California's State-Sanctioned Genocide: How the Gold Rush Became a Native American Killing Spree
While Americans romanticize the Gold Rush, California quietly carried out America’s most efficient genocide. From 1846-1873, state militias and vigilantes:
- Paid bounties for Indian scalps ($5 per head, $0.25 per child’s ear)
- Poisoned stew pots with strychnine at "friendship" feasts
- Sold Native children as slaves under "Apprenticeship Acts"
Result: 16,000+ Native deaths—80% of California’s Indigenous population wiped out in 25 years. Governors called it "extermination," newspapers cheered the "Indian hunts," and the Feds looked away. Today, most massacre sites have Walmart parking lots over them.
(Source: HISTORY - California’ Hidden Genocide)
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