Our proposal to rename Kelseyville to Konocti is on the Board on Geographic Names (BGN) January 2024 Quarterly Review List at Review List 454 January 23, 2024

For convenience, the text of the case has been extracted from that large document:
The Extracted Case in PDF Format (Better for viewing and printing)
The Extracted Case in WEB Format (Better for copying text)

This update to our application addresses issues that have been raised during the four-year process of our efforts to rename Kelseyville to Konocti, and adds some historical information

The issues we have identified are:

1. Is the commemoration of the name of Andy Kelsey offensive to the Tribes of Lake County, and will changing the town name lead to healing?
2. Did C4H adequately involve the community in their proposal?
3. Did C4H obtain tribal support before submitting their BGN application?
4. Did the BoS correctly make its recommendation despite Advisory Measure U?
5. Are the costs relating to the name change acceptable?
6. Was Kelseyville named after Andy Kelsey, and not some other person?

Our documentation shows that the answer to all those questions is "Yes".

The text of "Issue 6 Was Kelseyville named after Andy Kelsey, and not some other person?" has been updated to describe the early history of trappers in Lake County.

A copy of the application, and supporting documentation are linked here.
Updated version 5/8/25. Printed PDF documents are updated to "V3, even if there was no "V2" or "V1".

Name	Web	Printable	PDF
Application and Supporting Documents (This page)	application.php	application-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_APPLICATION_V3.pdf
The application cover letter	Cover Letter	x	x
The application	x	x	CA_KONOCTI.pdf
The location, with maps	maps.php	maps-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_MAPS.pdf
Name Details	why.php	why-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_NAMEDETAILS_V3.pdf
About Us Details	about.php	about-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_ABOUT_V3.pdf
Tribal Support Details	tribal.php	tribal-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_TRIBAL_V3.pdf
Issues	issues.php	issues-print-links.php	CA_KONOCTI_ISSUES_LINKS_V3_1.pdf (Print with links to other pages)
		issues-print-details.php	CA_KONOCTI_ISSUES_DETAILS_V3_1.pdf (Print with other pages inline)
Measure-U Details	measure-u.php	measure-u-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_MEASURE_U_V3.pdf
Cost Details	costs.php	costs-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_COSTS_V3.pdf
Kelseyville Name Details	kvname.php	kvname-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_KVNAME_V3_1.pdf
Signatures in Support	x	x	CA_KONOCTI_SIGNATURES.pdf
Lake County Board of Supervisors Proclamation	x	x	CA_KONOCTI_PROCLAIM.pdf
Letter of Support from Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake	x	x	CA_KONOCTI_HABEMATOLEL.PDF
Clovice Lewis - What's In A Name	x	x	CA_KONOCTI_LEWIS_WhatsInAName.pdf
Clovice Lewis - Environmental Justice The Elem	x	x	CA_KNOCTI_LEWIS_EnvJusticeElem.pdf
Big Valley History	bvhistory-endrefs.php	bvhistory-endrefs-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_BIGVALLEY_V3.pdf
Lake County Visioning Forum	lcvisioning.php	lcvisioning-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_LC_VISIONING.pdf
Sides to BGN - Fear Mongering at the KVUSD Meeting	x	x	kvusd-sides-fearmongering.pdf
C4H to BGN - Comments on the KVUSD Meeting	kvusd-response.php	kvusd-response-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_KVUSD_RESPONSE.pdf
Lake County Supervisors	x	x	BoS to BGN Approval

The following have been submitted to the BGN, or are referenced from submitted documents.
Name	Web	Printable	PDF
Rebuttal to "Save the Name of Kelseyville" Version 2 (by Lorna Sides & Alan Fletcher)	stnk-rebuttal-v2.php	stnk-rebuttal-print-v2.php	CA_KONOCTI_STNK_REBUTTAL_AF_V2.pdf
Kelsey Names Rebuttal	stnk-knames.php	stnk-knames-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_STNK-NAME-KELSEY_REBUT_V3.pdf
Rebuttal to Marilyn Holdenried Record Bee Letter	measure-u-mhrebut.php	measure-u-mhrebut-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_MEASURE_U_MHREBUT_V3.pdf
The following have not been formally submitted. Some are incomplete drafts.
Name	Web	Printable	PDF
Rebuttal to "Save Kelseyville" Press Democrat opinion	stnk-pd.php	stnk-pd-print.php	CA_KONOCTI_SK_PD_V3.pdf

Thunder and Wolves by Eric Clow

This short film covers the whole sweep of the history of this period.

A 3-Page History of Tribes and Settlers in Big Valley, from first contact in 1830 through 1900 - By Alan Fletcher

This is a very short outline of the main events (and relies heavily on Dr Parker's timeline in "A California Disaster" below.)

A History of Tribes and Settlers in Big Valley - By Alan Fletcher

This is a longer (8-pages + references) history, based on the same research as the short version.

Our hope is that after you have read this account you will be unable to explain how one could NOT take offense at the continuing use of the hurtful name "Kelseyville".

The Kelsey Brothers: A California Disaster - By Dr John Parker

This is a detailed history of the first settlers: Salvador Vallejo and the Kelsey Brothers

In particular, Dr Parker looks at all the evidence surrounding the execution of Andy Kelsey and Charles Stone, and of the Bloody Island Massacre.

A full version was presented at the Ely Stage Stop Museum, on Saturday October 9th, 2021. It was videotaped by Euston Productions, and can be viewed here : https://youtu.be/A6ylHq8H600 Dr Parker presented a shorter version at one of the C4H meetings.

An Act of Survival - By Kevin Engle

This covers the history of the Kelsey Brothers before and after their time in Lake County.

This was written specially for C4H, and was presented at a C4H meeting.

What's In a Name: a talk by Clovice Lewis

The text of this talk has been submitted to the BGN, and is on this site as What's In A Name (text)

Rev Lewis also submitted a related document: Environmental Injustice: The Elem Colony of Pomo Indians

There were several press articles on the proposed renaming of Kelsyville:

• 'We Always Have Our Ancestors Within Us': Scenes From Bloody Island's Sunrise Ceremony (KQED May 2021)
  
  
• Lake County group working to change the name of Kelseyville to redress violence against tribes (Press Democrat - March 2022)
  This appeared in print with a different title "Kelseyille reckoning with tainted legacy". It has interviews with people for and against the proposal.
• It's way past time Kelseyville rebranded (Record Bee - March 2022)
  
  
• Trying to erase an ugly legacy (Record Bee - April 2022)
  
  
• What's In a Name? Online title: Kelseyville was named for a man who slaughtered Native Americans. Should a town still be named for him? (Press Democrat - Feb 18, 2024: pages A1, A11, A12)
  
  
• Rose by another name clears air if Kelseyville turns to Konocti Feb 23, 2024 (Print A1, A2)
  
  
• Kelseyville Unified hears from community about land acknowledgement, Indigenous peoples resolution (LakeCoNews May 7, 2024)
  
  KVUSD Response and Email Sides to BGN: Fearmongering:
  
  
• A town's name recalls the massacre of Indigenous people. Will changing it bring healing? (LA Times Aug 2024)
  
  
• Measure U: Lack of clarity and communication create problematic process in Kelseyville's name change effort (LakeCoNews Nov 2024

KPFZ 88.1 FM radio has had numerous shows covering the proposed renaming. For example:

• Citizen Lake has had several 1-hour shows on the name change
• Voice of White Plume hosted by Clayton Duncan (weekly)
• Tribal Voices hosted by Jim and Gail Brown (weekly)
• Wordweavers. Interview with Robert Geary
• Audio of Dr Parker's talk at the Ely stage stop.
• Interview with tribal member Lorens Moriarty, and (previous chairaman) Les Miller

Reclamation Road Mostly about Bloody Island.

NPR : A Walk Through Time : Anderson Marsh (30 minutes)


They were some of California's most brutal slave owners: Their deaths sparked a massacre - San Francisco Chronicle.

Meet the Kelsey Brothers, A Brief History By Dwain Goforth, who was the Lake County Assistant Museum Curator from 2006 until 2014 and has resided in the town currently called Kelseyville since 2003.

The ACLU (Northern California) has a series on "Gold Chains - The hidden history of slavery in California". Of particular interest are:

Bloody Island Massacre As many as 200 Pomo were killed on the island and in the surrounding area. Many women and children were stabbed with bayonets. One of the few survivors was a 6-year-old girl named Ni'ka, later known as Lucy Moore, who hid in the bloodied waters and survived by breathing air through a reed. The seeds of this bloody conflict can be traced back to 1847 when two white settlers, Charles Stone and Andrew Kelsey, bought a cattle ranch where they kept several hundred local Pomo men as slave laborers.

Rosa: Kidnapped, Sold, and Killed Rosa was between 10 and 12 years old and was believed to be from either the Yuki or Pomo tribe. In the winter of 1862, she was beaten and left to die in a snowstorm by a woman who had been granted legal custody of her under the law.

Our main sources are : The Mauldin Files, Gibbs, McKee, Powers, Palmer, Barrett, Gifford, Heizer (Handbook, Collected files), McLendon (Handbook, Word List), Elliot, Parker (Archeology, California Disaster) and Engle (Act of Survival).

Table of Sources