Pitt River Expedition
Pitt River Expedition of 1859 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the American Indian Wars | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
California |
Achomawi Atsugewi | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William C. Kibbe William Byrnes | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
Kibbe Rangers and local posses | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
? killed, 500 captured |
The Pitt River Expedition is a series of expeditions in the
California Gold Rush
.
US Military
First Pitt River Expedition
The most usually noted expedition is the Pitt River Expedition, in California, April 28 to September 13, 1850.[1] The Indian Agent, Colonel E. A. Stevenson, led the expedition to the Achomawi (Pit River), Atsugewi (Hat Creek) and Modoc to establish relations with them.
Second Pitt River Expedition
In 1857, George Crook, later US Civil War Officer and General led the second Pitt River Expedition as a first lieutenant. In one of the several engagements, he was severely wounded by an Indian arrow.[2]
State of California's Pitt River Expedition (1859)
The State of California notes expenditures for the
California Militia and "Expeditions Against the Indians", 1850โ1859; which makes note of a Pitt River Expedition in 1859 [1]. Ongoing conflicts between settlers and the tribes in the northern counties of California provoked appeals by citizens for the removal of the tribes from the region. Federal authorities could not do so due to the shortage of Federal troops available; some were already involved in the early phases of the Bald Hills War. Citizens requested Governor John B. Weller
to call out State troops from the northern counties to remove the Indians from the mountains and place them on a reservation.
The Governor sent
Plumas, and Butte counties. In the following three months, Captain Byrnes' rangers had many minor clashes with bands of Indians and captured more than 500. Due to the snow blocking the route over the coastal ranges to the Mendocino Reservation, the captive Indians were taken by steamboat from Red Bluff to the Tejon Reservation.[3]
References
- ^ "Appendix". The United States Historical Sketches of Staff and Line with Portraits of Generals in Chief. New York: Maynard, Merrill, & Co. 1896.- reproduced at the United States Army Center of Military History
- ^ Colonel Herbert M. Hart, USMC (retired), "Historic California Posts; Fort Crook," California State Military Museum
- ^ The California State Military Museum; California State Militia and National Guard Unit Histories: Kibbe Rangers