Part 2

Its habitat is in swamp bottom lands. The root of the plant was used in cases where the menstrual period had been overdue for five or as many as ten days. The plant itself has a rather offensive odor, but the boiled root is quite agreeable to the taste and very effective. The patient may drink as much of the tea as desired. Blooming season from March to late fall. (American Goosefoot)

CRACCA VIRGINIANA (_Ind. Po-hiel_)

American Garden Rue. A common garden shrub introduced into this country at the beginning of the early mission days.

Although the odor of this plant is quite disagreeable to the sense of smell, the infusion is very rich in flavor and not bad at all.

Flesh-wounds, knife-cuts, etc.

ANEMOPSIS CALIFORNICA (_Ind. Che-vnes_)

American Swamp Root. Habitat, swamps. This plant is plentiful in California—the territory where it grows wild could be measured in thousands of acres. When cut, dried, and powdered, it can be used for the disinfection of knife-cut wounds, and to draw and promote the growth of healthy flesh. (Spanish _Yerba Mansa_)

GRINDELIA SQUARROSA (_Ind. Tanga-wet_)

Habitat, low, sandy loam soils. For above-mentioned purposes this plant is very valuable from a medicinal standpoint, as it makes all wounds respond quickly to healing, when used as a wash and for disinfection of cuts. A wet pulpy poultice must be applied to the wounds for quick results. The plant blooms from June to August. (American Gum Plant)

FRASERA (_Ind. So-cat-llami_)

American Deer Ears. Habitat, the high sierras and coastal ranges. The infusion is used for the treatment of infected sores.

CARDUACEA (_Ind. San-ca_)

American Green Sage. Its habitat is the Mojave Desert, San Bernardino County and north of the southern borders of the San Joaquin Valley. This plant is very valuable, being very powerful and of great medicinal use, and much attention should be given it by men of science.

The Indians used it universally in cases of serious and major wounds—the infusion being given the patient if symptoms of blood poisoning were present. Tetanus, commonly known as lockjaw, was easily overcome, thus eliminating the surgical operations so frequently resorted to by the medical profession. The infusion was also administered in cases of childbirth as a preventative of blood poisoning and gangrene with _Ramona polystachya_.

OPUNTIA (_Ind. Tu-nah_)

American Cactus Pear. Its habitat, the desert and dry lands. This plant was fully as important as _Piperacea_. The large leaves were scraped of their thorns and a plug made out of the leaf, according to the nature of the wound, and inserted into it, healing it quite rapidly—a first-class piece of botanical surgery.

Healing.

PLANTAGO MAJOR (_Ind. Pal-qua-ah_)

American Plantain. Its habitat is swamps and localities where there is abundant moisture. The plant, like many others, was used to dislodge and draw deeply embedded poisonous thorns and splinters from the flesh. The operation was quite simple. It consisted of applying a light coating of suet on one of the leaves, this was covered with another leaf and then placed, tied down firmly, over the thorn or splinter to be removed. It usually requires about 10 hours for the thorn to appear at the surface of the skin. The same procedure can also be used by persons who have accidentally stepped on a rusty nail—thus avoiding danger of blood poisoning. The simple poultice described above will prevent that.

CLEMATIS LIGUSTICIFOLIA (_Ind. Chee-va-tow_)

The California Clematis is a sister plant of the Eastern Clematis, a very good healer in the treatment of skin eruptions, the infusion to be used as a wash.

Inhabits the mid-coast and inland ranges, and, to the east, the territory where Daniel Boone’s activities played their part and took their place in American history. Nothing, however, is mentioned about this plant at the time the Indians were pursuing him in the wilds of Kentucky, and yet it was one of the strong vines of _Clematis_ which enabled Daniel Boone to escape and save his life by cutting it with his hunting knife above ground and hurling himself far out, thus putting the Indians off his track.

Myself an Indian, I have always admired Daniel Boone for his cool presence of mind. He was brave and fearless, although not a showman like Buffalo Bill and others whose exploits were chiefly founded on personal motives.

Coughs, colds and sore throat.

RUMEX HYMENOCALLIS (_Ind. Ca-na-ma_)

American Wild Rhubarb. Thrives in dead, sandy soils, and is very common throughout Southern California. The roots are long and bear a close resemblance to sweet potatoes. The infusion made from it has an acrid taste, and, when used as a gargle several times in cases of cough and sore throat, it will be found to give complete relief. The plant blooms in June and July.

PRUNUS SEROTINA (_Ind. Is-lay_)

American California Wild Cherry. At home in the high mountain ranges. An infusion of the bark in spring or summer while the sap is running, or of the roots in winter when the tree is dormant, may be used for common coughs.

PRUNUS ILICIFOLIA (_Ind. Is-lay_)

Holly-Leaf Cherry. Used for the same purposes as _Prunus serotina_.

SPIRAEA SALICIFOLIA (_Ind. Ha-ba-ba-neek_)

American Queen of the Meadows. Its habitat is the low coastal ranges. The root of the plant was used for common coughs and chest colds.

EUPATORIUM PURPUREUM (_Ind. Sa-ca-pe-yote_)

American Joe-Pye Weed. It was used for the same purpose as _Spiraea salicifolia_ in localities where that plant couldn’t be obtained, although the latter was greatly preferred for the extra medicinal qualities it possessed as a mild laxative. The root, when made into an infusion, is extremely pungent and rich in flavor, but agreeable in taste to most people.

MARRUBIUM VULGARE (_Ind. O-o-hul_)

American Horehound. Its habitat is the woodland. Although the infusion made from the leaves and flowers is rather bitter, it is very good for ordinary coughs and sore throats.

Old dry coughs.

AUDIBERTIAS STACHYOIDES (_Ind. Seel_)

American Black Sage. This plant is one of the most valuable of all for the cure of deep dry coughs of long standing, which have settled in the bronchial tubes. This does not mean coughs of two or three weeks’ duration, but those which have existed for a period of from four to six months and which have, therefore, reached a chronic, dangerous stage.

The infusion was made full strength and given to the patient in small doses, hot—never cold—in the daytime, and one extra big dose before retiring.

Blood hemorrhages of the lungs.

DENNSTAEDTIA PUNCTILOBULA (_Ind. Ma-ciel_)

American Hay-Scented Wild Fern. Its habitat lies in the high California mountain ranges. We are now coming to the tuberculosis line. Hemorrhages of the lungs, and common diseases which prevail to a great extent among people who, through neglect and irregular habits, intensify coughs and colds.

It was nothing to an Indian to overcome these maladies of the lungs, which in his case were usually due to accidental injury. This wild fern bears oil nodules on the crown of the root system and they are available only at a certain period, from May to June.

Coughs and asthma.

ERIODICTYON GLUTINOSUM CALIFORNICUM (_Ind. Tan-que-bel_)

Commonly known as _Yerba Santa_, this plant proved to be possessed of great medicinal merits, and was very soon adopted by the mission friars for its outstanding qualities in the cure of coughs, asthma, rheumatism and pneumonia, being rightly considered as far superior in this respect to any of the other medicines brought by them from Europe. In fact, so great was the medicinal usefulness of these plants and hundreds of others known to the Indians, that they soon became the objects of study and investigation, which, however, met with failure, due to the severe punishment meted out to any and all Indians for divulging any secrets pertaining to the medical history of plants used by the tribes. A penalty which was sufficient to deter them from any further misdeeds in that direction, and which they always remembered. Quite a contrast to the modern, elastic laws of our present civilization.

ERIODICTYON CALIFORNICUM (_Ind. Que-bel_)

American White Woolly Holly Plant is the sister plant of _E. glutinosum_.

Cathartics.

ERIOGONUM ELATUM (_Ind. Pa-va-coneel_)

American Bottle-Weed. Its habitat lies in the volcanic regions of the Mojave Desert. This plant is rather peculiar in its growth, thriving on poisonous volcanic soils, where no other form of plant life can exist. The Indians of the desert regions used the plant as a physic, and it outranks _Rhamnus californica_ in this respect. The mission friars overlooked this plant for the reason that none of them ventured that far into the desert, valuing their lives above everything else.

The infusion obtained from the plant was used in very minimum doses, and when unable to do that, a small branch was cut and a very small piece was chewed by the constipated person.

RHAMNUS CALIFORNICA (_Ind. Hoon-wet-que-wa_)

American Coffee Berry. Its habitat is the canyons of high mountain ranges along waterway banks.

The bark was stripped off the trees, shade-dried and then ground in a _ca-wish-pat-os-vaal_, meaning the stone mortar and pestle generally used in those days, and even by druggists today, though made of different material. The prepared powder was used to a great extent at full strength in cases of constipation, and was administered in well-measured doses, but not in excess.

Owing to its medicinal properties this tree-plant was introduced into European countries where it gradually became the outstanding cathartic of all.

And this is the _Rhamnus californica_, the medicine of the Indians, named by Junipero De Serra _Cascara sagrada_—“Sacred Bark.”

Kidneys.

EQUISETUM HYEMALE (_Ind. Po-po-ot_)

Its habitat is confined to swampy lands. This plant is very fond of water, and attains a very vigorous growth under these conditions. Due to its aquatic nature, the plant, when fully matured, was gathered, shade-dried and an infusion made which was used solely in the treatment of prostate gland trouble. (American Horsetail)

EPHEDRA (_Ind. Tut-tut_)

Its habitat is the desert lands of California, northwestern Arizona, and Nevada.

This evergreen, shrubby plant was held in high esteem by all the Indians, and a good supply of it was always kept on hand for general use. The infusion made from it was used regularly to flush the kidneys. The tea is of a very delicious taste. A person cannot help liking it, and it also helps to purify the blood. (American Tea of the Indian)

PELLAEA ATROPURPUREA (_Ind. Cala-wala_)

American Purple Cliff Brake Fern. Its habitat: the high mountain ranges. This useful little fern grows abundantly on most of the limestone formations and is seldom found anywhere else. Like _Ephedra_ it makes a delicious tea, which is used more or less for the same purpose, to flush the kidneys and to tone and thin the blood in severely hot summer weather as a preventative against sunstroke.

Blood pressure, sunstroke.

ERIOGONUM ELONGATUM (_Ind. Te-ve-na-wa_)

This plant is an inhabitant of the Mojave Desert. There are two different varieties, one of them being quite common on arid lands and side hills along our coastal highways. The other is the best, however, and, as a blood tonic, compares very favorably in medicinal worth with all others recommended.

The latter was used by the Indian for special cases of high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries.

It was generally used by Indian runners, and taken before and after a long-distance run over rough country.

Sedatives.

VERONICA OFFICINALIS (_Ind. Ca-wish-hubel_)

American Speedwell.

MENTHA SPICATA (_Ind. Ga-vish-ho-ba-jat_)

American Garden Spearmint. Habitat, the lower marshy coastal regions.

ILYSANTHUS BRACHIATUS (_Ind. Samat-hubel_)

American Mountain False Pennyroyal.

MENTHA CANADENSIS (_Ind. Samat_)

Both _Ilysanthus_ (above) and _Mentha Canadensis_ inhabit the high mid-coastal ranges and are frequently found lining the borders of mountain streams in beautiful settings of wild ferns. (American Mint)

MICROMERIA DOUGLASII (_Ind. Ya-mish-hubel_)

Mint Family. A rare plant and found only in a few localities on the mid-coastal ranges, as in Orange County, San Juan Capistrano, at Hot Springs, situated on the southern slopes of the Trabuco mountains, Los Angeles County, Fish Canyon, Pasadena in Santa Barbara County, the heavy woodlands of Montecito Valley and in the Old Spanish Grand Rancho, San Leandro. It is also found northward as far as San Francisco at Angel Islands. The infusion was taken to soothe the nervous system in cases of insomnia.

Catarrh of the head and nasal chambers.

PLATANUS OCCIDENTALIS (_Ind. Ci-vil_)

American Sycamore. It is an inhabitant of the California mountain ranges. The underside of its leaves bears a very fine yellowish moss, which the beautiful little hummingbirds like to use for building their tiny nests. In fact, they prefer it to any other material on account of its extreme softness.

These leaves are valuable as an effective cure for old chronic cases of catarrh, when the catarrh has passed into internal ulcers, which continually discharge material of an offensive odor.

The moss scraped from the underside of the leaves, carefully and patiently enough to have a sufficient supply to compound it with the dry powdered yolks of the eggs of quail and an infusion of _Andromeda polifolia_ was also made and used as a nasal douche, to cleanse the conduits, followed afterwards by sniffing the powdered compound before retiring for the night.

HELENIUM AUTUMNALE—HELENIUM NUDIFLORUM (_Ind. Pe-bah_)

American Sneeze-Weed. Both inhabit swamps and mountain springs.

ANDROMEDA POLIFOLIA (_Ind. Ho-bef-zo-bal_)

American Moorwort. This is found only at very high mountain altitudes.

Toothache and pyorrhea.

ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM (_Ind. Pas-wat_)

American Yarrow. This plant bears a strong resemblance to the Wood Betony, which is poisonous, and both may, in their wild state, be found side by side in the same locality. It is indigenous to the mid-coastal range woodlands.

Persons suffering from a severe toothache can cut the tips of the leaves of _Achillea millefolium_, roll them into a small pellet and insert it into the cavity of the aching tooth. You will be surprised how quickly the pain disappears.

ERIOGONUM (_Ind. Pas-vaat_)

This inhabitant of the Mojave Desert, with its golden yellow flowers, is a treat to the true lover of nature. Its blooming season is in its full glory during the month of October when everything else in the way of flowering trees and shrubs is lying dormant. Thousands of acres in the desert may be seen carpeted with this golden color, blending with that of autumnal foliage and geological soil formation which also glows in many tints, offering wonders of inspiration to the artist—the greatest interpreter of the works of nature next to the botanist, geologist and naturalist.

For centuries _Pas-vaat_ has been used by the Indians to keep the roots of the teeth and the gums in a state of health. Whenever pyorrhea was present and the teeth threatened to become loose, an infusion of the flowers and leaves of the plant was made and regularly used as a mouthwash. Although its taste is very bitter, holding the liquid in the mouth for a few minutes daily will prevent and cure pyorrhea and tend to the firm setting of the teeth.

QUERCUS RUBRA (_Ind. Qui-neel_)

American Red Oak. The juice obtained from the bark is a very efficient means for straightening and setting loose teeth, but it has no effect on pyorrhea.

PERSEA and VANILLA PLANIFOLIA

American Avocado, or Alligator Pear. Our Indian brothers of the North Central American states use the seeds of the avocado in the treatment of pyorrhea, although only in the form of powder. It is very good and efficient for toothache, as is also an infusion made of the vanilla bean.

Fever and chills.

ROSA GALLICA (_Ind. Mal-va-pol_)

American _Malva rosa_. This rose tree has to some extent been the subject of discussion among some of our botanical explorers and the result was always one of indecision.

Now let us look back a few years before the founding of the California Missions, and thus settle the dispute for all time. Twelve miles eastward of the Santa Barbara Mission is a small village by the name of Carpenteria, and at one time, this village was one of the largest Indian settlements in existence.

Before the arrival of the mission friars this place was a dense forest of the giant elm, _Ulmus pubescens_, a tree which is very soft and easy to work and the Indian settlement became the scene of great boat-building activity. The biggest and best trees were selected, hewed out and shaped into boats, and their boats were later used to navigate from Santa Barbara across the channel to Santa Rosa Island and other points. The Indians traded with the inhabitants of these islands, and thus they attained a great deal of magnetic iron in exchange for the wild products of the Pacific coast mainland. The magnetic iron was of general use among the Indians, being made into hammers, axes, scraping and cutting knives, fighting weapons, etc., all made in true Indian mechanical design.

Other valuable rock materials were also traded for, such as obsidian for arrowheads and small mortars, metates made of the volcanic rock found on the islands, and also ironwood. These were all materials much preferred by the Indians to those of the mainland, which were rather unfit to shape into stone utensils because they did not have the proper cleavage. The Santa Barbara mountain ranges offered none of these materials—only the minerals, Ullmannite, Oligocene rock and red jasper which sometimes served as passably fair substitutes.

Referring again to the trade articles of the island of Santa Rosa, the Indians, like their white brothers, liked to change and use different medicines. While navigating the rough sea across the Santa Barbara channel in their little boats, some of them would sometimes catch cold from getting wet and being exposed to cold winds. When reaching the islands some would have a high fever and chills, and then aid was given them in the form of _Malva rosa_, this being the plant used to break up the fever. And it will do so if properly administered. The Indians had so much faith in its value that they brought some of the seeds to the mainland where they were planted.

Later, on its introduction among other Indian tribes of the coastal belt, the plant found its way north- and southward until the coming of the California mission founders. They learned of the plant’s medicinal value through Indian information, and were only too glad to adopt it for their own use—that plant and many others which proved superior to those brought by them from Europe and which they then discarded.

Thereupon the friars adapted themselves to the care and use of the herbs of the Indians.

This is the story of the _Malva rosa_ after which the island of Santa Barbara bears its name _Santa Rosa_, or “Holy Rose,” and botanically _Rosa gallica_.

Fractures.

ULMUS PUBESCENS (_Ind. He-wa-wa_)

American Elm. We have seen that the beautiful elm was used by choice as a light, soft boat-building material. It played also a very useful and important part in the adjustment and healing of broken and fractured arms or legs. The work was very simple and effective. The patient was placed in bed, or what was known in those days as the _un-wet_, meaning bearskin mattress, to lie down and rest till the Indian runners returned from the forest with the stripped bark of the elm, which was very carefully selected and had to be free of woody knots, with the inner side of the bark as smooth as silk. These large strips were cut to mould and fit clear around the broken bones, then tied with wet buckskin. This was done to allow contraction of the buckskin with that of the green juicy bark of the elm, while the fevered and swollen joint absorbed the juice of the bark.

Care was taken to add more juice extracted from the tree to the bark strips to prevent quick contraction which would be very painful, due to swelling and counterpressure from the drying bark. The time involved in healing broken bones could well be considered two thirds of the time taken under the hands of modern skilled surgeons.

In parts of the country where the elm wasn’t available a freshly killed rabbit, its skin quickly removed and slipped onto the broken joint served equally as well, only it required more time to heal.

Blood specific, purifier and tonic.

FOUQUIERIA SPLENDENS (_Ind. Gaiesh-pohl_)

American Desert Candlewood. Spanish, _Ocotillo_. This plant’s habitat is the southeastern wings of the Mojave Desert, and the locality best suited to its growth is Borrego Valley at the northern border of San Diego County. This great valley, at one time very rich and fertile, was used by the Indian tribes of Chief Hobo-yak of Ca-we for the raising of considerable livestock. This particular spot commanded an extensive view of the desert territory, as well as the mountain peaks surrounding it. From the top, a clear view could be obtained toward north, northeast and southeast to the Mexican border, and it afforded a natural fortification for the aggressive Ca-we Indians.

There still remain a few of the sand-dune forts heavily overgrown with creosote bushes. These forts are deeply recessed, formed in the shape of a horseshoe, its outlet serving as an entrance at the same time. Pointing northward toward the high mountain ranges, the graves, or burialground of the Indians, are located just outside of the fort and a few feet to the left from the outlet on a well-arranged plot of ground.

The interment was simple. After a grave had been dug, it was filled with dry wood and set on fire until a good bed of charcoal was attained; after which, the defunct together with his belongings was placed upon it and left to burn as the grave was covered.

Cremation took place slowly but surely.

Little evidence was left for the grave robber or the anthropologist. And still less for the archaeologist, as the defunct’s pottery and rock mortars also were disposed of by being broken into thousands of pieces, and then scattered over the grave.

There is more to be said about this historical valley in that it was the main artery of caravan travel of the intrepid American and Mexican pioneers, and of the Spanish explorers, who all in turn were met and held up by the Indians for information. Those not offering resistance were allowed to pass through the territory unmolested—provided, of course, they wouldn’t hang around the valley.