The forgotten state-sponsored genocide that shaped the birth of modern California

History · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Between 1846 and 1873, California’s indigenous population plummeted from 150,000 to roughly 30,000. This catastrophe was not merely a tragic byproduct of settlement but a systematic, state-funded campaign of extermination. Historian Benjamin Madley reveals how government officials and vigilantes built a killing machine that remains hidden in plain sight.

The genocide against California’s Native American population occurred during a period of rapid transformation following the American conquest of the region. As the Gold Rush drew thousands of settlers, the state and federal governments deployed significant resources to facilitate the destruction of indigenous communities. Official records indicate that the government spent at least $1,700,000 on military campaigns specifically targeting California Indians. This violence was carried out by a coalition of state militia companies, United States Army units, and vigilante groups, all operating with broad societal, judicial, and political support.

The mechanisms of this destruction were comprehensive, involving massacres, forced displacement, and widespread enslavement. Beyond direct slaughter, which claimed as many as 16,000 lives, countless others perished from starvation or were worked to death under systems of forced labor. The brutality was not an accidental consequence of expansion but a deliberate effort to eliminate a population. Leaders involved in these campaigns were frequently rewarded with powerful positions in government, cementing an institutionalized amnesia that has long obscured the reality of these events from the public record.

In recent years, the historical consensus has shifted toward acknowledging these atrocities as a state-sponsored genocide. Former Governor Jerry Brown became the first to publicly recognize the events as such, and in 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a formal apology for the state-sanctioned violence and exploitation. Despite this progress, the trauma of this period continues to echo in the present. For the descendants of those who survived against impossible odds, the work of documenting this history is a vital step toward addressing the enduring obligations that state and federal governments owe to California’s tribal nations.

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