“Both totemism and a true gentile organization were totally lacking in all parts of the State. The mythology of the Californians was characterized by unusually well-developed and consistent creation myths, and by the complete lack not only of migration but of ancestor traditions. Their ceremonies were numerous and elaborate as compared with the prevailing simplicity of life, but they lacked almost totally the rigid ritualism and extensive symbolism that pervade the ceremonies of most of America. One set of ceremonies was usually connected with a secret religious society; another, often spectacular, was held in remembrance of the dead.” We are concerned in this book with the condition of the California Indians the past sixty years. Without an exception on the American continent, there is no area in which the native population has so suddenly and generally diminished. The confiscation of the mission properties by the Mexican Government, followed by the great influx of gold-hunters, adventurers and ranchmen from 1849–1860, are responsible for the deplorable condition in which these Indians found themselves about 1880. Prior to the influx of the Forty-niners, the Indians had been self-supporting (although the action of the Mexican government came near bringing about their destruction). California people themselves took little interest in the wretched condition of the aboriginal inhabitants and it was not until the United States Board of Indian Commissioners and the Indian Rights Association became active and sent commissions or individuals to California, that reforms were inaugurated. Honorable Albert K. Smiley, a citizen of California (and founder of the Lake Mohonk Conference) was especially active in this humanitarian work. A Mr. Painter was sent out by the Indian Rights Association in 1885. Painter made a thorough investigation and laid formal complaint, with the backing of the Mohonk Conference, before the President of the United States. The usual delays occurred. The President referred the matter to the Attorney General, who in turn referred it to the Secretary of the Interior. The Indian Rights Association now assumed responsibility, and Mr. Herbert Welsh, Secretary of that organization, sent his check for $3,300 to be held while the case of the Indians was pending before the court.[59] The wrongs of the Indians were made public at Lake Mohonk by various speakers, and through the country generally by Mrs. H. H. Jackson. The case of the mission Indians, sustained by these various organizations and individuals, was heard in the courts and resulted in victory for the Indians of California.