George F. Wright Papers

The George F. Wright papers, consisting of the records of Wright's work as attorney for the case of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California before the United States Indian Claims Commission, were divided into six series. Of these, Series 1, Correspondence, and Series 2, Indian Claims Commission Docket No. 288 are the most important in providing an overall picture of the Washo's claims case against the federal government. In this claim the Washo sought compensation for lands and economic resources taken from them by white encroachment beginning in the 1850s.

Series 1 consists of correspondence between Wright and associated attorneys; appraisers of land, timber, minerals, and fisheries; anthropological experts whose testimonies described the cultural and economic worlds of the Washoe and other California Indians prior to and after contact with whites; the federal government; and Washoe tribal members. This correspondence helps to clarify the reasons why the Washoe case required twenty-two years to arrive at a settlement, and the difficulties imposed by that lengthy litigation on all involved, from the Washoe to the appraisers to Wright himself. This correspondence is supplemented by the court documents found in Series 2, which form part of the official record of the claims case. Especially useful for students of the Washoe culture and world are the reports filed by experts in appraisal of minerals, real estate, timber and fisheries values. These reports were based on extensive historical research, required months to prepare, and detailed conditions as they existed until the mid-1860s in the area occupied by the Washoe. Students of the Comstock era of Nevada history will find them especially useful, as they describe not only mining but the related industries of logging and transportation.

Wright also collected materials related to the claims case for the Indians of California, Docket Nos. 31 and 37 before the Indian Claims Commission. Although the antecedents of this case differed from the Washoes' case, there were many parallels in the evidence presented by expert witnesses and in how the cases were managed. The testimony by anthropological witnesses is extremely valuable. Men notable in their field spent days testifying in 1954 and 1955 about the Indians' culture, geographical territories, nature of Indian government, economic resources necessary for survival, religion, and language. These experts included Alfred L. Kroeber, Robert F. Heizer, Samuel A. Barrett, Edward Winslow, and Sherburne Friend Cook, among others. These testimonies form part of Series 3, as do other printed court documents. Lengthy descriptions of these two claims cases follow in this collection guide.

Wright also collected selections of court documents for about two hundred other Indian claims case dockets. Usually there are only a few documents, or even just one document in each case file. This series has been left as Wright arranged it, so researchers should be aware that it also contains some materials from Docket No. 288 and Docket Nos. 31 and 37.

The map series includes copies of maps presented as evidence in the Washo claims case. The originals of most of the copies came from the National Archives. A few original maps are included in this series; they consist of U.S.G.S. maps with the varying boundaries of the Washoe delineated as described by the anthropological experts.

Most of the photographs in this collection were also used as evidence in the Washoe case. All but a few images are aerial views of the Lake Tahoe, Carson Valley, and Washoe Valley regions of Nevada and California. A list of those views is included in this guide.