Native American Adversity in California

Upon the birth of the state of California, one administrative actions was to create a state fund to pay per head or scalp of each Native American person exterminated. The fund paid $1 million for such services at prices said to range from 25 cents per scalp, to $5 per severed head.

Other practices encouraged under California state law included legislation in 1850 An Act for the Governance and Protection of Indians April 22, 1850 and amending legislation in 1860 Amendments to Act of April 1850 (approved 1860) that permitted the trafficking in Native people as slaves. The practice was understated as "authorizing [the white person] to have the care, custody, control and earnings of such [Indian] minor until he or she obtain the age of majority." In the late 1800's, more than 4,000 Native American children were sold into slavery — prices ranged from $60 for a boy, to $200 for a girl.