Land area
Land of the Washo in California and Nevada, recorded 1865 (area 473)
- 1865
Named in the record
The 1899 record: “Country claimed by Washoes was taken possession of by settlers between 1855 and 1865 without purchase of their title by U. S”
In the record
Washo country, taken over by settlers between 1855 and 1865 without any purchase; an 1865 order for two small reserves was never carried out. Neither a cession nor a reservation. The area covers about 3.2 million acres in what is now California and Nevada.
Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.
Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.
Who is doing the work
Working with these nations
- Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California Nation government WélmeltiɁ Preserve (10,274 acres), held by the Waší·šiw Land Trust (tribal)
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council Nation government Land conservation and return of coastal Sinkyone lands to tribal stewardship (nearly 5,000 acres protected) Give on their site Website
- Koy'o Land Conservancy (Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe) Nation government Restoring traditional homelands to tribal members Website
- Kumeyaay Diegueno Land Conservancy (KDLC) Nation government Acquiring and preserving sacred and culturally sensitive lands in Kumeyaay aboriginal territory Give on their site Website
- Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria Nation government 450 acres (2026), first ancestral land return in the Big Chico Creek watershed
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Located in 2
Nations named for this land 1, matched by the Forest Service, under review
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1865-07-10primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Nevada (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: California 2 (Library of Congress)primary record
- USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work
The record’s fields
- Area number in the 1899 record
- 473
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1865-07-10
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Washo
- States
- CA; NV
- Counties
- Alpine; Carson City; Douglas; El Dorado; Lassen; Mono; Nevada; Plumas; Sierra; Storey; Tuolumne; Washoe
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Nevada; California 2
- Geometry
- Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps
Research notes
geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.
- Kind
- Land area
- Confidence
- Medium