Indians and Indian Agents: The Origins of the Reservation System in California, 1849-1852

Describing the Indians of California as full participants in the events shaping their destiny in the wake of the 1849 gold rush, Phillips (history, U. of Colorado-Boulder) narrates how they negotiated large portions in the interior of the state as reservations in turn for letting the miners dig unimpeded. He also challenges the claim that the reservations failed, documenting how they functioned perfectly well for two years until the state of California succeeded in getting the treaties rejected as usurping states' rights. This is the second in his three-volume series chronicling relations between natives and intruders in California. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.