An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846–1873 (The Lamar Series in Western History)

Between 1846 and 1873, California's Indian population declined from approximately 150,000 to 30,000. Benjamin Madley documents the full extent of this violence, the involvement of state and federal officials, the public funds that supported it, indigenous resistance, the perpetrators, and the factors that ended the killings. Madley describes pre-contact California and events leading to the genocide before examining how the Gold Rush triggered vigilante violence against California Indians. He traces the development of state-sanctioned killing operations and the widespread societal, judicial, and political backing for genocide. Participants included vigilantes, volunteer state militiamen, U.S. Army soldiers, U.S. congressmen, California governors, and others. State and federal governments spent at least $1,700,000 on campaigns against California Indians. The book evaluates government officials' responsibility, examines why the violence constituted genocide, and presents methods for investigating other possible genocides within and beyond the Americas.