The Hidden History of Fort Bragg - Part 2: The True Role of the Army

The influx of settlers all over what was to become the state of California from the 1848 gold rush onwards had quickly brought conflict between the invaders and the local indigenous populations.  The tribes were hunter-gatherers; the invading settlers were agrarian -- and better armed.  Ownership of land, to the indigenous peoples, was a tribal matter; they did not have the concept of individual ownership of land as did the incoming settlers.  The stage was therefore set for real conflict, which was not slow to arrive.  The settlers began indiscriminately killing Indians that they encountered, and the tribes began to respond as best they could to the threat.  The settlers called for the support of the government, and after governance and title to the lands passed to the US after the Mexican-American War, the Army arrived in response to the cries for protection from the depredations of the Indians.

The Fort Bragg garrison: June 1857 - September 1864

On June 18th , 1857, leading one sergeant, one corporal and eighteen privates, 1st Lieutenant Horatio G. Gibson arrived at the Mendocino Indian reservation.  While satisfied with the reservation agent H. L. Ford, Gibson was not impressed with Ford's subordinates, and resolved to maintain a distance between the garrison and the reservation staff.  (1)  While Gibson's force did prevent one potential vigilante expedition northward in 1857, the garrison did not engage in any missions throughout the rest of 1857, being fully engaged in construction of the fort's buildings.  This was their sole activity, training was also suspended during this period.  In June of 1858, one year after their arrival, the force left Fort Bragg for other missions, leaving behind only one man, Sergeant William Lee, to guard the fort's property.   The fort was not re-garrisoned until the arrival of the 6th Infantry in 1859.  (2)

The next commander of Fort Bragg was Lieutenant Carlin.  When "some drunken off-duty soldiers were bothering reservation Indians," Reservation Agent "Ford's clerk sent a note to Carlin to remove the soldiers.  The note instructed Carlin to maintain discipline in accordance with Ford's standards.  Failure to do so would be reported to Carlin's military superiors."  Carlin's reply: "You are totally mistaken in thinking that I am in any way subject to your orders." (3)  When a local citizen took the Indian wife of a teamster from the reservation, and Carlin arrested him, Ford declared that the man had been within his legal rights to take the woman and called for Carlin to release him.

Lieutenant Dillon took command of Fort Bragg on May 8th, 1860.  His force was augmented in December of that year with 30 enlisted recruits under 2nd Lieutenant James P. Martin.  Dillon put Martin temporarily in command of the fort while he himself led a punitive mission towards Shelter Cove to the north.  Later, 2nd Lt. Martin led a sixty man detachment form Fort Bragg in pursuit of a band of Indians accused of stealing cattle.  ..."the combined Fort Bragg - volunteer group killed fifty two Indians during eight separate occasions, ... Reaching the Eel's south bank, Martin explained to Captain Lovell with 'regret' that among those killed in the semidarkness of an early morning fight on June 4th were three women.  Later Martin reported that another two women were 'killed through mistake.'"  (4)

Far from being charged with any defense of the inmates of the Mendocino Indian Reservation, "... Lt. Dillon of Fort Bragg alerted Captain Lovell that several parties of Californians were following in the wake of troops [on external expeditions from the Fort] 'for the purpose of obtaining children.'  Despite the presence of Regular Army troops, Dillon estimated that the 'brutal trade' of kidnapping and selling children to citizens had resulted in some fifty youngsters being taken from their parents.  Such 'infamous acts' only invited retaliation by upset Indian families. (5)

Fort Bragg was garrisoned by Regular Army troops from June 1857 (apart from the year that Sgt. William was the only soldier stationed there) to November of 1861, when they were replaced by Company B, 3rd California Infantry.  Towards the end of the Regular Army's presence, 1st Lieutenant Orlando H. Moore, commanding, formally requested that the name of the Fort be changed for patriotic reasons.  The request was not acted upon before the Army left.  All troops were withdrawn and the fort was disestablished at the end of September 1864.  (6)

For 7 years, off and on, the fort's garrison was primarily engaged in punitive missions against the indigenous tribes elsewhere in the region.  Their only real duties as regards the inmates of the concentration camp was to attempt to keep them on the reservation.

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(1) (Regulars In The Redwoods p141; Gibson to Mackall, June 8 and 18, 1857 RG393l PR, Ft. Bragg, June 1857, M617, R138; Fred B. Rogers, "Bear Flag Lieutenant," CHQ vol 30 (June 1951), pp164-65; Lyman L Palmer, History of Mendocino County (San Francisco: Alley, Bowen & Co, 1880) pp169-70

(2) Regulars In the Redwoods, p179

(3) Regulars In the Redwoods, p195-196

(4) Regulars in the Redwoods, p241; PR, Ft. Bragg, May 1861 M617 R138 OR pp 19-21  

(5) Regulars in the Redwoods p241-242; Dillon to Lovell and Dillon to Buell, May 31. 1861, RG393; OR pp 20, 835

(6) Regulars in The Redwoods, p256