1860 Wiyot Massacre
Coordinates: 40°48′54″N 124°09′40″W / 40.815°N 124.161°W
The Wiyot massacre refers to the incidents on February 26, 1860, at Tuluwat on what is now known as Indian Island, near Eureka in Humboldt County, California. In coordinated attacks beginning at about 6 am, settlers murdered more than 80 Wiyot people with axes, knives, and guns. The February 26 attacks were followed by similar bloody attacks on other Wiyot villages later that week.
Immigrants had settled in the area since the California Gold Rush, over the 10 years before the massacre. The Wiyot were at this time a peaceful tribe. Though earlier having fought, driven out or exterminated other tribes that had formerly held the lands they then occupied, they had never fought with white settlers and were not expecting an attack for their cattle raiding.
The killings followed two years of open hostility by a group of local whites against the residents of Indian Island, numerous editorials in the local newspapers, and the formation of volunteer militia groups. A pattern of hostility had developed between local Indians and the settlers, who let their cattle stray onto Indian lands. Indians utilized the cattle, but the cattle owners struck back in retaliation. On the night of 26 February 1860, a small group of settlers crossed Humboldt Bay and to avoid drawing attention from nearby Eureka residents, the bulk of whom may not have condoned the killings, carried out the attack primarily with hatchets, clubs and knives. Contrary to a commonly held view, guns were also used, with some Eureka residents reported hearing shots that night, but knowledge of the attack was not widespread at the time. News accounts report only the shooting of adult men, with handheld weapons used against women and children.
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