Talk:Eureka, California/Archive 1

Bias in history section?

Does anyone else see problems in the way the history section is currently written? Referring to Indian reservations as "concentration camps" and missions as "prison camps" seems inflammatory and lacking the neutral, non-judgmental voice appropriate for Wikipedia. I'm not saying the Indians weren't mistreated (I believe they certainly were), I'm simply questioning whether the wording and the tone of the section is appropriately non-biased. Unless the early settlers of Eureka can simply be dismissed as irrational Indian killers, there must be another side to the story — or at least some background on why the massacre happened or what lead up to it. It would also be nice to have a few references to more information. Additionally, the text is pretty much a word-for-word copy from www.kstrom.net/isk/art/basket/wiyot/wiyot.htm, so there might be a copyright infringement. — Cory Maylett 22:59, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Eureka was and is one of the most racist towns in Northern California. What is described is the difference between the relatively benign reservations of the east and the frontier which dehumanized native americans as animals and worse. --Rakista 20:16, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

Really? I've only been to Eureka a few times, so I'm no expert. I'm curious, though, how a currently "racist town" can sit right in the middle of Humboldt County (sometimes described as the marijuana capital of the U.S.) and right next door to Arcata and Humboldt State Univ. (arguably the most liberal school in California). There must be a real culture clash in the area. Back to the Wiyot massacre... My view is that frontier-era clashes between Native Americans and white settlers mainly resulted from the inevitable conflict of two different peoples wanting to occupy the same territory — much more complex than simple racism. There may be a wrong and a right, but there are always two sides, and both should be presented so that others can draw their own conclusions. Also, that's interesting information you supplied about the Chinese being run out of Eureka and banned from the area. Once again, that's got me wanting more information. Sad stuff! — Cory Maylett 21:23, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

I'll add to this reply tommorow. Eureka is one of the dumping grounds for Pelican Bay State Prison which is only a short bus ride away. So what happens is that an unaturualy high amount of former prisoners choose to settle here and become part of the hgihly profitable marijuana trade, which some estimate up to a billion dollars in this county alone. The Aryan Nation's lackeys have been busted more than a few times with meth labs in disparate parts of the county which can be extemely rural (look on google earth sometime). Most of the racism here is reactionary to the few notable characters who come out of the southern humboldt county area into the main town, but on weekends it can get rough in the bars. Hovever south of Eureka in places like Laytonville it gets worse as the lumber mills are almost exclusively white workers even today. BTW, I'm not a native just going to school at HSU. I'm moving out of here because of the increase in violence and gangs I have been noticing these past 3 years. --Rakista 04:07, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

I suppose that past tragedy and injustice can be found upon many lands about the world; nevertheless, this does not forgive any one individual episode. While we may not be able to go back in time to correct these past mistakes, perhaps all of us can learn from them today, and move forward into a better future, with an eye towards preventing any such hate from ever happening again. Recent information regarding Tuluwat, Eureka, and the Wiyots can be found in The San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday, September 20th, 2005 pg. 2--eurekamike 18:42 23 September 2005

This is odd. I lived in Eureka a total of 12 years and saw no more prejudice than one might see in any American city -- in fact, I saw less there. I guess it depends upon where one goes, what one does, and their interpretation of singular events as related to the whole area. Raina

I’ve lived in eureka since ‘92 and i’ve found people to be friendly and open. I’ve heard rumors that Old Town in the early 60’s was a rough-and-tumble neighborhood with several notorious saloons, but the preservation movement started in the 70’s has made Eureka today a sucessful historic art town, with an unusally high per capita concentration of artists. A charge of modern-day racism strikes me as a bit POV; so i’ve added some exterior links to local eureka papers and radio stations so others can read and hear about current eureka events and decide for themselves. eurekamike

If my sources are correct (city-data and US census... maybe incorrect) then there is currently significant 'white flight' going on, when looking at the demographic changes. Also, crime rates are over twice as high as the USA average. Peoplesunionpro 18:43, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Last I checked, Eureka is still overwhelmingly dominated by Euro-Americans, as is evidenced in the faces we see on TV at every City Council meeting. What evidence do you have to the contrary? Charles Douglas 03:35, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

In reply to the first part of this thread. According to all the accounts that I know, and my mom is a historian in Humboldt County, most of the white settlers had relatively friendly dealings with the Wiyot people. The massacre was perpetrated in secret by perhaps four or five local men. While these men probably did have some degree community support, they were by no means representitives of the majority of people living in the area at the time. It should also be noted that massacres on very similar scales were perpetrated throughout the west and within California at that time in history. So while a terrible tragedy the massacre is not unique, and shouldn't be used to pinpoint charges of racism on a single community when the whole culture of the time was racist. The expulsion of the Chinese should also be put into similar perspective, since Chinese expulsions were also occuring throughout California during this time. It should also be noted that some interacial families existed prior to the expulsion and these families were also affected.--Metatree 04:17, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

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is there any current info about the growth occuring in eureka? is it true that tourist shiips will be docking in the newly dredged harbor that leads directly into downtown Oldtown Eureka?

History

I was researching the 1860 massacre today so I took the time to correct errors here, add and expand. I don't think that is the beginning and end of Eureka history. There is much more to add (that I haven't researched and I don't know). I did add a couple of facts about transportation access. My mother grew up in Fortuna and she never saw television until she went to Berkeley for college -- I think that was about 1960 or so -- the media was, for her, radio and news reels at the movie show. When did Eureka get TV? When did Eureka get an airport? (it is still way out of town and served by propeller planes) The Redwood Highway is still Main Street with stop lights through the place. Geographical and cultural remoteness mark it. All of Humboldt also has a very interesting co-existence of logger culture and artsy counterculture. Those are just some ideas. 68.154.121.173 09:01, 14 November 2005 (UTC)