Tule River War

Part of the American Indian Wars

Date	1856
Location	San Joaquin Valley, California
Result	United States victory

Belligerents

United States

California

Yokut

Commanders and leaders

Foster DeMasters

W. G. Poindexter

LaRhett Livingston

Strength

300–400

>700

Casualties and losses

some wounded

>100 killed

The Tule River War of 1856 was a conflict where American settlers, and later, California State Militia, and a detachment of the U. S. Army from Fort Miller, fought a six week war against the Yokut in the southern San Joaquin Valley.

The Native Americans living in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains were relatively undisturbed by early Spanish colonization. During the late 1840s and into the 1850s, once gold was discovered in California, miners began encroaching on traditional lands. In late 1850, a trader named James Woods settled on the south bank of the Kaweah River along with a party of approximately fifteen men. According to a contemporary account, the entire party of settlers was killed by Native Americans the following spring. After the Kaweahs had imposed a deadline of ten days to clear out, when the settlers missed the deadline, they were attacked and Woods was skinned following the battle. Other accounts come from survivors who state Woods was the lone victim, although the various accounts all agree Woods was skinned.

Although a treaty was signed with the local tribes in 1851 (one of eighteen such treaties signed state-wide, setting aside seven and a half percent of California's land area), defining a proposed reservation and two hundred head of cattle per year, the US Senate failed to ratify any of the eighteen treaties in a secret vote cast on July 8, 1852, with every member either abstaining or voting no. The result of the vote was not made public until 1905.

In the fall of 1851, the Wingfield brothers settled and claimed the land near the cabin built by Woods. The Wingfields did not initially experience any trouble with the Native population. On April 20, 1852, Mariposa County was subdivided, creating Tulare County, with the temporary county seat to be near the Woods cabin. Creating a new county brought new government positions, and during the preparation for elections to be held in July 1852, the Wingfield brothers were taken captive by Native Americans. They were later released when an armed expedition under Major James Savage approached the encampment.

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