Timeline of Genocide Incidents in the Owens Valley Region
CONTENT WARNING: Many of the primary sources linked on this timeline contain racist language or sentiment and graphic accounts of settler-colonial violence against indigenous people.
| Appx.* | Date | Number killed
|
Location | Source | Source files |
| II | During or after the spring of 1849 | 2 | West bank of “the Río Colorado” | Duval in Dillon, Texas Argonauts, 108, 109, 111 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0102a.jpg |
| III | October 8, 1850 | 6 | East of the Sierra Nevadas near Lake Tahoe? Two days travel west of Mormon Station, Carson Valley, Nevada? | Langworthy, October 10, 1850 journal entry in Langworthy, Scenery of the Plains, 155. | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0698a.jpg |
| II | Before February 24, 1852 | 3 | Onion Valley | February 24, 1852 letter in SDU, March 2, 1852, 2 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0189a.jpg |
| I | ~April 1, 1854 | 3 | “Owen’s Lake” | [Los Angeles] Star, July 1, 1854 in Hayes, Hayes Scrapbooks, vol. 39 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0045a.jpg |
| III | Before June 8, 1860 | ~40 (including women and children) | “Resting Springs, on the old road, some seventy miles [west of Las] Vegas” | Indian informant to Fuller in Deseret News, June 13, 1860, 5. NOTE: This number may include the five dead listed as killed between April 17 and May 12, 1860. | |
| II | Fall of 1861 | 1 | Owens Valley | Daily Evening Post, November 22, 1879, 2 | |
| II | January, 1862 | 1 | Owens Valley | SDU, May 19, 1862, 1; Daily Evening Post, November 22, 1879, 2 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0500.pdf |
| III | After January 31, 1862 | 10 | Near Benton/Hot Springs, Owens Valley Region | Inyo Register, February 18, 1904, 1 | |
| III | After January 31, 1862 | 15 – 30 | Mono Lake | Wright in Daily Evening Post, November 22, 1879, 2; Chico Weekly Courant, December 18, 1868, 2 | |
| II | February, 1862 | 3 – 4 | Owens Valley | WOR 1:50:1, 966-967; Daily Evening Post, November 22, 1879, 2 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0501a.pdf |
| III | March 23, 1862 | 11 – 37 | Lone Pine, Owens Valley | WOR, 1:50:1, 46; Diomed, May 10, 1862 in SDU, May 19, 1862, 1 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0969.pdf
|
| III | April 9, 1862 | 1 – 15+ | Little Pine Creek vicinity, Owens Valley | Diomed, May 10, 1862 in SDU, May 19, 1862, 1; Inyo Register, January 22, 1914, 1 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0971.pdf |
| III | Before May 10, 1862, probably April | 12 – 15 | “south of Little Pine Creek, near Bishop’s ranch” | Diomed, May 10, 1862 in SDU, May 19, 1862, 1 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0975.pdf |
| II | Spring, 1862 | 1 | Owens Valley | Inyo Register, January 22, 1914, 1 | |
| II | June 24, 1862 | 2 | Shore of Owens Lake | Daily Evening Post, November 22, 1879, 2; WOR 1:50:1, 146 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0516b.pdf |
| II | October 24, 1862 | 2 | “Hot Creek”? | Mellen to Drum, October 26, 1862, WOR, 1:50:1, 177 | |
| II | March 1863 | 1 | Near Big Pine | Correspondent, March 25, 1863 in DAC, April 8, 1863, 1; Chalfant, Story of Inyo, 187. | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i1065.pdf |
| III | Mid-March, 1863 | ~6 | Owens Valley Region | Wright in Daily Evening Post, November 22, 1879, 2 | |
| III | March 19, 1863 | 16 – 33 | At and near Owens Lake | Correspondent to Visalia Delta, April 2, 1863, 2 reprinted in SDU, April 7, 1863, 2; Wright in Daily Evening Post, November 22, 1879, 2; Chalfant, Story of Inyo, 187 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0990.pdf
|
| II | March or April, 1863 | 5 | Locations near Mesquite Springs | Chalfant, Story of Inyo, 199-200 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0535a.pdf |
| I | April 10, 1863 | 1 | Owens Valley | Orton, California Men, 181; McGrath, Gunfighters, 37 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0075a.pdf
|
| III | April 13-16, 1863 | ~150 | Owens Valley | Benedict to Hanks, April 17, 1863 in Sacramento Daily Bee, April 27, 1863, 3, also published in SDU, April 28, 1863, 2 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0998.pdf |
| II | May (?), 1863 | 4 | Near Owens Lake | Orton, California Men, 182 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0537a.pdf |
| II | May (?), 1863 | 3 | Owens Valley region | Inyo Register, February 26, 1914, 1 | |
| II | May 3, 1863 | 4 | Inyo Mountains, near Owens Valley | Orton, California Men, 181 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0539a.pdf |
| II | Before May 21, 1863 | 3 | Owens Valley region | White in Visalia Delta, May 21, 1863 in DEB, May 26, 1863, 2 | |
| III | May 23, 1863 | 34 | Fort Independence, Owens Valley | Pacheco to Wright, April 16, 1864 in SDU, April 28, 1864, 1 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i1000.pdf |
| II | Before July 30, 1863 | 3 | 15 miles from Camp Independence, Owens Valley | Ropes in Esmeralda Star, July 30, 1863 in Bancroft Scraps, 36:116, reprinted in DEB, August 14, 1863, 3; and USOIA, Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for the Year 1863, 100 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0554a.pdf
|
| III | Late July Or August, 1863 | 9 | Alabama Hills Region | Page in Inyo Register, February 26, 1914, 1 | |
| II | About August 2, 1863 | 2 | “Little Round Valley” | Chalfant, Story of Inyo, 196 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0555a.jpg |
| II | October, 1863 | 2 | “Hot Creek Country” | Mellen to Waite, August 13, 1864, WOR, 1:50:2, 566 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0562a.pdf |
| II | Early January, 1864 | 4 | Lone Pine | Recollection in Chalfant, Story of Inyo, 222 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0567a.jpg |
| II | Before November 18, 1864 | 1 | Owens Valley | Aurora Union, November 18, 1864 in SDU, November 24, 1864, 3; Esmeralda Union, November 18, 1864, 3 | |
| I | Before December 22, 1864 | 5 (2+3) | East of Owens River in or near Owens Valley | WOR, 1:50:2, 1114 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0081a.pdf |
| II | January, 1865 | 4 | Lone Pine | Chalfant, Story of Inyo, 222 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0598a.jpg |
| II | January, 1865(?) | 2 | Fort Independence | Chalfant, Story of Inyo, 224 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0599a.jpg |
| II | Between December 30, 1864 and January 7, 1865 | 1 | Bend City | Esmeralda Union, January 7, 1865, 3 | |
| II | Between December 30, 1864 and January 7, 1865 | 3 | At or “near Black Rocks” in Owens Valley | Esmeralda Union, January 7, 1865, 3; CADMIUM in DAC, January 22, 1865, 1; | |
| II | Early January 1865 | 2 | “eight miles below Bishop creek,” Owens Valley | SDU, January 26, 1865, 2; Esmeralda Union, January 18, 1865, 2 | |
| II | January 1865 | 2 | Lone Pine, Owens Valley | Visalia Delta, January 11, 1865 in McGrath, Gunfighters, 47 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0612a.jpg |
| III | January, 1865 | 17 | Near Taboose Ranch, Owens Valley | Daily Evening Post, November 22, 1879, 2 | |
| III | January 1, 1865 | 8 – 50+ | “three miles from Lechler’s house” near Lone Pine, in Owen’s Valley | Correspondent in Visalia Delta, January 11, 1865, 2; Lechler in Los Angeles Tri-Weekly News, January 21, 1865, 2; Chalfant, Story of Inyo, 222 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i1024c.jpg |
| III | January 5, 1865 | ~20 – 100+ | Shore of Owens Lake, near the mouth of Owens Lake | Greenley summarized by CADMIUM, January 8, 1865 in DAC, January 22, 1865, 1; Gentleman in Esmeralda Union, January 18, 1865, 2; Correspondent in Esmeralda Union, January 21, 1865, 2, reprinted in SDU, January 26, 1865; Wright in Daily Evening Post, November 22, 1879, 2; Works Progress Administration, California, 38; Caughey, California, 384 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i1025e.jpg |
| II | Before January 7, 1865 | 1 | Bend City, Owens Valley | G. in Esmeralda Union, January 7, 1865, 3 | |
| II | Before January 17, 1865 | 2 | “Eight miles below Bishop creek,” Owens Valley | Esmeralda Union, January 21, 1865, 2 | |
| II | Before January 18, 1865 | 2 | Near Big Pine | Esmeralda Union, January 18, 1865, 2 | |
| II | About February 24, 1866 | 1 | “Adobe Meadows,” near Independence | Correspondent, March 6, 1866 in SDU, March 12, 1866, 2 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0615.pdf |
| I | August, 1866 | 3 | “on the east side of Owens Lake” | Chalfant, Story of Inyo, 226 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0083a.jpg |
| II | Before January 22, 1867 | 4 | “Rock Spring, upon Mojave desert” | News, January 22, 1867 in Hayes Scraps, Vol.39 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i0623a.jpg |
| III | March 12 (?), 1867 | 5 | Near “Rainy Spring Ca[enyae]on” twenty miles from “Hot Springs.” Inyo County? | Franklin, March 13, 1867 in DAC, March 23, 1867, 1 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i1036.pdf |
| III | Before February 3, 1868 | 20 | Near Independence, Owens Valley | A. in DAC, March 2, 1868, 1 | http://nahc.ca.gov/webmaster/atlas/evidence/i1045.pdf |
TOTAL ESTIMATED NUMBER KILLED IN REGION: 466-666
*Appendix (Appx.) refers to the reference’s location in:
Benjamin Madley, An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2016.
For full bibliographical references please refer to the text or Atlas credits & references
Abbreviations used in timeline:
DAC: Daily Alta Californian newspaper (San Francisco)
DEB: Daily Evening Bulletin newspaper (San Francisco)
SDU Sacramento Daily Union newspaper
USOIA U.S. Office of Indian Affairs
WOR U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 4 series, 130 volumes. Series 1, volume 50, part 1 [WOR 1:50:1], etc.
For full bibliographical references please refer to the text or Atlas credits & references