Legend of JC Brown

On April 18th, 2008 I was a guest on Coast To Coast AM with George Noory discussing the Legend of J.C. Brown. During my interview, I serendipitously revealed an aspect of my research that I did not consciously mean to discuss. The reason I found this slip serendipitous was because I would learn so much more as a result.  The statement I unintentionally let slip was in regard to a mass poisoning at a treaty signing near Mt. Shasta, CA.  On live radio, I revealed that in 1851, Colonel Reddick McKee murdered 3,000 indigenous people.   The treaty that was to be signed, called for the12 tribes to relocate on to a reservation in Oregon.  After the signing, the Natives were invited to a celebratory meal.  In many Native cultures, it is customary to always partake in a meal that one was offered. What the Natives did not know, and could not know, was that the meal was poisoned with strychnine.  The strychnine was put into the beef and bread and successfully killed off the majority of the “guests” that evening.

After completing the interview, I realized that my statement needed further investigation. On the following day, I returned to the New York Public Library to get the answers to many of the unresolved questions that arose from my research of the legend. As I tediously followed up what I had discovered about the Native Americans, I came upon some very interesting observations concerning their belief that the Native Americans oral history held the key to unlocking the secrets of the ancient civilization that lies beneath Mt. Shasta.  Moreover, when I came home that evening, I had received an email from one of the listeners of the Coast To Coast interview. She began her email by telling me how much she enjoyed my interview with George Noory. She then asked me a question that would ultimately leave me with more questions.  She asked me if I had felt that my interview had ended abruptly.  She explained that she had a reason for asking me that question.  I emailed her back and explained that yes, I had felt that my interview had ended prematurely.  Indeed, I had initially thought that my phone had disconnected.  When this happened (I explained to the listener) I immediately called back using the phone number I was given in case we got disconnected.  The person that answered the phone indicated to me that she thought I was still on the air.  She went in to ask George about it and was told that my interview was over.  As I reflected on this incident, I  now realized that my interview had ended abruptly. 

Upon receiving my reply to her question, the listener and I began communicating on Yahoo Instant Messenger - using the phone feature.  She (the listener) explained to me why she thought the interview had ended so abruptly.  She was sure of it.  I, on the other hand, was shocked.  She explained to me that as soon as I had spoken of the poisoning of the Shasta Indians, during a treaty signing, the first thought in her head was:  “This guy’s outta here!”  She explained to me that the corporate owned media does not allow these types of statements to be made over the airwaves.  Primarily because large corporations, like Peabody Coal, are still exploiting, and harming Native peoples and their land. 

This comment provoked me to think.  Had I touched on a taboo subject?  Could I have just opened a Pandora’s Box?   Is that why my interview ended so abruptly? These and many other questions began to race though my mind, and prompted me to conduct more research.  Ultimately, I traveled to the Pacific Northwest, and what I subsequently learned was startling.

In late June, I traveled west to find physical evidence regarding the “Legend of JC Brown.”  A friend of mine, who is very involved with the Native community in Western Washington, introduced me to a Salish Tribal elder. My friend told the tribal elder that I was researching a legend that had to do with Mt. Shasta and the people who live beneath it. He nodded and smiled, conveying to us his approval.   He was curious about what I had learned and wanted to know more about the legend of J.C. Brown.

After telling him about what I had uncovered during my research: how J.C. Brown had discovered an underground tunnel beneath Mt. Shasta: how he found bones, hieroglyphics, and giant skeletons, the tribal elder smiled again.  He said, “The giants you are referring to do exist. We call them the “Tall Ones;” they are our ancestors. (at this point, I could hardly contain my excitement.)  He went on to say that his people have legends about the “Tall Ones,” and that he has spoken to people that have seen them. He explained that people have been interacting with the “tall ones” to this very day.  (I was now on the edge of my seat.)

As I listened to him tell me of first-hand accounts of sightings: not only the tall one’s but of Bigfoot, or “Sasquach,” I realized that what he had to say to me dovetailed exquisitely with my research! Not only that, but I would soon begin to realize that all of the volcano’s in the Pacific Northwest housed underground dwellings.  

As a resultant consequence of my association with members of the local Native population, I have become passionately involved in researching their history, and why there are reservations, and as a corollary, I have learned more about my own European history as well.  I have been reading such books as: Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact, by Vine Deloria, Jr., A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas – 1492 to the Present, by Ward Churchill, and When the Great Spirit Died: The Destruction of the California Indians: 1850 – 1860, by William B. Secrest.

Subsequently, I learned valuable information that I had never learned in school.  For example, I discovered that there are multiple theories on how the indigenous population arrived in the western hemisphere.  Moreover, I learned that the dominant culture has a vested interest in promoting a perspective that is the complete antithesis of the Indigenous population.  Why? Maybe, because it is being used as a rationale for Manifest Destiny, colonization, and genocide.  Accordingly, all of my research has led me to certain conclusions with regard to the treatment of our Native population.

In Closing, I would like to pose the following questions: Was there more to the poisoning at the treaty signing, than simply the obvious acquisition of land? Could it be that the Natives had information that would rewrite history? Could it be that the truth was to remain buried with the victims of the treaty signing?