Learning from groups in history- the 49ers

Being from California, I grew up learning about the Gold Rush and John Sutter. I recently started thinking about what we might be able to learn that could help us in our prepping. I had originally thought about how the miners had traveled, but then I changed my perspective. I read this article found here:http://www.historichwy49.com/goldrush.html In it was this quote,

Sutter's agricultural enterprises began to fall apart. He got his wheat harvested, but there was no one to thrash it. The stone wheels of his grist mill never produced any flour. Hides rotted in his tannery vats. Squatters settled in brush shelters in his fields and vandalized the fort itself, stealing, according to Sutter, even the bells from his fort.

This got me to thinking about evacuations and the impact that people could have as they leave the cities, or flock to the cities. It also made me think about Katrina and the evacuations that happened there. From what I understand refugees from Katrina were "hard" on their hosts. Meaning that they left garbage, and damaged property for their hosts to have to deal with after they left. It certainly seems that John Sutter had to deal with the loss of business, and the damage of his property.
So how to avoid strange masses squatting on your land? I believe that is why so many people have considered arms. Still it is something to consider and prepare for. I know that others have talked about having extra food so that they can share with people passing by. I've heard others talk about trying to hide, or disguise their property so that it looks abandoned, but I almost think this is more dangerous because you are practically inviting someone to come to the property to squat. It's really hard to know what the best course of action is. That's why I've been looking at history. John Sutter couldn't keep the gold there quiet, if he had been better prepared for the squatters he may have been better able to take control of the situation, and perhaps come out ahead. The one thing for sure is that he hadn't planned on squatters and therefore his business suffered and was damaged. Lesson learned prepare for people, extra people you'll want to keep around and some you won't. How to deal with them is really up to each individual group.