The Mission Indians
bed, on the Hoopa reservation. It is said to have been done without the slightest provocation. No redress can be had in Klamath County. Grand juries have repeatedly refused to take any notice of complaints where it is alleged that a white man killed or committed any other wrong upon an Indian.
"It is no longer a mooted question whether bad white men, wilful trespassers, liquor-dealers, murderers, thieves, and outlaws shall be kept off and away from the reservations, but rather, shall the reservations be permitted or kept up at all?
"It is not considered a crime to steal horses and cattle in Round Valley, so long as they are taken from the Indian reservation."
This was the condition of Indian affairs in California twenty-five years after the United States Government had rescued the country from the tyranny of Mexico.
Why did not the Indian, in this land where "all men are created equal," possess himself of the magic vote and become one of the Chosen? It may seem incredible that any Indian should have had the temerity to face the conditions which surrounded the precious ballot, but the fact is officially recorded in this twenty-fifth year:
"Three Indians at least have recently made application to be registered as citizens in Los Angeles County. Their petition was refused by the clerk of
223
