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Bret Harte
On February 26, 1860 a large group of white settlers attacked Wiyot Indian camps in Humboldt County, California. Hundreds of the Indians were killed mostly old men, women and children since the younger men were away at the time. The reason: allegedly the Wiyot had been rustling cattle, although that claim was never proven. Nobody was ever arrested in connection with the incident.
Newspaperman Bret Harte, later known for his short stories, deplored the massacre in a series of editorials. He was forced to flee the area after receiving numerous death threats. Post Views: 190
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January 18, 1863–US troops torture and murder Apache war chief Mangas Coloradas in southwest New Mexico. He had come to them under a flag of truce, but General Joseph Rodman West betrayed the Apache.
After Mangas’ death, the soldiers removed his head and sent it east for examination (illustration). But it was lost. To the Apache, that meant that the great warrior could not enter the afterlife. The bitter feelings made the upcoming Apache wars even worse. Post Views: 993
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Vasquez grave
Outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez was hanged in San Jose, California on March 19, 1875. Afterwards, his body was buried at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery, where his grave is still something of a tourist attraction today.
And it stands out. The other markers are in uniform rows, nicely and neatly aligned. Vasquez’ granite monument is set at an angle to all the rest. It’s not clear why that’s the case, although some say it’s because he was at odds with his people and society. Post Views: 142
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Tiburcio Vasquez was and is regarded as a freedom fighter to at least some folks. But his…
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Gen. Sherman Bell.
Sherman Bell was a gung-ho type who got noticed. After service as a lawman and a Rough Rider, he was put in charge of the Colorado National Guard. In that position, he basically declared martial law during the Colorado Labor Wars of the early 1900s. He had union members deported, arrested without charges, beaten and generally harassed. When Bell was served with a writ for four miners unlawfully in jail, he replied, “Habeas corpus be damned! We’ll give them post-mortems!” When the Labor Wars ended in 1905, he left the country mostly for his own safety.