Sebastian Indian Reservation
| Sebastian Indian Reservation (Tejon Indian Reservation) |
|
|---|---|
| Location |
Tehachapi Mountains, Kern County, California |
| Built | 1853 |
| Demolished | 1864 |
| Reference no. | 133 |
The Sebastian Indian Reservation (1853-1864), more commonly known as the Tejon Indian Reservation, was formerly at the southwestern corner of the San Joaquin Valley in the Tehachapi Mountains, in southern central California.
It was located in the southwestern Tehachapis, from Tejon Creek and Tejon Canyon, west to Grapevine Canyon (Canada de las Uvas).
Edward F. Beale, the federal Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California, established this as the first Indian reservation in California in 1853.
The 75,000 acre Tejon Reservation was within the private Rancho El Tejón Mexican land grant. However, Beale hoped if the land claims were upheld the land could be purchased by the federal government. To gain support for his efforts, Beale named the reservation after United States Senator William K. Sebastian of Arkansas, Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee. He supported Beale's plans to form a series of reservations, garrisoned by a military post, on government owned land.
The Indians were to support themselves by farming. However, throughout the reservation's existence, drought, insects, and crop disease undermined the attempts at farming. The newly constructed , replacing El Camino Viejo, skirted the western and northern sides of the reservation.
The reservation became operational in September 1853, and some California Indians moved in voluntarily. Among the tribes of Mission Indians the reservation held, were 300 Emigdiano Chumash, whose homeland had included Tejon Canyon. In 1854, Lieutenant Beale reported that 2,500 Indians were living on the Sebastian Reservation.
In 1854, Fort Tejon was built 25 miles (40 km) to the southwest, to protect both the reservation's Indians and white settlers in the region from raids by the Paiutes, Chemeheui, Mohave peoples, and other Indian groups of the desert regions to the east. It was also to control the Indians who were living on the Tejon Reservation, and protect them from attacks by American immigrants and settlers.
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