They Ate People Like Beasts: Sarah Winnemucca Tells of the Red-Haired Indians of Nevada, 1858-1860

They Ate People Like Beasts: Sarah Winnemucca Tells of the Red-Haired Indians of Nevada, 1858-1860

today we have some more actual history from the American West in the late 1800s we will be reading about some Wars that arose between the pyute Indians when the white settlers began arriving in large numbers during the 1850s we will also hear about a war between the pyute Indians and another tribe of red-haired cannibalistic Indians that occurred in the 15 or 1600s we will be reading from this book life among the piutes their wrongs and claims by Sarah winam Hopkins this book was published all the way back in

1883 Sarah wamaka was a member of the northern pyute tribe she was born near Lake humble to Northern Nevada in 1844 her people were initially peaceful toward the white settlers Sarah’s grandfather was chief trucke he had befriended John Fremont in his 1843 Expedition and he was very friendly toward the white settlers he assisted the US Army in the Spanish American war this Story begins in 1858 when Chief trui had sent his granddaughter Sarah wamaka to live with major William Ormsby who led the militia of settlers near Carson City Nevada the

author Sarah winam makaka was about 14 years old at the time she tells of the peace that lasted for a couple of years between her tribe and the white settlers but then she tells of the breakout of War she also tells the legend of the Paiutes war with the red-haired Indians who were cannibals I will now stop writing about myself and family and tribe customs and tell about the wars and the causes of the wars I will jump over about six years my sister and I were living at this time in Genoa with major ormsby’s family who took us

as Playmates for their little girl while with them we learned the English language very fast for they were very kind to us this was in the year 1858 I think I am not sure in that year our White Brothers had their houses all along Carson River there were 21 houses there in our country I know all the names of the people that lived in them one man who was on the upper part of Carson River was Mr olds the next man by the name of Palmer had a family the third one by the name of job also had a family another family was named Walters

another man whose name was do dagget had no family nor had the next one whose name was Van Sickle the next one had more than one family he had two wives and his name was Thornton the man who lived in the next house had still more wives there were two brothers one had three wives and the other five their name was Roose the next man was named not and had no family the next house had three brothers named sides with no families the next man was named Gilbert and had no family the next was named aldrid and had a family then came our

friend major Ormsby next came Adams and brothers who had no wives then Jones and family Miller and family brown with no family Elsie with no family Mr Ellis and family Williams Brothers no family Mr family Mr Black and family at Humbolt Lake all these white people were loved by my people we lived there together and were as happy as could be there was no stealing no one lost their cattle or horses my people had not learned to steel we lived that way in peace for another year our white brothers gave my people guns for their horses in the way

of trading yet my people never said we want you to give us something for our lands now there are a great many of our White Brothers everywhere through our country and mines or Farms here and there the Mormons came in a great many wagons and settled down in Carson Valley where now stands the great Carson City as it is called the following year 1859 we were yet living with major Ormsby and mother and father were down at Pyramid Lake with all our people so sister and I were all alone there with our dear good friend major Ormsby late that fall there

happened to be a very sad thing indeed a white man who was dearly beloved by my people started for California to get Provisions for the winter as they all did every winter Mr McMullen took a great deal of money to lay in large supplies for they had a store about 30 Mi down Carson River two of them MC Williams and McMullen went off the same night and camped in the mountains someone came in the night and killed them both and after they had shot them with guns or pistols they placed arrows in the wounds to make it appear as if

Indians had killed them the next day news came in that Indians had killed John McMullen they were asked how they knew that Indians had killed him and they answered we know because it was done with arrows the same afternoon 30 men went to get the dead bodies of the two men they brought brought them in and the arrows too of course everybody said it was the Indians that killed them my brother Naz and our cousin who was called young wamaka and 100 others were sent for in 2 days time they came my brother was then peace Chief major

Ormsby asked if we knew what tribe of Indians those arrows belong to my cousin told his White Brothers the arrows belong to the washes so our good friend major Ormsby said to my brother will you help us get the waso chief to to come in and give up the men who killed the two white men my brother said that they would help find the men that killed poor John McMullen so that evening my people had what they called a war dance the first one I had ever seen a great many white men and women came to see them and Lizzie Ormsby kept saying where is

natches he was dressed up so we did not know him the white people stayed until it was all over and when it was all over the major called his men and said we will sing The Star spank angled Banner it was not a bit like the way my grandfather used to sing it and that was the first time I had heard it sung by the white people my cousin was the war chief he sent five men to bring in the wasu chief the next morning they came in with about 10 wases as soon as they came in the white men gathered around them major Ormsby showed the arrows and asked

them if they knew them the wasu chief who is called Jam said you ask me if these are my people’s arrows I say yes major Ormsby said that is enough he said to my brother nates tell Captain Jam that his people have killed two men and he must bring them men and all the money and they shall not be hurt and all will be right the wasu chief said I know my people have not killed the men because none of my men have been away we were all at pine nut Valley and I do not know what to think of the sad thing that has happened and here are your arrows and

you cannot say anything said my cousin the Warchief we will give you 10 days to bring the men who killed our two white brothers and if you do not we shall have to fight you for they have been so kind to us all who could have the heart to kill them now go and bring in the men poor poor wasu they went away with very sad Hearts after they left brother talked with all his men and asked them what they thought about it they all said it was very strange indeed time would tell whether they killed them or not 6 days after after the wasu Chief came in

with three prisoners one of the prisoners had a wife the other two had none but their mothers came with them the white men gathered around and put handcuffs on them to lock them up in a small house for the night next morning all the white people came to see them some said hang the Devils right off and the white boys threw stones at them and used the most shameful language to them at about 3:00 in the afternoon came 31 white men all with guns on their shoulders and as they marched along my brother and cousin ran to meet them one

wasu woman began to scream oh they have come to kill them how they did cry one could hear the poor things miles away my brother went to them and told them not to cry oh dear Chieftain they did not kill the white men indeed they did not they have not been away from our camp for over a month none of our men were away and our chief has given these three young men because they have no fathers one of the young girls said said you who are the mighty Chieftain save my poor brother for he is all mother and I have to hunt for us oh believe us he is as

innocent as you are oh tell your white brothers that what we tell you is true as the sun rises and sets and one woman ran to my cousin the Warchief and threw herself down at his feet and cried out oh you were going to have my poor husband killed we were married this winter and I have been with him constantly since we were married oh good Spirit Come Oh Come into the hearts of this people oh whisper in their hearts that they may not kill my poor husband oh good Chief talk for him our cruel Chief has given my husband to you

because he is afraid that all of us will be killed by you and she raised up her head and said to the wasu chief you have given my innocent blood to save your people then my brother said to the wasu these white men have come to take the three wasu men who killed John McMullen and McWilliams to California to put them in jail just then one of the women cried out look there they have taken them out see they are taking them away we were all looking after them and before brother got near them the three prisoners broke

and ran of course they were shot two were wounded and the third ran back with his hands up but all of them died oh such a scene I never thought I should see at Daybreak all the wasu ran to where they were killed the wife of the young man threw herself down on his dead body weeping was enough to make the very mountains weep to see them they would take the dead bodies into their arms and they were all bloody themselves I ran to Mrs Ormsby crying I thought my poor heart would break I said to her I believe those wasu women they say their

men are all Innocents they say they were not away from their camp for a long time and how could they have been the men that killed the white men I told her all that I had heard the women say and I said that I believed them Mrs Ormsby said said how came the wasu arrows there and the chief himself has brought them to us and my husband knows what he is doing I ran back to see what they were going to do to the dead bodies as I had heard my people say that the Wass were like the Digger Indians who burned their dead when I got there the wasu chief was

talking to my brother I did not know what he said before I came but I know from what I heard he had been making a confession he said pointing down to the men who were innocently killed it is true what the women say it is I who have killed them their blood is on my hands I know their spirits will haunt me and give me bad luck while I live this was what the wasu chief said to my brother the one that was wounded also died and the sister and the mother it was Dreadful to see the mother cried out oh may the good spirit send the same curse

upon you you may all live to see the day when you will suffer at the hands of your white brothers as you call them she said to were girl my child you have no brother now no one to love you no one to come with game and say here sister here is game for you you were left all alone oh my sweet son gone gone this was the first trouble the poor wasu had with white people and the only one they ever did have with them so the day passed away and the two dead wasu were taken away and their bodies were burned that is their custom the other was taken into

California my poor little sister made herself sick she cried so much that day 2 days afterwards major Ormsby sent his men home so he did my cousin who is called young wamaka and brother stayed longer for us because he had been with major Ormsby for a long time and we could talk very well my poor little sister was so very sick it was two weeks before we could go to our mother when we got home it was Winter there was so much snow that we stayed in the mountain where now stands the great city called Virginia City it was then our pine nut

mountains sometime during the winter the wasu Chief came and told us that the white men who killed McMullen and MC Williams were caught my brother Naz said oh have they been caught yes that is what major Ormsby said so did all the others the wasu chief went on and said I have come to ask you to pay me for the loss of the two men the white men have brought back the other men and they say have hung two men my brother told the wasu chief that his people had nothing to do with what the white people had done it is you who ought to pay the poor

mother and sister and wife of your own tribe because you gave them up yourself therefore you must not blame us we only did our duty and we all know that the white men did nothing to us and we did no more than they would do for us next day my brother went to see for himself he gave the wasu chief a horse to go with them for the poor wasu had never owned a horse in their lives 10 men went with my brother the war of 1860 began in this way two little girls about 12 years old went out in the woods to dig roots and

did not come back and so their parents went in search for them and not finding them all my people who were there came to their help and very thoroughly searched and found Trails which led up to the house of two traitor named Williams on Carson River nearby the Indian camp but these men said they had not seen the children and told my people to come into the house and search it and this they did as they thought thoroughly after a few days they sorrowfully gave up all search and their relations had nearly given them up for dead when one

morning an Indian rode up to the cabin of the Williams’s in those days the settlers did not hesitate to sell us guns and ammunition whenever we could buy so these brothers proposed to buy the Indian’s horse as he rode up they offered him a gun five cans of powder five boxes of caps five bars of lead and after some talk the trade was made the men took the horse put him in the stable and closed the door and went into the house to give him the gun Etc they gave him the gun powder and caps but would not give him the lead and because he

would not take AP part he gave back what he had taken from them and went out to the barn to take his horse then they set their dog upon him when bitten by the dog he began hallowing and to his surprise he heard children’s voices answer him and he knew at once it was the Lost Children he made for his Camp as fast as he could and told what had happened and what he had heard brother Naz and others went straight to the cabin of The Williams Brothers the father demanded the children they denied having them and after talking quite a

while denied it again when all at once the brother of the children knocked one of the Williams’s down with his gun and raised his gun to strike the the other but before he could do so one of The Williams Brothers stooped down and raised a trap door on which he had been standing this was a surprise to my people who had never seen anything of the kind the father first peeped down but could see nothing then he went down and found his children lying on a little bed with their mouths tied up with Rags he tore the rags away and brought them

up when my people saw their condition they at once killed both brothers and set fire to the house three days after the news was spread as usual the bloodthirsty Savages had murdered two innocent hardworking industrious kindhearted settlers and word was sent to California for some army soldiers to demand the murderers of the williamses as no army soldiers were there just then major Ormsby collected 160 volunteers and came up and without asking or listening to any explanation demanded the men but my people would not give

them up and and when the volunteers fired on my people they flew to Arms to defend the father and brother as any human beings would do in such a case and ought to do and so the War Began it lasted about 3 months and after a few precious ones of my people and at least a hundred white men had been killed amongst them our dear friend major Ormsby who had been so Hasty a peace was made my brother had tried to save major ormsby’s life he met him in the fight and as he was ahead of the other Indians major Ormsby threw down his arms and

implored him not to kill him there was not a moment to be lost my brother said drop down as if dead when I shoot and I will fire over you but in the hurry and agitation he still stood pleading and was killed by another man’s shots some other friends of my brother judge Broomfield and servants and a Spaniard lived in a small cabin about 12 mies off they were not fighting against us and my brother defended their lives and risked his own he stood at their cabin door and beat back the asals with a club and succeeded in driving them off but my

uncle and cousins were so angry with him for saving white men’s lives that they whipped him with a horse whip we all knew my uncle loved us he was always kind to us but I never could love him again as I had done after he whipped my brother my Noble patient brother Who Bore his uncle no ill will but was satisfied ified that he had saved the lives of his friends Brave Deeds don’t always get rewarded in this world there was another occasion when my brother saved the life of his friend Mr Seth cook of San Francisco and of six others

but as I do not remember all the particulars I will not attempt to relate it Mr cook had often given my brother valuable assistance and he is still living and can tell the story of his escape from Death himself the regular troops at last reached the grounds and after fighting a little while raised a flag of truce which was responded to by my brother and peace was made and a treaty giving the Pyramid Lake reservation to my people I have no way of telling any of the particulars the reservation was given to us in 1860 and

we were to get large supplies as long as we were peaceful but though there were 13 agents there in the course of 23 years I never knew of any issue after that first year among the tradition of our people is one of a small tribe of Barbarians who used to live along the Humbolt River it was many hundred years ago they used to waylay my people and kill and eat them they would dig large holes in our trails at night and if any of our people traveled at night which they did for they were afraid of these barbarous people they would often times fall into

these holes that tribe would even eat their own dead yes they would even come and dig up our dead after they were buried and would carry them off and eat them now and then they would come and make war on my people they would fight and as fast as they killed one another on either side the women would carry off those who were killed my people say they were very brave when they were fighting they would jump up in the air after the arrows that went over their heads and shoot the same arrows back again my people took some of them into their

families but they could not make them like themselves so at last they made war on them this war lasted a long time their number was about 2600 the War lasted some 3 years my people killed them in great numbers and what few were left went into the thick bush my people set the Bush on fire this was right above Humbolt Lake then they went to work and made Tuli or bull rush boats and went into Humbolt Lake they could not live there very long without fire they were nearly starving my people were watching them all around the lake L and

would kill them as fast as they could come on land at last one night they all landed on the east side of the lake and went into a cave near the mountains it was a most horrible place for my people watched at the mouth of the cave and would kill them as they came out to get water my people would ask them if they would be like us and not eat people like coyotes or beasts they talked the same language but would not give up at last my people were tired and they went to work and gathered wood and began to fill up the mouth of the cave then the poor

fools began to pull the wood inside till the cave was full at last my people set it on fire at the same time they cried out to them will you give up and be like men and not eat people like beasts say quick we will put out the fire no answer came from them my people said they thought the cave must be very deep or far into the mountain they had never seen the cave nor known it was there until then the they called out to them as loud as they could will you give up say so or you will all die but no answer came then they all left the place in 10

days some went back to see if the fire had gone out they went back to my third or fifth great grandfather and told him that they must all be dead there was such a horrible smell this tribe was called people eaters and after my people had killed them all the people around us called us sayu Cara it means conqueror it also means enemy I do not know how we came by the name of piutes it is not an Indian word I think it is misinterpreted sometimes we are called pine nut eaters for we are the only tribe that lives in the country where

pine nuts grow my people say that the tribe we exterminated had reddish hair I have some of their hair which has been handed down from father to son I have a dress which has been in our family a great many years trimmed with this reddish hair I’m going to wear it sometime when I lecture it is called the morning dress and no one has such a dress but my family so that’s it for this story from Sarah winoka Hopkins book life of the piutes their wrongs and their claims this book provides an interesting perspective on life among the Western

frontier as settlers were arriving from the East the story about the red-haired Indians who died in the cave has received some support from archaeological records after it was discovered by a company that was harvesting guano from the cave I will now read some accounts of the discovery of the cave from the 1929 book love loock cave by Luellen L loud and Mr Harrington John T Reed a mining engineer in Lovelock Nevada gives the following history of Lovelock cave Reed’s father ran a general merchandise store at Lovelock from 1883 to

1895 in which the son worked as a clerk through this work he came into contact with all of the Indians of that region old and young I recall that along about 1887 when I was about 16 years old Captain Naz two other Indians one known locally as coffee Charlie the other as mustache Charlie and myself had undertaken to catch some wild horses that roamed in the neighborhood of the Carson and hanol sinks in due time we came into contact with the wild horses and then the chase was on after running those horses all

day long we were obliged to camp overnight near the southern end of the Humbolt sink and on its eastern shore the next morning we resumed the chase following the horses over into Carson sink desert but here we had to turn around Homeward Bound since we had no fresh saddle horses available to pursue the Mustangs further on the way back we passed lelot cave and the hour being late we decided to Camp there for the nights later Captain Naz related to me the great Calamity which had occurred in that cave to another race of people who

had been exterminated by the piutes in the tale that Naz related with the other two Indians aiding him and bringing out all the material facts that had any connection I was informed that about four or five generations back the Indians had fought to extermination of people who were redheaded and spoke their own language the fact that these two people spoke the same language suggests that they had lived together for a long period of time natch has assigned no reason for the origin of the trouble between the two races and I

doubt if he knew or had a history although his sister Sarah wamaka Hopkins states that these people were cannibals and ate the piutes this is hardly compatible with her further statement that the piutes had taken some of these people into their own families Annie Lowry a half Indian who married an Indian named Mr sany assigned as a reason for the trouble between the two races that these people had stolen their women and taken their wild rice seed away from them I rather think that the matter of food was the trouble and the

Petes decided after a period of droughts that they would exterminate the other people who were consumers of the small amounts that was all the while getting smaller and smaller of food that was available in the form of wild seeds and wild fowl that visited the Lakes natches stated that these people had come from the southwest a battle had waged for a long time on the Carson sink at some sand hills on the east and west side of the Carson River after which the piutes had driven these people northward into the region of the Humbolt Lake then

across the lake to the cave some going into the cave While others went northward from what I learned through Naz and from numerous others of the old Indians I have deduced that this red-headed people had long occupied the territory about the cave before the pyute Indians had come from elsewhere Naches further related how the pyute Indians had gathered Sage Brush in great quantity around and about the hills adjacent to the cave and assembled it on the bluff above the cave then they had lit it and thrown it down immediately in

front of the Cave the pyute stayed on either side of the cave at a safe distance and watched for the people with then to come out for food or water or to escape the smoke which in part penetrated the cave as they came out they were dispatched with well-directed arrows the following account was obtained by Mr John T Reed from James H hars in regard to the first excavation of Lovelock cave in 1911 I heard David Pew of Lovelock tell of an old Indian cave some 20 mi south of Lovelock he said that it was full of bat guano in

which he had dug down four feet when a boy he had leared from the Indians where the cave was there had been fires in it for their there was much Smoke on the walls realizing that if the cave was as large as described the guano might be of value I arranged with Pew toile a mineral location upon it and ship out the guano this we did working from the fall of 1911 to the spring of 1912 we drove a small tunnel into the mouth of the cave or rather to one side of it the natural opening being too small to work through we took out about five car loads

of guano which were shipped to the Hawaiian fertilizer company of San Francisco we soon began to discover Indian relics and notified Dr JC Mariam of the University of California who took the matter up with the University of Nevada and the Nevada Historical Society we also wrote to the Smithsonian institution but they advised that they had no funds for collecting receiving only donations after some of the best specimens had been destroyed we received word from the State Historical Society that that in conjunction with the

University of California they would send an investigator this was Mr loud we gave him all possible facilities for collecting many objects had been destroyed by the weather and others had been taken away I recall many boas or ropes of fine feathers as these lay strewn about in the open end of the cave in the way of the workmen they were irreparably damaged some of these boas were found perfectly preserved all the Indian objects began to appear about 4 ft below the surface of the guano in the South End of the cave about 20 ft deep

we Unearthed some skeletons in the north central part of the cave about 4T deep was a striking looking body of a man 6′ 6 in tall his body was mummified and his hair distinctly red there was a grass rope about his neck with a knot under the left ear the Rope was about 8 ft long the feet were bound together from the ankle to above the knees was Stout rope the mummification was complete except for a part of the abdomen the other mummies all had red hair I think there were either four or five those that appeared to be women were small

something like a Japanese woman in height this was not altogether due to the shrinking of the bodies and mummifying because the man was a giant the women had on moccasins which reached clear to the knees the buck skin was beaded with shells two of them had on a kind of buck skin coat or gown that came down to the knees these bodies were from the deep south end of the cave there were no bats in the cave when we went there to work besides David Pew there worked in the cave Samuel Pew Hansen Cummings and perhaps one or two others

we screen the guano through a 3/4 in mesh discarding everything that did not go through the screen probably all objects that passed through the mesh were shipped away with the guano after we got through working the cave one George stots worked on what was left in the cave for a while he probably shipped out about a carload of guano so that’s it for this episode about the pyute Indians of Northern Nevada this was told from the perspective of Sarah winam makah Hopkins who wrote this book back in 1883 she would die just 8 years later in

1891 this story told of the breakout of The Pyramid Lake War William station was a stop on the Pony Express routes and the were three other men killed at the station along with the two Williams Brothers these men were visiting the station Saloon the third Williams brother James O Williams was not there at the time of the attack and he returned to find his brothers and the three patrons dead so The Pyramid Lake War began after someone at the Williams station kidnapped and mistreated the two pyute girls we will probably do some

other episodes about the history of Nevada during this time most of the white settlers who fought the piutes along with major Ormsby had no military background and were not well trained consequently most of them died in the same battle where major Ormsby was killed this is another episode where there is mention of Indians with red hair however it took place hundreds of years before Sarah wuka wrote her book so these Indians were probably not simply white Outlaws who had joined a tribe and lived like Indians it’s

possible that they were somehow descended from Vikings who visited America hundreds of years before English settlement began or that they are related to an Asian group like the IU of Japan who have been known to have blonde or red hair some archaeologists have also speculated that the preserved red hair is due to rust or another chemical process and that these Indians did not really have red hair feel free to leave a comment about what you think this channel is called unworthy history because we cover actual history that has

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