How The Indians Were Destroyed In California In 1833

The following appears as a cominunicaion trom Mr. J. J. Warner, in the Los .ngelos (Cal.) Star : 1 have read of the horrors of the Lonon plague, and of the more than deciinaion by pestilence of the inhabitants of arious parts of the world, in different ges, and the destruction of mankind by ie angels of the Lord, and destroying ngels ; but I have never read or heard f such a general destiuction of a people y any angel, good or bad, or by plague r pestilence, as that which swept the Valley of Sacramento and San Joaquin n the sumiiiur of 1833. In autumn of 1832 a party, of which ie writer was a ïnember, traveled from ie mountain down along the banks of ie San Joaquin River and up those of ie Sacramento to some distance above tie conrluence of the latter with Feather iiver. The nuniber of Indiaas living long and in the vicinity of the banks of he rivers, was so uiuch greater than I ïad ever seen living upon the sanie área f country, that it presented a source of urprise. The conclusión was then reachd byme that there was noother place on he continent, north of the tropic, the naural productions of which could support o large a population as was then living n the section of the country to which I lave referred. In the latter part of the summer of 833 we entered the nortrhen extremity f Sacramento Valley from the Klamath jake and Pitt River countries. We 'ound the northern part of the valley trewn with the skeletons, and fragments f skeletons of Indians, under the shading ,rees, around springs and the convenient watering-places, upon the bauks of the ïver, and over the plain, where wolves nd coyotes, waddling from tree to tree r over the plain, their hides distended with unnatural fatness, had dragged and enuded theni. From the head of the valley to the .merican River but one living Indian was seen, and he was the most perfect ersonincation of solitude that was ever resented to my vie w ; his was wasted uuscles, his eyes deeply sunk in their ockets, as if there was no brain within ie cranium, emitted a dull, vacant gaze, s if astonished to behold a living being, when he believed that all, all were dead, nd he alone left, telling most emphaticlly his loneliness, of how he had seen the estroying angel engaged in his work of eath on every hand, wherever his eyes were turned, until he himself was prostraed, not killed, but left to rise upon his 'eet, and wander about amoug the bones nd festeiing bodies of his folk. The wellings of the Indians in the numerus villages located upon and along the )anks of the Sacramento River and its xibutaries, were void, and no foot-tracks ut those of f o wis and wild beasts were o be seen in the lonely villages. As we traveled eoutherly the skeletons wei e of a fresher appearanoe, and bef ore eaohing the buttes, and from thence southerly, the entire or partially devoured bodies of the Indians, in all stages of decay, were so invariably found in &.nd about all the oonvenient and desirable camping places that it became necessary, in order to escape the stench of decoinposing humanity, to seek our nights encampments upon the optn plain. Alter crossing Feather River, these villages along the Sacramento which in the winter previous were each inhabited by hundreds of Indians, were desolate and the abodes of ruin. The same appalliug proofs of the dire calainity, were constant - ]y presented to us as we traveled up the Ban Joaquín. Neither biblical nor profane history have portrayed such mournfnl resulta of the march of the destroying angel, as were presented to our senses as we repassed through along by, and around those silent and vacated villages, which some ten montha before we had Been swarming with Indian life, and reBounding with voioea frorn bundreds of huinan throat8. Around the naked village graves and the ashes ot funeral pyres, the skeletons and swollen bodios toid a tale of death, such as to us no written record had ever revealed. Froin the head of the Sacramento Valley until we reached the mouth of King's River, not exceeding five live Indians were seen, and here we found encaniped a village of Indians, among whoui the destroying angel was sating his greed of human victima by a ghastly carnage. During the one night, more than a score of victims were added to the hoBts upon which he had been feeding The wailing of that stricken village dur ing that night, was incessant and most terrible. The sword of the destróyer was a reniittant fever, with which the victims were first stricken down, to be fin ished by a hot air bath, followed by a plunge in a cold water one. It was evident to us from the signa which we saw, that at firnt the Indians buried their dead ; ut when the dead became so numerous hat the living oould not bury thern, reorted to the burning of the dead bodies, and when the living, from diminished numbers were uuable to do this, they abandoned their villages, the sick and the ying, and fled in disniay, only to die by ;he side of the springs and pools of water, nd beneath shade of protecting trees.