Chapter 253: Indian Chiefs on the West Coast

After the opening of the San Francisco-Sacramento Railroad, traveling between California's two largest cities became very convenient.

Prior to this, the main mode of transportation between the two places was inland shipping. It only took one day to travel down the American River from Sacramento.

But traveling upriver from San Francisco to Sacramento takes two to three days, or even longer.

The opening of the railway changed everything. Whether it is from San Francisco to Sacramento or from Sacramento to San Francisco, it only takes 7-8 hours.

Liang Yao has a good reputation among the Indian tribes on the west coast. After receiving Liang Yao's invitation, many Indian tribe leaders expressed their willingness to visit Sacramento.

After the leaders of the Indian tribes on the west coast gathered in Sacramento, Liang Yao took a train and went to Sacramento to meet with these Indian leaders.

The place where I met the Indian tribal leaders was Liang Yao's residence in Sacramento two years ago.

As time has passed, the original simple brick and stone courtyard has been transformed into a luxurious villa.

"Welcome to Sacramento."

Liang Yao, dressed in military uniform, took off his big-brimmed hat to welcome the Indian chief who came to Sacramento.

Before the word "guest" came to his lips, Liang Yao took it back. After all, he still couldn't say it.

As for the owners of this land, they are the real original owners.

Liang Yao handed Hu Jinchen his DIY big-brimmed hat and motioned for the Indian chiefs to sit down.

Some of these Indian chiefs wore leather coats made of beaver skin, while others wore woolen or cotton coats.

The degree of external influence of different Indian tribes can also be seen from their clothing.

For example, Deer Hunter, the leader of the Maidu tribe, and Big Bison, the leader of the Pomo tribe, whose territory is relatively close to Sacramento, wear woolen clothes purchased in Sacramento due to frequent exchanges with Sacramento.

"The chief of California is a person we can trust. We agree that the chief of California will mediate the war between our tribes and the white tribes of Oregon." Big Bison said.

White people have repeatedly invaded their territory and massacred their people, which has long disturbed these Indian tribes. Even the Indian tribes in California have been affected.

Originally, the Pomo tribe of the Big Bison and the Klamath tribe in the Oregon region to the north did not interfere with each other. Due to the massacre by Bernat and others, the Klamath tribe went south and occupied the territory that originally belonged to the Pomo tribe.

The Pomo have often clashed with the Klamath over the past year.

At this time, the development of Indian civilization was limited, and the world view was limited to the tribal era.

The chiefs of each tribe do not know what the governor, deputy governor, and speaker of the United States are, but they rely on their inherent world view and experience.

They believed that Liang Yao was the chief of the Chinese who had the same skin color as them, so they respectfully called Liang Yao the chief of California.

Liang Yao was also happy to accept their title.

"I am Hills, the representative elected by the Salish tribe. If the dispute can be resolved peacefully, we are willing to resolve the dispute with the white tribe in a peaceful way." Hills said.

"However, if the white tribes in the Oregon region insist on continuing the war, we Salish tribe will also fight to the end and defend our land to the death!"

Liang Yao looked at the chief of the Salish tribe, Hills, who had long hair, firm eyes, and a firm tone.

Another translation of Hills, Seattle, is better known to the world. In later generations, many people also knew this name.

However, when more people hear this name, they first think of Seattle, a city in the northwest of the United States, rather than the sadness of this man who was forced to give up his territory and had to move with his people to an Indian reservation in a barren land. Chief.

Liang Yao vaguely remembered that when he was in elementary school in his previous life, there was a text called "This Land is Sacred." The text was revised based on "Chief Seattle's Declaration," but the extent of the revision was a bit larger.

The "Chief Seattle Declaration" was originally a "declaration" issued by white politicians after substantial modifications and polishes. The content of the declaration's accusations against white colonists has been largely deleted.

The deleted "Chief Seattle's Declaration" has changed beyond recognition, but there are still a few words such as: In the eyes of white people, every piece of land is the same, and they can take advantage of it, take what they need, and leave. For the white man, the earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and he wants to conquer them one by one. segment.

What is outrageous is that in the original text of the Chinese text "This Land is Sacred", there is no paragraph, not even a few words, that accuses the atrocities of the white colonists.

In the declaration, all the passages about the opposition between red Indians and white Americans were completely cut out.

Especially the sentence at the end: The earth does not belong to humans, but humans belong to the earth.

This sentence made Liang Yao's scalp numb even more. In a country that was also a victim of the slaughter of white colonists in modern times, the textbook compiler actually used untenable, illogical sentences and beautiful prose in his own textbooks. White colonists whitewashed.

Liang Yao is still worried about how such a text entered the Chinese language textbook.

Who would be willing to leave the homeland where their ancestors lived if they were not forced into desperation by the white colonists?

Plains Indian tribes in the early Great Plains were forced onto barren Indian reservations with negligible compensation.

And the tribes in Seattle and other western coastal areas that were forced to leave their territories and move to Indian reservations in the later period were not given a penny by the white people.

Liang Yao also admired the fact that he could transfer genocide, freeloading other people's land, and racial conflicts to the conflicts between man and nature with such elegant and refined prose.

When Liang Yao was mentally retarded, he did not have much feeling when reading this text. He just felt that white people did not care about the natural environment, and Indians cared about the natural environment more than white people.

Now thinking back, it's really scalp tingling.

"I'm not here to mediate the dispute between you and the white tribes in Oregon. With the greed of the white tribes in Oregon and their unwarranted hatred for us, there is no room for a peaceful solution."

Liang Yao subconsciously touched his numb scalp, and Bernat's harsh words that he would peel off his scalp to make boots echoed in his ears, and he felt more and more uncomfortable.

"We?" Hills was very surprised.

"Yes, we have the same skin color, and maybe we were a tribe thousands of years ago." Liang Yao said to Hills.

"Bernat once threatened to peel off my scalp to make boots. He is our common enemy."

"You want to participate in this war?" Hills looked at Liang Yao.

"My men will fight alongside you! Eliminate these brutal white people! We just need to fight in your name, and you need to provide your clothes and information about Bernat's armed forces. Let's work together to eliminate these white gangs!" Liang Yao said loudly.

Bernat is an obstacle to his control of Oregon and must be removed. In the future, unfriendly white people in Oregon must also be eliminated.

Eradicating these unfriendly white forces in the name of Indians can save him a lot of trouble.

At this stage, he does not have the strength to confront the federal government head-on, and he still needs to take some necessary measures.

Liang Yao is willing to take direct action, which makes the Indian tribal leaders present very happy. They feel very happy and excited about this.

"Great, if you are willing to take action, we also have the confidence to eliminate these white gangs!"

The leader of the Maidu tribe, Deer Hunter, said.

"If you can solve this problem of Bernat, we Pomo people will nominate you as our chief! Please come forward to mediate the disputes among the tribes in the future!" said the big buffalo excitedly.

"We Maidu people are also willing to nominate you as our chief!" echoed the deer hunter.

Other Indian tribal leaders in California and near California, such as the Yurok, Hoopa, Kus, and Klamath, agreed with this proposal.

"We are willing to nominate you as our chief!"

"But this wave of white people has left, and there will be more white people pouring into our territory. What should we do then?" Hills frowned and expressed his worries.

"The muskets in the hands of those white people are very powerful, and they are a group of well-trained thugs. We have no advantage in fighting them."

"I will provide you with weapons. My guns are better than those of the white people. Of course, I am also willing to send instructors to help you train the warriors of various tribes and teach you how to maximize the power of these weapons and teach those white gangs a lesson."

After speaking, Liang Yao changed the subject and swept his cold eyes to the Indian chiefs.

"The premise of all this is that you are not allowed to invade my people. I don't want my caravan to report to me the bad news of being robbed."

Liang Yao is also happy to provide weapons to the Indian tribes in the Oregon area. The Indians and white people in Oregon are trapped in the quagmire of war, and he is the biggest beneficiary.

The more heroic the Oregon Indians are on the battlefield, the fewer white immigrants and explorers will choose to settle in Oregon. This is also conducive to his immigration to Oregon and dyeing the Oregon area yellow.

The more chaotic the West Coast is, the more the federal government has to rely on him, and the more afraid of him.

At the same time, Liang Yao also had more reasons to ask Congress for military funds to continue to expand the army.

After all, no one except him could handle the relationship with the Indian tribes on the west coast.

"We are very sorry about the caravan. The white people burned our food, robbed beaver skins, and occupied our forests. Last winter was cold, and we really couldn't survive, so we robbed your supplies.

I promise you, as long as you drive away these white people, nothing like this will happen from tonight! We will also compensate the Chinese caravan for the supplies looted last winter with beaver skins."

The chiefs of the Indian tribes expressed their apologies to Liang Yao.