FOOTNOTES:

1. Pogesasequivalent to Kroeber's Posgisa2. Nimsynonymous with the North Fork subtribe3. Kwetahincluded in Kroeber's Holkoma4. Kokohebaincluded in Kroeber's Holkoma5. Holkomaincluded in Kroeber's Holkoma6. Towinchebaincluded in Kroeber's Holkoma7. Toinetcheincluded in Kroeber's Holkoma8. Tsooeawatahincluded in Kroeber's Holkoma9. Emtimbitchclassed by Kroeber as a Yokuts tribe10. Woponuchequivalent to Kroeber's Wobonuch11. Wuksatcheequivalent to Kroeber's Waksachi12. Padooshaequivalent to Kroeber's Balwisha

Nos. 5 to 8 inclusive are consolidated by Merriam as smaller groups within a main group or subtribe called the Toohookmutch. Concerning these Merriam says: "Large tribe on King's River. On both sides but largest area on north side. Contains many rancheria bands."

Using Merriam's nomenclature, the Nim are generally conceded to have been the largest single subtribe. For this we may take as a working base line the previous estimate of 440 persons and Merriam's list of 19 villages. Elsewhere Merriam mentions the names of the following: Toinetche 3 villages, Holkoma 4, Woponuch 9, Emtimbitch 2, Waksache 1, Kokoheba 1, and Toohookmutch 10. The total is 30. By direct proportion the inhabitants should have numbered 695 but this would leave five of Merriam's groups with no population at all. If we consider that the Toohookmutch complex plus the Kokoheba and Kwetah are the equivalent of Kroeber's Holkoma we find 18 villages, which implies 416 people. Merriam cites 9 villages or, at the same ratio, 208 persons for the Wobonuch. The total for these three of Kroeber's subtribes would then be 1,064. If we guess that the remaining groups contained 500 persons, the figure for the Mono in 1850 would reach the vicinity of 1,600.

In view of the paucity of the village data for all subtribes except the North Fork group it is proper to fall back on area-density comparisons. The territory actually inhabited by the Mono is vague, particularly on the eastern border approaching the high mountains. Nevertheless Merriam's villages furnish a fair guide in outline, since his findings, while very incomplete, can be regarded as a reasonably well distributed sample. Moreover, his descriptions of tribal boundaries and village locations appear to be very accurate. When we plot the latter on a large scale map, therefore, the outlines of the Western Mono area become sufficiently distinct.

There are two possible variants of the method, one by computing stream distances and the other by measuring areas. Both must of course rest for their basis on the data for the North Fork subtribe. This in turn may entail some error, since the North Fork group may have been not only the most populous but also the densest.

For the North Fork territory the distribution shown by Gifford on his map (1932, p. 18) is used plus the area of Bass Lake, since Merriam has found that there were once villages there. The southern and eastern boundary is taken as the San Joaquin River, because the North Fork Mono apparently did not cross to the left bank of the river. Several miles on Little Fine Gold Creek must also be included, according to Gifford's map.

In this region there were approximately 60 miles of streams, including the San Joaquin River itself. With a population of 440 this means 7.33 persons per stream mile. The stream mileage for the San Joaquin system as a whole within the Mono boundaries amounted to 100 miles. Hence the population in the same ratio would be 733. The analogous values for the Kings River system are 150 miles and 1,100 persons and for the Kaweah drainage 75 miles and 550 persons. The total population would then be 2,383.

If areas are calculated from the township lines on the map, that covered by the North Fork Mono is approximately 150 square miles and that of the Mono collectively is 1,090 square miles. Equating the North Fork population to the entire area gives for the Mono as a whole 3,195.

We may now return to the consideration of the Fresno-San Joaquin region. For the lower courses of these rivers, mainly in Yokuts territory, three values were derived, 2,633 from general estimates, 2,600 from Ryer's vaccinations, and 3,430 from village lists. We may accept the average, 2,890. For the Mono of the upper San Joaquin the best estimate, as given above, is 733. The total is 3,623 or, rounded off to the nearest hundred, 3,600.

FRESNO-SAN JOAQUIN ... 3,600

The Kings and Kaweah watersheds may be considered at this point in their entirety (see maps1and3, areas 3 and 4). If we deduct 730 persons for the San Joaquin basin, the estimates for the Mono on the two former streams was estimated by the village method as 870, by the stream mileage method as 1,653, and by the area method as 2,465. If one regards some of these figures as too high, he should bear in mind that the natives on the Kings and Kaweah rivers were exposed to more intense contact with the white race for a longer period before 1850 than those on the relatively sheltered North Fork, and that their extermination proceeded with tremendous velocity after that date. This fact may well account for the inability of either Kroeber or Merriam to find more than a few villages on the Kings and Kaweah, as compared with the success of Gifford on the North Fork. The more exposed villages may simply have disappeared before the era reached by the memory of modern informants. If this is so, the stream mileage and area comparisons may be more accurate than otherwise might be supposed.

Considerable evidence for a rather high population in this region at the midpoint of the nineteenth century is to be derived from contemporary accounts and from statements obtained by Merriam. Among the papers in his collection is a clipping from the Stockton Record of February 21, 1925, containing an article by Walter Fry of the United States Park Service. Included is an account of early days on the Kaweah by Hale D. Thorpe, obtained by Mr. Fry in 1910. Mr. Thorpe says:

When I first came to the Three Rivers country in 1856, there were over 2,000 Indians living along the Kaweah River above Lemon Cove. Their headquarters camp was at Hospital Rock.... There were over 600 Indians then living at the camp.

The Indians were mostly Mono, of the Patwisha tribe. Dr. Merriam evidently consulted Mr. George W. Stewart concerning this matter, since the file also contains a letter from Mr. Stewart written to Dr. Merriam on March 29, 1926, stating that this camp was occupied only during the summer and that there were several permanent rancherias along the stream. Mr. Thorpe's figure of 2,000 probably refers to Indians of all tribes, since by 1856 all the natives from the delta region had been driven up the river. The 600 at or near Hospital Rock were undoubtedly Mono.

In his manuscript entitled "Ho-lo-ko-ma, Cole Spring, Pine Ridge," Merriam has the following to say:

Ben Hancock, who has lived in this country about 40 years [in 1903] tells me that when he came here there were about 500 Indians (Ko-ko-he-ba) living in Burr Valley, a few on Sycamore Creek, 600 or 700 at Cole Spring (Hol-ko-mahs) and about the same number (also Hol-ko-mahs) in Fandango Ground and in Haslet Basin.... He says a very large village was stretched along the south side of King's River two or four miles below the mouth of Mill Creek and for half a mile the dome grass-covered houses nearly touched. There were also large villages on Dry Creek and one above the forks of King's River some miles above Dry Creek. The tribe at the forks is now extinct."

(There is only one survivor of the Burr Valley tribe.)

Although the numbers may be somewhat exaggerated, there is no reason why the essential correctness of this account should be questioned. This is particularly true in view of the circumstantial detail with which it is recorded. The Kokoheba must be regarded as having a population of at least 500 and the Holkoma of 1,200, making 1,700 for the Kings River Mono. If there were 730 on the upper San Joaquin and 600 on the upper Kaweah and if 500 are added for the Emtimbitch-Wobonuch group, the total is 3,530, not much more than was calculated by means of area comparisons.

For the Kings River as a whole the estimates of 1850 to 1853 indicate a substantial Indian population. Savage (Dixon, MS, 1875) sets the number as 2,000, a remarkably low figure for him. G. W. Barbour and Adam Johnston (Sen. Ex. Doc. 4, 1853, pp. 253-256) both state that for the purpose of consummating treaties 4,000 Indians came to Camp Belt on the Kings River in 1851. Lt. George H. Derby in his careful account of the southern part of the central valley in 1851 says that there were 17 rancherias on Kings River, "numbering in all about three thousand including those situated among the hills in the vicinity" (Derby, 1852). Many of these were Choinimni, but at least half must have been Mono.

If we accept Derby's count of 17 villages for 3,000 persons, the average number of inhabitants per rancheria would be 177. For the area farther north the equivalent number was taken as 70. There is reason to believe that for the basins of the Kings and Kaweah Derby's figure of 177 is a closer approximation. Ben Hancock's description of the village on the Kings below Mill Creek is very graphic and explicit (see citation above.) If the "dome-grass covered houses nearly touched" and stretched along the river in only a single row, and if each occupied 50 linear feet, then there must have been 52 houses in half a mile. Allowing 5 persons per house, in accordance with Gifford's data for the North Fork Mono, the inhabitants must have numbered 260. One of the rancherias seen by Derby was Cho-e-mime which had 70 "warriors." Reckoning the "warriors" as half the males the population would have been 280. Derby says the village of Notonto (of the tribe Nutunutu on the south bank of the lower Kings) had 300 inhabitants. These places were of course relatively large and important and do not represent the general average. However, the village of Notonto must have reached fully 150 persons.

Apart from the Mono, the tribes located on the Kings River were all Yokuts, as follows: Aiticha, Apiachi, Wimilchi, Nutunutu, Wechihit, Toihichi, Chukomina, and Choinimni. For these the modern ethnographers Kroeber, Gayton, Latta, and Stewart have been able to locate and identify 25 villages inhabited during the youth of informants. Since this covers a somewhat larger territory than was seen by Derby, the correspondence in number of rancherias is reasonably close. At 150 persons per village the population would be 3,750. If we add 1,700 for the Kings River Mono, the total is 5,450. However, there may have been some overlap, so this figure may be reduced to 5,000. It should be noted that the area embraced within this estimate includes the Kings River basin as a whole, together with that of all its affluents.

The Kaweah River from Lemon Cove to the town of Tulare diverges to form a delta, which originally contained a very large native population. At the time of the American occupation there had occurred a material reduction, which was accelerated by the fact that the region provided excellent farming land for the entering Americans. Hence the value for the population in 1850-1853 must be relatively low in comparison with preceding decades. In May, 1851, according to G. W. Barbour (1853, pp. 253-255) there were 7 tribes on the Kaweah, and 1,200 people came to treat with the commissioners. These tribes included the following: Chunut, Choinok, Wolasi, Telamni, Gawia, Yokod, and Wukchamni. Of these, the first, the Chunut, inhabited the shore of Lake Tulare and should not be included as a Kaweah River tribe. The estimated population of the remainder would, therefore, be approximately 1,000, if the figure of the commissioners is to be taken without qualification.

With respect to the individual tribes there are a few scattered bits of information. Derby (1852) mentions three rancherias or bands in the area: Cowees (Gawia) with 200 people, Thulime (Telamni) with 65 men, or roughly 200 people, and Heame-a-tahs (Telamni) with 200 people. Merriam in his "Yokuts List" cites an informant who said that the Wukchumne "used to number" 5,000 and occupied the valley now called Lemon Cove and up and down the Kaweah River. Clearly this is an extreme overestimate, unless the informant was referring to the period prior to 1800. Finally Merriam cites a letter by Lt. N. H. McLean, which states that the "Four Creeks Country" included the "Cahwiahs, Okuls, Choinux, Wicktrumnees, Talumnies" and in 1853 had not over 1,200 souls.[4]

It thus appears quite evident that the six Yokuts tribes, except perhaps the Wukchumni, had no more than 200 persons apiece during the era under consideration. From modern informants Kroeber, Gayton, and Latta have obtained for the Choinok, Gawia, Telamni, Yokod, and Wolasi collectively the names of only 8 villages. Assuming the Kings River value of 150 persons per village,which seems to be confirmed by Derby for the Kaweah River also, this means 1,200 persons for the five tribes. Gayton and Latta, however, find 15 names for the Wukchumni, which would indicate a population of 2,250. Such a figure is highly unlikely. It is probable that earlier times are referred to by the informants or that there is confusion among tribal affinities. Alternatively, the Wukchumni villages may have followed the style of the hill-dwelling Mono and have been very much smaller than has been indicated by Derby for the valley-inhabiting Yokuts. Since we cannot resolve the difficulty with the data at hand, it is better to accept the practically unanimous opinion of contemporary white observers that the population below Lemon Cove did not exceed 1,200 in 1851. To these must be added the 600 Mono previously discussed, making a total for the Kaweah River as a whole of 1,800 persons.

If the two river basins are considered jointly, the method of area comparisons as applied to the Mono, estimates by government officials, accounts by early pioneers, and the village lists secured from modern informants all apparently agree that the population of the region reached several thousand as late as 1850 and 1851. We may therefore accept the total of 6,800, or 5,000 on the Kings and 1,800 on the Kaweah.

KINGS-KAWEAH ... 6,800

The shores of Tulare Lake (see maps1and2, area 2) were aboriginally inhabited by three tribes, the Tachi, Wowol, and Chunut. In close proximity on the northeast were the Nutunutu, but since the latter have been included with the Kaweah River tribal group, they must be omitted from consideration here. Savage allocated 1,000 Indians to Tulare Lake (Dixon, MS, 1875). McLean said there were 1,000 Indians "on the lakes" in 1853, 500 of which were "Notontos," leaving 500 for the "Taches" and "Tontaches" (Merriam collection). The most reliable account is that of Derby (1852). However, Derby in his terminology confused the Tachi with the Chunut, in which mistake he has been followed by Merriam (under title "Indians of the Tache Lake Region in 1850," MS). Derby makes it clear in his account that he found the village of Sintache (population 100) at the northern side of the then nearly dry Lake Tontache, that is to say on the southern shore of the big Lake Tache (Tulare). These were probably Chunut. There was also a small rancheria which he called Tinte-Tache at the south side of the same lake, i.e., Tontache (population 50). These are likely to have been Wowol. The tribe known to ethnographers as the Tachi were north of the big lake (i.e., Lake Tache or Tulare). Their chief told Derby that they had 800 people and that their principal rancheria was northwest of the lake (population 300). Since Derby also applies the name of Tinte-Tache to the northwest village, it is clear that there were two rancherias of this name included in his account.

Kroeber and Gayton mention a total of 8 villages for the Tachi. If one of these had 300 people, as Derby states, then the average population of the other seven was approximately 70. This agrees with Derby's two southern rancherias of 50 and 100 persons respectively. For the Chunut Kroeber, Gayton, and Latta all mention the village of Chuntau. Kroeber mentions one other, Miketsiu. This would indicate a population of nearly 150. For the Wowol the ethnographers give three villages, or an implied population of, say, 220. The total for the lakes would then reach 1,170, or very close to the general contemporary estimate of 1,000. The figure 1,100 may be accepted as a compromise.

TULARE LAKE BASIN ... 1,100

The remaining Yokuts territory is large in area but relatively small in population. It includes the watersheds of the Tule and Kern rivers together with those of the small creeks between (Deer, White, and Poso creeks) and Buenavista Basin south of Bakersfield (see maps1and2, areas 1F and 1G). The tribes placed by Kroeber in the region are the Koyeti, Yaudanchi, Bokninuwad, Kumachisi, Bankalachi (Shoshonean), Paleuyami, Yauelmani, Hometwoli, Tuhohi, and Tulamni.

G. W. Barbour (1852), in a letter dated July 28, 1851, said that the area bounded by Buenavista Lake, Tule River, and Paint Creek contained a population of about 2,000. Savage (Dixon, MS, 1875) said there were 1,700 on the Kern River and Barbour (1853) stated that, for treaty-making purposes in 1851, 1,700 congregated at Paint Creek below Tule River. The villages listed by Kroeber, Gayton, and Latta for the various tribes are as follows: Bokninuwad 2, Hometwoli 3, Koyeti 8, Kumachisi 6, Paleuyami 7, Tuhohi 1, Tulamni 3, Yaudanchi 8, and Yauelmani 7. The total is 45. The village size indicated by Derby for the Tulare Lake Basin and adjacent valley territory is 60 or 70; that for the hill regions is undoubtedly smaller. If we take 40 persons as the average village population, the aggregate for the region would be 1,800 and if we take 50 persons, it is 2,250. We cannot be far in error in setting the population at Barbour's value, 2,000.

TULE-KERN-BUENAVISTA ... 2,000

On the basis of gross estimates and semicomprehensive counts for the entire region the population for the San Joaquin Valley and neighboring foothills in 1851 was tentatively set at 8,600 (p. 34). The detailed consideration of the seven subdivisions of the entire region, as above, leads to an estimate of 19,000, as set forth in the following recapitulation.

Stanislaus-Tuolumne2,000Merced-Mariposa-Chowchilla2,500Cosumnes-Mokelumne-Calaveras1,000Fresno-San Joaquin3,600Kings-Kaweah6,800Tulare Lake Basin1,100Tule-Kern-Buenavista2,000————Total19,000

It is believed that this total is more reliable than that previously given for several reasons. In the first place, it is derived from a careful consideration of all available sources in detail. In the second place, the preliminary estimate was weighted heavily by the reports of government officials, who saw principally those Indians with whom they were able to make treaties or whomthey were able to collect on reservations. That this seems to represent less than one-half the natives in the territory is not surprising. In the third place, recent investigations by ethnographers have brought to light many local groups which were overlooked by contemporary observers, official and civilian alike. We may therefore accept the figure 19,000 as the population of the San Joaquin Valley surviving in 1852.

FOOTNOTES:[1]These treaties seem to have been concluded without proper authorization from the Federal government and were never ratified by the Senate. They were incorporated in Senate Confidential Documents, June, 1852, and remained unpublished for half a century. Finally they were ordered printed in 1905 as a Senate Reprint and are now available under the title of "18 California Treaties."[2]This village list and all others herein referred to under the name of Merriam are part of the extensive file of personal manuscript material collected by the late C. Hart Merriam and deposited, through the kindness of his heirs, with the Department of Anthropology of the University of California, Berkeley. Merriam's village lists were very carefully compiled and for many regions of the state cannot be duplicated in any publications which have hitherto appeared.[3]I am indebted to Professor Edward W. Gifford, of the Department of Anthropology of the University of California, Berkeley, for the privilege of examining his list of Central Miwok villages, which was obtained some years ago through an informant and has remained unpublished.[4]Merriam's manuscript entitled "Yokuts List" mentions a report from Lt. N. H. McLean, dated July 12, 1853, to H. J. Wessels, on file in "Old Files Division," Adjutant General's Office, Washington, no. H369. As far as I am aware, this letter has never been quoted elsewhere.

[1]These treaties seem to have been concluded without proper authorization from the Federal government and were never ratified by the Senate. They were incorporated in Senate Confidential Documents, June, 1852, and remained unpublished for half a century. Finally they were ordered printed in 1905 as a Senate Reprint and are now available under the title of "18 California Treaties."

[2]This village list and all others herein referred to under the name of Merriam are part of the extensive file of personal manuscript material collected by the late C. Hart Merriam and deposited, through the kindness of his heirs, with the Department of Anthropology of the University of California, Berkeley. Merriam's village lists were very carefully compiled and for many regions of the state cannot be duplicated in any publications which have hitherto appeared.

[3]I am indebted to Professor Edward W. Gifford, of the Department of Anthropology of the University of California, Berkeley, for the privilege of examining his list of Central Miwok villages, which was obtained some years ago through an informant and has remained unpublished.

[4]Merriam's manuscript entitled "Yokuts List" mentions a report from Lt. N. H. McLean, dated July 12, 1853, to H. J. Wessels, on file in "Old Files Division," Adjutant General's Office, Washington, no. H369. As far as I am aware, this letter has never been quoted elsewhere.

In order to estimate the aboriginal population of the San Joaquin Valley it is necessary to rely very heavily on the accounts furnished by the colonial Spanish and Mexicans. These were primarily ecclesiastics and military men who entered the territory for purposes of exploration, to seek new converts to the missions, or to chastise stock raiders. The more responsible of these left circumstantial and, as a rule, fairly accurate narratives and diaries. Unless there is in a particular case some reason for doubt, their statements may be accorded considerable confidence.

At the same time two circumstances often render the interpretation of the data derived from these documents difficult. The first is the lack of consistent designations for places. During the process of opening up the area it was inevitable that rivers and villages should be assigned different names by one explorer after another and that the same name should be applied to more than one locality. The second is that during the early phases of exploration some localities were visited repeatedly, whereas others were overlooked perhaps entirely. Hence the information available to us is very uneven; it permits us to achieve a reasonably clear idea of the population of one region but leaves another almost completely blank. As a result extrapolation by area is almost unavoidable.

It must also be constantly borne in mind that the Spanish records themselves do not give us an absolutely undistorted picture of aboriginal conditions. It is very evident from the reports of the earliest official pioneers, like Garcés in 1776 and Martin in 1804, that from 1770 onward and perhaps even before white men had straggled into the valley and had consorted with the natives. There is reason to believe that these unknown interlopers may have introduced diseases which adversely affected the population and may have initiated a process of general social disruption. The best we can do is get as close to the prehistoric condition as the records allow.

Two other demographic consequences arise from this very early white contact. In the first place, the documentary record, if we ignore Garcés for the moment, runs nearly continuously from 1804 to approximately 1840. During this long period an uninterrupted change was going on among the native population: the population wascontinually decreasing. Hence later reports tend to deviate from earlier ones, and indeed may show an entirely new state of affairs arising within a very few years. In the second place, the deterioration in certain areas took place so rapidly in the first part of the nineteenth century that any information secured from informants alive since 1900 is completely useless. Unless very good documentary evidence is available for such areas, there is no recourse but to fall back on the method of extrapolation and area comparisons.

The principal Spanish accounts upon which we must rely include a few which have been published. Most of them, however, are to be found in manuscript form in the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Some of them were translated for an unpublished manuscript by the Late Professor Herbert I. Priestley and several were translated for Dr. C. H. Merriam. Merriam's translations are on file in his manuscript collection. The citations to these accounts, published and unpublished, are given in the manuscript section of the Bibliography. In this text they are referred to, without further citation, by the author's name and date.

We may commence detailed consideration of the aboriginal population with the Tulare Lake Basin, which was inhabited in 1800 by three Yokuts tribes, the Wowol, Tachi, and Chunut (see maps1and2, area 2). The first official visitor to the area was Father Juan Martin who entered the valley in 1804 in search of new mission sites. He found the principal village of the Wowol, which he called Bubal. This rancheria, he said, contained not less than 200 children. It was visited again in 1806 by Moraga, who found 400 inhabitants. Eight years later Father Cabot passed the site and found 700 people. Subsequently, it was visited by Ortega in 1815 and Estudillo in 1819 but these writers gave no population figures. Since no other village was ever recorded by name in the territory of the tribe, it is safe to assume that there was no other, at least of permanence and reasonably large size.

Gifford and Schenck (1926), in their discussion of the history of the southern valley, conclude that because the village was reported as having 400 persons in 1806 and 700 in 1814 there was a real increase in population during the intervening eight years. This they ascribe to fugitives from the coastal missions who entered the valley as refugees. The opinion expressed by these authors may serve as the starting point for discussion of certain general problems which are encountered in attempting to estimate the aboriginal population of the valley.

In 1804 Martin saw 200 children. If we knew the ratio of children to adults, we could easily compute the total number of inhabitants. The age of "children" was variously estimated in colonial New Spain, indeed all the way from seven to fifteen years. The early California missionaries used approximately fourteen years for males and twelve for females. In 1793, however, the system was standardized for doctrinal purposes. Indians, both gentile and converted, were designated as children if they were under ten years, i.e., in the age bracket from 0 to 9 inclusive. Hence all the clergy conformed to the method in so far as they were able and unless they specified otherwise.

There are certain data available which permit us to estimate rather closely what proportion of the population in California should be regarded as falling within the category of children. Within the missions the annual censuses enable us to compute with accuracy that the individuals under the age of ten years, between the dates 1782 and 1832 averaged 21.4 per cent of the total population (Cook, 1940). This value is relatively high and may not conform to gentile, or aboriginal, conditions. With regard to these we have information from archaeological sources. In the Museum of Anthropology at Berkeleythere are several hundred skeletons excavated from habitation sites in central and northern California, the ages of which have been determined and which constitute a fair cross section of the native population during the centuries immediately preceding invasion by the white man. Of these skeletons 22.6 per cent represent persons dying under the age of twenty years, and perhaps 10 or 15 per cent persons dying under the age of ten.

Further light is shed by the baptism records of the missions San Jose and Santa Clara (these are discussed in greater detail in a later paragraph) which list gentile baptisms according to village and distinguish between men, women, and children. In the two missions, from approximately 1805 to 1833 there were baptized a total of 5,217 persons from villages in the valley region. Of these 930, or 17.8 per cent were children and 1,939, or 37.1 per cent were listed as men. The sex ratio is 0.826. Evidently the natives captured and brought to the missions do not give us a completely true picture of the composition of the aboriginal population, despite the large sample at our disposal. It is highly probable that (1) the natural sex ratio was nearly unity and (2) many of the men were killed in warfare or escaped the clutches of the convert hunters. Therefore we are justified in setting the number of men equal to that of the women. If we do this, the population represented by the 5,217 conversions was actually 5,626, of which men and women each constituted 41.8 per cent and children 16.4 per cent.

Finally, we have figures from Zalvidea (MS, 1806) with respect to villages at the extreme southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. (These are discussed subsequently in connection with the population of that area.) At two of these, after adjusting for disturbed sex ratio, he found respectively 13.5 and 9.6 per cent children. However, Zalvidea's account states specifically that in these villages he carries the age of childhood only through the seventh year. If he had counted as children those under ten years of age, the percentages would naturally have been higher.

The data just set forth render it abundantly clear that the children constituted between 10 and 20 per cent of the aboriginal population. Since the exact value can never be ascertained, it is wholly reasonable to establish the arbitrary figure of 15 per cent. If we apply this factor to Bubal the result is not less than an aggregate of 1,333 persons, much greater than the value set by Moraga in 1806.

With respect to the suggestion of Gifford and Schenck that the number of inhabitants of Bubal had been augmented between 1806 and 1814 by refugees from the missions the following points may be noted. In the first place, it has been possible to show (Cook, 1940) by means of the mission censuses that in 1815 the cumulative total of fugitives reported by all the missions in the colony amounted to 1,927 persons. Of these a great many who ran away in the earlier years were deceased. Many never went to the valley at all and the remainder were distributed from Sacramento to Bakersfield. It is highly unlikely that as many as 300 would be concentrated at one village such as Bubal. In the second place, the majority of the fugitives who did reach the village or its vicinity were former inhabitants of the locality who were merely returning to their old homes rather than coastal Indians, who would have constituted real refugees. On the whole, therefore, and this conclusion applies throughout the valley, true increase of population by immigration of foreign fugitives was negligible.

A further problem of importance illustrated by our data for Bubal is the extent to which population estimates for villages were affected by local fugitivism or temporary scattering of the natives at the advent of the Spaniards. Very frequently the explorers left notations that the inhabitants of a certain rancheria had fled, or that many were absent. It seems clear that even by the year 1800 the natives were all too well aware of the purpose of the missionaries and soldiers and took measures to defeat that purpose. For this reason, remarkable as it may appear, the largest estimates are likely to have been the most accurate.

Returning now to the population of Bubal we find Martin counting "no less" than 200 children in 1804, indicating a total number somewhere in the vicinity of 1,300, although most of the adults apparently had absconded. In 1806 the same situation arose and Moraga found only 400 left in the village. In 1814 Cabot estimated that the village contained 700 people, despite the fact that some may have been missing. The apparent increase in 1814 can be very simply explained by the assumption that fewer natives had fled the village than had done so when Moraga arrived. Cabot's figure may be quite near the truth for the year 1814 since we must concede a drastic overall reduction of population in the area between 1804 and 1814. Certainly the population can never have beenlessthan 700. The weight of the evidence at hand thus indicates that the estimate based upon Martin's account, i.e., 1,300 persons, is essentially sound.

Further evidence of collateral importance is derived from consideration of the location of the village of Bubal. Gifford and Schenck (1926, p. 27) place Bubal on Atwell's Island, near Alpaugh, in T23S, R23E, that is, on the east side of Lake Tulare. Neither Martin (in 1804) nor Moraga (Muñoz diary of 1806) locates the rancheria with any precision but Cabot (1815) left San Miguel on October 2, 1814, and on October 3 traveled over an immense plain, arriving late in the day at Bubal, on the shore of a big lake. This can have been only Lake Tulare and the west shore thereof. The next year Ortega (1815), approaching from the north or northwest, passed through Sumtache (i.e., Chunut) and went on to Bubal, where he arrived late at night, not having been able to find the village "... por haverse mudado de su sitio propio ..." Estudillo was the next visitor who has left us a detailed account of this area. On October 22, 1819, he went from near Cholam to a place called Los Alisos near the edge of the foothills of the coast range. On October 23 he went across the plain and on October 24 arrived at Bubal, obviously from the west, and found it deserted, adding the comment that the village "... manifesto aver ya dias q. se fueron a otra parte." The following day he pushed five leagues south through tule swamp and found the settlement on the bank of the lake although his soldiers had to wade waist deep for two leagues farther in order to catch most of the inhabitants. Apropos of this incident he says regarding Bubal: "Esta es la rancheria de gentiles mas immediata a las misiones, y la q. con mayor frecuencia se hacen cristianos en la de San Miguel."

From these accounts it is very clear that the original site of Bubal was on the west, not the east, shore of the lake and that because of the depredations of the Spaniards the inhabitants fled into the lake itself, where they made at least temporary settlements. That these became their permanent home is attested by the fact that no later than 1826 Pico stated that Bubal was situated on an island in the lake. Subsequently contemporary writers as well as the modern ethnographers agree that the principal villageof the Wowol was on Atwell's Island.

From the demographic point of view the chief justification for tracing the migration of Bubal in the first two decades of the nineteenth century is to indicate how the constant pressure of the Spaniards, through incessant military expeditions, could affect the population. Through a series of years, their native village site having become untenable, the people of Bubal were forced to seek precarious and inadequate shelter where-ever they might find it in the depths of the tule swamps until ultimately they could establish themselves in a new home, an island fortress where they might remain relatively undisturbed. Starvation, casual massacre, and disease coupled with exposure must have strongly reduced the total number. Hence a 50 per cent decrease in ten or fifteen years—from Martin to Cabot and Estudillo—is not at all surprising.

The Chunut were first visited by Martin in 1804, who designated their principal rancheria Chuntache but gave no population figures. Two years later, in 1806, it was seen by Moraga, who called it Tunctache and said it had 250 people. Cabot in 1814 said there were 700 persons and Ortega in 1815 found 20 males. Estudillo in 1819 found 103 young braves ("indios gallardos mozos") and 200 women, old men, and children. However, he also states that the captain and "la mayor parte de la gente" were away on a visit toward Lake Buenavista.

The estimates of Cabot and Estudillo appear to be quite reliable. Cabot describes Bubal and then passes on to Suntache. The latter place he says had a population "about the same as the preceding," or 700 persons. Since Estudillo took the pains to count the young men precisely, his remaining estimate must be fairly correct. The total thus is 303 persons present plus more than the same number of absentees, or approximately 700.

Since the location and history of Tuntache was very similar to that of Bubal and since in the period 1815-1819 the population was nearly the same, it is very probable that there was a reduction in population at the former village analogous to that seen at the latter. Although we have no concrete data, such as Martin's report for Bubal in 1804, which may be applied to Tuntache, it may be assumed with safety that the aboriginal inhabitants of this rancheria numbered at least 1,200.

The third lake tribe was the Tachi. This tribe, or its principal village, was first recorded by Martin in 1804. He gives no direct figures but implies that there were 4,000 inhabitants, although he may have been referring to the entire lake area. The next visitor of consequence was Cabot in 1814 who stated that Tache "... segun presenta y por la caseria que la compone ..." had 1,000 souls. At a distance of two leagues he found another rancheria, Guchame, which may have belonged to the same tribe, which "... segun presenta y informes tomados no pasara de 200 almas ..." The next year Ortega attacked the rancheria but the people had been warned and had all fled when he entered. They had not returned, moreover, in 1819, when they were seen by Estudillo. They must have been in bad straits, because Estudillo found them living deep in the swamp, in a "gran Bolson de Tule, sin poder tener lumbre." Estudillo gives no figures but he makes the interesting comment that the Tachi had four chiefs and that the rancheria (or tribe) had several "parts," each at some distance from the others. This raises the question whether Cabot saw the only rancheria of the tribe or one of a number. The village he saw he examined sufficiently carefully to enable him to count the houses. Such an arrangement is incompatible with rancherias "each at some distance from the others." Furthermore four chiefs would imply four more or less equal subdivisions, or four rancherias and possibly 4,000 inhabitants. At first sight this appears preposterous. However, the following facts should be noted.

1. The area held by the tribe extended across the north and west shores of Lake Tulare from the present town of Lemoore to Coalinga close to the western foothills. This comprises a greater area than the Wowol and Chunut together.2. Modern informants have been able to give the ethnographers Kroeber, Gayton, and Latta the names of 3 villages for the Wowol, 2 for the Chunut, and 8 for the Tachi. Although the number of villages has no strict quantitative significance, it does indicate the greater size of the Tachi.3. As mentioned previously, Derby in 1850 found the Tachi tribe to contain about 8000 individuals, of whom 300 lived in the principal rancheria. In view of the very great attrition to which all the open valley tribes had been subjected between Estudillo's visit in 1819 and that of Derby in 1850 it is almost incredible that the Tachi should have diminished only from 1,000 to 800 during that period. It is much more reasonable that the principal village should have declined from 1,000 to 300 as would be indicated by the figures of Cabot and Derby. If so, then the tribe as a whole must have once contained much more than 1,000 people.4. Father Martin in the description of his trip implies that there were 4,000 people living in the vicinity of Tache. It has generally been assumed, and is so stated by Gifford and Schenck (1926, p. 22), that Martin was referring not only to the borders of Lake Tulare but also to the lower reaches of the Kaweah and Kings rivers. This is simply an assumption and rests upon no unequivocal evidence.5. Cabot's quite careful estimate for the principal rancheria shows that it was larger than Bubal or Tuntache in 1814. Martin's data for Bubal showed that this town must have contained fully 1,330 persons in 1804. If we disregard any shrinkage prior to that year, the contemporary population of Tache would have reached at least 1,600 if Cabot's estimates for the two villages in 1814 are to be credited.

2. Modern informants have been able to give the ethnographers Kroeber, Gayton, and Latta the names of 3 villages for the Wowol, 2 for the Chunut, and 8 for the Tachi. Although the number of villages has no strict quantitative significance, it does indicate the greater size of the Tachi.

3. As mentioned previously, Derby in 1850 found the Tachi tribe to contain about 8000 individuals, of whom 300 lived in the principal rancheria. In view of the very great attrition to which all the open valley tribes had been subjected between Estudillo's visit in 1819 and that of Derby in 1850 it is almost incredible that the Tachi should have diminished only from 1,000 to 800 during that period. It is much more reasonable that the principal village should have declined from 1,000 to 300 as would be indicated by the figures of Cabot and Derby. If so, then the tribe as a whole must have once contained much more than 1,000 people.

4. Father Martin in the description of his trip implies that there were 4,000 people living in the vicinity of Tache. It has generally been assumed, and is so stated by Gifford and Schenck (1926, p. 22), that Martin was referring not only to the borders of Lake Tulare but also to the lower reaches of the Kaweah and Kings rivers. This is simply an assumption and rests upon no unequivocal evidence.

5. Cabot's quite careful estimate for the principal rancheria shows that it was larger than Bubal or Tuntache in 1814. Martin's data for Bubal showed that this town must have contained fully 1,330 persons in 1804. If we disregard any shrinkage prior to that year, the contemporary population of Tache would have reached at least 1,600 if Cabot's estimates for the two villages in 1814 are to be credited.

On the basis of all these facts the author believes that the Tachi aboriginally possessed one village with at least 1,600 inhabitants and that Cabot's figure for this village was reasonably accurate. In addition, the statements of Estudillo in 1819 and Derby in 1850—and both of these observers were trustworthy persons—point definitely to the existence of at least three other villages. These were undoubtedly smaller than the principal rancheria. In default of any concrete data each may be estimated as half the size of Tache, or 800 persons apiece. The total for the tribe would then be 4,000 or nearly twice as much as for the Wowol and Chunut combined.

An aggregate of 6,500 natives for precontact times seems to be indicated in the Tulare Lake basin. The figure 1,100 was obtained for the period of approximately 1850-1852. The reduction would then have been to a value of 16.9 per cent of the aboriginal level. If this seems excessive, it should be borne in mind that the area was subjected to the ravages of disease, both epidemic and venereal, from 1770 forward, as is attested or implied by both Garcés in 1776 and Martin in 1804.It was overrun by clerical and military expeditions in 1804, 1812, 1814, 1815, and 1819, not to mention an indefinite number of private raiding parties which have left no trace in the documents. From 1820 to 1850 it was entered repeatedly by ranchers from the coast, American trappers of the Jedediah Smith variety from the southwest or north, and by New Mexican bandits. All these took a toll in the form of mission converts, battle casualties, burnt food stores, and disrupted village life. Finally, it should be remembered that the dry and arid plains of modern Kings, Tulare, and Kern counties bear no resemblance to the former region of rivers, sloughs, swamps, and lakes which once supported uncounted millions of game birds and animals, together with a luxurious vegetation capable of supporting a very dense human population.

TULARE LAKE BASIN ... 6,500

Together with the Tulare Lake Basin the lower Kaweah River and its delta from Lemon Cove to below the town of Tulare was probably one of the most densely populated spots in California, or possibly even north of the Valley of Mexico (see maps1and3, area 3). The repeated comment of the missionaries with respect to the "infinidad de gentiles" to be found there creates a subjective impression which is borne out by the numerical data we possess.

There seem to have been two rather indistinctly separated divisions of the region. One, centering around Visalia and occupying the delta and sloughs, contained three tribes, the Telamni, Wolasi, and Choinok, of which the Telamni were the most important and numerous. The other, centering around Lemon Cove and probably extending some distance into the lower foothills, included the Wukchamni, Gawia, and Yokod, the largest group being the Wukchamni.

Martin entered the delta in 1804 and called the people Telame. Moraga in 1806 explored it more thoroughly. According to the Muñoz diary (Oct. 19-20), the party noted Telame with 600 souls, together with a "big rancheria" one league east and the rancheria Cohochs two and one-half leagues east. In addition there were "otras varias rancherias" in the vicinity. The village list appended to the diary gives Telami I ("tendra segun corto computo 600 almas"), Telame II with 200 souls, Uholasi with 100, Eaguea with 300, and Cohochs with 100. Uholasi is no doubt Wolasi, and Eaguea and Cohochs are probably respectively Gawia and Yokod. If the last two are omitted, it is evident that Moraga saw or knew about four rancherias, Telame I and II, Uholasi, and the unnamed big rancheria. To these must be added the "otras varias rancherias," which may have amounted to another four, or eight in all. A population of 2,000 to 4,000 is certainly indicated.

Cabot in 1814 was the next visitor who left a record. He referred to the "Roblar de Telame Rio," which included Telame, the largest rancheria in the Tulares. Cabot's Telame may well have included both the villages to which this name was ascribed by Morgan. If so, on Moraga's figures it must have contained a minimum of 800 persons. A higher number is more probable, however, in view of the fact that it was the largest in the area.

In 1816 Father Luís Antonio Martinez passed through the region and left a circumstantial account of his visit. Starting from Bubal, he approached the Telame area, reaching first the village of Gelecto, where "... encontraron no mas el cementerio: se habia destruido por las guerras ..." These wars apparently were raids and skirmishes in which refugees from the missions and other Indian villages participated. From Gelecto the party went to Telamni "... al llegar alli los divisaron de Lihuauhilame el grande ... done al dia anterior habian tenido una gran refriega cuyo resultado fue dar muerte a únos 8 hombres ..." The captain of the latter rancheria sent a messenger to Martinez with the report the place contained "como de 300 casados." Gelecto was one league from Lihuauhilame and since the latter village could be seen from Telame the distance between the two could not have been more than a league. Martinez then went six leagues south to Quihuama, before proceeding westward on the way home.

Lihuauhilame contained 300 married men, or heads of families. The aboriginal social family consisted of at least five persons, and even after the disruption suffered from 1804 to 1816 must have amounted to four. The total population, according to this assumption, must have reached fully 1,200, with a probable pre-invasion value of at least 1,500. Martinez therefore gives us four sizable places: Gelecto (depopulated), Telame (minimum 800 according to Moraga and Cabot), Lihuauhilame (1,200), and Quihuama.

Subsequent visitors (e.g., Estudillo, 1819, and Rodriguez, 1828) mention Telame but give no data with respect to size nor do they specify any other rancherias in the immediate vicinity. For basic population data we are consequently forced to depend upon Cabot, Moraga, and Martinez.

In the discussion of Bubal mention was made of the attrition of population due to war and disease during the period following the first entry of the Spaniards in or about the year 1800. That these factors were very serious becomes even more evident from the accounts of the Telame region. Martinez describes the total obliteration of Gelecto, which he ascribes to the "wars." Elsewhere in his report he refers to much internecine fighting among villages and between natives and fugitives from the missions. Moreover, the Spanish accounts repeat ad nauseam the statement that this or that village was attacked or destroyed in the course of various expeditions, or that village after village was deserted by its inhabitants because of fear of the soldiers. It is highly probable that there is a great deal of lost history pertaining to the central valley during this period and that tremendous destruction was inflicted upon the native villages which was never recorded in the official documents.

Hunger and disease were likewise rampant. Clear indication of this condition is contained in the sentence of Ortega, in 1815, with respect to Telame: "... encontrando esta grande rancheria toda desparramada por la mucha mortandad que havian tenido, y la much hambre que padecian ..." With regard to the cause of the "mortality" it is clear that a part was due to the killing by the Spaniards and other Indians during the "wars," a part was due to famine, and very likely the remainder was due to disease. Although this factor is not specifically mentioned, the word "mortandad" was widely employed by the Spaniards and Mexicans to connote the effects of an epidemic. Furthermore, the absence of disease would be more difficult to explain than its presence in view of the wide intercourse between the peoples of the southern valley and those of the coast at a time when the Indians of the missions were dying by thousandsfrom measles, dysentery, and other contagious maladies introduced by the whites. The whole picture is one of ruinous devastation in the Kaweah delta just prior to 1816, with accompanying disorganization of the local economy and reduction of population.

The effect of war, disease, and starvation cannot be emphasized too strongly, nor can mention be made of them too often. On account of their debilitating influence the populations seen in the Kaweah delta and reported in the documents cannot possibly be overestimates of the aboriginal number. On the contrary, they undoubtedly represent too low, rather than too high, a figure.

Reverting now to the villages reported, Moraga mentions eight places, four of them by name or other specific reference. Martinez mentions four, all by name. Cabot refers to Telame as the largest village in the Tulares. Elsewhere (MS, 1818) he states that before reaching Telame there are five rancherias, including Quiuamine and Yulumne. Quiuamine is no doubt the Quihuama of Martinez.

Telame was one village, according to all observers except Moraga (actually Muñoz, who wrote the diary). Moraga ascribes 600 people to the first Telame and 200 to the second. The first estimate, be it noted, was "segun corto computo," or according to a short count. The estimate must therefore on Moraga's own admission be increased, certainly to 1,000 and perhaps more. In view of the size of the well known rancheria Bubal, fully 1,300, Telame must have contained 1,200 persons.

In addition to the two Telames Moraga mentions a "big rancheria" one league to the east. Hence there were three villages which comprised what may be termed the Telame complex. No figures were given by Moraga for the unnamed rancheria, since it was entirely deserted. However, since it was regarded as "big," there must have been several hundred inhabitants, say 500. The total for the triad then would have reached nearly 2,000.

The Martinez description is apparently somewhat at variance with that of his predecessor. Martinez saw, cites distances for, and mentions by name three rancherias: Telame, Lihuauhilame, and Gelecto. They were located within a radius of one league of each other and must correspond to the three seen by Moraga. Gelecto was in ruins, with only the cemetery still in evidence. Hence Gelecto may very well have been the big, deserted rancheria of Moraga. Martinez gives no population data for Telame but says there were 300 heads of families in Lihuauhilame, which was, therefore, without much doubt the largest of the three. According to Moraga's figures, Telame I was the largest. Hence the concordance seems to be that Telame, Lihuauhilame, and Gelecto of Martinez correspond respectively to Telame II, Telame I and the "big" rancheria of Moraga. As pointed out previously, the total inhabitants to be deduced from 300 heads of families, under the conditions existing in 1816 was 1,200. This is twice the estimate of Moraga.

An important point arises here with respect to Moraga's estimates. At Bubal, it will be remembered, Martin found evidence of 1,300 people in 1804 whereas Moraga reported only 400 in 1806. At Lihuauhilame Martinez found according to the statement of the village chief 1,200, although Moraga had reported ten years previously only 600. Furthermore Cabot, at Bubal eight years after Moraga, found 700 persons. For these two important villages therefore Moraga differs flatly with three other competent authorities by a factor of two or three. Similar instances may be found elsewhere in which Moraga's population figures are far too low. It seems difficult to escape the conclusion, consequently, that Moraga (or Muñoz) consistently underestimated the native population. The reason is not immediately apparent, although several possible suggestions may be offered. Moraga personally had little interest in such matters. Although he himself did not write the account of the expedition to the Tulares in 1806, he did write that of his expedition to the Sacramento Valley in 1808. The latter diary shows very clearly, through the extreme paucity of its population data, that Moraga either made no direct counts or estimates, or considered them too unimportant to mention in his manuscript. For the 1806 trip the estimates were all supplied, obviously, by Muñoz. There is no reason to impugn either the judgment or veracity of this missionary. However, if one examines his account, it becomes evident that Muñoz based his figures either (1) on statements of gentiles or (2) on the number of natives seen by him. The former source might or might not be accurate. The latter was almost certain to yield too low values because the Moraga expedition was notoriously hostile to the natives and at nearly every village approached the inhabitants fled if they could possibly do so. Muñoz therefore consistently saw only the residue, a fraction of the actual number.

For the above reasons the writer believes that a correction factor should be applied to the Moraga-Muñoz data, and unless there is specific reason to believe otherwise, the figures should be regarded as indicating only about 50 per cent of the true population. Such a correction should not be applied to the figures of other explorers, like Cabot or Estudillo, who were far more careful in their methods of estimate.

If, now, we apply a correction factor of 2, Moraga's estimate for Telame I becomes 1,200, or the same as that found by Martinez for the same village (Lihuauhilame). On the same basis Telame II (Telame of Martinez) would have had 400 persons. Gelecto (unnamed by Moraga) was "big" but probably not as big as Telame I. Hence we may assume an intermediate value, say 800. The total for the Telame complex, or the triad of villages, would have been 2,400.

In addition to the triad we have Uholasi and the "otras varias rancherias" of Moraga. Since Moraga gives 100 for Uholasi we may increase that number to 200. Among the other rancherias we have Quihuame (or Quiuamine) and Yulumne, which were noted by later visitors. Moraga, however, in saying "otras varias" clearly means more than two, probably at least four. It is pertinent to note in this connection that some of these may have disappeared during the turmoil of 1806 to 1816 and that their surviving inhabitants may have been absorbed by other, larger villages. Such an explanation would account for the failure of Cabot and Martinez to refer to them. If we assume four villages at the time of Moraga's expedition (and of course the aboriginal number would have been no less), it is safe to consider them as having been relatively small. According to the size scale of the Kaweah villages as a whole 200 inhabitants could reasonably be ascribed to each of them, or 800 for the group.

The aboriginal population of the Telamni and the Wolasi may therefore be set as closely as we can get at 3,200. The Choinok appear to have had only one rancheria. At least there is one and one only which recurs repeatedly in the Spanish documents. This is Choynoque (Moraga, 1806), Choynoct (Ortega, 1816), Choinoc (Cabot, 1818) or Choijnocko (Estudillo, 1819). Moraga gave 300 as the population, as did also Estudillo. The two values are comparable, if we remember the attrition occurringbetween the years 1806 and 1816. We may then apply the correction factor of 2 and get 600 as the most probable number in 1806. Such a value is also consistent with the status of the Choinok as an independent tribal entity of the Kaweah basin, although it does not take into account any reduction in population prior to the expedition of Moraga. There was doubtless such a reduction, but since we have no direct evidence bearing upon the matter it will be better to let the figure 600 stand.

The total for the Kaweah delta group (Telamni, Wolasi, Choinok) is 3,800. This is indeed surprising but the figure perhaps is corroborated by the statement of the Franciscan President for the California missions, Father Payeras—made in support of the establishment of new missions in the valley—that the Telame district alone contained 4,000 unconverted heathen.

The middle Kaweah above Visalia was inhabited by the Gawia, Yokod, and Wukchamni. The Gawia are represented in Moraga's account by Eaguea (300 inhabitants) and the Yokod by Cohochs (100 inhabitants). The Wukchamni were by far the most numerous and for an excellent account of them we are indebted to Estudillo. This officer, in addition to being a competent field commander, appears to have been a scholar and a gentleman. His report on the Wukchamni village of Chischa is unquestionably the most complete and accurate left us by any of the Spanish explorers and as such is worth discussing in detail.

Estudillo was the first white man to see Chischa. On this point he is very explicit:

Back to Index Next