Bloody Island (Bo-no-po-ti)

Two bronzes a quarter mile apart disagree about what happened here, and the state register still titles it a battle. The Native Sons' 1942 tablet by the hill says battle and dates it April 14; by 2007 someone had poured red paint down its face. The state bronze on the highway, placed on the 2005 anniversary, says massacre, on May 15, 1850, and gives the island its Pomo name, Bo-no-po-ti. Lucy Moore, Ni'ka, was six; she hid underwater breathing through a tule reed and lived to 110. Her descendants' foundation holds a sunrise ceremony here each May 15.

What the plaque says

Bloody Island Scene of a battle between U. S. soldiers under command of Captain Lyons and Indians under Chief Augustine, April 14th, 1850. Dedicated as an historical monument by the Native Sons of the Golden West May 20th, 1942. Bloody Island Bo-no-po-ti One-fourth mile west is the island called Bo-no-po-ti (Old Island), now Bloody Island. It was a place for native gatherings until May 15, 1850. On that date, a regiment of the 1st Dragoons of the U.S. Cavalry, commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Lyon and Lt. J.W. Davidson, massacred nearly the entire native population of the island. Most were women and children. This act was in reprisal for the killing of Andrew Kelsey and Charles Stone who had long enslaved, brutalized, and starved indigenous people in the area. The island, now a hill surrounded by reclaimed land, remains a sacred testament to this sacrifice of innocents. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 427 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Lucy Moore Foundation, California Department of Transportation, and United States Forest Service, May 15, 2005.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Old Lake County Courthouse — 7.4 mi
• Site of Stone and Kelsey Home — 12 mi
• Letts Valley — 14 mi
• Ukiah Vichy Springs Resort — 15 mi