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Round Valley Settler Massacres of 1856–1859

SOLVED1856Round Valley, Mendocino County, California3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Office and sutler store, Round Valley Agency, California, 1876 - NARA - 519142
Office and sutler store, Round Valley Agency, California, 1876 - NARA - 519142 — Credit: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · Public domain

Beginning with the California Gold Rush, a rapid influx of white settlers into Northern California brought settlers into conflict with Native populations. In 1850, California's legislature passed a law permitting the kidnapping and forced servitude of Indians, and Governor Peter Hardeman Burnett publicly anticipated a "war of extermination" against California's Indigenous peoples. When the first six white settlers arrived in Round Valley in 1854, they immediately killed 40 Yuki people in what became known as the Asbill Massacre, beginning years of violence against a Yuki population estimated at 6,000–20,000.

Between 1855 and 1860, kidnapping of Yuki women and children for sale, combined with settler competition for land and game, fueled escalating violence. A band of 20–30 armed white settlers carried out repeated attacks on Yuki communities from 1856 through the summer of 1859. Witnesses and government agents documented specific atrocities, including the killing of unarmed women, children, and infants. Special Treasury Agent J. Ross Browne described the winter of 1858–59 as a period in which "more than a hundred and fifty peaceable Indians" were killed by settlers acting "under official authority." Contemporary estimates compiled from government agents and newspapers suggest well over 1,000 Yuki people were killed across the period, with additional deaths from enslavement and starvation. By 1861, an editor of the Mendocino Herald reported only five to six hundred Yuki remained; by 1864, the population had fallen to roughly 300.

Requests for federal military intervention were initially refused by U.S. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. A small detachment of 17 soldiers was deployed to Round Valley in January 1859 under Major Edward Johnson, who reported to the California governor in May 1859 that "the whites have waged a relentless war of extermination against the Yukas," and that the Yuki, not the settlers, needed protection. Despite this, the soldiers were ordered not to confront or arrest settlers and were reassigned by January 1860. In July 1859, settler Walter S. Jarboe organized a paid militia of 40 men, authorized and funded by the state government, which killed hundreds of additional Yuki in a campaign known as "Jarboe's War" or the "Mendocino War."

A 1860 California legislative committee investigated the killings; its majority report condemned the violence as unjustified slaughter, but the report was never read to the full legislature, which instead expanded laws permitting Indian enslavement and appropriated funds to cover the costs of the anti-Yuki campaign. A company of federal soldiers finally ended the violence in 1862, and California repealed its Indian servitude law in 1863.

Serranus Clinton Hastings, a former California Supreme Court judge and Round Valley landowner, was implicated by contemporaries in funding and organizing the campaign against the Yuki. In 2021, public attention to this history led to the renaming of Hastings College of the Law to the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.

Key facts

Victims
On file
Date
1856
Location
Round Valley, Mendocino County, California
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1848

    California Gold Rush begins, driving a rapid increase in the non-Native settler population of Northern California.

  2. 1850-04-22

    California legislature passes the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians, legalizing kidnapping and forced servitude of Native Americans.

  3. 1854

    First six white settlers arrive in Round Valley and kill 40 Yuki people in the Asbill Massacre.

  4. 1856

    Approximately 300 Yuki killed over the course of the year; large-scale kidnapping of Yuki women and children reported.

  5. 1856-10-08

    A local paper reports 55 Indians killed in Clinton Valley.

  6. 1857-09-24

    Indian Agent Vincent Geiger reports the first killing of a white man by a Yuki person, more than three years after the first settler massacre in the valley.

  7. 1858

    Multiple attacks documented, including killings by farmers John Lawson and Isaac Shanon; 300–400 male Yuki reportedly killed in three weeks in March–April.

  8. 1859-01

    17 U.S. Army soldiers under Major Edward Johnson deployed to Round Valley; they witness abuses but are ordered not to confront settlers.

  9. 1859-05-01

    Major Edward Johnson reports to the California governor that whites, not the Yuki, are waging a war of extermination.

  10. 1859-07

    Walter S. Jarboe organizes a state-funded militia of 40 men, beginning 'Jarboe's War' against the Yuki.

  11. 1859-08

    Former Superintendent of Indian Affairs Thomas Henley leads a massacre of 11 Yuki people.

  12. 1860

    California Legislature's Joint Special Committee investigates the 'Mendocino Indian War'; its majority report is suppressed and never read to the full legislature.

  13. 1860-04-12

    California legislators appropriate $9,347.39 to cover costs of the anti-Indian expedition in Mendocino County.

  14. 1861

    Mendocino Herald editor reports only five to six hundred Yuki remain in the region.

  15. 1862

    A company of federal soldiers deployed to Round Valley finally stops the violence against the Yuki.

  16. 1863

    California repeals the law permitting kidnapping and enslavement of Native Americans.

  17. 1864

    Only about 300 Yuki people remain, according to contemporary reports.

  18. 2021-11

    Public attention to Serranus Clinton Hastings' role in the massacres leads to renaming of Hastings College of the Law.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • H.L. Hall

    CHARGED

    Ranch manager for Serranus Hastings and vigilante leader who, per legislative testimony, killed Indians whenever encountered and poisoned their food; admitted under oath to killing Indian women, children, and infants, though never prosecuted.

  • Serranus Clinton Hastings

    CHARGED

    Former California Supreme Court judge and Round Valley landowner accused by contemporaries, including a U.S. Army lieutenant, of orchestrating and funding a campaign of atrocities against the Yuki; not formally charged in a court of law but publicly implicated, leading to the 2021 renaming of Hastings College of the Law.

  • Walter S. Jarboe

    CHARGED

    Settler who organized and led a state-authorized militia of 40 mercenaries that killed hundreds of Yuki people in the campaign known as Jarboe's War; received official appointment and payment from the California governor and was never prosecuted.

  • Thomas J. Henley

    CHARGED

    California Superintendent of Indian Affairs implicated in fostering hatred toward the Yuki and, after being fired for embezzlement, personally led a massacre of 11 Yuki people in August 1859; never prosecuted.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Archival records

  • Office and sutler store, Round Valley Agency, California, 1876 - NARA - 519142

    archival location

    Office and sutler store, Round Valley Agency, California, 1876 - NARA - 519142

    Credit: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · Public domain · Source

Places

Round Valley, Mendocino County, California

39.7896, -123.3639

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Between 1856 and 1859, white settlers in Round Valley, Mendocino County, California, carried out a sustained campaign of massacres against the Yuki people, killing an estimated 1,000+ people with state government cooperation and funding, until U.S. Army soldiers halted the killing in 1862.
Where did the crime happen?
Round Valley, Mendocino County, California.
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.
More cases in California

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICRound Valley Settler Massacres of 1856–1859Wikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. PRESSHastings Law School Name Change CoverageThe New York Times · 2026-07-07
  3. PRESS1860: The Legislature's Majority and Minority Reports on the Mendocino Warlibrary.ca.gov · 2026-07-07

Record history

First published
JUL 07, 2026
Last verified against sources
JUL 13, 2026

  1. JUL 13, 2026Correction

    Catalog QA: Corrected the full 1856–1859 series range.