Contra Costa County CA Archives History - Books .....Aborigines 1882
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Book Title: History Of Contra Costa County, California

   ABORIGINES.—The beautiful valleys and mountain recesses of the Contra Costa
afforded a grand home for the aboriginal tribes. Here they swarmed in large
numbers, went through the drama of life, birth, consorting and death, with an
almost stolid indifference. How far back in the course of time this race
extends, or whence came their progenitors, no man knoweth. If, as some
scientists assert, the very first evidences of the human race appear on the
Pacific Coast (at Angel's Camp, Tuolumne County), why should we doubt that they
are the descendants of this primitive race? Wars, disease, natural phenomena,
and other causes have conspired to destroy the original race from the face of
the earth, or it may have remained for the pale-faced progeny of a kindred, yet
far removed race, to perform the final act in the great drama of their existence
as a people. Be that as it may, the great fact still remains, that when the
Caucasians came to this coast they found it inhabited by a race of
copper-colored people of peculiar physique and habits, differing widely from
their brethren of the East, the Alonquins. The district now known as Contra
Costa was no exception to the general rule, but> was infested by a horde of
these rude barbarians. To describe this people, their habits and customs, will
be the object of the following remarks.

   It is generally supposed that the Contra Costa was originally inhabited by
four tribes of Indians, called Juchiyunes, Acalanes, Bolgones, and Carquinez,
who were, all in all, a degraded race. Dr. Marsh described them as stoutly built
and heavy limbed, as hairy as Esau, and with beards that would gain for a Turk
honor in his own country. They had short, broad faces, wide mouths, thick lips,
broad noses, and extremely low foreheads, the hair of the head, in some cases,
nearly meeting the eyebrows, while a few had that peculiar conformation of the
eye so remarkable in the Chinese and Tartar races, and entirely different from
the common American Indian, or the Polynesian. He states further, "The general
expression of the wild Indian has nothing of the proud and lofty bearing, or the
haughtiness and ferocity so often seen east of the mountains. It is more
commonly indicative of timidity and stupidity. The men and children are
absolutely and entirely naked, and the dress of the women is the least possible
or conceivable remove from nudity. Their food varies with the season. In
February and March they live on grass and herbage; clover and wild pea-vine are
among the best kind of their pasturage. I have often seen hundreds of them
grazing together in a meadow like so many cattle. [If Doctor Boudinot only knew
this fact, he would undoubtedly start a new theory that they are the descendants
of Nebuchadnezzar.] They are very poor hunters of the larger animals, but very
skillful in making and managing nets for fish and food. They also collect in
their season great quantities of the seed of various grasses, which are
particularly abundant. Acorns are another principal article of food, which are
larger, more abundant, and of better quality than I have seen elsewhere. The
Californian is not more different from the tribes east of the mountains in his
physical than in his moral and intellectual qualities. They are easily
domesticated, not averse to labor, have a natural aptitude to learn mechanical
trades, and, I believe, universally a fondness for music and a facility in
acquiring it. * * * They are not nearly so much addicted to intoxication as is
common to other Indians. I was for some years of the opinion that they were of
an entirely different race from those east of the mountains, and they certainly
have but little similarity. The only thing that caused me to think differently
is that they have the same Moccasin game that is so common on the Mississippi,
and what is more remarkable, they accompany it by singing precisely the same
tune. The diversity of language among them is very great. It is seldom an Indian
can understand another who lives fifty miles distant; within the limits of
California are at least a hundred dialects, apparently entirely dissimilar. Few
or no white persons have taken any pains to learn them, as there are individuals
in all the tribes which have any communication with the settlements who speak
Spanish. The children when caught young are most easily domesticated, and
manifest a great aptitude to learn whatever is taught them; when taken into
Spanish families and treated with kindness, in a few months they learn the
language and habits of their masters. When they come to maturity they show no
disposition to return to the savage state. The mind of the wild Indian, of
whatever age, appears to be a tabula rasa, on which no impressions, except those
of mere animal nature, have been made, and ready to receive any impress
whatever. I remember a remark of yours (Mr. Cass) some years ago, that 'Indians
were only grown up children.' Here we have a real race of infants. In many
recent instances when a family of white people have taken a farm in the vicinity
of an Indian village, in a short time they would have the whole tribe for
willing serfs. They submit to flagellation with more humility than the negroes.
Nothing more is necessary for their complete subjugation but kindness in the
beginning, and a little well-timed severity when manifestly deserved. It is
common for the white man to ask the Indian, when the latter has committed any
fault, how many lashes he thinks he deserves. The Indian with a simplicity and
humility almost inconceivable, replies ten or twenty, according to his opinion
of the magnitude of the offense. The white man then orders another Indian to
inflict the punishment, which is received without the least sign of resentment
or discontent. This I have myself witnessed or I could hardly have believed it.
Throughout all California the Indians are the principal laborers; without them
the business of the country could hardly be carried on." *

*Letter of Dr. John Marsh of Contra Costa County, to Hon Lewis Cass, 1846.


   The tribes inhabiting the Contra Costa did not differ materially from the
others inhabiting this section of the State, as they presented very similar
characteristics, habits and customs to those of the central portion of
California. They were lazy and filthy, Dr. Marsh's assertion to the contrary
notwithstanding, while, as to home, they were among the fugitivi et vagabondi
class. Nature had provided for them with a lavish hand, and all they had to do
was to reach forth their hands, pluck and eat. No vain ambitions lured them on
in the great race of life; no baubles of riches enticed them into hardships of
labor, either mental or physical. They lived to die. Whence or why they came
upon the scene of action, it was not theirs to inquire; and, "whither are we
drifting?" was a question over which they stopped not to puzzle their dull
brains. And who shall say that they were not as happy in their listless life as
are we of the higher type who wrestle with the inevitable almost from our
infancy to our dotage? From an ethical point of view, and looking at the matter
through the lenses of education, of course it could be said that their lives
were worse than wasted; and when they vanished before the overwhelming tide of
civilization, the world was rid of so much filth. But it is the old fable of the
man and the lion repeated: seeing a picture of a man, the man remarked to the
lion that "there stood the lord of creation." The lion asked who painted the
picture, to which the man replied, "I did." "Ah!" said the lion, "it makes all
the difference in the world who paints the picture of the lord of creation; I
should have painted a lion." And so it is in this case. Indian ethics are not
our ideas of duty to self or man; and it is not improbable that they lived up to
the light they had on that subject quite as near as do their successors.

   In regard to their costume, we have already said that it was of the most
primitive nature, a slight strip of covering around the loins being full dress;
but even this was not usual, for the greater number preferred walking abroad
perfectly unclothed. During the Winter the skin of a deer or other animal, or
else a robe manufactured out of the feathers of water-fowl, or strips of other
skin twisted together, formed the required protection against the inclement
weather, yet such was their stupendous laziness that sometimes naught protected
them from the chilly blasts but a thick covering of mud, an inexpensive garment
at best. The wardrobe of the women was little more extensive, a fringed apron of
tides falling from the waist before and behind, and open at the sides, being
their Summer costume, while in the cold season a deer skin was added. Tattooing
is said to have been common within narrow limits among the females, and by these
marks were the women of different tribes distinguishable.

   Nearly as primitive as their costume were their dwellings, which in Summer
was a protection of branches, and in Winter, a wickeup. Of these latter
Bancroft's Native Races says: "These are sometimes erected on the level ground,
but more frequently over an excavation three or four feet deep, and varying from
ten to thirty feet in diameter. Round the brink of this hole willow poles are
sunk upright in the ground and the tops drawn together, forming a conical
structure, or the upper ends are bent over and driven into the earth on the
opposite side of the pit, thus giving the hut a semi-globular shape. Bushes, or
strips of bark, are then piled up against the poles, and the whole is covered
with a thick layer of earth or mud. In some instances the interstices of the
frame are filled by twigs woven crosswise, over and under, between the poles,
and the outside covering is of tule reeds instead of earth. A hole at the top
gives egress to the smoke, and a small opening close to the ground admits the
occupants.

   "Each hut generally shelters a whole family of relations by blood and
marriage, so that the dimensions of the habitation depend on the size of the
family."

   It strikes us as a curious fact that the natives who roamed around the Bay of
San Francisco had no canoes but used bundles of tules lashed firmly together,
about ten feet long, and pointed at both ends, as a means of navigation. They
were tolerably dry in calm weather on a river, but when rough, the paddler, who
sat astride of them, was up t to his waist in water, still, when needed, they
would venture far out to sea on these. Indeed, it is asserted that the Indians
of California, previous to the occupation by the Jesuit Fathers, had no other
boats than those mentioned above, which were in use even at as late a date as
1840. Says Mr. Bancroft: "The probable cause of the absence of boats in Central
California is the scarcity of suitable, favorably located timber. Doubtless if
the banks of the Sacramento and the shores of San Francisco Bay had been lined
with large straight pine or fir trees, their waters would have been filled with
canoes; yet after all, this is but a poor excuse; for not only on the hills and
mountains, at a little distance from the water, are forests of fine trees, but
quantities of driftwood come floating down every stream during the rainy season,
out of which surely sufficient material could be secured for some sort of boats."

   Of their language, but little is left. Here and there a word has fastened
itself upon some ranch or town, and will be handed down through a few.
generations. It was a deep gutteral, not unlike that spoken by the natives of
Southern China, but that there is any philological relation between the two
tongues we will not venture to assert, still there is a sufficient resemblance
to occupy the mind of the studiously inclined.

   A short half-century has sufficed to see this race become so entirely extinct
that the sight of an Indian is almost a rarity. And what has done this? Disease
was the prime cause, for it is stated that cholera took them off by thousands in
1833, while it is said they died so fast that the living were unable to care for
the dead. Whole tribes became extinct, it being reported by a traveler on the
Sacramento River that all of one tribe died within a few days except a little
girl. Then came war with its kindred calamities as another great decimator of
their ranks. Contact with civilization had also much to do with it. Soon after
the whites came among them, prostitution became general; the women no longer
bore children, and thus the tribe gradually, but surely, died out, and no little
ones grew to take the place of the deceased elders. Truly would it appear to
have been a matter of destiny, for it was impossible that the two races could
exist in contingency.

   For disease their great"cure-all" was the sweat-bath, which was taken in the
"sweat-house," which institution was to be found in every rancheria. A fire
being lighted in the center of the temescal, (the term applied to the native
sweat-houses by the Franciscan Fathers), the patient is taken within and kept in
a high state of perspiration for several hours; he then rushes out and plunges
into the convenient stream on the bank of which the structure is always raised—a
remedy, whether more potent to kill or to cure, we leave to the decision of the
reader.

   The following graphic description of the experiences of a gentleman in a
temescal, we give to the reader as a truthful and racily told adventure:

   "A sweat-house is of the shape of an inverted bowl, and is generally about
forty feet in diameter at the bottom, and is built of strong poles and branches
of trees, covered with earth to prevent the escape of heat. There is a small
hole near the ground, large enough for Diggers to creep in, one at a time, and
another at the top to give out the smoke. When a dance, a large fire is kindled
in the center of the edifice, and the crowd assembles, the white spectators
crawling in and seating themselves anywhere out of the way. The apertures, both
above and below, are then closed, and the dancers take their positions.

   "Four and twenty squaws, en dishabitte, on one side of the fire, and as many
hombres, in purls naturalibus, on the other. Simultaneously with the
commencement of the dancing, which is a kind of shuffling hobble-de-hoy, the
'music' bursts forth. Yes, music fit to raise the dead. A whole legion of devils
broke loose. Such screaming, shrieking, yelling and roaring was never before
heard since the foundation of the world. A thousand crosscut saws, filed by
steam power—a multitude of tom-cats lashed together and flung over a
clothes-line—innumerable pigs under a gate—all combined would produce a heavenly
melody compared with it. Yet this uproar, deafening as it is, might possibly be
endured, but another sense soon comes to be saluted. Talk of the thousand stinks
of the 'City of Cologne.' Here are at least forty thousand combined in one grand
overwhelming stench, and yet every particular odor distinctly definable. Round
about the roaring fire the Indians go capering, jumping and screaming, with the
perspiration streaming from every pore. The spectators look on until the air
grows thick and heavy, and a sense of oppressing suffocation overcomes them,
when they make a simultaneous rush at the door for self-protection. Judge their
astonishment, terror and dismay to find it fastened securely— bolted and barred
on the outside. They rush frantically around the walls in hope to discover some
weak point through which they may find egress, but the house seems to have been
constructed purposely to frustrate such attempts. More furious than caged lions,
they rush bodily against the sides but the stout poles resist every onset. Our
army swore terribly in Flanders, but even my uncle Toby himself would stand
aghast were he here now.

   "There is no alternative but to sit down, in hopes that the troop of naked
fiends will soon cease from sheer exhaustion. Vain expectation! The uproar but
increases in fury, the fire waxes hotter and hotter, and they seem to be
preparing for fresh exhibitions of their powers. The combat deepens. On ye
brave! See that wild Indian, a newly elected captain, as with glaring eyes,
blazing face, and complexion like that of a boiled lobster, he tosses his arms
wildly aloft as in pursuit of imaginary devils, while rivers of perspiration
roll down his naked frame. Was ever the human body thrown into such contortions
before? Another effort of that kind, and his whole vertebral column must
certainly come down with a crash! Another such convulsion, and his limbs will
assuredly be torn asunder, and the disjointed members fly to the four points of
the compass! Can the human frame endure this much longer? The heat is equal to
that of a bake-oven; temperature five hundred degrees Fahrenheit! Pressure of
steam one thousand pounds to the square inch! The reeking atmosphere has become
almost palpable, and the victimized audience are absolutely gasping for life.
Millions for a cubic inch of fresh air! Worlds for a drop of fresh water to cool
the parched tongue! This is terrible. To meet one's fate among the white caps of
the lake, in a swamped canoe, or to sink down on the bald mountain's brow, worn
out by famine, fatigue and exposure, were glorious; but to die here, suffocating
in a solution of human perspiration, carbonic acid gas and charcoal smoke, is
horrible! The idea is absolutely appalling. But there is no avail. Assistance
might as well be sought from a legion of unchained imps as from a troop of
Indians maddened by excitement.

   "Death shows his visage not more than five minutes distant. The fire glimmers
away leagues off. The uproar dies in the subdued rumble of a remote cataract,
and respiration becomes slower and more labored. The whole system is sinking
into utter insensibilitjr, and all hope of relief has departed, when suddenly,
with a grand triumphal crash, similar to that with which the ghosts closed their
orgies when they doused the lights and started in pursuit of Tam O'Shanter and
his old gray mare, the uproar ceases, and the Indians vanish through an aperture
opened for that purpose. The half-dead victims to their own curiosity dash
through it like an arrow, and in a moment more are drawing in whole buckets full
of the cold, frosty air, every inhalation of which cuts the lungs like a knife,
and thrills the system like an electric shock. They are in time to see the
Indians plunge headlong into the ice-cold water of a neighboring stream, and
crawl out and sink down on the banks, utterly exhausted. This is the last act of
the drama, the grand climax, and the fandango is over."

   With the Indians of the Bay of San Francisco, the practice of burning their
dead, with everything belonging to them, was universal, while those farther
south buried theirs. Weird is this scene of incremation. Gathered in a circle
around the funeral pyre are the friends and relatives of the deceased, howling
in dismal discord; as the flames extend, so increases their enthusiasm, until,
in an ecstasy of excitement, they leap, shriek, lacerate their bodies, and go so
far as to tear a handful of the burning flesh from off the smoldering body, and
devour it. As a badge of mourning they smeared their faces with a compound of
the ashes of the dead, and grease, where it was allowed to remain for Time to
efface.

   As is natural to suppose, the theme which we now leave with the reader is
endless, therefore we are unable to follow it out as it should be; still, a work
of the nature which we now offer is hardly the place to look for aught but a
short notice of California's aboriginals. Where can such be better found than in
the pages of the profound and elaborate work of Mr. Bancroft on the Native Races
of the Pacific States of North America.



Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA,
INCLUDING ITS GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION;
TOGETHER WITH A RECORD OF THE MEXICAN GRANTS; THE BEAR FLAG WAR; THE MOUNT
DIABLO COAL FIELDS; THE EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT, COMPILED FROM THE MOST
AUTHENTIC SOURCES; THE NAMES OF ORIGINAL SPANISH AND MEXICAN PIONEERS; FULL
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; SEPARATE HISTORY OF EACH TOWNSHIP, SHOWING
THE ADVANCE IN POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE;
ALSO,
Incidents of Pioneer Life; and Biographical Sketches
OF EARLY AND PROMINENT SETTLERS AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN;
AMD OF ITS TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES, SECRET SOCIETIES, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
SAN FRANCISCO: W. A. SLOCTUM & CO., PUBLISHERS
1882.


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