Rare and early. Dateline Vallejo, California, Sept. 23rd, 1851. Issued for $360 to Reichoff, DeSola & Co. out of the "War Loan Fund" "for Military services in defending the Eastern Frontier against the attacks of the Indians." Signed by Comptroller John Houston. 1852 notation on reverse that money had been paid. 3.25 x 7.25" Rough edges. _x005F
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The California Indian Wars were a series of wars, battles, and massacres between the United States Army (or often the California State Militia, especially during the early 1850s), and the Indigenous peoples of California. The wars lasted from 1850, immediately after Alta California, acquired during the Mexican-American War, became the state of California, to 1880 when the last minor military operation on the Colorado River ended the Calloway Affair of 1880. On April 22, 1850, the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians was passed by the legislature of California. This allowed settlers to continue the Californio practice of capturing and using Native people as forced workers. It also provided the basis for the enslavement and trafficking in Native American labor, particularly that of young women and children. Raids on villages were made to supply the demand, the young women and children were carried off to be sold, the men and remaining people often being killed. This practice did much to destroy Native tribes during the California Gold Rush.Date: 1851Country (if not USA): State: CaliforniaCity: Provenance: