CHAPTER VI

(pp. 267-279)

[1] Ortega gives no distances and the route appears to have been very devious. Hence it is possible to locate the expedition at those points only which are specifically named. Cholam is still a small village in the southwest corner of T 25 S, R 16 E.

[2] The Yokuts subtribe Tachi occupied the area to the west of L. Tulare and its outlet sloughs as far as the coast ranges (see Kroeber, 1925, p. 484). However, since Ortega speaks of operating along the Kings R., the village he attacked must have been one of those not far west of Lemoore. The records of the Calif. Archaeol. Survey show from 10 to 15 habitation sites in this area, a fact which indicates in a general way a heavy population.

[3] The Nutunutu. This tribe extended along the south bank of the Kings R. from Lemoore nearly to Kingsburg.

[4] The chief center of the Telamni, who inhabited the oak forest of the Kaweah delta at and below Visalia. This had originally been a very large village but the disturbances caused by the Spanish expeditions had substantially destroyed it. The heavy mortality and great famine mentioned by Ortega were undoubtedly due to the continuous state of fugitivism, severe exposure to the weather, and inability to gather and store the customary stocks of food such as acorns and fish. No specific epidemic was recorded, such as is implied by Cutter (Ms, p. 213) on the basis of certain statements of the Father President, Mariano Payeras. However, no fulminating epidemic was necessary to produce the mortality. Starvation, exposure, and respiratory diseases would be quite adequate.

[5] The Choinok, who lived along Deep Cr., in the Kaweah delta, near and northeast of Tulare. The San Gabriel R. was the Kaweah.

[6] Sumtache (Tuntache, Chuntache). This was probably the principal village of the Chunut, on the northeast shore of L. Tulare. Bubal, mentioned frequently in the early accounts, was the village of the Wowol (see discussion in Kroeber, 1925, pp. 483-484 and Cook, 1955, pp. 44-45).

[7] The party followed the usual route over Pacheco Pass to San Luis Gonzaga and east into the valley.

[8] The stopping place may have been somewhere near Dos Palos, which is 20 mi. from San Luis Gonzaga. The expedition could scarcely have reached Mendota as stated by Cutter (Ms, p. 218) since the latter is nearly 50 mi. from the starting point and the ride was only 3 hours long.

[9] The villages along the San Joaquin R. from the great bend above Mendota to the vicinity of Newman had so completely disappeared in the early years of the nineteenth century that the Yokuts informants of Kroeber, Gifford, Gayton, and other modern ethnographers preserved no memory of them. Yet it is clear from the accounts of Pico and of other explorers and soldiers that they were relatively numerous and populous. The inhabitants seem to have been unusually disposed to the stealing of horses. Moreover, their habitat was on the west bank of the river and wide open to attack from the coast. For these or other reasons, they appear to have been completely obliterated.

The existence of 6 villages can be established with reasonable certainty (see discussion in Cook, 1955, pp. 51-52). From north to south they are: Cheneches, Malim, Nupchenches, Cutucho, Copicha, Tape. The first, Cheneches, was probably near the mouth of Mariposa Cr., north of Los Banos. The southernmost, Tape, was, according to Estudillo in 1819, 24 leagues south of, or upstream from, Cheneches. This would place Tape south of the great bend of the San Joaquin, roughly 20 mi. west of Fresno. Copicha was at the mouth of the Chowchilla.

[10] The general course of Pico's party was southeastward along the connecting sloughs between Tulare L. and the San Joaquin R. On the 12th they reached the lower Kings R. in the territory of the Wimilchi (Gumilchis). At or near this point the junction was made with Ortega's division.

[11] The route for the next several days is confused. The joint expedition moved back northwestward from the Kings R. to the San Joaquin area, where Pico had been previously operating.

[12] An error, since the party had just left Cheneches.

[13] The huge number of dead animals found in these villages is testimony to their great significance as an item in the diet of the natives. The Nupchenches group evidently had undergone a profound alteration from a sedentary, principally vegetarian people to active, hard-riding, meat-eating raiders.

[14] From the 16th to the 28th of December the Pico-Ortega expedition was pursued by miserable fortune and turned in a really pathetic performance. Not lacking in competent leadership, it nevertheless floundered for nearly two weeks through rain and mud, lost its horses, was led on repeated wild-goose chases by native guides, and accomplished nothing in the military sense. On the other hand, it contributed to the rapid economic and physical disintegration which was being undergone by the valley tribes. The Spaniards could return to the coast and organize a new expedition. The natives could not recover from the damage they suffered.

[15] The geography of this trip is very confusing and has never been cleared up satisfactorily. Despite the fact that Father Martinez gives distances with a great air of exactness, these distances cannot be tied to recognizable points. It is clear that Thuohuala is Bubal, of the Wowol, very probably on the western side of Tulare L. The river mentioned, which ends in Buenavista L., Goose L., and Tulare L., may have been Kern, since, moreover, it is the only unfordable stream in the southern valley. However, Telame refers to the village of the Telamni, west of Visalia. The only river 20 mi. (7 leagues) from Telame would be the Tule R. which, to be sure, flows into Tulare L. but is 100 mi. from Buenavista L. Gelecto may have been at or near Goose L., but if so, where was Lihuahilame, 19 leagues away?

It may have been that Martinez actually stayed in the southwestern areas of the valley and never crossed the line of the lakes and sloughs at all. If so, when he mentioned "Telame" he was talking about the subtribe Tulamni west of Buenavista L., not the Telamni in the Kaweah delta. In favor of such an hypothesis is his statement that "in all our trip we did not see a tree." This could scarcely have been true, had he reached the lower Kaweah R. The big river was very probably the Kern.

[16] The photocopy in the Bancroft Library is poorly executed. Several words close to the binding of the original book are impossible to decipher.

[17] For another version of this fight see the account by Father Cabot.

[18] The personal pronouns in this excerpt are somewhat confusing. However, the reader need only bear in mind that this is a transcript of a letter, not the original. Hence the first two words may be rendered: "Father Cabot says...." The entire letter is, of course, condensed and paraphrased in the transcript.

[19] Here is a clear instance of mission Indians going by themselves on a raid to the valley. They were, of course, authorized to do so by the missionary himself (Father Fray Antonio Jaime). How many such forays took place we have no means of knowing. As a rule, only when the expedition got into trouble was notice taken of it in the official correspondence or in the reports of the friars. It is probable that, in addition to these trips, which might be called "semiofficial," a vast number of Mission Indians came and went without permission. The disturbing influence of such small parties in the valley was not as great as that of the major, full-scale military enterprises, but in the aggregate must have been considerable.

[20] These villages are in the general region of Tulare L.

[21] These villages are all along the San Joaquin R. from Mendota to Patterson--in the Nupchenches group. Notice the final extinction of the village of Malime and the emigration of the inhabitants of Notoalh to the Sierra Nevada. By 1820 this area was probably completely denuded of Indians.

[22] The eastern end of the Montezuma Hills, just southwest of Rio Vista.

[23] Like those of other river explorers, Duran's leagues are not to be taken literally.

[24] The day's trip can be followed with reasonable assurance. A league from the stopping point at the eastern end of the Montezuma Hills near Rio Vista would bring the party to the foot of Grand I. [Isla de los Quenemsias]. The opening to the starboard was the main channel of the Sacramento. Following to the left, they soon encountered the entrance to Cache Slough to port. This they passed by and therefore must have entered Steamboat Slough. At 6 leagues (actually much less) they saw the fork of Steamboat Slough and Sutter Slough and followed the latter, which appears to continue straight ahead whereas Steamboat Slough seems to bear northeast. Both sloughs in fact lead back again to the main channel of the Sacramento. The description of the oak groves conforms to those of other early navigators of the Sacramento Basin.

[25] The opening or slough encountered at the end of one league was probably Miner Slough--although clearly it was not the one passed on the preceding day. The village of the Chucumnes was probably on Sutter I. near this point. Here also must be the place where the river "subdivides" into three branches; north, west, and south, Miner Slough being the western branch and Sutter Slough both the northern and southern arms. The afternoon voyage carried the party very slowly up Sutter Slough to a point near the head of Sutter I. where they stopped apparently on the west bank. The 18th they crossed the top of Sutter I. by way of the short connecting slough and entered the main stream of the Sacramento half a mile above Paintersville.

[26] Probably the slough which runs around Randall I. to the southeast.

[27] The halt was made probably somewhere near Richland.

[28] Since the distances in leagues are unreliable, it is impossible to specify exactly where Duran's party stopped on the night of May 19 or where they set up the cross and turned around on May 20. At the latter point they were above the last of the important sloughs, Elkhorn Slough, for the ground appeared as if it would be dry in the fall of the year and Duran thought that an approach by land would be better than one by water. The best guess is that the cross was set up somewhere near Freeport, and in any case below the junction of the American R. at Sacramento.

[29] It is doubtful that this "hill" was the Marysville, or Sutter, Buttes because not only are these heights much more than 10 leagues distant, but also because in the month of May there is no snow on them. It is more likely that Duran saw some of the higher summits of the Coast Range in Napa or Lake counties.

[30] Again somewhere near Richland, probably on Merritt I.

[31] This statement places the party definitely at the head of Grand I. The following sentence is misleading. They left Steamboat Slough on the right and took the main river which runs to the left. There is no other waterway fitting the description in this area.

[32] The party probably reached the vicinity of Walnut Grove on the afternoon of the 21st. From this time to the morning of the 24th it is impossible to reconstruct Duran's exact route. However, in general he seems to have run south, perhaps through the Mokelumne system, as far as the region northwest of Stockton, and thence westward to Suisun Bay.

[33] If, as Fr. Duran said, he bore east as close as possible to the dry land, then the most probable course was through Snodgrass Slough, past Deadhorse I. into the South Fork of the Mokelumne. He must have followed this stream downward to Potato Slough and perhaps Little Connection Slough to a junction with the main San Joaquin R. There is no continuous waterway farther east. Farther west the only feasible pathway is directly down the Mokelumne R., a course which does not fit the description given. The Nototemnes (to the right) may have lived on Staten I., or conceivably Bouldin I. The others--Yatchicomnes, Passasimas, and Mokelumnes--were on solid ground, east of the sloughs. Their habitat probably extended inland from the delta for some distance. We know that the Mokelumnes inhabited the river of that name for many miles upstream.

[34] The sand dunes between Antioch and Oakley, extending some distance up Marsh Cr. The name is still current as applied to the land grant made to John Marsh.

[35] The reader will observe immediately that the point of view of a soldier is very different from that of a priest. He will also note the irritation inspired in the soldier by the priest. Despite the lengthy apologies the soldier does not conceal his exasperation that he is subordinate to the priest and that he is not permitted to go where he wishes and explore as he sees fit. The criticism of Fr. Duran by Arguello must be viewed in this light.

[36] Duran says merely that the Commandante (Arguello) had "gone ahead" and stopped at the mouth of the San Joaquin. He followed the "route agreed upon" and stopped at the mouth of the Sacramento.

[37] From the 15th to the 22nd the account of Arguello agrees within reasonable limits with that of Duran. Differences in detail and emphasis are to be expected and do not reflect upon the veracity of either writer. For discussion of the route, reference may be made to the notes (22-34 above) to Father Duran's manuscript.

[38] The route followed by Arguello cannot be traced in detail. He seems to have followed sloughs in a generally northwest direction until he came upon the main stream of the Sacramento somewhere east of Grand I. (Isla de los Quenemsias), perhaps near Isleton. The skirmish with the Christian fugitives must have occurred in the Walnut Grove area.

[39] According to Duran the meeting took place at the eastern entrance to the Strait, near Martinez.