California Governor Peter Hardeman Burnett

“That a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the races until the Indian race becomes extinct must be expected. While we cannot anticipate this result, but with painful regret, the inevitable destiny of the race is beyond the power or wisdom of man to avert.” This statement is cited as part of the broader, genocidal policies pursued by Burnett during his governorship. He signed the “Act for the Government and Protection of Indians” in 1850, which enabled the forced removal and effective enslavement of Native Californians.