San Luis Obispo County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter II The Aborigines 1883
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Book Title: History Of San Luis Obispo County, California

CHAPTER II.
THE ABORIGINES.

Archaeological Investigations—The Indians in Earliest History-— As Seen by
Cabrillo—Their Degraded Condition—Writings of Hugh Reid—"Orpheus and
Eurydice"—Indolent and "Weak— The Indians of San Luis Obispo—Their
Religion—Treatment of the Indians—Indian Relics and Graves—Indian Implements and
Their Uses—Painted Rocks—The Great Natural Temple of Carrisa—Indian Remains in
Santa Barbara—Painted Cave —From Cabrillo's Time to the Missionary Period—No
Architectural Remains—Recent Explorations—Museums of Archaeology—The Graves at
Port Harford.

THE years, the centuries, the ages that man has dwelt in the land of California
can only be told by the record of the rocks, or by the study of the groves and
such evidences as the deep research of the patient and learned archaeologist may
bring to light. Science has many devotees engaged in her service, and there is
hope that the people of the future will be more enlightened upon the matter than
the people of the present.

  Primitive man will always be a subject of great interest to the student,
although through countless ages of his existence he did nothing for posterity
except the propagation of the species. He has lived and made some marks on the
rocks, has caught fish and left the shells, made a few utensils of stone and
bone which endure, if of other substances they have decayed and left no trace,
and his graves and mounds of refuse indicate the number; that there were many.
Throughout the coast are thousands of sites of their villages and cemeteries,
with deep layers of debris that had required many years for its accumulation.

THE INDIANS IN EARLIEST HISTORY.

  As the earliest civilized visitor to this coast was Cabrillo, to him we turn
for any written account of the native inhabitants to whom the general
appellation, "Indians," has been given. He reported great numbers, saying: "for
all the coast is very populous."

  As the ships approached the shore the women would be frightened and run away,
but the men would make friendly signs and ask them to come on shore. At times
the Indians would go on board the vessels and would be given presents of beads
and other trinkets for which they manifested a desire. The different localities
appear to have been occupied by quite different classes of savages, as some are
said to dwell in cabins and clothed themselves with the skins of animals, while
I others have but stone and stick corrals, others sleep on the ground and go
naked. If the Indians, generally, in any locality, were clad in skins, they were
in advance of the Indians found in the gold-mining regions and the Sacramento
Valley by the immigrants of 1849, as then stark nakedness was the universal rule
of the males and all children in their wild state. The same conditions existed
upon the coming of the missionaries, from which we may infer that those clothed
in skins in Cabrillo's time were exceptional; possibly a remnant of some
inclusive tribe of a more developed people. From general reports of early and
modern times the Indians of the South were of a superior character to those of
the North, the parallel of 35° appearing to have been about the dividing line.

AS SEEN BY CABRILLO.

  Upon the condition of the Indians of this coast when first known,  we can do
no better than to appropriate some notes, by Dr. L. M. Dimmick, of Santa
Barbara, from Cabrillo's narrative, prepared for the history of that county.  
"On the 10th of October, 1542, they approached the main-land, probably of the
Santa Clara Valley, where there was an Indian village near the sea, and the
houses large,  in the  manner of those of New Spain.    They anchored in front
of a large valley.    To the ships came many good canoes, which held in each one
twelve or thirteen Indians.   They go covered with skins of animals; they are
fishers, and eat the fish raw; they also eat agaves. The country  within   is  a
  very beautiful   valley,   and they made   signs   that there was in that
valley much maize and much food.   'There appears within this valley some
sierras, very high, and the land is very rugged.' The Indians call the village
Xucu.    They sailed from this place on the 13th, up the coast, on which they
saw many cabins and trees, and the next day they anchored opposite a valley,
very beautiful and very populous, the land being level, with many trees.    The
natives came with fish in their canoes; they remained great friends.  On the
15th they held on their voyage along the coast, and there were always many
canoes, and many Indians were continually  coming aboard the   ships,  and they
 pointed out to us the villages, and named them by their names.    All these
villages are in a good country, with very good plains, and many trees and
cabins; they go clothed with skins; they said that inland there were many towns,
and much maize at three days' distance.    They passed this day along the shore
of a large island (Santa Rosa), and they said it was very populous.    On the
evening of the 16th, they anchored opposite two villages (Dos  Pueblos).    The
 next  day they proceeded three leagues, and there were with the ships from
daybreak many canoes,  and the captain continually gave them many presents, and
all the coast where they passed was  very populous.    They brought them a large
quantity of fresh sardines, very good.

  " They say that inland there are many villages and   much food; these did  not
eat any maize;   they went  clothed with skins, and wear their hair very long,
and tied up with cords very long and placed within the hair, and these strings
have many small daggers attached, of flint and wood and bone."

  On the 18th they went running up the coast, and saw all the coast populous,
but because a fresh wind sprung up, the canoes did not come. They came near a
point which forms a cape, which they named Cabo de Galera (Point Concepcion).
Thence they sailed to two islands, the smaller of which they called La
Passession (San Miguel), and the larger, San Lucas (Santa Rosa). They found both
of these islands inhabited. They departed from these islands intending to sail
up the coast, but meeting with rough weather they sought the shelter of Point
Concepcion, and cast anchor in front of a large town called by the natives Xexo.
But because wood did not appear abundant, they sailed back down the coast to
Pueblo de las Sardinas (Goleta or Patara). Here they remained three days, taking
in wood and water, and the native's aided them, and brought wood and water to
the ships.

  "They call the village Cieacut, and gave us the names of sixteen more villages
extending up to Cabo de Galera. An old Indian woman is princess of these
villages. Cieacut appeared to be the capital of the other villages, as they came
from the other villages at the call of that princess. They have their houses
round, and covered well down to the ground; they go covered with the skins of
animals; they eat acorns and a grain which is as large as maize, and is white,
of which they make dumplings; it is good food. They say that inland there is
much maize."

  Between this place and Xucu, where they first landed, the historian gives the
names of twenty-five villages. On November 6th they sailed up the coast, but as
there was little wind, they did not reach the cape until the fourth day. During
this time the Indians came to them with water and fish, and showed much good
disposition.

  "They have in their villages large public squares, and an inclosure like a
circle, and around the inclosure they have many blocks of stone fastened in the
ground, which issue about three palms, and in the middle of the inclosure they
have many sticks of timber driven in the ground like masts and very thick, and
they have many pictures on these posts, and we believe that they worship them,
for when they dance, they go dancing around the inclosure."

  The history of the expedition records the names of two villages on San Miguel
Island, three on Santa Rosa, and eight on Santa Cruz Island, and states that the
Indians of these islands are very poor.

  " They are fishermen; they eat nothing but fish; they sleep on the ground. In
each house they say there are fifty souls. They live very swinishly. They go
naked."

THEIR DEGRADED CONDITION.

   The old navigator, who died and was buried on one of the islands he had
described, relates the cold facts of his observation, devoid of the fanciful
painting of the imagination so common with the most popular writers of all ages.
His record accords with the facts as they have I appeared to all in recent
times. The aboriginal inhabitants were savages in almost the extreme sense, with
their powers of mind developed but a degree above the beasts, with few arts,
with no system of Government or religion that can be appreciated as such. In a
limited sense they exercised a concert of action which may be regarded as the
first step in Government, and beyond that their system was but the instinctive
methods of gaining subsistence and living in common.

WRITINGS OF HUGH REID.

  Some writers have accorded them high powers of reflection and reason, notably
Mr. Hugo (Anglice-Hugh) Reid, of Los Angeles, who, as early as 1850, made his
home with the Indians, learned their language, studied their customs and
traditions, their laws and religion, and in 1852 published the result of his
observations. Mr. Reid was an educated and respected gentleman, a member of the
Constitutional Convention of 1849, and his writings have been treated with
consideration as of good authority. He ascribes to the Indians a knowledge, or
theories, of creation, of astronomy, and history; possessing an extended and
complete system of Government; of marriage laws and customs indicating great
purity of morals; of inheritance of property and authority; of beautiful and
poetical legends; of traditional fables of fairies and goddesses and much other
romance that we must believe had their origin only in his imaginative brain.
What Mr. Reid wrote and has been called history must have really been intended
solely for a pleasing, sensational tale.

  As an example we will transcribe the Indian version, according to Mr. Reid, of
the story of

ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE.

  A great pestilence had destroyed the people, only an old woman and two
children, a boy and girl, remained. When they grew up the man proved himself a
great hunter, and the girl, who possessed remarkable beauty and a lovely
disposition, an adept in all household arts. In time they married, and now the
old woman, fancying herself neglected, plotted against the life of her foster
daughter. Twice she failed in her attempt, but the young wife, aware of her
design, apprised her husband, and told him that, should she be slain in his
absence, her soul would notify him of the fact by dropping a tear upon his
shoulder. One day, while hunting, he received the fatal sign, and hurried home,
but ere he could execute vengeance on the hag, she transformed herself into a
gopher, and burrowed in the earth, where she had concealed her victim.

  For three days and three nights he lay upon the grave, lamenting the loss of
his love, nor tasted he of food or drink throughout the weary vigil. At last he
perceived a small whirlwind arise from the grave and disappear. Soon a second
whirlwind arose and moved toward the south, gradually augmenting in size as it
progressed. This he followed, and passing over a sandy plain, perceived that it
left footprints; then knew he that it was indeed his wife. Redoubling now his
efforts, he gained upon the apparition, and addressing it was repaid by I
hearing the voice of his love reply: "Return, 0 my husband, for where I go
thither thou canst not come. Thou art of the earth, but I am dead to the world!"
Nevertheless, impelled by his great love, he insisted on following, even to the
world of shades; and at last, moved by his entreaties, she consented, but
cautioned him: "Forget not that no earthly eye may ever again see us!"

  They pased over a great sea, and entered the realm of ghosts. He saw here no
form, but heard myriads of voices—sweet as the tones of zephyrs breathed lightly
o'er seolian strings—addressing his spirit guide: "What hast thou here sister! 
 It smells of earth!"

  She confessed that she had brought with her a mortal her husband, and begged
that he might be permitted to stay. She rehearsed his mighty deeds and admirable
qualities while on earth; but all in vain. Again were the voices heard, still
musical, but now stern and threatening in their tones. "Take him away!" they
said. "Guided by love he comes, and love pleads his cause; love is all-powerful
on earth, but earthly love avails not in the courts of Heaven!"

  Abashed by the evident displeasure of these invisible ones, still she braved
their anger, and pleaded for her love. She dilated on his many virtues and his
great skill, until at last despite their assertion, "that love availed not," the
spirit-guard relented and he was allowed to make exhibition of his acquirements,
with a view to possible admission. He was required to bring a feather from the
top of a pole so high that the summit was scarcely visible; to split a hair of
great fineness and exceeding length from end to end; to make a map of the
constellation known as the "Lesser Bear," and to indicate the exact location of
the North Star. Aided by his wife he succeeded in accomplishing all these tasks
to the satisfaction of his examiners, but, in a trial of hunting, failed
utterly, the game being invisible. A second attempt resulted as before, and he
had become a laughing-stock throughout the world of ghosts, when his wife
advised him to aim his arrows at the beetles which flew past him in great
numbers. Acting on her instruction, each beetle, when hit, proved a fat deer,
and so many did he slay that the spirit voices commanded him to desist. They
then addressed his wife, who was yet to him invisible. "Sister!" they said,
"Thou knowest none who enter here return again to earth. Tucupar {Heaven) knows
not death! Our brother-in-law hath done full well, yet mortal skill may not
avail to win a heavenly prize! We award him the guerdon, LOVE! chiefest of
earthly blessings, in thy person; yet only on condition!" Then addressing the
husband they said, " Take thou thy wife! Yet remember, thou shall not speak to
her, nor touch her until three suns have passed. A punishment awaits thy
disobedience!"

  They pass from the spirit-land and travel in silence to the confines of
matter. By day she is invisible to him, but at night, by the flickering flame of
his camp-fire, he perceives her outline on the ground near by. Another day he
remains faithful to his instructions, and by the evening blaze her form appears
more plainly than before. The third day has passed, and now, behold, the amorous
flame leaps forth to greet her—recumbent by his side, radiant with beauty, and
health, and restored, as he fondly believes, to him and love!

 • But alas! one-half the lurid orb of day yet trembles, poised on the western
verge, as with passionate vehemence he pronounces her name, and clasps to his
faithful heart not the form he loves, but only a fragment of decayed wood!

  Heart-broken and despairing, he roamed the earth ever afterward, until at last
the spirits in mercy sent to him their servant Death, who dissolved his mortal
fetters, and carried him, rejoicing, to the bosom of his love.

  Many other pretty stories are told by Mr. Reid, but belong more to the
literature of fiction, of fairy tales, than to history; and we must therefore
conclude that such was the object of the writer, rather than a relation of facts
or the recording of any traditions or legends he assumed to have from the Indians.

INDOLENT AND WEAK.

  Of the poor beings now becoming so rare in this county, we can have but
feelings of pity. Never strong or spirited enough to offer a serious obstacle to
the settlement of the country, they have not aroused the direful enmity of the
invading people as have the extremely savage and bloodthirsty Indians of other
sections of America. They were debased to an extreme degree, professing no
knowledge of the mechanic arts save those of making simple implements of the
chase and of fishing, making baskets and pounding acorns and grass seed into
meal, and making a few articles of ornament. They had no religious rites,
ceremonies, or beliefs; seldom any names for individuals, and only general names
for geographical objects.

THE INDIANS OF SAN LUIS OBISPO

Were taken in charge by the missionaries shortly after their arrival in 1772,
and when Father Junipero Serra died there had been baptized 616 at this mission.
They were then in large numbers, but evidently less than in former times, and if
increased at any time by collecting others ?from a distance, rapidly decreased
after the secularization of the missions in 1833, until, as shown by the census
of 1870, the number had dwindled to 137, and less will be found at the present
time. The mission of San Miguel is reported to have counted 5,000 in its service
or vicinity at one time.

  Of the appearance and manners of the Indians on the first visit of the
exploring party under Governor Portala, we take the following extract from a
lecture by Hon. Charles H. Johnson, who has been an industrious student of the
early history of the county.

  "The Indians, although numerous, gave no trouble to this party of Europeans.
They were divided into tribes and rancherias; used apparently no shelter except
stone corrals simply as a protection against bears. The men were naked, but the
women and children went partially clothed with deer or hare skins. When game was
scarce with them they had a novel way of eating dried meat. A piece being
attached to a cord was partially masticated and then swallowed; after a short
interval it was drawn up into the mouth and again masticated. This operation was
repeated several times until the morsel was consumed. At times they would squat
on the ground forming a circle, and pass a piece of meat tied in the above
manner from one to the other, chewing and swallowing it by turns. The tribes
occupying the coast from San Francisco to this place were called Olchones and
Mutsers. They spoke different languages and in their rancherias a variety of
dialects. Their numerals extended only to four. To express five they extended a
hand; six, one hand and one; seven, one hand and two; eight, one hand and three;
nine, one hand and four; ten, both hands, twenty being the extent of their
arithmetical knowledge. They divided the year into six seasons, commencing in
midsummer.

THEIR RELIGION.

  Their religious ideas were confused; some recognized the existence of a
Supreme Being only. The Olchones adored the sun, and believed in the existence
of a beneficent and an evil spirit. When one of the tribe died, they adorned the
corpse with wild flowers, shell beads, and feathers, and burned it amid the
shouts of the spectators, extending their hands in the direction of the setting
sun. Other tribes simply burn their dead with bows, arrows, etc. Selecting,
generally, some high cliff overlooking the sea, as a place of sepulcher. The use
of the metals was unknown to them. Their domestic and warlike instruments were
made of flint and other stones, also wood hardened by fire. Their marriages were
celebrated by an exchange of presents. Polygamy/was practiced only to a limited
extent.

TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS.

  The mission of San Luis Obispo de Toloso was established September 1, 1772,
and soon became one of the most prosperous in California. Extensive buildings
were erected, schools established, and the Indians were instructed in the
mechanical arts. Orchards and vineyards were planted, and the country stocked
with horses, sheep, and cattle. The missions were secularized by decrees of the
Mexican Congress of August 17th and 21st of November, 1833, and their property
turned over to administradors, who were directed by the Government to make
provision for the support of the Indians by distribution of cattle and horses,
and by assigning them sueretes—small patches of land—for cultivation. But these
orders were not obeyed in full. The repartimientos—distribution of stock—were
made to the friends of the administradors, and the Indians driven off in large
numbers. Those that remained were kept as serfs, and, becoming brutalized by
neglect and ill-treatment, soon disappeared.

INDIAN RELICS AND GRAVES.

  In the Indian graves near the beach of San Luis Obispo Bay, are found
finely-worked spear and arrow heads of obsidian and other hard stone; many
mortars and pestles of basalt, sandstone, and granite; pots or stone kettles of
steatite, or soapstone; beads made from the claws of the crab and bear, and
among other substances ornaments from .abalone shells, sharks and whales' teeth;
stone hammers and weights; needles of bone, and other utensils of stone in great
variety and for purposes that cannot be divined. Many of these relics are of
exceeding great interest to the archaeologist, showing the industry, the
ingenuity, and skill, of the man of the Stone Age, who was evidently superior in
his art and more aesthetic in his tastes than the savage found on this coast by
the earliest pioneers of civilization. No metal whatever has been found in the
ancient graves of San Luis Obispo.

  Among the household implements recovered is a kettle of steatite exhumed in
1882 by Rev. R. W. Summers, Episcopal clergyman of San Luis Obispo, an
enthusiastic student of archaeology. This is one of the largest ever found,
being nearly a globe in form, of about eighteen inches in diameter, hollowed to
about one inch in thickness, and with an opening at the top of about ten inches
across. This kettle had been used on the fire, as the outer surface still bore
the blackened color given it by the flame. As no steatite is found anywhere on
the southern coast but on Santa Rosa Island, off Santa Barbara, it is presumed
that from thence it was brought. Many beads, shells, and trinkets were found in
it, indicating that it had been the property of a personage of great wealth and
importance, and had been consigned to the tomb with the mortal remains of its
owner. Such a pot was undoubtedly of great value in its day of usefulness, the
material brought from so great a distance and wrought into shape with such
artistic care. Probably the property of some dying chieftain, it was filled with
his treasures and deposited in his grave to sustain his bank account in the
unknown world.

  All the mortars, pestles, smaller kettles, and other implements of use,
symbols of authority, and weapons of warfare and the chase, found in the grave
were broken, but the great one—the treasure safe—was whole. The theory, as
founded upon the acts of other Indians, is that all implements are broken—or
killed—in order to release the spirit that the spirits of the things might
accompany the spirit, or soul, of the master to the spirit land. In this is
given the proof that the prehistoric man of southern California had a belief in
the immortality of the soul, or a life in spirit beyond the grave; and proving a
state of mind, of thought, and of art far in advance of the California savage of
modern times.

INDIAN IMPLEMENTS AND THEIR USES.

  Stone mortars and pestles are familiar to the people of the Pacific Coast, as
most have seen them, and in the decade following the gold discovery they were
seen in constant use by the Indians in pounding to meal acorns and grass seeds.
In the Sierra Nevada, where the hard granite or slate protruded through the
soil, the food material was pounded upon the bare rock, wearing little basins in
the surface, and thus making stationary mortars. In the alluvial regions these
were portable and of varying size. Those found in San Luis Obispo are from the
size of a small teacup to that of a large washbowl, going through all the
gradations as the well-arranged crockery supply of a modern household. The uses
for these can only be surmised. One has evidently belonged to the toilet service
of some belle—a small pebble in which is worked a cavity but little larger than
a thimble. In this was found some toilet paint, the evidence of its use. We can
imagine the dusky lady of that distant time, actuated and inspired by the desire
for beauty, decorating herself according to the arts and fashions in vogue,
preparing her paint with a skill that has enabled it to retain its brilliant
color and unchanged condition through the intervening ages, and recording the
natural and unchangeable vanity of the sex. Others showed that substances of
which paint was made had been triturated in them,  and  others  of various  uses.

  Bitumen, or asphaltum, which is so common in this county, was much used by the
Indians, as shown in the utensils that have been repaired by its aid. Pipes of
stone, resembling clay pipe-stems, drilled through from end to end, were found
in the graves, but whether they were for smoking or other purposes, is not known.

  Human skeletons were numerous, in some cemeteries buried in a sitting posture,
in others lying on their side but always with the knees bent and brought near
the chin. No regularity was ever observed in the direction which they faced or
were lain, whether to the north or south, toward the sunrise or the sunset, but
without order.

PAINTED ROCKS.

  Besides the graves and the implements found therein, the disposition thereof,
and the manner of burial which make a record, partly obscure, but partly in
unmistakable language of arts and manners, the pre-historic man has left another
record of his existence, perhaps of his religion or his history, which still
awaits the student of archaeology to translate. These are the mysterious
paintings found on the*rocks in various and numerous places throughout the
counties of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. Northwest of the city of San Luis
Obispo extends a series of rocky peaks, and many of these bear the strange figures.

THE GREAT NATURAL TEMPLE OF CARRISA.

  In the eastern portion of the county is the great Carrisa Plain, and on the
rocks bordering it the most important of these paintings appear.

  On both the easterly and westerly sides of the plain the mountains are
composed of a light-colored sandstone, generally looking as if ready to wash
away as a sand bank, But it evidently does not disintegrate so readily. In many
places on the rocks have been painted strange characters and figures, evidently
with careful design, resembling the hyeroglyphs of Egypt or the picture writings
found in Mexico and Yucatan. Three colors have been generally used, red, black,
and white. In various places on both sides of the plain have these singular and
mysterious paintings been found, and the " oldest inhabitant" says that when the
Spanish missionaries came a hundred years ago they found them as they now are,
and wondered at their origin and meaning. The ignorant savages of modern times
know nothing of them, nor have they any traditions regarding them, always being
a subject of wonder.

  All this eastern section of the county, embracing an area of about half a
million acres, is comparatively unoccupied, being mostly held in large tracts of
from 20,000 to 60,000 acres by single individuals, and reserved for speculation
or devoted to grazing. In the southwestern part of the Carrisa Plain Mr. Chester
R. Brumley and family settled in 1865, having as a nearest neighbor the cattle
rancho at La Pariza, twenty-five miles distant north. west. In this wilderness,
about three miles south of Mr. Brumley's residence, stands in the open plain an
exceedingly singular rock, made more interesting from the paintings of which it
constitutes a grand and unique gallery. This bears the name of "The Painted
Rock," and is a most wonderful curiosity. From outward appearance the rock is a
cone of about 750 feet diameter at the base, and 150 feet in height. On the east
is an opening about 20 feet wide leading into a great room 225 feet in length by
120 feet in width at the widest place, the interior space being shaped like an
egg, the point at the entrance. The walls are irregular, in places slightly
overhanging, and in others slightly receding from the perpendicular, the highest
point being about 132 feet above the inner base.*

  The appearance is that of the crater of a volcano with one side broken away,
but the rock is coarse sandstone.  On the inner surface near the base, and at
heights not exceeding twelve feet, are great numbers of paintings such as before
described. Generally they are well preserved and the colors bright and distinct;
but where most exposed to the rain, winds, and animals, they have become
somewhat dimmed, but on the whole show a remarkable preservation. This, to the
ancient pagan having a glimmering idea of religious belief, would be a grand and
awe-inspiring temple made without hands, and even to the highest civilization
must ever be regarded as a most interesting object. At present it is used as a
corral, holding 4,000 sheep, closed by a short wall and set of bars at the
entrance.

  * As measured by a spool of thread by Mrs. Brumley and her daughter, Miss
Helen Brumley, who take great interest in this wonderful natural temple.


INDIAN REMAINS IN SANTA BARBARA.

  Mr. J. D. Mason, in Thompson & West's history of Santa Barbara, writes as
follows of the painted rocks of that county:—

  About eighty miles from Santa Barbara, near the boundary line of the county,
on a level piece of land near the foot of the mountains, is one of the most
singular and important relics of the prehistorical races, perhaps, that exists
in California. It appears to have been a stone wigwam forty or fifty yards in
diameter, built on a stone floor of so compact a character as to much resemble a
natural stone. The center of the place, as in the paved court before referred
to, is of earth, as if to receive posts or timbers. The roof has fallen in, and
the place is much dilapidated; all of the walls remaining are covered with
paintings of halos, circles, with radiations from the center, like spokes, and
in some instances, squares. Every available space is occupied with figures of
some sort. A variety of colors is used, though blue seems to predominate. A
cross, five feet in length, in white paint, on the highest portion of the
remaining walls, seems to have been a work of some of the fathers at a recent date.

  On the Cuyama River are found some rocks of a lightish gray sandstone, also
painted with figures differing from the others. One of these is a representation
of the sun. Another figure represents a man with extended arms, as if reaching
for something. The Spanish population named it El Sol. All of these works
evidently belong to another race than the swarthy Indian that occupied
California at the coming of the white man.

PAINTED CAVE.

  Near the summit of the Santa Barbara Mountains, and not far from the San
Marcus Road, is one similar in character, though other things than circles are
introduced, some of the paintings representing nondescript dragons and snakes,
monsters in fact. Every available inch of space is covered with paintings of
some kind. The cave is about sixteen feet in depth by twelve in width, and is in
a perpendicular rock some fifty feet or more in height, the mouth being several
feet above the base of the rock, is a soft, friable sandstone, which is breaking
away from exposure to rains and weather. The face of the rock gives indications
of once having been also covered with paintings. Five different colors are
recognized in the decorations, if they may be called such. They must have been
the work of many months of industry. Other rocks in the vicinity are painted,
but in a less pretentious manner. There is no doubt but these figures are the
work of people living some hundreds of years since. Their design and use may
possibly be deciphered by Mexican antiquarians.

FROM CABRILLO'S TIME TO THE MISSIONARY PERIOD.

  Some extraordinary fatality must have overtaken the Indians during the century
which elapsed between the discovery of the coast and islands by Cabrillo, and
the coming of the missionaries, for no such numbers as Cabrillo mentions were
found by Father Junipero Serra. There are traditions of a terrible destruction
of the island Indians by the hunters of the otter from Alaska and the Aleutian
Islands. The gentle Aztec was no match in a struggle for life with the fierce
Shoshone of the interior. Even the Spanish, with their fire-arms and superior
knowledge, often found their match when the Mokelkos and Cosumnes swooped down
upon their herds of cattle and horses. What chance then had the comparatively
peaceful Aztec? There are many indications of a catastrophe among the island
Indians. Numerous skeletons have been unearthed, which showed fractures of the
skull. During a recent high wind fifty or more skeletons were uncovered, all
having the appearance of perishing by violence. Those who study the type of the
few remaining Indians will have no difficulty in distinguishing the mild,
dignified, and intellectual face of the Aztec from the swarthy, low-browed,
square-built Shoshone, who retreated into the mountains at the coming of the
white man, and kept up a predatory warfare until the coming of the gold-hunters
made a change of base necessary.

NO ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS.

  In studying the relics of the prehistoric people of California, the student
fails to find any remains of architectural structure. Aged and peculiar as the
relics exhumed from the graves appear, they show but the rude utensils, weapons,
and baubles of savage life. With the exception of a few structures commonly, or
poetically, called temples, though mere stone corrals, probably as a defense
against bears or other enemies there are no evidences of a prehistoric
architecture existing in California. The architecture of Palenque and
Yucatan—possibly the fabled Atlantis—in enduring stone and massive structure
appears to have antedated the shadowy arts that have left their crude and dim
traces on the painted rocks and in the trifling toys found in the graves.

  The hills, and mountains, and beds of streams were filled with metal, in many
places the shining gold glistening in the sunlight, yet for countless ages they
remained untouched and the native man roaming over them. The working of mines
leaves an indelible mark, but the savages made none. They used no metal and cut
no stone but such as were broken by each other. Pieces of metal have, in a few
instances, been found in graves, but these were probably obtained from ships
visiting the coast and of a comparatively recent period.

RECENT EXPLORATIONS.

  Recently, within the past ten years, scientific men have made diligent study
of the Indian graves and remains found along and near the coast of this and the
neighboring southern counties of California. Among these were Le Compte Pierre
de Cessac, a highly learned gentleman in the service of France; Doctor
Schumacher, in the service of the Smithsonian Institute; and Doctors Yarrow and
Rothrock, of the United States Army, accompanying the United States Geographical
and Geological Survey under Lieutenant Wheeler. All made extensive excavations
and gathered many tons of relics and fossils, which they forwarded to their
respective departments. These savans can fix no estimate of the age of many of
the antiquities, but think the people who made and used them contemporary with
the mound-builders of the Mississippi Valley. Their study is exceedingly
interesting and important, Count de Cessac assuring the people that they had in
their midst antiquities which had begun to interest the whole world. During the
occupancy of the country by the white race, until within recent years, these
relics and graves have been passed over unobserved save with an indifferent
notice as a passing curiosity, and now, while many tons have been transported to
distant parts of the world, but few regard them of sufficient importance to
preserve. While great attractions in the museums of other countries, no museum
has yet been established to preserve them in California.

MUSEUMS OF ARCHAEOLOGY.

  Many tons of the relics found in the graves of San Luis Obispo and Santa
Barbara have been sent to the East, enriching the museums of Boston, New York,
Washington, and other places. Upon this subject Rev. Mr. Summers, of San Luis
Obispo, writes: "While the whole State is rich in the remains of a former race
of men, there is no field more interesting than our own county presents. Great
numbers of burial places have been discovered along the coast, and tons of
mortars, pots, pestles, ornaments, weapons, etc., unearthed and sent East,
enriching their museums at the expense of California—a fact which I, for one,
greatly regret. I believe that each county should preserve its own relics until
such time when the State can erect a fire-proof building for their reception,
and appoint some competent person to arrange, classify, and care for them. In
the little experience I have had in digging into the old burial places? I find
skeletons in every position, extended, sitting, etc. head towards any point of
the compass convenient. With these, beside the stone mortars and pestles which
are so common, I have found in abundance ornaments of stone, bone, and
shell—gifts with which 'the last lament was said.' Also two or three colors of
the paints the savage man loves to adorn his person with, placed in the grave by
loving hands that the departed warrior might appear well in the happy
spirit-land. Many of the interments are quite modern, dating from the time of
the conquest to the present, and therefore contain articles of European
manufacture. Others, however, such as those I opened near Avila, contain no
articles of a metallic nature —no glass, wood, cloth, skins, or hair—indicating
ignorance of metals, non-intercourse with Europeans or Asiatics, and great age.
Besides the graves proper, there are scores of shell heaps all along the
sea-shore, the remains of thousands of dinners.

  "In these heaps are the bones of many species offish of mammals, of birds, and
of mollusks, showing that they were bountiful livers, those early Californians,
and were not very particular what they had for dinner.

  "These are the two sources from which the history of the aboriginal
inhabitants of our county and State is gathered. No written characters or
hieroglyphics have ever been discovered in the graves as far as I have heard.
The nearest approach to meaning characters that I have seen is upon a small flat
stone which I picked up on Harford Point. It is nothing more than a series of
straight lines, running diagonally across the stone."

THE GRAVES AT PORT HARFORD.

  The San Luis Obispo Tribune of March 9, 1883, notices some discoveries of
relics in the old Indian cemetery near Port Harford, through which the Pacific
Coast Railway Company was cutting a way for the road, as follows:—

  "On Monday last a large stone mortar was found at a depth of about fourteen
feet from the surface. The mortar is twenty inches in diameter at the top, eight
inches depth of bowl, and the stone is from two to three inches in thickness.
This was broken through the center into two equal parts, but both parts were
found. This, with many other relics, will be preserved in the museum of the
railway company as evidence of the people once occupying this country unknown
years in the past, and of whose history, manners, and modes of living only these
remain."



Additional Comments:
HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY
CALIFORNIA

WITH

Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
OF ITS
PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS.


OAKLAND, CAL.
THOMPSON & WEST

1883.


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