UC Riverside

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

The Treaty of Temecula: A Story of Invasion, Deceit, Stolen Land, and the Persistence of Power, 1846-1905

by

Sean Christian Milanovich Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in History University of California, Riverside, September 2021 Dr. Clifford Trafzer, Chairperson

The Treaty of Temecula and the Indigenous people of Southern California is a story about land theft, deceit, genocide, tenacity, perseverance, and the fight for basic human rights. California is stolen land. In 1846 the American invasion began with United States military dragoons, “an elite fighting force trained to fight on horse and foot.” The late Rupert Costo, a prominent Cahuilla leader and historian of Indigenous California, believed American invaders disregarded the Indigenous people of California. The American invaders claimed the Indigenous land as their own and established a foreign government and subjugated the Indigenous peoples to a foreign law, American law. The Americans held the Indigenous peoples in a peon state of war and did not acknowledge their right to own land. On January 5, 1852, Indigenous leaders of the Cahuilla, Cupeño, Luiseño, and Serrano attached their marks to the Treaty of Temecula surrendering their land base under duress and established a small permanent reservation. Between March 1851and January 1852, Indian commissioners produced eighteen treaties with at least 139 tribal bands. Treaties were conducted with tribes under false pretense. It was not for peace as written, but instead to acquire title to the land by extinguishing the Aboriginal title. Americans believed title of occupancy could be taken from the Indigenous people through treaty. In July 1852, the United States Senate rejected the treaties, and the land was never returned to the tribes. Indigenous research methodologies were used to gather, write, and process information on this unfamiliar subject. Native voice was essential in getting the accurate story which has been left out of most scholarly work.