L. T. Eugene Ness papers

The L. T. Eugene Ness papers primarily document relations between the Mission Indians of California and the United States government during the years 1934-1937. There is also information in the collection on the history of this relationship from the 1850s on, particularly centering on land issues and claims unresolved from the "Eighteen Lost Treaties." The major part of the collection consists of over 130 letters, which reveal the political conditions under which the Indians lived, and the efforts that were made to improve that situation. The Ness correspondence includes incoming and outgoing letters to and from Federal and California government officials, including the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier, and members of Congress, and letters to and by other lawyers representing the Indians, as well as Indian individuals and groups. The correspondence pertains to the El Capitan Grande Indian Reservation near San Diego, and the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation near Palm Springs, California.

The printed material was created by Indian groups as well as the Federal government. There are circulars from the American Indian Federation and Indians of California, Incorporated to their members dealing with issues related to the Wheeler-Howard Act, the campaign to remove John Collier as Commissioner for Indian Affairs, and statements of Indian rights under Citizenship. The Indian magazines also provide general information, but there are only eleven scattered issues of seven different titles, including California Indian News, The American Indian, Indian Truth, Bureaucracy a LaMode, American Indian Life, and The Indian Demands Defense. The United States government printed material includes hearings before Congressional Committees, such as the California Indians Jurisdictional Act, 1935 (S.1793); the California Indians Jurisdictional Act, 1937 (S.1651, S.1779); and the Palm Springs Band of Mission Indians, 1937 (S.1424, S.2589); bills and reports for S.1793, S.1424, as well as related House bills and reports. The clippings deal mostly with Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier, whom the Mission Indians opposed in regards to his perceived actions maintaining the Indians as "political wards."

Also included in the collection are maps of Palm Springs, San Diego County and City, and the Agua Caliente and Los Coyotes Indian Reservations of Southern California, as well as research notes. Included in these notes is a handwritten copy of an 1893 agreement between the United States government and the Yuma Indians of California which gave the Secretary of the Interior control over Yuma land and the abandoned Fort Yuma Military Reservation in order to set up the Yuma Indian Reservation.