& 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. What Is the Story Behind This Little Piggy? A franchise rich in tradition and success spanning several decades, the San Francisco 49ers are one of the pillars of the NFL. Murder did the rest. Some four or five Indians were present, witnesses to the transaction, and they pursued the murderer, caught him and carried him before a magistrate. Established in 1944, they are one of the oldest teams in the league. An arrowhead was chosen. This era has made the 49ers, statistically, one of the most successful teams in the NFL. between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City . During his 23 years owning the team, the 49ers won five Super Bowls under head coaches Walsh and George Seifert: Super Bowl XVI in 1982, XIX in 1985, XXIII in 1989, XXIV 1990, and XXIX in 1995. Similarly, cheering for the San Francisco 49ers after learning about the history of the California Gold Rush, in which white people oppressed and enslaved Native Americans on land that the United States had recently stolen from Mexico, means cheering for racism. What Makes it So Hot? What is a caste system and how do they work? A Definition and Overview. Just where did the Rams get their name? In fact, James Marshall and John Sutter, the two men linked with the start of one of the most pivotal events in California history, never got rich. Houston Colt .45s? Only weeks into the job, a heartsick Beale wrote to Lea, his boss, describing the desperate situation. This slave trade lasted well into the 1870s with slave markets in San Francisco still functioning until they simply ran out of people to sell. That was followed by the Mexican Repatriation movement in the 1920s and 1930s and Operation Wetback in the 1950s, which changed the governments target from Spanish Indians to just Mexicans. Both titles were code for ethnically cleansing brown people, many with Indigenous backgrounds and almost all with American citizenship expatriating people from the U.S. to present-day Mexico, where none of them had ever set foot. It took until 1970 for the 49ers to win their first divisional championship. I know they starve; I know they perish by hundreds It is a crying sin that our government, so wealthy and so powerful, should shut its eyes to the miserable fate of these rightful owners of the soil.. The Sporcle Guide on How to Disable Your Ad Blocker, 24 of the Best Sites to Kill Time On the Internet, 101 More Interesting Trivia Facts That Will Blow Your Mind. In 2008, Jed became president of the franchise, with his parents transitioning to co-chairmen. Gidget Alikpala G_Alikpala. The wide receiver generated a lot of offseason chatter by expressing his displeasure regarding his contract . With Montana, they became the standard against which every QB/WR duo would be judged. It has stayed in the city since then. Following an 8-8 regular season in 2014, the 49ers agreed to part ways with Harbaugh. In one of the earliest conflicts, a group of white miners from Oregon barged into the nearby Maidu hamlet, beat and shot the men, and savagely assaulted a number of the women. The 49ers then enacted the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians, also called Chapter 133, which, contrary to its name, stripped Californias Indians of nearly all legal protections. Nothing, ever, is set in stone. They were working along the American River near what is now Coloma, California, when they cracked open a vein of gold. But first, Taylor had to bring civil order to California, and that meant statehood. While he was kept there, Sutter worked him hard and then fed him in troughs. When the NFL moved The Texans to Kansas City in the early 1960s, the team needed a new name. O'Loughlinnoted that "there's a lot of oil companies who've come into areas of Indian country where they have these man camps, and there's a lot of girls that have gone missing, [and] there's no data, law enforcement doesn't respond or act.". In 1848, at Sutters Mill, roughly 130 miles from what is now San Francisco, gold was discovered. Theres no way you could go wrong. When the AAFC folded three years later, the 49ers joined the NFL in 1950. When the California Gold Rush began in 1848, American football didnt exist. The following year, The Sacramento Union published this news item: An Indian was murdered in Santa Barbara recently under circumstances which call loudly for the establishment of a Vigilance Committee. Pro Football Network strives to passionately deliver purposeful, captivating, and exceptional football content. Blind fury! Some died due to the seizure of their land, some due to disease, and many were murdered in cold blood, not only sanctioned but encouraged by California's government. As American history textbook author David Henry Montgomery wrote ratherromantically in 1899, they are remembered as people who "with pan and shovel" managed to "give us firm possession of the Pacific coast, since it rapidly settled the wilderness of California with a population of energetic and determined men." The dont have to dead end. Theyd raid Indigenous towns, kill all the men, and then take the women and children to slave markets to be sold to miners as free labor. In 1985, the 49ers selected Jerry Rice out of Mississippi Valley State. By David Bonilla. All rights reserved. Not everybody reaches a point within their traditional community to and I'm going back 150 years and not everybody had the right and ability to put warrior paint on their face. During one game against the Washington Redskins a team whose name is a literal ethnic slur against Native Americans (an infamous 2016 poll tried to prove that 90 percent of Native Americans were "not bothered" by the name, but did nothing to verify that respondents were actually Native American and/or enrolled in tribes) Native American Journalists Association founder Tim Giagorecalled that "a group of white fans brought a couple of small pigs they had painted red, pigs with tiny war bonnets and feathers attached to their heads, and ran them around the fifty yard line at halftime. That was a nice step. At the time, they were playing in the All-America Football Conference and would end up being the first major sports franchise to play for San Francisco. Let's start with the 49ers named after the Americans who came to California in 1849 during the Gold Rush specifically, and more generally after the Gold Rush pioneers since the problem with. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Dear Abby: Why do they imply my husband is a freak? In December of 2008, John and Denise announced that Jed, their son, would become team president and operating head of the franchise while they would become co-chairpersons. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the Mexican-American War hero Zachary Taylor swept into the White House with fresh vigor. There is a reason why we play the national anthem before most sporting events; why it has been a cherished tradition for presidents to throw the ceremonial first pitch on baseball's opening day since the administration of William Howard Taft; why we've had a president, Gerald Ford, who first became famous for being a star football player at the University of Michigan; and why another president, Ronald Reagan, delayed his second-term inauguration ceremony by a day so that it wouldn't conflict with Super Bowl XIX (where he performed the coin toss). While the team colors of red and gold are certainly a nod to the whole gold rush aspect of the 49ers name, their official mascot takes the NorCal representation to new heights. Why Are They Called the San Francisco 49ers? And building a better future. They would end up winning multiple Super Bowls in this era, in 1984, 1988, 1989, and 1994. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. The sleeping Indians werent even members of the same Maidu tribe, but to the miners, it didnt matter: Indian was Indian. Why Is it Called Death Valley? Surely enough, the 49ers have become one of the most successful teams in the NFL. "The name Chiefs on its own by itself may not be offensive, right? Hired in 2011, Harbaugh guided the 49ers to a 13-3 record in his first year, culminating in an overtime loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants in the NFC Championship. As Jed York serves as the team's president, who is the owner of the San Francisco 49ers, and what is the history of the franchise? Forgot password? He was initially a director of strategic planning for the 49ers before being promoted to vice president of strategic planning. His diverse interests are reflected in his interviews including: President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (1999-2001), animal scientist and autism activist Temple Grandin, inventor Ern Rubik, comedian Bill Burr ("F Is for Family"), novelist James Patterson ("The President's Daughter"), epidemiologist Monica Gandhi, theoretical cosmologist Janna Levin, voice actor Rob Paulsen ("Animaniacs"), mRNA vaccine pioneer Katalin Karik, philosopher of science Vinciane Despret, actor George Takei ("Star Trek"), climatologist Michael E. Mann, Washington Gov. Its called a genocide, Newsom said. What Do Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, And Lent Mean? A century after the Gold Rush, the 49ers were. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. In 1978, DeBartolo Sr. purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL and established Denise as the owner and president of the team. They were the 49ers from the start. The census of 1880 recorded just 16,277 Indians in California, a 90 percent decline from preGold Rush days. So understand this: when Indigenous people see Sourdough Sam, the 49ers mascot, they may very well think of the sheer audacity it takes to whitewash an actual genocide with a smiling, blue-eyed miner rather than a folk hero. That, to me, provides some hope. Thats what it was: a genocide. The federal government, Lea added, should supply Indians there with farming tools, cloth, and livestock; assist them with housing; and secure for them intellectual, moral, and religious education. Sourdough Sam has been the teams rootin tootin unblinkin mascot since the 1970s (though the image of a wily, trigger-happy prospector goes back to the early days of the team). America only achieved possession of it through imperialism in part by having white settlers colonize the land and eventually declare that a section of it should be "independent" of Mexico. Jed York, the son of Denise and John, has been involved with the team after leaving his job as a financial analyst for Guggenheim Partners at their New York City offices. The old 49er has long been a beloved figure in the states lore. Zachary Taylors Indian affairs commissioner embraced reservations as the answer to the Indian problem in the West. The precedent was set by a Swiss immigrant named John Sutterwho ventured to California in 1841, and was followed by others who attempted to make their fortune in the so-called Wild West. As you watch Super Bowl LIV, bear in mind that rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs and taking no issue with either their mascot or their fans' traditions means rooting for racism. So why are we still fair game? While other teams would end up adapting this method by putting more players on the line of scrimmage to rush the quarterback, this formation has been used in football ever since. In 1849, more than 100,000 people, mostly men, traveled to the region. In early February, the Washington football team announced their new name, the Washington Commanders. To a 49er miner, an Indigenous woman or child was nothing more than a pick-ax when it broke, you simply had to buy a new one. What did Georgias Nolan Smith say at the NFL Combine about the death of his teammate Devin Willock? Legal issues were what drove DeBartolo Jr. away from the team. The voided agreements would not see the light of day again until 1905. ", Allis said that these things could be used either ceremonially or before someone went off to battle and added "it kind of portrays an image of a warrior savage. But sports are, and always have been, inherently political sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. This huge influx of new arrivals helped speed up Californias admittance to the Union as the 31st state in 1850, a mere two years after the U.S. had been awarded the territory under the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War. The team's name is a nod to history. President Millard Fillmore, Taylors successor, appointed a superintendent of Indian affairs for California, a man named Edward Beale, and charged him with moving the states remnant Native American population onto reservations that encompassed roughly one-one-hundredth of the statenot the one-seventh promised. Not because of some left/right or politically correct/progressive agenda. They then took the extraordinary measure of ordering the treaties filed under an injunction of secrecy and transferred to an obscure federal archive, which held them for more than 50 years. There are more historic parallels between the team and the historical context of its name: The 49ers were the first NFL team, and, in fact, the first major professional sports team to originate on the West Coast. Being unseen or unconsidered on the national stage is clearly harming the Indigenous community. (In San Francisco alone, the citys population soared from a thousand residents in 1848 to 20,000 citizens just two years later.) Southerners used the term for Black people who didn't "know their place" and coupled it with a racial slur. Of all those who came to California, some 49ers grew wealthy but it was the merchantsthose that sold goods and services to the gold seekerswho typically made more money than the miners. Is It Called Presidents Day Or Washingtons Birthday? So for me, this can only boil down to education, or a lack thereof. Aaron Rodgers reaches 500 career touchdowns, to kill Native American men and seize women and children, How did the Los Angeles Rams get their name? Martin O'Malley (2007-2015), computer engineer and Internet co-inventor Leonard Kleinrock and right-wing insurrectionist Roger Stone. Because roughly 80% of the U.S. population was white in the 1960s, it's safe. Still, there are a lot of them. There was actually a write-in contest for local Kansas City denizens to name the team. Are you an NFL fan? The teams mascot was a gold miner named Sourdough Sam (pictured above). The modern San Francisco 49ers draws quite a bit from this inspiration. Meeting in a closed-door executive session on July 8, 1852, a majority of senators voted to reject all 18 treaties. But it was not until DeBartolo Jr. took over that the 49ers found the success that redefined the modern NFL. The winner that shook out was an honorific for a local mayor whose nickname was Chief. This is due to said mayor starting a Boy Scout club that ripped off Native American rituals and paired it with Hollywood-inspired iconography, but thats another fight for another day. Sure, people should feel free to enjoy the Super Bowl if they like. Thats the positive news. It should go without saying that it is wrong to perpetuate stereotypical imagery, engage in cultural appropriation and reduce centuries of oppression and suffering into a cartoonish punchline to inspire sports fans. Colin Kaepernick was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1987. It was also the last season the family was involved with the team. Origin and meaning The San Francisco 49ers scored a stunning upset against the top-seeded Green Bay Packers, earning themselves a shot at the NFC Championship. The 49ers are not the only professional franchise the York family has shaped In 1978, DeBartolo Sr. purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL and established Denise as the owner and president of the team. Within 20 years of the start of the Gold Rush, 80 percent of California's Native Americans were wiped out; 100,000 perished during the first two years alone. Did you encounter any technical issues? Few professional organizations have the history of the 49ers. Chances are that football fans may be rooting for (or against) the team without really thinking about how odd of a name that is. Yet the same men and women who attempted to become wealthy off of the precious metals in the earth exploited, enslaved and even murdered the indigenous people in what's now the state of California in order to do so. The-CNN-Wire The All-American Football League would end up dissolving and merging with rival the National Football League after the teams first season, along with teams like the Baltimore Colts and Cleveland Browns. Laws by the U.S. government like Greaser Act in the 1850s sought to ethnically cleanse Spanish Indians from California. Seriously, help me get it. Political reality demands it. Perhaps the clearest throwback to the inspiration, though, is the team mascot, Sourdough Sam. All rights reserved. Why Do Cats Knock Things Over All the Time? The origin of the Kansas City Chiefs' team name may not be what you think: The team was named after former Kansas City mayor H. Roe Bartle. Redface. And yes, it all connects: According to legend, French prospectors were the first to bring the chewy, tangy sourdough recipe to northern California during the gold rush, and it was first popularized in San Franciscos Boudin Bakery in you guessed it 1849. As white people continued to swarm into Native American land and consume their resources, it became difficult for communities that had once thrived to find the materials necessary to sustain themselves. Caste system and how do they imply my husband is a caste system and how they. Fact CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness husband is a freak in closed-door. 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