Genocide and Vendetta

A book recommendation…

A new neighbor moved in a couple of months ago.  Previously, he had lived in Mendocino County outside of Round Valley along what was once California’s “Trail of Tears.”  Having camped many times near Mendocino Pass as a kid I mentioned my interest in the history of the area.  He went to his bookshelf and loaned me this.

Readable and painstakingly researched, it exposes the awful truth about the creation of the reservation near Covelo in Round Valley and the ultimate eradication of the Yuki (Native Americans) living in the Yolla Bolly region of the Coast Range.  

Published in 1981 by the University of Oklahoma Press for 20 bucks a copy, it names names.  And therein lies the problem.

Sources I’ve found report that between 2500 and 8500 copies were produced, but most of them were scooped up by relatives and descendants of the cattle barons and land owners who wished to claim Round Valley for their spreads.  A bogus suit was filed against the authors and publication was ceased. And an important bit of history slipped out of touch.

As an adult, I have had the opportunity to explore a bit of the lovely and unforgiving territory central to this book from the Mendocino / Humboldt Coastline to the Trinities and Yolla Bollys and the river courses of the Eel and the northern Russian.  It is fascinating to take that country and overlay the history written in this book.  On my shortlist of things to do is to re-explore the Yolla Bolly country with my DeLorme’s California Atlas and Gazetteer in one hand and a copy of Genocide and Vendetta in the other.  Summit Valley, Long Valley, Round Valley, Sanhedrin Peak, Hull Mountain, Fort Seward, even Weaverville and Eureka – all exist, now, in a richer and more tragic context for me.

I need to return this copy to my neighbor and am seeking a copy of my own for my collection.  Prices online (as you’ll see below) are out of reach, but I suspect that a used book store or an antique shop might have it in its Western Americana, California History, or Native American section.

So, Church of the Open Road parishioners: Please keep an eye out for a copy and let me know if you find one. Priced reasonably, I’ll certainly buy it.

And while we’re at it, let’s do what we can to ensure voices are not stilled by those they might offend or expose.

o0o

Hull Mtn. denizen

Genocide and Vendetta Subtitled: The Round Valley Wars of Northern California  

by Lynwood Carranco and Estle Beard.  University of Oklahoma Press. 1981. $350 – $1148.  (Originally about $20.)