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Volume 066-4 - October 2012 (6 pages)
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Page: of 6
NCHS Bulletin October 2012
Belle Rolfe
Douglas, born
in Nevada
City in 1868.
Her father
was Ianthus
J. Rolfe, a
Gold Rush
pioneer who
published
the Nevada
Democrat
and the Daily
Gazette before
his death in
1907.
elk, insects, worms, and small animals like rabbits, squirrels, etc., were hunted by the Nisenan, and every part of the
animal was used. For instance, when a salmon was caught,
its meat could be fileted, the head boiled to create strong
glue, and even the bones were integrated into other foods by
being ground into a powder. The Nisenan did not waste and
were careful to not create refuse on the land.
The local Nisenan were known for their beautiful, watertight basketry and their highly sought after healers and
shamans. The people were family oriented
Photo taken
about 1890
of Headman
Charles Cully,
whose land
allotment
became the
reservation
known as the
Nevada City
Rancheria.
protect the local Indians from complete annihilation. An example would be the Craig family, who in 1852 homesteaded
Nisenan Tribal land. At the time, there were between 1,800
and 2,000 Indians living on Cement Hill in Nevada City.
The Indians from Chicago Park, Smartsville, Washington,
Grass Valley, Oregon House, Dobbins, Pleasant Valley,
Camptonville and other once-prominent Nisenan towns
had consolidated on Cement Hill, as it was somewhat of
a stronghold; a tract of land close enough to the center of
and enjoyed an incredible landscape from
which all life emerged and would eventually return. Prior to the Gold Rush, the
Nisenan governed themselves through a
complex hierarchy of government beginning with the head of family up to the regional or territorial headman.
One hundred years after the Gold
Rush, the citizens who formed the Nevada
County Historical Society had an ongoing
and extremely important relationship with
the local Nisenan Indians. It is because of
individuals like Doris Foley that Nisenan
artifacts remain to be enjoyed by the public
and the Tribe. It seems these relationships
with the non-native community were not
completely uncommon. Sprinkled throughout Nisenan history are altruistic pioneers
and settlers who took it upon themselves to
The Nevada City Rancheria as photographed in 1907 by Charles C. Pierce.
(University of Southern California Libraries photo)