The Kumeyaay Threat of 1860-1880
By : Mike Connolly
Campo Tribe
In 1869 Silas & Luman Gaskill founded their store in the Milguatay (Campo) Valley. Relations with the Kumeyaay were tense as the Sh’mulqs saw the best of their lands seized for homesteads. Settlers were also fearful of Mexican bandits crossing the border for raids. In 1875 raider Cruz Lopez attempted an unsuccessful raid on the Campo Store.
In response, General Schofield ordered a Company of U.S. Cavalry from San Francisco to Campo. In 1877 Campo settlers blaming Indians for cattle rustling, attacked an Indian village in Jacumba. One Indian was killed and the attack ended in a draw. The settlers negotiated a truce with the Indians, accepting the Indian death as sufficient to offset the cattle rustled. In February of 1880, a group of cattlemen pursued Kumeyaay to the Jacumba area on suspicion of killing cattle. The Kumeyaay counter attacked, killing William McCain, son of homesteader George McCain. The pursuers were forced to retreat before the gathered Kumeyaay warriors.
By March of 1880, settlers from outlying ranches gathered together in fear of Indian attacks. The Kumeyaay had cut the telegraph lines and rumors were flying about Kumeyaay congregating south of the border. Subsequent scouting reports spoke of massing Kumeyaay warriors but gradually the tensions eased and the attack never came. Over the next two years the perceived threat of the Kumeyaay dissipated as the 1880-1882 drought caused widespread starvation for the Indians. In 1873, a telegraph line was built from San Diego to Fort Yuma. Kumeyaay worked the construction of the line, reportedly carrying poles on their backs over rough terrain. Indian labor was also used to build Campo Road, (Hwy 94), in the 1870s. An 1875 Executive Order resulted in the 1876 creation of Reservations across San Diego County. The isolation of the mountain Sh’mulqs, however, resulted in their omission from this Order.
A drought in the winter of 1880-1881 precipitated a famine among the Kumeyaay and forced many to seek charity from the whites to survive. By 1890 the Sh’mulqs had become scattered and weak from the repeated physical attacks, diseases and starvation. The population of the mountain Sh’’mulqs had dropped from 2000 in 1850 to 200 by 1890, a 90% loss. In 1891 Congress passed "An Act for the Relief of the Mission Indians in the State of California." This Act and a subsequent Executive Order resulted in the creation of Reservations for the mountain Kumeyaay. On February 10, 1893, Campo Indian Reservation was created. It was about one square mile (710 acres) near the town of Milguatay (Campo).
Many Kumeyaay people still did not have Reservation land to live on and the one square mile of Campo was woefully inadequate for the population. This portion of the Reservation would later be known as "Old Campo".