When one considers the skill and courage of the horse thieves, its not surprising the missioners met with such limited success. I love this image. This is an image that was taken recorded in 1856 by some surveyors that were involved in survey for the railroad track. It would ultimately become the transcontinental railroad. This one entitled plane between the san joaquin and kings rivers, the interior of california. In 1856, one of the most notable things about the plain between the plain and the river was the presence of these stock russellers. One of reasons i love this image so much is that it happens after the gold rush. So after california becomes a state, after gold mining becomes its major reason for existence, indian stock rasling is still at large part of the Central Valley economy, the trade persists. The other thing i like is that in california there is a stereotype that Californian Indians were very docile, easily defeated, very peaceful and noncno noncombative. California indians dont have the same kind of public image as say, a lakota warrior on horse back, so theyre not as, bad ass in the popular imagination as the plains indians. I love this image because that guy is pretty fierce. He has some feathers going on. He looks like he could do some damage to your horse herd or to you if you try to get in his way. So i like that even, you know, well into the gold rush years, people still acknowledges that these mounted livestock rassellers were bad. The gold rush era these mounted livestock wrestlers in the Central Valley were kind of bad, bad, bad. Stock wrestling also offered indians opportunities to thrive in the interior. An english visitor estimated to see 3,000 wild horses in two days of travel in 1840. A minor on the eve of the gold rush claim that in the Central Valley, the Central Valley contained a larger portion of wild horses than any other part of the world to the same extent. On the san joaquin river, bands from 200 to 2,000. So eenormous herds. These herds in addition to providing a lucrative source of trade also provided a basis of subsistence for the indians living on the interior. They were an abundant food source. Probably not trading those wild horses, but you can rely on them by eating them. One newspaper reported in 1847 that from the north to the source of the San Juan River in the south that indians had become in their words so habituated to living on horse flesh, that it is the principal means of subsistence. Acorns and salmon fishing have been the mainstay of the diet and now be the 1840s, we see in the San Joaquin Valley and interior part of california that horsemeat becomes a new staple. Livestock raiding went hand in hand with the fur trade. The many complaints made by california authorities about the Hudson Bay Company indicates the english fur trade company and the russian fur trade company engaged in fur trade within california and other countries. It is not surprising that California Missionaries put Mission Indians to work at this lucrative pursuit as well. I have river map to give you a sense of the extent of the Central Valley. This is the headwaters of the san joaquin river, the southernmost extent of the horse eating. Then the other river is here. This is the northernmost extent. Of the horse eating. The green central part of california is the great Central Valley of california where this livestock trading, horse eating, and ultimately fur trading is going to be taking place. The Sacramento San Joaquin Delta region was the finest trapping ground in california. Californias beaver population has not quite recovered from this era, but the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta is sort of this triangle of land right there. Kind of bracketed in by the san joaquin and Sacramento Rivers. It abounded with beaver at the time and a type of river otter, back then known at land otter to distinguish it from sea otters, which were, sadly, like the primary aim of the russian american, Hudson Bay Fur trade. Do you guys know about sea otters . It has like 1 million hairs per square inch. California sea otters are amazing. They have one million hairs per square inch, so you can imagine what kind of ferc could we get that could sell for a lot of money, the for of an animal that has one million hairs per square inch will be worth a lot, right . Going after beaver and land otter is not the hot how Economic Activity of sea otters. But as the population plummeted, these big for trading firms began to turn their attention to the not quite has awesome critters, the california beaver not great as the sea otters. The people of the san Joaquin Sacramento delta ironically had no native technologies for fur trapping. You might have garnered from my m many comments about california over the semester, california has got really nice weather. In the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta region, youre talking about a change in temperature from winter to summer of like 40 degrees maybe. Its freezing and in the 50s in the winter, but boiling hot in the summer. But in that narrow window, you dont have to need for a lot of clothes. So california indians in all seasons, largely went pretty naked, because you didnt have to bundle up. So theres no need to hunt beaver, no need to worry about catching a animal that has tons of hairs per square inch because the winter is awesome in california. Even in Southern California where it gets into the 50s. Youre talking 60s minimum in the wintertimement so they have no native tech new orleans for dealing with fur bearing animals. Sometimes they hunted beaver for food. Evidently beaver tail is a delicacy mainly in canada, but nothing for dressing furs, to when they trapped which they certainly began doing by the 1820s under authority of the spannic missions they did so to obtain trade goods. Its their only reason for trapping. They wouldnt have done it otherwise. The spanish missionaries didnt appreciate the efforts to induce indians to steal livestock, but they were not above paying trade goods themselves to get indians to trap for them. So like, oh, these new mexican traders theyre ripping us off, scamming them by paying them in beads and. But its indians. Heres some cloth and beads. You want to go out and trap . So theyre not really walking the walk. The Hudson Bay Company as well got into this action. They sent yearlying brigades into california. The chief brigade leader reported to his boss in 1828, quote, beaver has become an article of trapping on the both at the mission of st. Joseph, meaning san jose. 1,500 beaver pelts for captured and sold. So much like livestock, we are going pay the indian the trinkets and we are going bring us back something we trade for cash, which in the roe note area would have been a boon to any trader. He affirms that the source for the skins was explaining our people, while trapping at the rivers met several indians attached to the missions employed hunting beaver. They barter for red and white beads and wearing apparel. By 1837, a british sea captain sailed his ship up the river and noted the beaver trade by the indians had been so successful with a little bit of help from drought, which happens regularly in california to lead the Sacramento River and all of its tributaries devoid of water. All the decent beaver and otter had been trapped out. This captain encountered indians on the sacramento below the American River with passes literally the mission woet them passes saying they have our permission to be out here trapping. And they had given them passes to leave san jose to go and trade for furs with socalled wild indians. So think about from the spanish missionarys perspective, please go back and be with the wild indians. Thats how valuable traps was. These wild indians are their fellow tribes people. This is their crew. And so when Mission Indians sort of left with these passes, they went home to engage in this trade. Thought the 1810s, 20s and 30s. Tribes were incredibly good at their work and protective of their trapping ground. One american trapper you guys might recognize this name, because its in the lore about American Mountain men, jed die ya smith. Not jeb die ya springfield, founder of springfield in the simpsons. He was struck by the hostile greeting he and his party received in 1828. This suggests to me these indian people immediately identified smith and his party as a threat. Smith himself interpreted the reluctance to meet him or accept his gifts as fear of strangers. Like, they didnt understand the white men to hurt them. But the indians were not so timid on the other river that they were willing to sit way and let smiths party trap their river without a fightment outright violence broke out between the indians along the river and smiths party as soon as they tried to set their traps. The next day they realized all their traps had been taken by the indians. They reported, quote, a good many had been taken by the indians who showed themselves on the opposite side of river, like, you know, what are you going to do about it . So what could have been for the indian people along the river an unfortunate episode of poaching like, this is our river. You cant poach our stuff. Actually turned into a pretty good opportunity. They stole the traps and all of the beaver that might have been in them and frightened off their competition. Thats just good business. Got a little mob kind of way, but good business. Threats to scare off competition. And of course, making off with expensive metal trap, which, as we know, the native people of north america did not work steel themselves to making off with the traps would have been a huge advantage. The following year, alexandria mccloud noted that along the river, indians stole traps and horses from his party. So again, traps, but also horses. Theyre like, we can get him on both ends. Steal their traps and horses. He reported deserters tried to stick around in the Central Valley and do more trapping and ended up getting killed by indians. The indians were like, you will not poach in our territory. These are not timid people who dont understand that motives. These guys were apparently the guys to be afraid of. The mcequalmy river. He noted the indians seem to steal the traps simply because of principal in them. Theyre steeling the beaver because the beaver are valuable. Go figure. So this reflects the economic importance of indian trapping, which is especially notable given that neither of the indians entered into the mission until 1864. So all this is happening before they have any formal i filiation with the missions, right . So they dont even need to be directed by the missionaries to do these things. As soon as they imagine there is an Economic Opportunity to be had, theyre seizing it and performing it independently. So they were probably among the wild indians that missions were set out to trade with. When white settlers began arriving they became yet another market for indian furs. Probably the most famous 19th century californian, john sutter, i have to have mentioned john sutter before . Okay. He was the propry ter of a colony known for fur beaver and beaver skins. I have a wonderful portrait of him here. We need to bring back the what is that called . The ascot. Its a good look. He put himself in direct competition with the Hudson Bay Company, with san jose and a growing number of other settlers as a buyer of indian furs. By the fall of 1821. Only two years after he found his colony, cutter claimed, and hes kind of a notorious liar, so im going to say claimed selling 3,000 beaver pelts a year. Even if its half of that, his trapping crew was like some 20 guys. The trapping season is the fall and early winter. Imagine 20 guys doing that kind of damage over a pretty limited number op months in the year. He was doing a pretty brisk business. Indian trappers incorporated sutter into their own marketplace. They were like, oh, hey, he got another buyer. Heres one more guy we could potentially sell these things to. Sutter became one buyer among many potential buyers and shopped their furs around to find the best prices on the most desirable trade goods. So cloth and beads, which functioned as cash in the california indian economy. Once village which was situated on the delta became the head quarter of the fur trade. Which took fur from trappers and marketed them to whoever could provide the best return an in trade goods. These guys are like, yeah, we work for you. Well take your pay and sell them to somebody else whos going pay us better. Sutters colony, new helvetia is a case study of how indians did best with colonies. Fur trappers were just one part of the work force. They worked there at all kind of tasks ranges from fur trapping and livestock tending to weaving cloth, harvesting wheat. You name it and an indian was doing it. The building here were built of a particular type of brick called adobe. Pretty common throughout mexico and the southwest. All built by indians. So the entire place was a monument to the willingness of indians to engage in this Economic Activity. I dont want to overstate my case. There were some indians affiliated with this colony just as the Mission System who were less willing who many observers described as being enslaved. Were they actual property or worked as if they were slaves its unclear. But certainly not all indians affiliated with the colonial california economy were doing this completely voluntarily. But what strikes me is how many were. Especially among cowboys and trappers, this was prestige work, and it tended to be something that required a lot of coercion to get indian men to participate in. The most important trade goods in trading with indians were the same at every else in california. Cloth, beads, especially woollen manta cloth and cotton calico. But also, knives, axes, fish hooks, blankets, needles, thread, flour. Again, we talked about the idea of commodities having elastic demand and others having inelastic demand. Theres a limited number of axes youre going need, but everybody wants more clothes. And in the case of california indians youre going to want more beads because youre always going want more cash. These are always the prices the indians demanded for their participation in this economy. While these goods seemed like, because theyre metal or manufactured cloth or in the case of the beads, glass instead of seashell or bone, they seemed like an invasion, but indians used them in a way that was culture little relevant or familiar. Take example of manufactured cloth. Indians took it in payment and took it on credit from sutter. Meaning ill take it now but do the work next tuesday. The cloth represented for california indians many hours of labor saved for the indian crafts people who would have otherwise had to prepared it by hand. Spinning the fibers into thread and weaving that into finished fabric. When you think about that, it makes sense why not too many people wore clothes. You would take that opportunity. Other clothing was produced by weaving feathers into cloaks. Stop of which were pretty spectacular. The People Living closest to new helvetia like most hunter gathers societies in the world rely pretty heavily on vegetable resources. Women were the primary gathers, so bore to sustain for the communities. Think about the convenience that would have been presented by not having to weave your own fabrics. Manufactured cloth is an important tame survivor. Its a convenience product that would have had an Immediate Impact on one persons schedule. Wild duck feathers were an important source of clothing and blankets. One visitor William Dane Phelps observed the Women Weaving a wild duck feter blanket and described it this way. The labor is immense. Captain sutter presented me with one which he presumed occupied six females four months in the makes. So if you could get a machine made bolt of cloth, youre savisav saving a lot of time. Im going say wool in this case. But whatever it may be youre saving yourself a tremendous amount of time. Think of the time freed up for other activity. Or sleeping or doing anything. Lord. The men also participated in cloth manufacturing, weaving feathers and rabbit skins into cloaks and blankets which clothed villagers of both seconds in ceremonies and cold weather. Manufactured cloth allowed men to experience prestige. Enjoyed women to enjoy enhanced status and prestige that comes with the economic responsibility of clothing your family members while reapirming this is what makes me a man or a woman, right . Gender division of labor is very important in Californian Indian societies as it is anywhere else in the worldle the idea youre fulfilling your duty as a man or woman was tied into these activities so you can see not only is there a real economic benefit to it, theres also a reaffirmation of your culture inherent in it. Of course it makes you more economically important in your community. Imagine being the guy who got paidly bead. They operate as cash in transactions between different california indian societies and its necessary to have a few beads. By a few, i mean a lot of beads in order to pay the bride price for marriage. Youre familiar with ideas of dowrey and bride price, the idea that youre taking your future wife out of her parents household and theres less work happening in her household, so you have to not pay for mer, but reimburse her parents. We have talked about this. The idea of having kids for free labor. Mine have to be threatened. But in theory. You have to have beads on hand. Because in theory, if im losing my daughters Economic Activity, im going a to want something really good for it. The best thing you want is cash. Everybody wants to get paid in cash. Central valley indian people Californian Indian people in general favored a certain type of bead made from clam shell that could only be obtained on the Northern Valley coast near San Francisco. They became the fundamental form of economy. Then in the mission air are and expanding into the gold rush era, they introduced manufactured glass beads to europe. You go from one color, its white, made from a clam shell, then all of a sudden, every white learn you come across is like, i have beads. Ill pay you in beads. Which costs nothing to the white folks bringing the beads into the transaction. For indians, it would be like ill pay you in bag of 100 bills. Its like money falling from heaven, right . They were introduced in california by the Hudson Bay Company, who conducted trades off ships in hudson bay. These beads become ubiquitous in california Indian Companies especially in the delta region. Long before they ever did any business with john sutter or new helvetia. So long before they lived beside white people, they were reaching out and looking for opportunities to get paid in these beads. Red be white beads were the colors most often traded. Red functioned at currency and white was for ceremony. The ability to earn beads through work, at a place like new helvetia would have been a tremendous economic asset. Imagine if you had to get a clam shell and turn it into bead. Those beads are laden with value that reflects the effort that went into making them. Here you have these jerks that show up and theyre like, bead, bead, bead for everyone. Fools ill take them. So they could start demanding, well only take the white ones because whites didnt know about the value. Indians were like, we are giving away something we dont need in exchange for money from heaven. Right . Access to a new source of cash in the form of beads would make anybody a rock star in their own communitiful so it elevates the status of indian men to have marriage partners that would allow them access to have these beads. Not just in value for the beads in hand, which is awesome enough, but for the potential future beads their economic connections would provide. I have beads now, but i could have beads in the future. Youre going to be a good provider, egood soninlaw, youre going to be a rock star. So they symbolize a wealth but a mans connection to opportunity linked to market sources way beyond california. This is especially critical for indian communities from the 1830s forward because in 1833, a malaria epidemic swept through california. You have this idea of california being very dry, but prior to the damming of rivers of california and the introduction of livestock, california had a problem of being too wet. Because the ground water, the water table was so high that in a low lying area like the Central Valley, the ground water was so close to the surface that any rain could turn the whole area into a swamp. So malaria was endemic. It became a place people couldnt live without being endangered by malaria. It sweeps through the valley in 1833. By some estimates, kills 75 of the indian population. Imagine you live in a society in which now there are just 75 fewer marriage partners. How have harder are you going to have to compete, right, for a limited pool of marriage partners . When white settlers bebegan moving into the Central Valley in large number in the is 1840s, indians have a larger burden because white settlers are attractive marriage partners. Affluent men are always going top the advantage in part based on his ability to provide. These settlers, the source of beads, are way preferable to the indian who can earn the beads. Women find settler men to be very attractive marriage partners. I also have a theory, and this is not born out of anthropology. But california indian societies when you get married you go live with the fathers society. So youre a woman like, i get to go live with my mother for the end of time. But here are all these men who dont have mothers. I also told you i live with my motherinlaw. Love you laura. So marriage is important in the scheme of things but you also dont want to be saddled we the never do well. The women are doing most of the economic work in any given indian community, so women can really call the shots here. Indian women can have their pick, whether it be white settlers or american men. Affluent powerful men have the advantage in this marriage market and its especially evident in places like new helvetia where settler men took indian wives. In addition to the challenges of the stealing of the wives the malaria epidemic and the destruction of veneria will dollars heightened the search if the devastating collapse. Add to that, the practice of polygeny, where wealthy indian men take multiple wives. People will be at each others throats. The need to level the Playing Field becomes more important than ever. Trade becomes important in is your Community Going survive. Census takers figured this out. In 1846 the census showed indians closely associated with the new helvetia colony had, quote, an abundance of women. Meaning women chose to marry into communities that are well off and had better access to Economic Opportunity. The continuing survival of the indian communities beyond the mission era was call no large part to the relationship with skilled workers. Possibility the best example of this is the Indian Village of walakamno on the Sacramento River. Mission bay closed its doors in 1836, so theyre there for a minute. The village became continually an habited. Mission san jose wasnt around long enough to bring everybody into its orbit. Not all the indians were brought into the mission. There were enough left behind to function as a community. Unlike other cases where the community would break up. Ten people would be left and thats not enough for a triable counsel right . But this stayed a community throughout the mission era. When Mission San Jose shut its doors in 1836 and the people filters back into california, they found their village there. This is a big deal. Their chief, he didnt even take on a spanish name. You will remember from reading your article, all these guys, these indian people who are baptized were given spanish names. Fact that the historical record shows hes still going by his indian name shows youed the a functioningky during the era. So either he didnt go to the mission or christianity left no impression an on this man whatsoever. Either way, hes Still Holding down the fort. This indicates a couple of things about its history i think is important. They dont engage with the political economy out of desperation. This is still a place that still has a chief. Right . Theyre not being forced into the economic situation. Their village, political structure are still intact when new helvetia is established. When they go to work, they do so as free agents. They position themselves not at employees, as servants to sutter. Not as lackeys, but as economic partners. John sutter acknowledged this. They reorganized their village towards producing pickled salmon of all things for export to hawaii, mainly. I have a great picture of indian salmon fishing here. This is on the Sacramento River in 1854. You can see indians here in and they have a large net stretched across the river to catch salmon that would be spawning upstream. Not so much anymore because of damming of the rivers and agriculture, but back in the day, california used to have an abundance of salmon. Sometimes you hear records of people who have visited the Pacific Northwest who talked about, you could walk across the river on the backs of salmon. Thats how the Sacramento River would have been. So you can imagine what theyre netting. Using the native manufactured nets and fishing lures, talked about splitting the fibers from the bark. With a little bit of instruction from sutter, who was no expert in pickling salmon, but mostly from their trial and error, they mastered the techniques of preserving salmon in barrels for export. One visitor observed the following. Quote, the sacramento and its branches yield salmon of the best type. They erect barricades and kill the fish as they come up with pointed rocks or spears. They can also be caught by hooks or nets across the river. It is salted and exported to the islands by the river company. Ships also come out from new york expressly to load on salmon anybody here been to hawaii . Theres a famous hawaiian dish. Its like a noted hawaiian delicacy. Salmon is not native to hawaii. So youre like how on earth did the hawaiians come up with salmon as one of their dishes . Its because of this trade. Evidently its like a salmon sal add thats mixed with ice. I never tried it when i was at hawaii the one time. This becomes the villages principle Economic Activity. So much so that the entire village picks up and relocates to be closer to the barrels and salt that was necessary for preserving their catch. The it was a whole process. You have to drain off the water that came out of the salmon. You had to drain off the salmon water. It was a whole process. After that was done, they would load the barrels on to the boats. Boats, which were manned by crews of indian sailors would ferry the goods to San Francisco or san jose for export. This commerce was so important and the economic position so strong that sutter introduced a small port there. All of new helvetias exports, whatever it may be, fur, hides, fallows, wheat, came and went through the village. They persisted in a way that other villages didnt necessarily persist, alby eit ia different location. Right on through the gold rush into the early years of the gold rush as in the a department but as an economic partner of new helvetia. Speaking of the gold rush. Your main exposure up to this point has been its important over the sectional crisis of slavery. But the gold rush in terms of californias own history is a major turning point. We go from a back water colonialky that depended on things like fur trapping to an incredibly populous wealthy state in which literally money is coming out of the ground. So a lot of historians have suggested this is the end of when indians are economically important to california. Indians go from being a vital part of californiasky to a nuisance to being exterminated. One of my colleagues published a book called american genocide, that begins really in full effect during the gold rush and persists to almost the end of the 19th century. The gold rush is usually seen as the biggest turning point, the beginning of the end for california indians. But historians are beginning to realize that the gold rush, at least initially, doesnt change Indian Economic participation. Indians jumped right into the gold mining by the tens of thousands in the first year of gol rush. Gold is discovered in january of 1848. It was announced to the United States in 1848. The gold rush begins in the spring of 1849. Tens of thousands of indians are in the mother lode panning out gold, panning out millions of dollars of gold. Sutter, at new holvetia found this tb a huge problem. We recalled, kwoerkt the indians could not be keeped to longer at work. They was impatient to run to the mines and other indians informed them of its value. I had to leave hard ves in the fields. Your beads are not going do it no more. They quickly learned the value of gold just as they had quickly learned the value of anything else that was a commodity being exchange in the california. Livestock, furs, salmon. Whatever settlers wanted, indians were quick to acertain the economy in that commodity. They took advantage of it by fleeing new helvetia, fleeing and going to the mines. The first gold rush was truly an indian gold rush. A lesdser known story of the California Gold rush. We imagine the grizzled american miner. The initial miners other than indians were native hawaiians who there was a brisk trade in salmon between california and hawaii. Native hawaiians on these ships would abandon the ships and head straight for the gold fields and mexican miners. They were the first to hear word of the California Gold rush, and chillean miners who happened abandon ship at the port of San Francisco and go to the gold fields. California indians were at the vanguard of this. The initial year or so of the gold rush was a highly international and not a very american event, oddly enough. Although we imagine the gold rush as as soon as we take over t california, the americans are there. One significant story has concluded the following. Quote, surprising to this revolution made californias industrial and Economic Development possible