Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California

Introduction
pre-1769
1769-1848
1849-1879
1880-1904
1905-1933
1934-1964
1965-1980

Historic Sites
Selected References

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Bloody Island
Lake County

Bloody Island is one-quarter mile west of Highway 20 and about one and one-half miles south of the town of Upper Lake, north of Clear Lake, California. State registered landmark #407 marks the site along with another marker which designates the 400-by-800-foot area as the site of an Indian massacre. It is not apparent as an island until viewed from the south side, because the surrounding lands have been reclaimed from the lake. Bloody Island was once a Pomo Indian village site but now serves as open space.

Bloody Island derives its name from the Clear Lake Massacre of 1850 in which Captain Nathaniel Lyon, accompanied by soldiers and local White volunteers, invaded the island and killed 60 of the 400 Indians who had taken refuge there. Another 75 Indians were killed on the Russian River nearby. The soldiers killed a total of 135 Indians, while two White men were wounded. The Indians fled to the island in an attempt to save themselves after five Indians had killed two White men.

Charles Stone and Andrew Kelsey had been running cattle and using local Indians as free ranch labor. The "paid" the Indians four cups of wheat each day which was not adequate to feed a large family. As a result, many Indians were starving. Stone, who was notorious for his mistreatment of Indians, killed a young Indian man who had been sent by his starving aunt to bring her family more wheat. (Margolin, 1981:165) Soon after this murder, two Indians, Shuk and Xasis, decided to borrow Stone and Kelsey's horses for a hunting trip. Their purpose was to bring back meat for the hungry village. They could not leave their encampment during the day for fear of being seen and punished by the cattlemen. The hunting trip failed, and the horses that were borrowed by the Indians were returned to the ranchers, but both Indians feared that Stone and Kelsey would kill them if they found out that the Indians had taken the horses. They decided to go to Stone and Kelsey's place and kill them first. In December 1849, Shuk, Xasis, and three other Indians went to Stone and Kelsey's place, killed them, and got food for their starving village. Many of the Indians then fled to the island in the middle of the lake where they felt reasonably safe.

Captain Lyon arrived at the lake in the spring of 1850 with a detachment of soldiers. Since he could not reach the Indians' hiding place, he secured two whale boats and two small brass field cannons from the U.S. Army arsenal at Benicia. While waiting for the boats and field artillery, a party of local volunteers joined the expedition. Soldiers took the cannons aboard the whale boats, while the remaining body of mounted soldiers and volunteers proceeded to the west side of the lake. The two groups rendezvoused at Robinson Point, a little south of the island. The artillery was taken to the head of the lake in order to be as close as possible to the Indians. In the morning, soldiers fired shots from the front to attract the Indians' attention while the remaining force lined up on the opposite side of the island. The soldiers then fired the cannon, which sent the Indians across the island where they met the rest of the detachment. Many Indian men, women, and children were killed. Some jumped into the water to flee and some tried to hide on the island, but the soldiers succeeded in overcoming them.

Later in the year, Colonel Reddick McKee traveled to Lake County to negotiate treaties and establish the boundaries of the area's Indian country. This was an important step, because at the time of the Bloody Island Massacre, there was no recognition of tribal rights in California, and most tribes were therefore unrepresented by the state's political and judicial systems. Bloody Island represents the lack of due process under the law, and is an example of how the military was apt to administer justice when dealing with Indians.

Bloody Island

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Last Modified: Wed, Nov 17 2004 10:00:00 pm PDT
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