JOSEPH KRALJ

CROATIANS SCALPED BY INDIANS

Thousands of Croatians joined in the mad rush to seek their fortunes.  Among them was Josip Kralj (Joseph King) from Mrkopolje, in Gorski Kotar, who left home in 1852 with his godfather, boarded a ship in Bremen and several weeks later arrived in New York. Unable to find work there, the two men traveled west in 1853 to Duluth, Minnesota.  

That Spring they met three other Croatians from Novi Vindolski, one of whom suggested that they all go to California to seek gold.  The trek to California proved difficult and dangerous.  Kralj’s godfather died and was buried in Montana.

 Kralj and his companions then joined a covered wagon caravan which was attacked by Indians. Many of the party were killed in the attack, including two of the Croatians from Novi VIndolski, who were scalped.  Only Kralj and one other Croatian made it to California.

Eventually Kralj went his own way, supporting himself by mining for gold and working as a blacksmith. He then spent about six years traveling and working in Northern California and Oregon before leaving for the desert of Central Nevada with a group of hunters and gold seekers.  These men did not find gold, but did find plenty of trouble with the Indians, who attacked and killed all of the group except for Kralj, who survived the accident.  The Cheyenne took Kralj to one of their villages and held him for two years until 1861.  He was freed only after the Indian tribe lost a skirmish with army troops, whereupon he returned to San Francisco.

In 1862 Kralj left for the Sierra Nevadas to search for gold.  Fully aware of the risks involved, he deposited his journal, documents, and money (about $2,000) at the Austrian consulate in San Francisco with instructions that these items not be sent to Croatia until two years passed.

Kralj never returned to San Francisco, nor did he send any message. After three years of waiting the consul sent the belongings to Croatia.  It is not known who received the belongings, but most likely it was his family. Kralj’s journal was printed however, in Dom i Svijet (Home and the World) at the beginning of this century.  This account of a Croatian adventurer vividly captures the experiences of only a few of the thousands of Croatians involved in the search for gold and riches in the rugged and wild American West in the nineteenth century.