Fresno County CA Archives History - Books .....Indians Of The San Joaquin Valley 1892 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 10, 2007, 5:21 pm Book Title: Memorial And Biographical History Of The Counties Of Fresno, Tulare, And Kern, California INDIANS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. This formidable race is almost a people of the past. Few are now to be, seen in the valley, and ere long none will be left to tell the story how their ancestry (who were numbered by perhaps hundreds of thousands) were at one time monarchs of this wonderful country. Kit Carson said that in 1829 the valleys of California were full of Indians. He speaks of many nourishing tribes then existing. When he again visited the State in 1839, they had measurably disappeared, and people then residing where he saw them on his first trip declared they knew nothing of them. No estimate of their numbers had been made until 1833, and it was then known that they had greatly decreased. It is no difficult matter, however, to account for their rapid disappearance when we take into account how the several tribes were constantly at war with each other; and in the fall of 1833 the cholera or some other fearful scourge broke out among them and raged with such fearful fatality that they were unable either to bury or burn their dead, and the air was filled with the stench of their decaying bodies. The Indians used a sweat-house for all the ills of their race, and much depended on the kill or cure, according to the disease of the subject. The valley Indians subsisted principally on grass-seeds, acorns and fish, the squaws doing all the heavy labor; and sometimes they killed a deer or antelope, but meat of land animals was rarely on their bill of fare. The women were supposed to provide all the food for the family. They made water-tight baskets from willow twigs, in which they collected and prepared their food, carried water, etc.; they reduced the acorns to a tine meal in mortars made of stone, after which they soaked it in water to rid it of the bitter taste, and then they made it into a kind of soup in a willow basket. Soups were also made from grass-seed. The men caught salmon in the spring season, which were dried in sufficient quantities by the women to last during the year. The men would at times sally out and secure a deer or antelope. When hunting the deer they went under the skin and horns of that animal as a disguise, and thus slipped upon their prey. While they generally used their acorn meal in a soup form, they also baked a kind of bread from it. Grasshoppers formed one of their favorite dishes, as also many other insects and reptiles not poisonous. The grasshoppers for immediate use were either mashed into a paste and mixed with other edibles, or were saturated with salt water, placed in a hole in the ground, which had been previously heated, then covered with hot stones. When thoroughly cooked they were eaten like shrimps. When intended for winter use they were thoroughly dried in the sun, after cooking. They caught fish both by spearing and netting. Their spears were made from a tough wood, from four to live feet in length, pointed with either flint or bone. Their weapons for hunting and warfare were the spear, as before described, and the bow and arrow. These Indians were peaceably inclined toward the whites, and resorted to deeds of violence only under great provocation. The government of the respective tribes was vested in a chief, which was generally hereditary in his family, in the male line only. Much dignity was attached to the chief, and his family were treated with greater confederation than those of others. The widows and daughters of chiefs were treated with distinction and not required to work. These Indians cremated their dead, and such ceremony at the funeral pyre of a chief was an affair in which the entire tribe participated, and their ceremonies and lamentations continued for several days. There seems to be but little known as to their marriage ceremonies. It appears that the maiden's wishes were consulted. She was not forced to marry against her will. The husband could abandon the wife at will, but the wife could not leave the husband. He could have as many wives as he could keep, but the woman but one husband. Adultery was not common among them, yet a husband would prostitute his dearest wife to a white man for a small consideration. The wives were prolific, bringing forth children regularly each year, and never losing a day from their labor thereby! It is given as a fact that at the birth of a child the husband takes to bed and feigns sick and suffering while the women attend him as though he was the real sufferer! Among other traditions the Indians had the following: "Their ancestors once inhabited the Coast Range mountains and valleys. The 'Great Spirit' became angry with them and sent earthquakes, lire and water and destroyed great numbers. Those who escaped remained ever afterward away from that region." There are yet a very small number of the Mono tribe living on the Sierra range, in Fresno County. In the year 1850 James D. Savage kept a trading post on the Fresno river, then in Mariposa County, near what has since been known as Leach's old store; and on Christmas night of that year, Savage being away from home, the store in charge of two clerks and a man named Brown, the Indians revolted, killed the two clerks and demolished the store. Brown was carried across the Fresno river, barefooted and in his night-clothes, by an Indian, when he was permitted to go, and he did not hesitate to improve the opportunity and went as fast as possible to Mariposa. Cassady & Lane kept a trading post a few miles below Millerton, and were engaged in mining at a point above, since known as Cassady Bar. Here they had some thirty men engaged. This was early in January, 1851. The mining camp was enclosed by a stone fort, the trading post by ditches, and the parties felt secure and had no fear of Indian depredations; but soon the Indians engaged in a general warfare, which was opened, by killing two men on Fine Gold Gulch, driving off their stock, and killing two other men below Millerton. About January 15, 1851, Dr. Lewis Leach, a prominent pioneer, now residing in the city of Fresno, arrived at Cassady's trading post from Four Creeks, in company with several men, one of whom, Frank W. Boden, had received four arrow wounds in his right arm at Four Creeks. Arriving at the trading post, Dr. Leach found it necessary to amputate Boden's arm, which he did and remained with and cared for him, and in some eight or ten days he was convalescent. About the 20th of January Cassady and Savage came down from the mining camp to see how matters were going at the trading post. The clerks had been vigilant guarding at night, which Cassady hooted at and said, "No danger;" so they concluded that if he could stand it, they would. Therefore they all went to bed, and no guard was posted. Savage slept in a covered wagon, within the ditch enclosure. In the morning there was an arrow sticking in the canvass of the main tent, also several in the mules, and Indian footprints around, yet Cassady persisted there was no danger! On the following day Leach and Savage left Cassady's camp and went to Mariposa, where three volunteer companies were organized under command of Major James D. Savage. Captain Kuykendall commanded Company A, of seventy men; Captain John Bowling, Company B, of seventy-two men; and Captain William Dill, Company C, of fifty-five men. M. B. Lewis was Adjutant, and A. Brunston, Surgeon, who was soon after succeeded by Dr. Leach. Soon intelligence was received from Cassady's camp that he had been killed by the Indians. A detachment of thirty men from Company A, with Dr. Leach accompanying, was immediately sent to ascertain the facts. They found the body of Cassady on the bank of the San Joaquin river, a short distance below his trading post, his legs cut off, his tongue cut out, and pinned with an arrow over the region of his heart. He was decently interred by the detachment, near where the, body was found. From Cassady's place Company A was ordered to the headwaters of the San Joaquin, where they fought a battle with the Indians, killing thirteen and wounding many. Captain Bowling with his company was sent to the Yosemite country, and Captain Dill with his company to the headwaters of the Chowchilla. Several battles were fought and the Indians soundly whipped on each occasion, which caused them to sue for peace, and they signed a treaty on the 29th day of April, 1851. A boundary or reservation was then assigned them, and stock, provisions, clothing, etc., furnished them by the Government, and thus ended the short Indian war. In the summer of 1851, after the treaty was concluded, Savage put up a store on the Fresno river. The following winter he built Fort Bishop, further down the river. His principal trade was with the Indians. He purchased gold dust from them. They yet seemed restless, and Savage used caution in his dealings with them. About this time the Fresno reservation was established. Colonel Thomas Henley was appointed Indian Agent. Soon thereafter King's River reservation was established, also under Colonel Henley. The Indians in the meantime kept quiet until the 16th day of August, 1852. The Meewoc nation extended from the Sierra snow line in Tuolumne County, to the San Joaquin river; the Walla tribe were confined within the present bounds of Stanislaus County; the Wallalshumnes occupied the country lower down the valley between the two rivers; the Coconoons and Potoancies, between the Tuolumne and Merced, and the Yachichumnes between the San Joaquin and Mount Diablo. These Indians rarely exceeded five feet eight inches in height, though they were strong and well built. Their complexion was dark, frequently approaching black, hair very coarse, thick, straight and black. The Indian dress was very primitive; in summer the men wore nothing scarcely. On some occasions they wore a slight covering about their loins; in winter they wore a kind of robe made from hides of animals, also a species of robe made by uniting feathers of birds with strips of seal-skin, etc., thus securing effectual protection against the inclement weather. The Indian women wore in summer an apron which they manufactured from the tules and other grasses. This garment was open at the sides, and extended to the knees, back and front. In the winter season they used a half tanned deer skin in addition to the tule garment. The young belles frequently wore their hair long, flowing to the waist, and cut short, or, modernly speaking, "banged" in front. They were very fond of all kinds of ornaments-both men and women-which were worn in profusion in their hair, and bone ornaments, etc., in their ears, and beads and other trinkets about their necks. The head-dress for gala days and dances was formed of gay feathers skillfully arranged, and topped off with long feathers from some large bird. The upper part of their body was painted in several colors, red predominating, however; this they obtained from the cinnabar fields in the Coast Range. Tattooing seems to have been a custom among the women, but rarely practiced by the men. These people lived, in summer, under sheds formed of brush, and in winter in excavations some four feet deep made in the earth. This was governed in size by the number in a family. Around this excavation was firmly set numerous willow poles, which were drawn together at the top, leaving a space for the smoke to pass out. They then wove through those poles crosswise smaller branches, after which they covered the whole with brush, bark, mosses, etc., and then daubed it over with mud, leaving only an opening to pass in and out. In the center of this rude, San Joaquin cottage, they built their fire and did their cooking, and around it they slept on mats made from the grasses. This would seem to the native sons and daughters of to-day rather a crude parlor, kitchen, dining-room and sleeping apartment combined; it will be seen that it was built and arranged for comfort and convenience, more than for its internal or external ornamentation. The occupants were lords in their day and in their way. They lived in villages and had a large centrally located structure for use on public occasions, as pow-wows, dances, etc. It was constructed on the same general plan as their residences. In 1851 Major James D. Savage gave the number of Indians in California as follows : Klamath, Trinidad, Sacramento and tributaries, 30,000 San Joaquin and tributaries down to Tuolumne, 6,500 Tuolumne River Indians, 2,100 Merced River Indians, 2,100 San Joaquin headquarters Indians, 2,700 King's River Indians 200 Kern River Indians, 1,700 Tulare River Indians, 1,000 Umas River Indians, 5,000 East Side Sierra Nevada Indians, 31,000 On the coast not civilized, 6,000 Total, 88,300 Additional Comments: Extracted from: Memorial and Biographical History OF THE COUNTIES OF Fresno, Tulare, and Kern, California Illustrated Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of its Prospective Future: with Profuse Illustrations of its Beautiful Scenery, Full-page Portraits of Some of its most Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of Many of its Pioneers, and also of Prominent Citizens of to-day. "A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants." -Macaulay. CHICAGO: The Lewis Publishing Company. Undated, but OCLC lists a publication date of 1892 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/fresno/history/1892/memorial/indianso300gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 14.5 Kb