Campo Indian Reservation

The Campo Indian Reservation is home to the Campo Band of Diegueňo Mission Indians, also known as the Campo Kumeyaay Nation, a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay people in the southern Laguna Mountains, in eastern San Diego County, California. The reservation was founded in 1893 and is 16512acre large.The reservation can be found “in the southeastern San Diego County atop the Laguna Mountains”. Originally the location was set on 710 acres on in 1893. Eighty additional acres were added in the winter of 1907, and another 13,610 acres were added in 1911. “All land on Campo is tribal-owned land; there are presently no allotments or assignments”.HistoryPre-ContactThe sovereign land of the Kumeyaay Nation ranged from the Northern outskirts of modern San Diego county to the western borders of the imperial valley and the northern tip of Baja California, Mexico. There were many clans of the Kumeyaay nation, one being the Campo. The multiple clans would join together when in combat with neighboring threats.Post-ContactThe Campo and their neighboring clans resisted the Spanish missionaries and soldiers. Notably, the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, founded in 1769, proved to be troubling for the tribe and many revolts broke out. “The most famous of these was the attack and destruction of the San Diego Mission in 1775”.After the Mexican Revolution, the new Mexican government enforced a secularization of the Mission system. Most of the Missions became ranches where most Indian tribes of the region were forced to labor.In response multiple Indian revolts and raids in the region brought destruction to many of the Rachos. “By 1842, the Ranchos had been abandoned and the warriors were attacking the last stronghold, the City of San Diego”, however the city was not destroyed.