If the Truth Be Told

Abstract

It has been argued that the United States did not receive California from Mexico by “right of conquest” or by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo because the majority of California was not under the control of the Mexican government. In eastern portions of Southern and Central California, few or no Spanish occupants were present. Northward from Santa Rosa to what would become the Oregon border, no Mexican governmental institutions were to be seen. This area was the aboriginal homelands of the Pomo, Wiyot, Yurok, Hupa, Karuk, Modoc peoples, just to name a few. They had lived there for thousands of years, and their aboriginal rights and supreme entitlement to their land and natural resources were undeniable. Therefore, the settlement of California must be reviewed and reevaluated.