Mar 25 2009
And Then There Were None
For as long as they could remember, they stood 400 strong. Then the white man came looking for gold and their numbers dwindled. Their hunting grounds shrunk, and food became scarce. They had a choice: poach from the nearby farms and ranches or starve.
When they chose raiding and poaching, they also chose to brave the wrath of those from whom they stole. The results of that wrath were deadly. The white settlers hunted them relentlessly - killing 74 of them in 1865. The next year 40 fell at Three Knolls and 33 at Dry Camp. After the Kingsley Cave/Morgan Camp massacre in 1871 there were only six left.
By 1911 there was only one.
On this day in 1916, Ishi the last of the Yahi tribe died from tuberculosis.