Settlers hold meeting banning sale of weapons to Native peoples- Red Cap War soon breaks out
Jan. 6, 1855
Yurok family, dugout canoe, Klamath River, 1926 Del Norte County Historical Society
Rumor of a Native uprising against the miners along the Klamath River by the Yurok and Karok Native American tribes led to local settlers demanding Native peoples disarmed. At this meeting they demanded anyone trading arms to the Indians whipped and expelled from the County and any 'Indian' found with firearms after that time was to be killed. A resistance group called the Red Cap Indians fought skirmishes against the settlers from January through March of 1855. From the Yurok Tribe's website - "The Red Cap Indians were believed to be a mix of tribal groups who were fighting settlers. The Red Cap War nearly brought a halt to the non-Indians settlement effort." One source lists the amount of Natives involved in the uprising to be 3,500.