LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Dr. John Parker will give a presentation on the Kelsey brothers at the Ely Stage Stop Museum on Saturday, Oct. 9.

“The Kelsey Brothers: A California Disaster” will begin at 2 p.m. in the museum’s Red Barn, 9921 Soda Bay Road, just north of Kitt's Corner.

The talk covers two of Lake County's Native American massacres, Buckingham Island in 1843 and Bloody Island in 1850.

Dr. Parker has reviewed and pieced together detailed accounts of the events as presented by Native American elders, local residents and government agents.

In this PowerPoint presentation, he follows the Kelsey brothers and their family from Kentucky and Missouri to California.

He sets the stage in California with the existing Native American culture and Mexican takeover.

Using diary entries and recorded interviews, Parker outlines the activities that led to the Buckingham Island massacre, the Stone and Kelsey killing, and the Bloody Island massacre. He then follows the surviving Kelsey brothers as they terrorize their way through California.

The talk is a description based on what is currently known about the events and allows the viewer to make up their own minds about where the events belong in history.