The Sutter Buttes massacre refers to the murder of a large group of Californian Indians on the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–S ...

near

Sutter Buttes The Sutter Buttes (Maidu: ''Histum Yani'' or ''Esto Yamani'', Wintun: ''Olonai-Tol'', Nisenan: ''Estom Yanim'') are a small circular complex of eroded volcanic lava domes which rise as buttes above the flat plains of the Sacramento Valley in Sut ...

in June 1846 by a militarized expeditionary band led by Captain John C. Frémont of Virginia. Estimates of the number of California Indians killed in the massacre range from several hundred to several thousand.

History

Background

The expansionist movement of the 1840s motivated many Americans to work to push America's borders out into land claimed by Spain, Mexico, Britain, and Native American tribes. "Manifest Destiny", a term coined by journalist John O'Sullivan, captured the idea that the young American nation was destined to rule all of the North American continent. Democratic Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri was a prominent leader of this movement, into which he enlisted his son-in-law, John C. Frémont. Benton obtained government funding for several expeditions led by Frémont to map and explore the western territory. In 1845, Captain Frémont was sent by the War Department on an expedition to survey the Great Basin and Alta California, a possession of Mexico. Upon arriving in California, Frémont and his men moved about the northern half of the state for several months, provoking the Mexican authorities and building up patriotic sentiment among Americans who had settled there. They briefly left the state in April 1846 under pressure from Mexican authorities, committing the

Sacramento River massacre The Sacramento River massacre refers to the killing of many Wintu people on the banks of the Sacramento River on 5 April 1846 by an expedition band led by Captain John C. Frémont of Virginia. Estimates range from 125 to 900. History Background T ...

on their way out of the state and the

Klamath Lake massacre The Klamath Lake massacre refers to the murder of at least fourteen Klamath people on the shores of Klamath Lake, now in Oregon in the United States, on 12 May 1846 by a band led by John C. Frémont and Kit Carson. History Background The expansioni ...

after leaving it. A message from the American government implying war with Mexico was imminent led Frémont and his men to return to California in late May.

Incident

On 30 May 1846, the band arrived at the Sutter Buttes and set up camp there, planning to take Sutter Fort and raise the American flag. While encamped, Frémont heard rumors that local Indians were preparing an attack on settlers. He took movements of Indian groups and the upcoming harvest as "signs" that the time for the attack was nearing, and stated in his memoirs that he chose to attack them preemptively. Frémont admits that his goal was to terrorize the Indians into submission and that he ordered his men to "leave no enemy behind." In the morning he and his armed men approached a ''rancheria'' near the location of modern-day Meridian, California. They attacked without warning and killed several Indians, though others escaped. Those killed were likely

Patwin The Patwin (also Patween, Southern Wintu) are a band of Wintun people native to the area of Northern California. The Patwin comprise the southern branch of the Wintun group, native inhabitants of California since approximately 500 AD. The Patwi ...

people of the

Wintun The Wintun are members of several related Native American peoples of Northern California, including the Wintu (northern), Nomlaki (central), and Patwin (southern).Pritzker, 152

Aftermath

In July 1846, Frémont moved on to Sutter Fort and raised the American flag. By August 1846 American military officers had fully occupied the northern half of the state, and by December all of modern California was under American control. John C. Frémont became Military Governor of California in January 1847, but was forced to give up the position less than two months later under disputed circumstances. In 1850 Frémont became California's first U.S. Senator. Frémont, who had become wealthy off of gold mining claims, wrote a bill limiting gold mining claims to White citizens of the United States. In 1856 Frémont was nominated as the Republican candidate for President, losing the race to James Buchanan. He later fought as a Union general during the Civil War. By the time Frémont had arrived in the Sacramento River Valley, wealthy landed settlers were beginning to depend on Indian labor in a sort of feudal system, with the Indians working both as free and as bonded labor. To some degree this saved the local Wintu from immediate annihilation, though the stealing of land, rape, and slave raids were common. By the 1850s, White American animosity at Indian possession of the land had built, and large-scale massacres involving hundreds of Wintu deaths commenced, including the

Kabyai Creek massacre Kabyai Creek massacre or Kaibai Creek massacre (August 17, 1854) was a massacre against Winnemem Wintu people. A party of white settlers attacked a Winnemem Wintu village at Kabyai Creek, on the McCloud River. 42 Winnemem Wintu men, women and ch ...

, the Old Shasta Town massacre and the Bridge Gulch massacre.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutter Buttes massacre 1846 in Alta California June 1846 events Massacres in 1846 Native American history of California Massacres of Native Americans History of Sutter County, California Sacramento Valley History of California Patwin Wintun History of racism in California California genocide Massacres committed by the United States

History

Background

Incident

See also

Footnotes

References