Page:The Indian Dispossessed.pdf/234

 These lands had long been occupied by the Christian Indians, and in 1835 were divided among them by the priests and prefect in accordance with said laws, and were occupied by them until dispossessed by squatters within the last few years. . ..

"The possessory claim of the Indians to land has never been deemed a serious impediment to white settlers; the latter always take by force that which they fail to obtain by persuasion.

"Conceiving that this state of things would ultimately leave the Mission Indians homeless, I recommended in my annual report for 1869 'that certain lands at Pala and San Pasqual Valleys, in San Diego County, which had been given to the Indians by the Mexican Government, be removed from public sale, surveyed, and set apart as a reservation.' I stated 'that the Indian claims to these lands had never been presented to the board of land commissioners appointed under the act of 1851 to settle private land claims in California, and were consequently disregarded by the settlers, the lands being presumptively a part of the public domain.'

"On the 31st of January, 1870, pursuant to this recommendation and a similar suggestion made by J. B. McIntosh, then acting as superintendent of Indian Affairs for California, the President of the United States made an order setting apart those lands for an Indian reservation, and a proclamation was issued to that effect.