: . . . . Tue, Jan 23, 7:54AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Mission Indian Advocacy WANTED ………………. When the Missions lost what Spanish financial support they had had after the Mexican Revolution in 1822, they then became reliant on the Mexican citizens living in California for support, which was not able to match that of Spain’s. When Alta California became a new member of the United States of America in 1850, the Missions lost their support completely ….. What had taken 50-75 years to build would soon become a rubble of crumbling adobe with caved-in roofs at most Missions. By the late 1800s, the missions were in a complete state of disrepair and the remaining Indians were poor and hungry.

: . . . . Tue, Jan 23, 7:55AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Californians – and visitors to California – often toured these crumbling Missions. Some were artists who drew and painted what they saw … others were writers who recorded the loss of these historic buildings. The most outspoken and devoted to the cause of restoring the missions ….. and protecting the interests of the abandoned native peoples ….. was Helen Hunt Jackson, a writer from the eastern seaboard who toured California in the 1870s.

: . . . . Tue, Jan 23, 7:55AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Helen Hunt Jackson is now famous for her novel Ramona that we study here at Camp Internet. She wrote that fictional book to draw attention to the REAL problems in California – both the neglect of the native peoples, and the neglect of the mission heritage of early California. Before she wrote Ramona, she also wrote Glimpses of California and the Missions. In this book she is very open in criticizing the lack of care the United States Government was paying in her time to the missions and the native peoples.

: . . . . Tue, Jan 23, 7:56AM PST (-0800 GMT)
******** Your Channel Challenge ********** is to read a little of what she wrote, and also the writings of J. Ross Browne on the Indian subject as published even earlier in 1864. Then write your own letter to Congress, as if you lived in California in the late 1800s, asking them to protect the Indians. Who is your Congressional representative today ? (use this link to the Congressional search engine – select California and then your zip code and it will tell you who your Representative is button ) Pretend your Congressperson today was alive back in the 1870s. Tell them what YOU think about California’s Indian Problem.

: . . . . Tue, Jan 23, 7:56AM PST (-0800 GMT)
First, read the Camp’s introduction to the California Indian Problem button ………………………….and then the following passages by Helen Hunt Jackson button and J. Ross Browne button ………………………… Also, find out who your Congressional representative is button

: . . . . Tue, Jan 23, 7:57AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Once you have read the above out-of-print historical e-texts, you are next to compose, on paper, your letter to Congress. When your letter is finished, come online and cut/paste or type it in the chat room message box and we’ll gather them up and send them on to your Congress person to show them how you are using the Internet to learn about Western American history !

: . . . . Tue, Jan 23, 8:04AM PST (-0800 GMT)
An example of how to begin :............. From Mary Louise Simmons, November 12, 1862 ......... Dear Congresswoman Capps, I am writing on behalf of the native Californias who have lost their homelands as white settlers have moved into populate California ......

Mr. Bartlett's class/Amber: . . . . Fri, Jan 26, 12:58AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Dear, Congress Person The problem is the wild Indians were troublesome and in the early period after they discovered the gold mine. They would go to the white peoples house and steel from their house. They would steel from the wives and children. They were killed in every cowardly way.

Mr. Bartlett's class/Ben: . . . . Fri, Jan 26, 12:59AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Dear Congressman, The native problem is that all of the natives will not give their land to the to all the darn settlers. Yep I reckon that’s the darn tootin problem. All of the settlers are so mad I reckon they otta start a war. But hey I’m not in charge of the dang army.

Mr. Bartlett's class/Genelle: . . . . Fri, Jan 26, 1:34PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Dear Congress Person, The problem is that the Indians would get a lot of gold and then the whites would steel it away from them. They would steal it from the wives and then kill the wives and the children whenever they could. The Indians did not know why they were being robbed, killed, and hunted down like this. The whites were also taking the Indians land.

Mr. Bartlett's class/Patrick: . . . . Fri, Jan 26, 1:45PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Dear Mr. Congress person, The problem is that the Native Americans will not want to give up their land. The settlers wanted to take their land. But the Native did not want them to take it. If I was a Native I would fight the settlers. I would take their weapons.

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