USA > California > Contra Costa County > History of Contra Costa County, California, including its geography, geology, topography, climatography and description; together with a record of the Mexican grants also, incidents of pioneer life; and biographical sketches of early and prominent settlers and representative men > Part 7
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It is generally supposed that the Contra Costa was originally inhabited by four tribes of Indians, called Juchiyunes, Acalanes, Bolgones, and Car- quinez, who were, all in all, a degraded race. Dr. Marsh described them as stoutly built and heavy limbed, as hairy as Esau, and with beards that would gain for a Turk honor in his own country. They had short, broad faces, wide mouths, thick lips, broad noses, and extremely low foreheads, the hair of the head, in some cases, nearly meeting the eyebrows, while a few had that peculiar conformation of the eye so remarkable in the Chinese and Tartar races, and entirely different from the common American Indian, or the Polynesian. He states further, "The general expression of the wild Indian has nothing of the proud and lofty bearing, or the haughtiness and ferocity so often seen east of the mountains. It is more commonly indic- ative of timidity and stupidity. The men and children are absolutely and entirely naked, and the dress of the women is the least possible or con- ceivable remove from nudity. Their food varies with the season. In Feb- ruary and March they live on grass and herbage ; clover and wild pea-vine are among the best kind of their pasturage. I have often seen hundreds of them grazing together in a meadow like so many cattle. [If Doctor Boudi- not only knew this fact, he would undoubtedly start a new theory that they
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Geography, Name, Topography, Etc.
are the descendants of Nebuchadnezzar.] They are very poor hunters of the larger animals, but very skillful in making and managing nets for fish and food. They also collect in their season great quantities of the seed of various grasses, which are particularly abundant. Acorns are another prin- cipal article of food, which are larger, more abundant, and of better quality than I have seen elsewhere. The Californian is not more different from the tribes east of the mountains in his physical than in his moral and intellectual qualities. They are easily domesticated, not averse to labor, have a natural aptitude to learn mechanical trades, and, I believe, universally a fondness for music and a facility in acquiring it. They are not nearly so much addicted to intoxication as is common to other Indians. I was for some years of the opinion that they were of an entirely different race from those east of the mountains, and they certainly have but little similarity. The only thing that caused me to think differently is that they have the same Moccasin game that is so common on the Mississippi, and what is more remarkable, they accompany it by singing precisely the same tune. The diversity of language among them is very great. It is seldom an Indian can understand another who lives fifty miles distant; within the limits of California are at least a hundred dialects, apparently entirely dissimilar. Few or no white persons have taken any pains to learn them, as there are individuals in all the tribes which have any communication with the settle- ments who speak Spanish. The children when caught young are most easily domesticated, and manifest a great aptitude to learn whatever is taught them ; when taken into Spanish families and treated with kindness, in a few months they learn the language and habits of their masters. When they come to maturity they show no disposition to return to the savage state. The mind of the wild Indian, of whatever age, appears to be a tabula rasa, on which no impressions, except those of mere animal nature, have been made, and ready to receive any impress whatever. I remember a remark of yours (Mr. Cass) some years ago, that 'Indians were only grown up children.' Here we have a real race of infants. In many recent instances when a family of white people have taken a farm in the vicinity of an Indian village, in a short time they would have the whole tribe for willing serfs. They submit to flagellation with more humility than the negroes. Nothing more is necessary for their complete subjugation but kindness in the beginning, and a little well-timed severity when manifestly deserved. It is common for the white man to ask the Indian, when the latter has committed any fault, how many lashes he thinks he deserves. The Indian with a simplicity and humility almost inconceivable, replies ten or twenty, according to his opinion of the magnitude of the offense. The white man then orders another Indian to inflict the punishment, which is received without the least sign of resentment or discontent. This I have myself witnessed or I could hardly have believed it. Throughout all
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History of Contra Costa County.
California the Indians are the principal laborers; without them the business of the country could hardly be carried on."*
The tribes inhabiting the Contra Costa did not differ materially from the others inhabiting this section of the State, as they presented very similar characteristics, habits and customs to those of the central portion of Cali- fornia. They were lazy and filthy, Dr. Marsh's assertion to the contrary notwithstanding, while, as to home, they were among the fugitivi et vaga- bondi class. Nature had provided for them with a lavish hand, and all they had to do was to reach forth their hands, pluck and eat. No vain am- bitions lured them on in the great race of life; no baubles of riches enticed them into hardships of labor, either mental or physical. They lived to die. Whence or why they came upon the scene of action, it was not theirs to inquire ; and, " whither are we drifting ?" was a question over which they stopped not to puzzle their dull brains. And who shall say that they were not as happy in their listless life as are we of the higher type who wrestle with the inevitable almost from our infancy to our dotage ? From an ethical point of view, and looking at the matter through the lenses of edu- cation, of course it could be said that their lives were worse than wasted; and when they vanished before the overwhelming tide of civilization, the world was rid of so much filth. But it is the old fable of the man and the lion repeated : seeing a picture of a man, the man remarked to the lion that " there stood the lord of creation." The lion asked who painted the picture, to which the man replied, "I did." " Ah !" said the lion, "it makes all the difference in the world who paints the picture of the lord of creation; I should have painted a lion." And so it is in this case. Indian ethics are not our ideas of duty to self or man ; and it is not improbable that they lived up to the light they had on that subject quite as near as do their successors.
In regard to their costume, we have already said that it was of the most primitive nature, a slight strip of covering around the loins being full dress ; but even this was not usual, for the greater number preferred walking abroad perfectly unclothed. During the Winter the skin of a deer or other animal, or else a robe manufactured out of the feathers of water-fowl, or strips of other skin twisted together, formed the required protection against the inclement weather, yet such was their stupendous laziness that sometimes naught protected them from the chilly blasts but a thick covering of mud, an inexpensive garment at best. The wardrobe of the women was little more extensive, a fringed apron of tules falling from the waist before and behind, and open at the sides, being their Summer costume, while in the cold season a deer skin was added. Tattooing is said to have been common within narrow limits among the females, and by these marks were the women of different tribes distinguishable.
* Letter of Dr. John Marsh of Contra Costa County, to Hon Lewis Cass, 1846,
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Geography, Name, Topography, Etc.
Nearly as primitive as their costume were their dwellings, which in Summer was a protection of branches, and in Winter, a wickeup. Of these latter Bancroft's Native Races says : "These are sometimes erected on the level ground, but more frequently over an excavation three or four feet deep, and varying from ten to thirty feet in diameter. Round the brink of this hole willow poles are sunk upright in the ground and the tops drawn to- gether, forming a conical structure, or the upper ends are bent over and driven into the earth on the opposite side of the pit, thus giving the hut a semi-globular shape. Bushes, or strips of bark, are then piled up against the poles, and the whole is covered with a thick layer of earth or mud. In some instances the interstices of the frame are filled by twigs woven cross- wise, over and under, between the poles, and the outside covering is of tule reeds instead of earth. A hole at the top gives egress to the smoke, and a small opening close to the ground admits the occupants.
" Each hut generally shelters a whole family of relations by blood and marriage, so that the dimensions of the habitation depend on the size of the family."
It strikes us as a curious fact that the natives who roamed around the Bay of San Francisco had no canoes but used bundles of tules lashed firmly together, about ten feet long, and pointed at both ends, as a means of navi- gation. They were tolerably dry in calm weather on a river, but when rough, the paddler, who sat astride of them, was up to his waist in water, still, when needed, they would venture far out to sea on these. Indeed, it is asserted that the Indians of California, previous to the occupation by the Jesuit Fathers, had no other boats than those mentioned above, which were in use even at as late a date as 1840. Says Mr. Bancroft : "The probable cause of the absence of boats in Central California is the scarcity of suitable, favorably located timber. Doubtless if the banks of the Sac- ramento and the shores of San Francisco Bay had been lined with large straight pine or fir trees, their waters would have been filled with canoes ; yet after all, this is but a poor excuse; for not only on the hills and mount - ains, at a little distance from the water, are forests of fine trees, but quanti- ties of driftwood come floating down every stream during the rainy season, out of which surely sufficient material could be secured for some sort of boats."
Of their language, but little is left. Here and there a word has fastened itself upon some ranch or town, and will be handed down through a few generations. It was a deep gutteral, not unlike that spoken by the natives of Southern China, but that there is any philological relation between the two tongues we will not venture to assert, still there is a sufficient resemb- lance to occupy the mind of the studiously inclined.
A short half-century has sufficed to see this race become so entirely ex- tinct that the sight of an Indian is almost a rarity. And what has done
5
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History of Contra Costa County.
this ? Disease was the prime cause, for it is stated that cholera took them off by thousands in 1833, while it is said they died so fast that the living were unable to care for the dead. Whole tribes became extinct, it being reported by a traveler on the Sacramento River that all of one tribe died within a few days except a little girl. Then came war with its kindred calamities as another great decimator of their ranks. Contact with civilization had also much to do with it. Soon after the whites came among them, prostitution became general ; the women no longer bore children, and thus the tribe gradually, but surely, died out, and no little ones grew to take the place of the deceased elders. Truly would it appear to have been a matter of destiny, for it was impossible that the two races could exist in con- tingency.
For disease their great " cure-all" was the sweat-bath, which was taken in the " sweat-house," which institution was to be found in every rancheria. A fire being lighted in the center of the temescal, (the term applied to the native sweat-houses by the Franciscan Fathers), the patient is taken within and kept in a high state of perspiration for several hours ; he then rushes out and plunges into the convenient stream on the bank of which the structure is always raised-a remedy, whether more potent to kill or to cure, we leave to the decision of the reader.
The following graphic description of the experiences of a gentleman in a temescal, we give to the reader as a truthful and racily told adventure :
" A sweat-house is of the shape of an inverted bowl, and is generally about forty feet in diameter at the bottom, and is built of strong poles and branches of trees, covered with earth to prevent the escape of heat. There is a small hole near the ground, large enough for Diggers to creep in, one at a time, and another at the top to give out the smoke. When a dance, a large fire is kindled in the center of the edifice, and the crowd assembles, the white spectators crawling in and seating themselves anywhere out of the way. The apertures, both above and below, are then closed, and the dancers take their positions.
" Four and twenty squaws, en dishabille, on one side of the fire, and as many hombres, in puris naturalibus, on the other. Simultaneously with the commencement of the dancing, which is a kind of shuffling hobble-de-hoy, the 'music' bursts forth. Yes, music fit to raise the dead. A whole legion of devils broke loose. Such screaming, shrieking, yelling and roaring was never before heard since the foundation of the world. A thousand cross- cut saws, filed by steam power-a multitude of tom-cats lashed together and flung over a clothes-line-innumerable pigs under a gate-all combined would produce a heavenly melody compared with it. Yet this uproar, deafening as it is, might possibly be endured, but another sense soon comes to be saluted. Talk of the thousand stinks of the 'City of Cologne.' Here are at least forty thousand combined in one grand overwhelming stench,
Wyttenbach
yours Truly how'Smith
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and yet every particular odor distinctly definable. Round about the roaring fire the Indians go capering, jumping and screaming, with the perspiration streaming from every pore. The spectators look on until the air grows thick and heavy, and a sense of oppressing suffocation overcomes them, when they make a simultaneous rush at the door for self-protection. Judge their astonishment, terror and dismay to find it fastened securely- bolted and barred on the outside. They rush frantically around the walls in hope to discover some weak point through which they may find egress, but the house seems to have been constructed purposely to frustrate such attempts. More furious than caged lions, they rush bodily against the sides but the stout poles resist every onset. Our army swore terribly in Flan- ders, but even my uncle Toby himself would stand aghast were he here now.
" There is no alternative but to sit down, in hopes that the troop of naked fiends will soon cease from sheer exhaustion. Vain expectation ! The uproar but increases in fury, the fire waxes hotter and hotter, and they seem to be preparing for fresh exhibitions of their powers. The combat deepens. On ye brave ! See that wild Indian, a newly elected captain, as with glaring eyes, blazing face, and complexion like that of a boiled lobster, he tosses his arms wildly aloft as in pursuit of imaginary devils, while rivers of perspiration roll down his naked frame. Was ever the human body thrown into such contortions before ? Another effort of that kind, and his whole vertebral column must certainly come down with a crash ! Another such convulsion, and his limbs will assuredly be torn asunder, and the disjointed members fly to the four points of the compass! Can the human frame endure this much longer ? The heat is equal to that of a bake-oven ; temperature five hundred degrees Fahrenheit! Pressure of steam one thousand pounds to the square inch ! The reeking atmosphere has become almost palpable, and the victimized audience are absolutely gasping for life. Millions for a cubic inch of fresh air ! Worlds for a drop of fresh water to cool the parched tongue ! This is terrible. To meet one's fate among the white caps of the lake, in a swamped canoe, or to sink down on the bald mountain's brow, worn out by famine, fatigue and exposure, were glorious ; but to die here, suffocating in a solution of human perspira- tion, carbonic acid gas and charcoal smoke, is horrible! The idea is abso- lutely appalling. But there is no avail. Assistance might as well be sought from a legion of unchained imps as from a troop of Indians maddened by excitement.
" Death shows his visage not more than five minutes distant. The fire glimmers away leagues off. The uproar dies in the subdued rumble of a remote cataract, and respiration becomes slower and more labored. The whole system is sinking into utter insensibility, and all hope of relief has departed, when suddenly, with a grand triumphal crash, similar to that with
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History of Contra Costa County.
which the ghosts closed. their orgies when they doused the lights and started in pursuit of Tam O'Shanter and his old gray mare, the uproar ceases, and the Indians vanish through an aperture opened for that purpose. The half-dead victims to their own curiosity dash through it like an arrow, and in a moment more are drawing in whole buckets full of the cold, frosty air, every inhalation of which cuts the lungs like a knife, and thrills the system like an electric shock. They are in time to see the Indians plunge headlong into the ice-cold water of a neighboring stream, and crawl out and sink down on the banks, utterly exhausted. This is the last act of the drama, the grand climax, and the fandango is over."
With the Indians of the Bay of San Francisco, the practice of burning their dead, with everything belonging to them, was universal, while those farther south buried theirs. Weird is this scene of incremation. Gathered in a circle around the funeral pyre are the friends and relatives of the de- ceased, howling in dismal discord ; as the flames extend, so increases their enthusiasm, until, in an ecstasy of excitement, they leap, shriek, lacerate their bodies, and go so far as to tear a handful of the burning flesh from off the smoldering body, and devour it. As a badge of mourning they smeared their faces with a compound of the ashes of the dead, and grease, where it was allowed to remain for Time to efface.
As is natural to suppose, the theme which we now leave with the reader is endless, therefore we are unable to follow it out as it should be ; still, a work of the nature which we now offer is hardly the place to look for aught but a short notice of California's aboriginals. Where can such be better found than in the pages of the profound and elaborate work of Mr. Ban- croft on the Native Races of the Pacific States of North America !
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The Mount Diablo Coal Field.
THE MOUNT DIABLO COAL FIELD.
BY THOMAS A. McMAHON, COUNTY SURVEYOR.
The Clark Vein - Faults and Disturbances - Ventilation - Peacock and San Francisco Mines -Central or Stewart's Mine-Empire Mine-Teutonia Mine- Rancho de los Meganos Coal Mines.
BY THE PHRASE " MOUNT DIABLO COAL FIELD," may be included a belt of country extending from the north central part of T. 1 N., R. 1 E. south- easterly to the central part of T. I N., R. 2 E., Mount Diablo base and meridian. The area of this field which has been profitably worked is con- fined to a more limited extent. The details of this outline of crop are very irregular, especially in the western portion of the field, where the hills are very high and the cañons deep and steep. The general course of the out- line of crop may be traced as follows : Beginning in the N. E. quarter of section 7, T. 1 N., R. 1 E., Mount Diablo base and meridian. Thence in a northeasterly direction, but curving very rapidly towards the east till you reach a point in the N. W. quarter of section 8, T. 1 N., R. 1 E. Thence in an almost due east direction to a point near the dividing line between sections 10 and 11, T. 1 N., R. 1 E. From this point it bends to the south, crossing the southern half of section 12 and across the southwest corner of section 7, T. 1 N., R. 2 E. Thence in an irregular southeasterly direction as far as the Brentwood Mines, upon the Rancho Los Meganos, near the line between sections 22 and 27, T. 1 N., R. 2 E., Mount Diablo Meridian. Beyond this point the beds have not been traced with any degree of certainty, although traces and outcroppings have been found in many localities to the southeast. The dip throughout is in a northerly direction, but it varies in amount at different localities, varying from twelve to thirty-three degrees, being in highest the western portion of the field.
The culminating points of the hills in the western part of this coal field are at an altitude of from fifteen to eighteen hundred feet. Running east, the hills diminish in height, falling lower and lower until we reach the Brentwood Mines, which are at an altitude of about two hundred feet above tide level. This range of hills is scored deeply and in all directions by cañons, in which all the profitable mines are located. The strata have been
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History of Contra Costa County.
considerably disturbed at different localities by faults of greater or less magnitude, and the coal beds themselves have been subject to such varia- tions in thickness and the character of the rocks which surround them, that it is impossible, with the present amount of knowledge, to recognize any single bed in the eastern portion of the field as the same which has been so extensively worked in the western portion. The area within which the mines have been profitably worked lies within the western portion of the field. It lies among the higher hills, and includes a belt about four miles in length, extending from the Black Diamond works, in the N. E. quarter of section 7, through to Pittsburg, Empire and Central. The Central (i. e., Stewart's mine) has not been included within the profitable productive limits until within the last year. Heretofore many thousand tons were taken out of the last-mentioned mine at a loss, but at present the reverse is the case. The chief openings of these mines, as well as the dwellings of the miners, owing to the topography of the country, are located at three points, situated about a mile apart. The first of these, beginning in the western portion of the field, is the village of Nortonville, which is located on the S. E. quarter of section 5, T. 1. N., R. 1 E. The second, known as Somers- ville, is chiefly on the S. E. quarter of section 4. The third, known as "Central " or Stewartsville, is located on section 10. Each village is in the bottom of an amphitheatre amongst the hills and at the head of a deep cañon ; the cañons from Somersville and Nortonville running to the north, and from Stewartsville in a southerly direction, turning to the north and uniting with the cañon leading from the Empire Mine. Down each of these canons there runs a railroad to the point of shipment on the San Joaquin River ; the Black Diamond running to Black Diamond Landing; the road from Somersville running to Pittsburg Landing. The road from Stewarts- ville joins with the road from Empire at Judsonville, thence to Antioch. These roads cross the railroad of the San Pablo and Tulare Railroad Com- pany, from which point of intersection considerable coal is transported, but the greater portion is shipped on barges from the points of transportation on the San Joaquin River. The villages of Empire, Stewartsville, Somers- ville and Nortonville are situated at an elevation of from three hundred and fifty to eight hundred and fifty feet above tide level, the grade of the road from the last-mentioned points being very great, depending only on the force of gravity as power for transporting the coal in cars to the point of shipment.
The rocks which inclose the mines consist of grayish and reddish silici- ous sandstone, alternating with a strata of clay rock. The coal beds which have been heretofore profitably worked are three in number, and are known as the "Clark Vein," the " Little Vein," and the " Black Diamond Vein." Of these, the " Clark Vein" is highest in stratigraphical position. Next in order below comes the "Little Vein," and still lower we find the " Black
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The Mount Diablo Coal Field.
Diamond Vein." In the Clayton tunnel, situated at Nortonville, the dis- tance from the floor of the "Clark Vein" to the roof of the "Black Diamond Vein" is six hundred and ninety-six feet. The dip here being about 31°, it follows that the total thickness of the strata, including the Little Vein, between the Clark and Black Diamond Veins, is three hundred and fifty-nine feet. These veins are found throughout all the mines, the Clark Vein predominating.
THE CLARK VEIN .- This vein has been worked continuously throughout all the mines. It varies in thickness at different points, from a minimum of eighteen or twenty inches to a maximum of four and a half feet. The greatest variations in the thickness of this bed do not occur within the limits of the Black Diamond, the minimum being twenty-eight inches and the maximum being thirty-nine inches. As it extends east it grows thinner, and reaches in the S. W. quarter of section 4 a minimum of from eighteen to twenty-four inches. As it extends farther east to the S. E. quarter of section 4 it gradually increases in size, being at this point from three to four feet in thickness, and reaches its maximum in the Pittsburg mine, where it is four and a half feet. The Clark Vein is generally free from interstratification of slate or dirt of any kind, and with the exception of a portion near the S. W. corner of section 5, where it has been badly crushed by the moving and bending of the strata, it generally makes good clean coal. Its roof and floor are generally good, and require but little timbering, it being of good, solid sandstone.
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