Future of Kelseyville’s name — tied to killer of Pomo people — rests with state, federal officials

DESCENDANTS OF THE POMO who survived the 1850 Bloody Island Massacre still live around Clear Lake. Many can’t drive into town without passing a name that, to them, honors one of the men whose cruelty drew the soldiers down on their families.

The town is Kelseyville. The man was Andrew Kelsey. And after years of petitions, a costly ballot measure and a split vote of the county’s own supervisors, the decision has moved out of local hands — to a state committee that takes it up later this month, and a federal board that will have the last word.