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SENATE.
RESOLUTIONS
MIS. Doc.
No. 76.
OF
THE LEGISLATURE OF CALIFORNIA,
IN FAVOR OF
A grant of land to aid in the construction of a wagon road from Hidesville, in
Humboldt county, to the southern boundary-line of said county, and a wagon
road from Arcata to Weaverville, in said State.
APRIL 6, 1868.-Referred to the Committee on Public Lands and ordered to be printed.
STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Department of State:
I, H. L. Nichols, secretary of state of the State of California, do hereby cer-
tify that the annexed is a true, full, and correct copy of assembly concurrent
resolution No. 7, now on file in my office.
Witness my hand and the great seal of State, at office, in Sacramento, Cali-
fornia, the fourth day of March, A. D. 1868.
[SEAL.]
H. L. NICHOLS,
Secretary of State.
By LEW. B. HARRIS, Deputy.
MEMORIAL AND RESOLUTIONS.
ذا
The memorial of the legislature of the State of California to the Congress of
the United States respectfully represents: That the district of country lying
in the northwestern part of the State of California, and embraced in the coun-
ties of Humboldt, Klamath, Del Norte, and Mendocino, is a mountainous region,
with but limited agricultural resources compared with other portions of the
State, but possessing forests of valuable timber, excellent pasturage, and
valuable lodes or veins of gold quartz, copper, and, it is believed, of coal and
silver; that the district or section named is but thinly populated by whites,
and is, to a very great extent, undeveloped, which we feel authorized to state
is owing entirely to chronic Indian wars, and disturbances that have pre-
vailed there continuously, with greater or less violence for the last fifteen
years. On repeated occasions these savages have so devastated portions
of the district in question, that it became in a measure depopulated of whites,
while every enterprise became in consequence broken up or greatly injured.
There being no safety for the farmer, herdsman, and miner, it is but natural
that they would abandon a country where the chances of life or the preserva-
tion of property were so precarious and uncertain. From this state of things
the people living there have suffered most severely on occasions and in ways
the particulars of which are too long to state in this memorial.
The federal government, on its part, has been put to an expense of a very
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WAGON ROAD IN CALIFORNIA.
large sum, believed to amount to as much as one million and a half of dollars
in the time mentioned, in efforts well intended, but not successful, to restore
quiet among the Indians infesting the region alluded to. No plan has yet been
adopted by the general government that has secured the persons and property
of the white population in that section from outrages by these savage Indians.
The recent murder of the United States Indian agent at Hoopa valley, Mr.
Stockton, furnishes proof of the daring, wicked, and turbulent spirit that yet
animates them. It is further respectfully submitted that, owing to causes con-
nected with the condition of affairs here briefly sketched, no roads leading into
the section mentioned have been or could be constructed; the region being as
stated through a rough and mountainous country, the construction of roads in-
volves an expense greater than a small population, continually harassed and
devastated by hostile Indians, could defray. Therefore, the fact remains that
the mails of the government that are sent into the settlements in those counties
are packed in on horseback at a very great expense to the government, at more
than double the price that their transmission would cost if there were good roads
provided; and on the other hand it results that, owing to the enormous prices
the general government has to pay for the transmission of mails, because of this
want of facilities for carrying them here mentioned, the people resident in
said counties do not receive the number of mails that they would seem to be
entitled to receive; to this we add that the general government now pays very
large sums of money for the transportation of troops and military supplies, and
supplies for the Indian reservations in that region, which could, in great part,
be saved if roads were constructed, leading into the district named.
The best communication between the region in question and San Francisco
is by water, which, owing to the want of harbors always easily accessible, and
the character of the coast, cannot be considered reliable. Finally it is believed
that if the people of those counties were assisted by the general government in
constructing roads, there would at once result such an influx of white popula-
tion that Indian wars would not occur in the future, and there would be at once
a corresponding decrease, if not a total cessation of the expenditures which the
general government has to incur under the existing state of affairs; further we
add that if such roads were built vast bodies of land now of no value what-
ever to the general government, and which can never be sold until roads are
constructed, would at once be brought into market, realizing to the government
ten-fold the cost of such roads. We therefore respectfully press upon the atten-
tion of Congress that the grant by it of suitable quantities of these lands now
lying waste, idle, and valueless, for the purpose of building roads into those
counties, would result to the great advantage of the general government, besides
extending in the ways named to the white people there resident that protec-
tion and security to which they are entitled and which they have never yet
received through any of the expensive methods heretofore devised by the gen-
eral government.
Resolved by the assembly, (the senate concurring,) That our senators in Con-
gress are instructed, and our representatives requested, to place this memorial
before Congress and to press the matter therein mentioned respectfully upon its
attention.
Resolved, That our senators be instructed, and our representatives requested,
to favor the passage of a law granting four sections of land to the mile for the
purpose of constructing a wagon and turnpike road from the village of Hides-
ville, in Humboldt county, California, to the southern boundary line of said
county; and in like manner to ask for a similar donation of lands to construct
a wagon and turnpike road from the town of Arcata, in Humboldt county, to
the town of Weaverville, in Trinity county, apportioning the same between said
counties in a proper manner; said lands to be located in not more than twenty
に
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WAGON ROAD IN CALIFORNIA
3
miles of said road, and in no case to interfere with the settlements of any set-
tler, nor to be located on any lands that are mineral bearing.
Resolved, That his excellency Governor H. H. Haight be respectfully re-
quested to forward without delay a copy of this memorial and these resolutions
to each of our senators and representatives in Congress.
Approved February 29, 1868.
J. J. O'MALLEY,
Speaker of the Assembly, pro tem.
WM. HOLDEN,
President of the Senate.
H. H. HAIGHT,
Governor of the State of California.
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