Sonoma Democrat, 10 December 1857
Indians.— On Tuesday last, some twenty of the native Indians passed through this place on their way to the Reservation. They had been living, as they informed us, near Bodega, and becoming satisfied that the lot of those living on the Reservation, was more desirable than their own, had concluded voluntarily, it would seem, to place themselves more immediately under the protection of the Indian Agent. We are glad to hear as good accounts as we do, from the Reserve. Under the management of judicious and prudent men, the system adopted by our government, of locating the Indians on grounds set apart exclusively for their benefit, cannot help adding largely to the comfort of this degraded set of beings.
Speaking of the Indians, and the degree of enjoyment they may have, under a judicious management, reminds us that we have frequently heard the matter of the justness and propriety of compelling them to go to the reserves discussed. All agree that if they are once settled there with their own consent, it is much better for them, inasmuch us they are totally incapable of sustaining themselves when left to combat with the more sagacious white men. And the only argument used with any degree of force, is the imaginary hardship of compelling human beings to leave the “houses and graves of their fathers.” We have no doubt the greater part of the hardship arising from this source, exists only in the imagination, and even there, it would find no permanent lodgment were it not for the officious persuasions of white men, who, while they are preaching to the Indians, the cruelty of the government in compelling them to remove from their homes, are planning how to use them to their own advantage, without turning a penny for the purpose. If white men, instead of persuading the Indians that they are badly used in this matter, would lend their aid in setting before them the advantages to be derived from connecting themselves with their common brethren, under the guidance of competent Superintendents, they would do much more in the cause of humanity, and confer a lasting and permanent benefit upon the Indians — rid the settlements of a great annoyance, as they always are, when encamped in a settlement of whites, and turn a present nuisance to an account for the public good.