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The Mussel Slough Tragedy was a dispute over land titles between settlers and Southern Pacific Railroad that took place on May 11, 1880 in what is now Hanford, California, leaving seven people dead. Frank Norris' 1901 novel, The Octopus: A California Story, was inspired by this incident, as was W. C. Morrow's 1882 novel Blood-Money.

Contents 1 Background 2 The Mussel Slough Tragedy 3 Further reading 4 References 4.1 Cited 4.2 Uncited

The Mussel Slough region was a portion of Tulare County, California (before the creation of Kings County) that took its name from a slough which went from the Kings River to Tulare Lake. This area had remained unsettled as it was a broad, dry plain — good for cattle but not especially for other farming. However, in 1866 Congress authorized the railroad companies to build a line through the area. As such, the land there was expected to appreciate considerably.

Settlers had begun to file for homesteads in the area on the railroad lands starting in 1869, in anticipation of the completion of the line. In 1872, Central Pacific Railroad completed work to Goshen from the north and Southern Pacific was to construct the southern portion. When the settlers attempted to acquire their land, the price of the land was significantly greater than what they had been led to believe (SP's brochure had implied $2.50/acre^[1]), and they protested against the railroads, but to no avail. SP won a court judgement in 1878 against the settlers, amidst allegations of court bias (Governor Leland Stanford was also president of SP).

While the issue was still pending in court, SP decided to change the course of the route, claiming that was its prerogative, despite the Department of the Interior having already granted homestead rights. Those who had been building homes along the previous course were distraught. To add insult to injury, the United States Supreme Court ruled that SP still owned the lands, even though they were not going to build the rail line there anymore. As such, SP was justified to reclaim the land without compensation unless the settlers were willing to pay their asking price, now up to $35/acre.

On May 11, 1880, a picnic was being held in Hanford, when word reached the picnickers that four "railroad men" (A U.S. Marshal, an SP land appraiser, and two locals) were actively evicting settlers on railroad lands, and a group of about twenty people left to confront them. However, the rumors were incorrect as what was really taking place; they were really purchasing the land (and any improvements) from settlers who had refused to pay SP's asking price.

The posse met at a farm just outside Grangeville, which is near Hanford. Emotions were tense and shooting broke out, although it is unclear what sparked the fight, or even who shot whom first. Five men died on the scene, one was fatally wounded, and one was later killed in his own home by "parties unknown" (another participant died of pneumonia, probably weakened after being wounded). The marshal and the SP employee did not participate in the battle and left immediately after the incident, possibly defusing tensions enough to avoid further bloodshed.

Seventeen people were indicted by a federal grand jury and five were found guilty of willfully interfering with a marshal in performance of his duties. Such was the anti-railroad sentiment that the five were looked upon as heroes across California, and those killed were considered martyrs who had given their lives for a cause.

The affair brought such a shock that people were sobered. They had lost their legal fight, and they saw that there was nothing to be gained by any other kind of fight. The railroad company made a small concession in their favor by a slight reduction in its price scale. In the end, most of the settlers bought the land on which they had lived.

The incident only acquired the "tragedy" label in the early 1900s, when it was adopted by anti-railroad factions as a rallying theme, about two decades after the worst of the land problems were past.

The site of the episode is now registered as California Historical Landmark #245.

• Beers, Terry (ed.) (2004). Gunfight at Mussel Slough: Evolution of the Western Myth. Heyday Books. ISBN 1-890771-82-1. 
• Brown, J.L. (2001). The Mussel Slough Tragedy. Kings River Press. ISBN 0-9675420-1-4. 
• Norris, Frank (1901). The Octopus: A Story of California. Doubleday. ISBN 0-14-018770-7. 

• Gomes, Ruth, "Tragedy at Mussel Slough", The Hanford Sentinel, May 12, 1980
• "The Railroads and the Mussel Slough Trouble", Kings County Office of Education