USA > California > Amador County > History of Amador County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 59
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kos claimed to be Christianized, and had for chiefs four brothers-Sanato, at Staples' ferry; Loweno at Woodbridge; Antonio, on the Calaveras, and Maximo, still living near Terry's mill. A favorite battle- ground was near the old brick church not far from Staples' ferry. The Walla Wallas from Oregon some- times came into the valley, in which case the tribes all combined to expel them. This is supposed to have happened about 1833, as the Walla Wallas are charged with having poisoned the waters and pro- duced a general sickness.
HOUSES.
They had no houses worthy of the name, their camps being a collection of brush shanties, with pieces of bark, sticks, and perhaps skins, put on the exposed side to protect them from the wind and rain. They were generally on the move, pulling np camp whenever game, fish or acorns, became scarce.
FOOD.
They never cultivated the soil until taught to do so by the whites. Nearly everything was at times con- verted into food. In times of plenty they feasted and wasted; in times of scarcity starved, the weak and aged dying. The acorn, pine nut, and seeds from plants furnished them with substantial food in the season.
INDIAN MILLS.
The acorn was gathered by the squaws and reduced to a powder, by pounding in mortars or boles worn into the rocks by the stone pestles. The seeds of plants were also reduced to flour the same way, as also was corn, wheat and barley after the advent of the white man. The mortars were holes pounded or dug out with infinite labor in boulders, generally of volcanic rock. These seemed to have been selected as much for shape of the boulder which needed no dressing on the outside, as for the quality of the rock. These mortars were carried from camp to camp by the squaws, and were a necessity in the valleys and in other portions of the country where there was no hard rock. In the mountains, where granite or other hard rocks were found, the custom was to pound the acorns in holes in the rocks, which by constant use had become worn to a depth of several inches, large enough to hold a gallon or more. Sometimes a dozen or more of these holes can be found in a space of a square rod, show- ing the sociable habits of the women, who, while pounding their acorns would chat, tell stories, and laugh with the greatest glec. These mill-sites may be found in the vicinity of every oak or nut-pine grove.
INDIAN COOKING.
When the acorns or seeds were reduced to powder, the mass was mixed with water and boiled in baskets made of reeds. These were the only kettles and culi- nary vessels, though this boiling was sometimes done in a hole in the ground, which was lined with clay and patted down until it would hold water, the clay
PHOTO. BY C SUTTERLEY.
WITH: BRITTON
P. N. PECK.
TOMPSON & WEST PUB OAKLAND CAL.
257
THE ABORIGINES.
soon becoming tight by the soaking into it of the pulp or mush to be cooked. The boiling in either case was effected by dropping in the mass smooth stones, previously heated to a proper point in a fire. Stones were selected which, by experience, were found to stand the effeet of the fire. When the mass was sufficiently boiled it was put away to cool, for the Indian never spoils his teeth or stomach with hot food, both being kept in the best condition to old age.
MEAL TIME.
When the meal time arrived the setting of the table was but a short affair. No dishes to wash, no table-cloth to spread or shake out. The family gathered around the basket and the open hand served for a spoon, and the open mouth (an Indian's mouth has a tremendous expansion) received the load and disposed of it without trouble. The acorn season was a time for rejoicing. When the harvest was over the different tribes visited each other and feasted until the acorns were gone. When this occurred they hunted rabbits, quail and deer, and when game was scarce would live on bugs, snails, lizards and gophers. Rats and mice came in with the white man, and probably were never used as food by them. Occasionally a daring raid would be made on the cattle ranches, and a supply of beef obtained. Grasshoppers and young wasps or yellow jackets were esteemed an especial delicacy, and no boy of the Northern States ever dug out and fought a swarm of " bumble bees" with more zeal than a young digger would a hornet's nest. The squirming innocents (innocent of stings) would vanish in a hurry, the Indian's face always asking for more. The young Indians were turned out early to hunt for themselves. During the latter part of the win- ter, especially if the winter was eold, they suffered greatly, and many would perish. Whenever any of them were hired on the ranches and ate the food of the white people, they usually suffered sickness of some kind.
CLOTHING.
It has been asserted that, previous to the advent of the whites, they went naked. I think this is a mistake. The young ones from childhood to near maturity wore no clothing except for ornament, and many of the' males went naked or without any attempt to conceal their persons. The women wore a covering over the loins made of buckskin, or perhaps bark plaited. Considerable taste was dis- played in ornamenting the very short breeches, for · such they were, with pieces of quills or shells. The limbs and body were usually fully exposed. The young squaws soon learned to conceal their well- developed bosoms from the admiring gaze of a white man by donning a shirt, and, soon, a skirt, for modesty is to woman born, and is aroused by the first glance of passion, whether in a gilded saloon or in a pine forest. Both sexes wore shell ornaments,
wrought out with mueh labor, in fact, pieces of abalone shells, strung on sinews, was the
LEGAL TENDER.
An Indian possessing three or four coils, long enough to hang on his arm, was rich. Soon after the coming of the whites, beads took the place of shells, but the supply becoming too abundant they soon ceased to circulate as money, and were used chiefly as ornaments. A very successful hunter was able to wear a necklace of bears' claws. This would give him a right to the highest seat in the council.
GRIZZLIES.
A grizzly was a full match for a band of Indians, and the latter generally let the grizzly alone. When an attack was made, the result was somewhat uncer- tain. An old Indian said, "Sometimes Indians eat bear, sometimes bear eat Indians; don't know." Bears abounded in all the valleys of the foot-hills. According to Powell, the Jackson valley chief, six or seven would come into the valley at a time, to eat the young clover. Three or four years before the discovery of gold, a big one was killed by a strong bowman in Jackson valley, and a great feast was made, a hundred warriors toning up their cour- age by helping to eat him.
ARMS.
The bow of the California Indian is a marvel of strength and efficiency. Although so small and light, it will, when well constructed, stand a pull of two hundred pounds. I have seen strong men place them under their feet, and lift with all their strength, and still fail to break them. They are made of wood, generally yew, sometimes cedar, and derive most of their elasticity from a covering on the back made of sinew, nicely laid on with glue. The string is made of the bark of the wild hemp, and is superior in strength to the best linen or silk. The arrows are made of wood, or reeds, a small bush growing along the creeks furnishing favorite sticks for this purpose. The points were formerly made of obsidian, and were about three inches long, flat, ovoid in shape, with a noteh on either edge for a piece of sinew to hold it to the shaft; the feather, or thumb end, had some half feathers tied to it, to give it a rotary motion, like a rifle ball. This was the style of the best arrows, which were used only for war or large game. The arrows used for birds and rabbits were destitute of the obsidian point and feathers. An Indian brave will carry his arrows in an otter or beaver skin, and, with a quiver full, is a match for a white man with a navy revolver. After the advent of the whites, the points were often made of glass. If you want to try your patience and skill, make-or attempt to-an arrow- head out of an old junk bottle; yet an expert Indian will have no trouble in doing it. The light arrows of the Indians have only a short flight, and the natives soon obtained rifles and shot guns.
33
258
HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT.
Personal prowess was the foundation of authority. Though the government was hereditary, the heir must prove himself before he could rule. He had to chastise the refractory and disorderly, and in some instances take the life of a subject, direct the tribe to new hunting grounds, arrange the hunting parties, and take the lead in all things. If a rival warrior or hunter disputes his authority, a ducl is imperative, the survivor taking his place. Powell, of Jackson valley, won his position in this way. He is, or was, a person of immense strength, and, when not full of whisky, had much self-respect and dignity, and with the advantages of education and training, would have made himself respected in any community.
FAMILY RELATIONS.
The family relations were quite binding. The In- dian considered his children as a species of property. They did not hesitate to commit infanticide when the means of living was scarce, believing with the Chinese, that an infant had better die than to grow up to starvation. There seems to be no want of affection, however, for when the child is permitted to live, it never perishes from neglect. It is wrapped in soft grass, tied to a kind of frame, which keeps it straight. Over the child's head is placed a hoop, as a sort of protection from accidental thumps, also to furnish a resting place or support for a shade, to protect the babe's eyes when traveling. The squaw will place a strap or band over her head and around their conical baskets, and carry a whole family, or, if necessary, pack a hundred pounds of flour, appar- ently with all ease, on a journey, while the buck leads the way, with his bow strung and arrow in place, for game or an enemy. The labor falls on the women. They gather acorns, though the buck will sometimes climb the tree to shake them off, pound and cook them, transport the baggage from one camp to another, fix up the hut, and do all the work except hunting and fighting.
MARRIAGE.
When old enough to marry, the daughter is sold to some agreeable bidder, for a sum perhaps equiva- lent to the priec of a pony. The salc is generally agreeable to all parties, and the purchase money is regarded much in the light of a dower. The marriage ceremony is very slight. If with a neigh- boring tribe, the bridegroom usually resides, for a time, with her tribe. A chief may have several wives, each in a different camp. Infidelity is, or was, comparatively unknown among them, the penalty being death to both parties. A squaw was stoned to death in Sacramento county in 1850, for yielding to a white man. It is incumbent on the injured party to inflict the penalty.
SMALL HANDS AND FEET.
When young, the squaws have good shaped limbs, small hands and feet, which are the envy of white
women. As they get older they take on fat, have Durham backs, large, flabby faces, and get terribly coarse. As they get old they loose their fat, become wrinkled and attenuated, and are no more lovely. They never get bald, and, as the hair turns white and learns to stand on end, they become absolutely hideous. Their voices are generally soft and sweet. Such a thing as scolding is never heard among them.
RELIGION.
Their religious notions are very dim. An old Indian says: " White man die, he go up; don't know where Indian go to." On the death of an Indian, the news is communicated from one camp to another by a peculiar, dismal howl by the squaws. It is heard for miles around, traveling from camp to camp. Soon the Indians begin to pour in to assist in the burial. Every trail brings a howling party. A grave is dug near, in fact, in the camp, four or five fect deep; the corpse is wrapped in a blanket, in as small compass as possible, the bones being often broken to effect the purpose. The body is placed in the hole in a sitting position, and the soil pressed thoroughly around it, a small mound raised, and a few trinkets placed thereon. The mourners (women) keep up the while the noise, which bears a great resemblance to the laments of the wild Irish over their dead. The lament, sung or howled within a compass of two or three notes with minor intervals, was translated: " Where is our brave man ? who now will hunt for us and kill meat ? who will lead us to catch the fish ? who will now kindle his fire? who will make his bed ? who will comfort him ? who will make him happy ? he was a brave man; he was a good man; we will perish without you; we all love you; come back to your wife, your children." The elderly women performed the part of chief mourners or howlers; and though it was evident that much of the grief was a formality, perhaps paid for, the cere- monies were rather impressive. After the funeral services were completed, the whole tribe left that place, not coming back for months. Occasional visits were made, however, and a few mournful words chanted over the grave. Sometimes the body was burned on a large pile of wood, in which case the mourning was kept up during the whole time of the cremation. The widow is said to anoint her face with a black paint made of the charred remains of the husband, and it is also said that it is never washed off, but is left to wear off, after which she is ready to marry again. The children are put up in a tree, on something like a crow's nest, to waste away. James and John Surface of Ione, when boys, found such a grave, and with boyish curiosity climbed the tree and peeped in the nest, but the staring face of a half-decayed child made them hurry down.
MILITARY REVIEWS.
The war dance was the great event in Indian life, though the name is about as appropriate for the exercise as it would be for the evolutions of cavalry
259
THE ABORIGINES.
or artillery. The war dance is of a gymnastie char- acter, and is performed wholly by the most vigorous males in the tribe, and is about as well calculated to develop muscular power and endurance as any gymnastic exercise taught at our schools. When it was determined to hold a military review, invitations were sent to such tribes as it was decmed proper to invite, to come prepared at a certain day. The cards of invitation, or, perhaps proclamation would be a better word, was a string with knots in it, each knot representing a night and day, the announcement be- ing made some fifteen or twenty days before the time of meeting. Every morning a knot was cut off, and thus the coming of the day recorded. On the event- ful morning the camp was deserted by all except three or four of the aged and infirm. The warrior put on his necklace of bear claws or his belts of wampum (strings of shells); his arrows were burn- ished and straightened anew; his bow put in the best condition; a plume of eagle feathers adorned his head, and his fur cloak, made from the animals he had slaughtered, was thrown over his shoulders. If he was rich enough to own a horse, he mounted his steed and led the way to the rendezvous, followed by his braves, on foot or mounted, with drawn bows. The squaws and children followed with the supplies of acorn mush, rabbits, deer or other meat, and man- zanita berries for making their cider. All the wealth of the tribe was displayed. The squaws wore their best ornaments, and everything was done to enter the camp in a superior style.
NUMBER ASSEMBLED.
As many as a thousand Indians would gather at these reviews. Eating, drinking and gambling were of course prominent events. The Indian is a good feeder when he has opportunity, though he can go without or subsist on a minimum when necessary. His eapacious mouth, perfect, white teeth, and enormous chest, attest his eating capacity, and his sleek, plump look, the power of digestion. Before the introduction of whisky and the viees of civiliza- tion, he was a splendid animal. After a general interchange of civilities and current news, prepara- tions for the fête were made. A space of ground sixty feet or more across was made smooth and hard. A hollow log was brought to be used as a drum for regulating the movements.
MILITARY EVOLUTIONS.
From ten to twenty of the warriors desirous of the honors would step into the ring and form a circle around the precentor, and, at a sign from him, com- menced jumping, with lungs inflated and museles contracted, jumping stiff-legged-as we say of a bucking horse-at each jump expelling a portion of the air from the lungs, with a sort of ugh! ugh! mov- ing slowly around the circle, occasionally reversing their circular movement with loud shout and a flour- ish of the bows which they hold in their hands. The movements, moderate at first, each moment become
more vigorous; the contracted muscles stand out in knots; the perspiration rolls off the bodies, and the air is redolent of the perfume of Indian, accumu- lated dirt and smoke.
It is now evident that this is no capering to the soft tinklings of a lute. It is work, the hardest kind of work. The multitude gather around, and encour- age the performers. They redouble their exertions; they bound upwards with the mere spring of the toes without bending a limb, leaping a foot or more from the ground. When human nature is about exhausted, a signal is made, a few grand jumps are given, the performance ends with a shout, and the braves are taken away and rubbed down by the admiring squaws. After an hour's intermission, another band will repeat the performance, and, if possible, surpass it. This continues for several days, or until the provisions are exhausted, when the homeward march is made, and the ordinary life resumed.
GAMES.
The Indians had games involving feats of strength and activity, which were played one camp against another, one of which was much like foot-ball, which, however, was said to have been learned from the San Diego Indians, about 1850, so that it might have been introduced by the whites. The ball was made of skins, tied into a compact form, and was about as large as a child's head. It was rather hard on the naked toes of the Indians, occasionally breaking them. The Indians made as much noise while play- ing this as would a crowd of school-boy's playing base ball.
THE SWEAT-HOUSE.
Every central camp had a council house, or fort, or sweat-house as the whites called it. It was prob- ably used for many purposes; as a shelter in bad weather; as council room when important business called the braves together, and as a fort when attacked. It was from thirty to fifty feet across, circular, sunk three feet or more into the ground, was covered with branches and afterwards with dirt, so that at a distance it had the appearance of a mound of earth. There was an opening in the top for the eseape of smoke, and had one entrance, long, low and narrow.
The middle portion of the room might be eight or nine feet high, sloping to four or five feet at the sides. The roof was sustained on forked posts upon which rested the cross-timbers. In astorm, or when attacked, a large number could take refuge in this house. It would be almost impossible to dislodge a body of Indians from one of these houses without large guns to shell them out. They are, in fact, a sort of bomb-proof. It is doubtful whether any of them remain in the county at this time.
FANDANGO AT YEOMET.
At the time of the opening of the mines, the rela- tions of the white man and Indian was somewhat
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HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
doubtful. The Indian mostly kept out of the way of the rifle of the far-west man, who would as soon draw on him as a deer. The Indian soon found that he was safer in the town than in the woods, and soon learned to pan out and exchange his dust for sugar or meat. It was the policy of the government, for a while at least, to gather them on reservations, as the easiest way of maintaining the peace. Many of the natives had retreated to the mountains, and occa- sionally a white man was murdered in retaliation for the slaying of an Indian by some thoughtless miner. Expeditions were undertaken to bring them in. Some were found far up among the snows, starving and freezing. When assured of safety they were not unwilling to surrender and be fed. On one occasion an old chief of gigantic size, being entirely naked, was induced to put on clothing. Ile was given a coat too small and short to cover much of his person. Ile observed that the commander of the party of white men who came after him wore a pair of spec- tacles and a plug hat, and manifested a desire to do the same himself, supposing these things to be marks of authority. He was gratified, and took great pleasure in strutting around in his uniform of small coat, plug hat and brass-bowed spectacles. A party of several hundred Indians were collected at the forks of the Cosumnes in 1851, by a government agent by the name of Belcher, who fed them for some weeks on beef. This was about the first oppor- tunity of the miners of that vicinity to study the Indian in his peaceful relations, and a great many took advantage of it. Even at this time most of the Indians had put on clothing, and the men as well as the squaws had some sense of modesty.
When a beef was killed it was quickly skinned and cut to pieces by the Indians, and the gorging commenced. The bucks got most of the meat; the squaws, whether from choice or necessity, probably the latter, got the intestines. Those persons who desire to remember the Indian maiden as a model of beauty, purity and ncatness, had better skip this arti- cle. The women would carry the intestines to the fire, rip them open, empty them of the undigested con- tents, and then proceed to cut them into long strips, holding on to the intestines with their toes for this purpose. They laid these strips, without washing or other preparation, on the fire, and when warmed through, would eat them with much gusto. I have witnessed the same thing at other times. Those who think that an artificial style of life begets a love for stimulants will have to find some other reason with the Indian, for he takes to whisky as a babe does to milk. A drunken Indian is not less foolish, noisy and brutal, than his white brother. In spite of all laws to the contrary, the sale of whisky to the In- dian goes on and is doing as much as anything else to thin out the race.
PREVAILING DISEASES AND TREATMENT.
Like all tribes of uncivilized people, the Indians treated disease with a mixture of herbs and sorcery.
Starvation, gluttony and exposure were the sources of most of their ailings. The survival of the fittest was a thing of course. There were few lame or dc- formed. The squaw about to become a mother would retire from the camp for a day or two and live in a hut prepared for the occasion in some secluded place. A "lying-in hospital " of this kind, for the Buena Vista Indians, was a nest under the brow of a rock on the south side of the mountain, so hidden by the bushes that no indication of it appeared to a per- son casually passing.
Some Indian in the tribe usually administered herbs and incantations when too much clover in the Spring, or too much meat after a successful hunt overtasked the powers of the stomach. Occasionally epidemics would sweep away half the population.
GREAT SCOURGE, 1832-33.
Colonel J. J. Warner, now of Los Angeles, a mem- ber of the Ewing trapping expedition, which passed north through these valleys in 1832, and back again in 1833, says :---
In the Fall of 1832, there were a number of Indian villages on Kings river, between its mouth and the mountains; also on the San Joaquin river, from the base of the mountains down to and some distance below the great slough. On the Merced river, from the mountains to its junction with the San Joaquin there were no Indian villages; but from about this point on the San Joaquin, as well as on its principal tributaries, the Indian villages were numerous, many of them containing from fiity to one hundred dwell- ings, built with poles and thatched with rushes. With some few exceptions, the Indians were peace- ably disposed. On the Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Calaveras rivers there were Indian villages above the mouths, as also at or near their junction with the San Joaquin. The most hostile were on the Calaveras river. The banks of the Sacramento river, in its whole course through the valley, was studded with Indian villages, the houses of which, in the Spring, during the day-time, were red with the salmon the aborigines were curing.
At this time there were not, on the San Joaquin or Sacramento rivers, or any of their tributaries, nor within the valleys of the two rivers, any inhabitants but Indians. On no part of the continent over which I had then or have since traveled was so numerous an Indian population, subsisting upon the natural products of the soil and waters, as in the valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento. There was no cultivation of the soil by them; game, fish, nuts of the forest, and seeds of the field constituted their entire food. They were experts in catching fish in many ways, and in snaring game in divers modes.
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