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Massacre Natural Bridge is a natural limestone bridge over Bridge Creek near Hayfork, California. It spans 150 feet in length & is 30-50 feet in height. Overtime eons of erosion of the limestone from the creek has led to the formation of this bridge to its present size & shape today. The immediate area is also home to a number of cave openings as well this section of travertine terracing & water pools inside an inner cave w/ recent graffiti on the walls. From here it is low crawling to get far back in.
The name of this natural bridge is associated w/ the massacre of 150 Wintu Indians that occurred on April 23, 1852 at this site. About 70 American men led by William H. Dixon conducted the massacre in response to the killing of Colonel John Anderson by the Wintu, though it was a different band of Indians that had actually coordinated that attack. This was at a time where the white settlers settling in the area had found the native Indians as subhuman or inferior to them, & w/ no laws forbading the killing the the Native Indians, had leading to numerous massacres throughout the region that has been overall associated as the California Genocide. Also known today as Bridge Gulch Massacre, this location is now a sacred site to the modern Wintu tribes today.
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