USA > California > Merced County > History of Merced County, California with biographical sketches of prominent citizens > Part 39
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They might have done such things hu Colusa, and such sights may have been witnessed by the historian Green in his young days, but we will not add to the already sufficiently
+ Ilistory of Colusa County, published in 1879, by Elliott & Mooro.
RES.OF W. P. STONEROAD, MERCED, CALIFORNIA
RES. OF ELI GRIMES, 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF MERCED.
RES. OF DOCTOR J.GRIFFITH, 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF MERCED.
RANCH OF PILLANS & BARRETT, MERCED FALLS, MERCED CO.CAL.
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IS5
HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF INDIANS.
degraded character of the tribes among us such utter disre- gard of modesty and decency among their women.
In the winter season a half-tanned deer-skin is used in addi- tion to the garment above mentioned. The hair is generally worn cut short, though occasionally we find it loose and flow- ing, especially among the younger women, it frequently falling below the waist. They " banged" the hair by cutting it off square in front, and we presume the present style in vogue among the white belles is taken from the custom of some of these aboriginal tribes. We never saw any of them with " montagues" on ; it may be that they are not yet far enough advanced in civilization to adopt these late beautifiers of the person,
Both men and women being fond of ornaments, it is not uncommou to see the hair tucked full of feathers, leaves, etc., the ears pierced and carved bones of different animals, or pieces of wood stuck through ; sometimes beads are used to ornament the ears, and strings of beads of different colors are frequently worn about the neck. Clam, abalone, and other shells highly polished are also used.
THE DANCING DRESS.
The head-dress for gala days and dances is elaborate, it con- sisting of a multitude of gay feathers, skillfully arranged in different fashions.
We have seen eight or ten, and sometimes a dozen of the men rigged up for the dance with a head-gear made of the scalps of wood-peckers and bright feathers from other birds, some witlı shell, and others decked off with the long feathers from the hawk or eagle's wing, with the upper portion of their bodies painted with stripes of red, white, black and blue, presenting a hideous appearance.
Red was used more than any other color; it was obtained from the cinnabar fields of the Coast Range. Bancroft says :- " The New Almaden cinnabar mine has been from time immemorial a source of contention between adjacent tribes. Thither from a hundred miles away, resorted vermilion-loving savages, and often such visits were not free from bloodshed."
TATOOING PRACTICED.
The women tatoo their bodies in different places, on the chin from the centre and corner of the mouth, in lines drawn perpendicularly downward; they also tatoo slightly on the neck and breast.
The men tatoo to some extent, though rarely. It is said that by these marks women of different tribes can be easily distinguished.
Both men and women, since the advent of civilization, have adopted as nearly as possible the dress of the whites. It is no uncommon thing now-a-days to see a tolerable good suit of clothes on a dandy " Buck," and wo have frequently seen him with an old dilapidated plug hat on, wben dressed in his best
suit. The women wear the brightest colors of calicoes, and sometimes are rich enough to own an old shawl.
HABITATIONS OF THE INDIANS.
It is but natural to suppose that these natives of the forest, surrounded as they were by naught but nature herself, unaided by, and untutored in the mechanical and other arts of civilized man, knew no other and exercised no other guide in the con- struction of their places of abode, than the dictates of common sense and the appliances at hand would alone suggest.
Having no brick and mortar, no heavy, well-cut timbers for piers, and no scantliug for cross-timbers, he drew upon Mother Earth for his foundation, and upon the poles of the willow for scaffolding for the frame-work of his hut. He had no boards either rough or smoothly planed, and the bark from the trees of the forest furuished the rustic cover for his ill-constructed house.
In the summer he required but little shelter, and a pile of brush placed on a kind of scaffold, made of poles or a tree, suf- ficed to shade him from the sun.
In winter he required something more than this to shelter himself and family and relatives from the cold, chilly blasts of a winter's storm,
He built, his hut on the level ground, sometimes over an excavation three or four feet deep, and averaging from ten to thirty feet in diameter, according to the size of the family to occupy it.
The rude willow poles, which nature has furnished him, he sinks into the ground in the form of a circle, a sufficient depth to make them permanent; he then draws the tops of these willows together and fastens them to one another; he works steadily at his task, fastening and intertwining them until he has a com- plete net-work of willow poles, and this is the frame-work of his hut.
He looks around for the sides, and again nature responds to his demands; the earth itself, the grass, the twigs, the bushes, and the bark from the trees give him covering. Filling the interstices of this frame-work up with twigs woven cross-wise, over and uuder, between the poles, he then piles bushes, strips of bark, etc., against the frame until it is substantially covered, and then the finishing touch is put on by covering the whole with a thick layer of mud. He has left an opeuing at the top to give egress to smoke, and a small opening close to the ground to serve as a doorway; he has no windows and no stairway, All the room there is is on that space of ground within this enclosure.
He occupied it with his family and all his relatives; building his fire in the center, they cooked, ate and slept within this space. His furniture was scarce, consisting only of mats made of grass. This was his castle-his palace. His luxuries were few, and yet be was king of the forest and monarch of all be surveyed.
186
HISTORY OF MERCED COUNTY.
INDIAN VILLAGE OF KNIGHT'S FERRY.
A collection of thesc huts is called a rancheria, being derivedl from the Spanish word rancho, which was first applied by the Spaniards to the spot where, in the island of Cuba, food was first distributed to the Indians. The rancheria near Knight's Ferry is a small collection of such huts as we have described, interspersed here and there with rudely eonstrueted frame cabins, after the fashion of many of the early miners' cabins.
THE FANDANGO HOUSE.
Generally in a central portion of the village is a much larger constructed hut, of a semi-globular shape, made in the same manner as the roughly constructed huts first mentioned; this is used as a fandango housc, and for the entertainment of vis- iting tribes, On entering this house at Knight's Ferry, we found a group of drunken Indians lying on the bare ground in different parts of the hut, rudely eonstrueted baskets, shells, beads, etc., scattered in a disorderly manuer everywhere, and two or three papooses fastened , to boards, which their mothers were used to carrying on their backs. There were a few coals and ashes in the center, and the room was filled with smoke and a disagrecable odor, which so staggered us that we were at once compelled to make for the doorway, and get out into the open air again. This house was also used as a public sweat- housc. Sec view on page 183.
FOOD AND METHOD OF OBTAINING IT.
Their main reliance for food is on acorns, roots, grass-seeds, berries, and fish. Though generally too lazy to hunt, yet there were times when the men ventured forth on the chase, and managed to kill an antelope, deer, rabbit, or some other gamc. Small game, such as hares, rabbits and hirds, were easily shot with the bow and arrow, as well as deer and antelope. In hunting tbe latter the hunter, disguised with the head and horns of a stag, ereeps through the long grass to within a few yards of the unsuspecting herd, aud pierces the heart of the fattest huck at his pleasure. Game traps, it seems, were never invented by any of them, and they had to depend on the ehase altogether for meat. The squaws gather the acorns, roots, grass- sceds, herries, etc., and, in fact, do all the hard work, even to carrying in the fish and galoe captured by their lords.
The squaw who is a wife and mother, is required and expected to provide all the fool necessary for her buek and the papooses. We have seen them gathering acorns in the forests with large, eone-shaped, willow baskets, carried on their backs by means of a strap attached to the basket and earried around over the head, throwing the whole weight on the forehead; they would knock the acorns down with a pole which they carried for that purpose, and filling their baskets would return
towards night, to all appearances completely fatigued. We have seen them in numbers passing through the streets of the town, loaded down with the fruit of the oak.
They eat acorns hoth raw and cooked, the eustom being to shell and dry them in the sun, and then pound into a powder with stones selected for the purpose. From this flour a species of coarse, black bread is made, which is said to be very palatable and nutritious. They sometimes make a kind of soup out of it, by boiling in a water-tight basket. They make a dish resembling musb from seeds, which, it is said, with a little salt added, is good.
GRASSHOPPERS AS FOOD.
Grasshoppers are not considered a bad dish, but, on the other hand, quite a delicacy. Reptiles and insects not poisonous are eaten. The manner of capturing the grasshopper is amus- ing. A pit is dug near the center of what is considered a good grasshopper region, and a cirele formed in which the pit is the center ; a systematic beating of the grass is then commenced around the eircle with stieks, brush, etc., all advaneing towards the pit, and in this manner driving the poor grasshoppers into the trap which has been set for them, and when once in they are casily managed, and a dainty meal for their captors they prove to be. They sometimes set fire to the grass, and drive them in this way. Onee caught then comes the process by which they are prepared for food ; for winter usc they are dried in the sun, for immediate consumption they are either mashed into a paste, ground into a fine powder and mixed with other edibles, or they are saturated with salt water, placed in a hole in the ground, which has been heated, then covered with bot stones, and eaten like shrimps, when thoroughly roasted. This is one of the dainties of the season among the Indians.
ANY ANIMAL WAS FOOD.
Powers tells us that the Meewocs "eat all creatures tbat swim in the waters, and all that creep, crawl or walk upon the earth, with perbaps a dozen exceptions." The death of a horse iu the neighborhood always created a great commotion in the Indian eamp, and as soon as the report reached the rancheria they came in flocks of men, women and children, to carry off the delicious morsels of flesh from the dead animal. The first operation was to skin the horse, the second to quarter it, and the remainder of the programine was carried out by taking off every piece of flesh, entrails, and all, which was to be found, leaving only the skeleton. A dead eow or other animal was eagerly devoured, but they seemed to have a peculiar weak- ness for " hoss flesh." They roast the meat on stieks before the tire, or bake it in a hole in the ground, and always couvey the food to their mouth with their fingers. They frequently fight like dogs over the portion allotted to them, and aet more like demons than anything else. Frequently fights occur as
187
MILD DISPOSITION OF INDIANS.
to who shall carry off the entrails of one of these dead animals, and if liquor is indulged in during a horse festival, it is almost certain that one or more of the contending parties will get badly hurt.
The Indian has his droughts and years of scarcity of food. There are times when the acorn erop is scarce; when the grasshopper is not plentiful, and when the grass does not reach the maturity necessary to yield him seeds; when the tish do not multiply, and the game is far away. Famines have occurred and taken many of them away.
ROBBING THE BIRDS OF THEIR STORE.
When acorns are scarce, a curious expedient is resorted to to obtain them; they rob the woodpecker of his stores. One of the habits of this bird is to store away acorns for its own future use, in the trunks of trees. A hole is first pecked into the trunk of the tree, and then commences the process of storing by placing each acorn in a separate hole, which it fits tightly. It is in time of scarcity only that the Indians will rob this bird; he ordinarily has great respect for the little worker, and would hold it sacrilege to deprive him of his food except in times of famine or extreme need.
" When the Indian finds a tree stocked by the carpenter-bird, he kindles a fire at its base and keeps it up until the tree falls, when he helps himself to the acorus."-Helper's Land of Gold, page 269.
MODE OF CATCHING FISH.
They catch fish by both spearing and netting. The waters of the Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Merced, and San Joaquin gener- ally furnish them with good fishing. They spear the salmon with spears made of some kind of tough wood, from four and a half to five feet long, beaded with flint or bone sharpened to a point.
We have seen them catching fisb with a net in a manner somewhat similar to the American mode of netting. They dry the fish in the sun, and also pieces of meat eut string-like; this they reserve for winter. After the whites arrived in the country the Indians become, to a great extent, beggars, and now frequently slide around to the back door and beg a meal of victuals, it being seldom that anything can be obtained from them as a recompense for it; sometimes you can get them to saw a little wood, but not often. When they are employed in this manner they are slow and lazy about it.
SKILLED IN USE OF BOW AND ARROW.
For weapons they use bows and arrows and the spear describedl ahove, also the club is sometimes used. The bows are well made, and generally from two and a half to three feet long, and covered at length with sinow from the deer's Inn.
We have frequently seen them wrapped with sinew only at the middle of the bow. The arrows were rather long, made of reed, headed with a small piece of sharp flint and winged at the other end with a symmetrical row of feathers on opposite sides to each other; the feathers were generally colored and the arrows were sometimes painted; they were carried in a bunch wrapped near the middle, so that one could be easily extracted for use. It is said, and generally believed, tbat all the Indians formerly poisoned their arrows, but we have no sueb evidence at hand in relation to these Indians, and think in all probability that they never practiced it.
INDIANS NOT WARLIKE.
Although it is generally believed by many that these Indians, because of their savage natures, were at one time warlike, yet we fail to find any instance which shows tbem to be of that dis- position. We remember to have heard of only one battle being fought by them, and that, it seems, took place near Table Mountain, in Tuolumne County, with some neighboring tribe from the mountains, lasting only a short time, and in which no one was hurt.
The earliest residents inform us that they always showed a friendly disposition from their first contact with the American Writers generally would have us believe that the Mexicans had considerable trouble with the Indians throughout Califor- nia, and some old Mexicans here verify this by telling of the battles in which they have been engaged.
Mr. Bancroft says in regard to this subject that " Battles, though frequent, were not attended with much loss of life. Eaeb side was anxious for the fight to be over, and the first blood would often terminate the contest. When fighting they stretched out in a long single line and endeavored, by shouts and gestures, to intimidate the foe. Among some tribes, children are sent by mutual arrangement into the enemy's ranks, during the heat of battle, to pick up the fallen arrows and carry them back to their owners, to be used again.
MILD DISPOSITION OF INDIANS.
"Notwithstanding the mildness of their disposition, and the inferiority of their weapons, the central Californians do not lack courage in battle, and when captured will meet their fate with all the stoicisin of a true Indian.
" For many years after the occupation of the county by the Spaniards, by abandoning their villages, and lying in ambush upon the approach of the enemy, they were enabled to resist the small squads of Mexicans sent against them from the pre- sidios for the recovery of deserters from the Missions,
" Trespass on lands and abduction of women are the usual eauses of war among themselves. Opposing armies on approach- ing each other in battle array, dance and leap from side to side,
188
HISTORY OF MERCED COUNTY.
in order to prevent their enemies fromn taking deliberate aim. Upon the invasion of their territory they rapidly convey the intelligence hy means of signals. A great smoke is made upon the nearest hill-top, which is quickly repeated upon the sur- rounding hills, and thus a wide extent of country is aroused in a remarkably short time."
MODE OF GOVERNMENT.
The government of these tribes is vested in a chief and a chief- tainship, and is hereditary in the male line only. Considerahle dignity attaches to the chief, and his family are treated with great consideration.
The widows and daughters of the chiefs are treated with distinction, and are not required to work as other women,
INDIAN CHIEF MANUEL.
Every band has its separate head. Old Manuel, who was chief of the Wallas at Knight's Ferry for many years, is well remembered by all of the old residents of that place. He was a large, fleshy Indian, had ratber an intelligent look, and taken all in all was much superior to the average among his tribc. He was beloved by bis own trihe and respected by others. He had several wives and a rather pretty daughter; the latter we have seen many times when she accompanied tbe hucks in their annual dance through the town. She was decorated with fcath- ers and beads, had a pleasing look, aud always carried a plate which she passed around and took up a collection.
By this device the Indians were enabled to gatber together enough money to buy sufficient whisky to keep them drunk for a week or two. They all drank, and when the law prohibited the selling of liquor to them, and the whites would refuse to let them have it, they managed to procure it from the Chinese store-keepers, who were very sly in trafficking with them. When drunk, they would fight among themselves and beat the women unmercifully.
The chief is allowed the host house in the rancheria for him- self and family, and the hest of everything that is brought into camp is allotted to him. On his death the son succeeds his father, and in case of no male issue the females of the family appoint a successor.
FUNERAL OF A CHIEF.
On the death of a chief the whole village is thrown into mourning, which continues for many days. The hody of the deceased is burned; ineremation heing almost universally prac- ticed among the trihes of the Central Division. In preparing for burning, the hody was decorated with feathers, flowers, heads, ete., and after remaining in state a few days, was conveyed to the funeral pyre, which was constructed of brush and other combustible material, placed on top of this pile, and together
with the weapons, rohes, beads, and in fact all the effects of the deceased, was there burned amid the howls and lamentations of the family and friends of the dead one.
The ashes of the dead, mixed with grease, are smeared over the face as a badge of mourning, and pitch is also used to cover both the head and facc, which the widow allows to remain until it wears off. Pitch pine is brought from the mountains and tar is made out of it to be used for this purpose. They have an annual danec of mourning, at which time the most lamentable groans and howls are kept up by the whole rancheria. We have heard them frequently clear across the river, and it seemed as though they kept it up all night, at a time. At this time they mourn the loss of deccased friends and relatives.
IDEAS OF A FUTURE STATE.
We have nothing positive to say in regard to their ideas of the future state. It is said that the Meewocs believe in utter annihilation after death. The punishments that they feared from their god were almost entirely physical, and pertained to this life. Still they thought that the heart of a good chicf went up, after deatlı, among the stars to enlighten the carth, hence that the stars, comets, and meteors, were the hearts of great Indians departed.
THE MARRIAGE RELATION.
The marriage relation among them is not generally under- stood; from best accounts we know that there is very little cere- mony in tying the nuptial knot. The inclinations of the hride, it seems, were consulted, and she tvas seldom ever compelled to marry against her own wishes. The bonds of matrimony can be as easily throw aside as they are assumed. The husband has only to say the word and they are severed.
Polygamy is practiced among them. An Indian man can have as many wives as he can keep; but a woman eanuot have a plurality of husbands, or men to whom she owes obedience. We do not know for what cause an Indian could put away his wife, but presume that in all probability adultery was one. This erime was, at one time, punished with death, but after con- tact with the whites, the chiefs seemed to have lost all control and authority over their female subjects. Adultery is not com- mon among themselves, although a husband is generally willing to prostitute his dearest wife to a white man for a considera- tion.
It is considered that no cause, of however great a magnitude it may he, is sufficient to justify a woman in leaving her hus- band. Sometimes the women rebel against the tyranny of their hushands, but are finally compelled to yield and submit to his authority. The life of the wife is one of menial labor and child bearing, the latter however, falls lightly on the mother among these tribes.
"ANTELOPE RANCH RES. OF G. R.PENEGAR, 11 MILES EAST OF PLAINSBURG, MERCED CO. CAL.
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189
THE TRADITIONS OF INDIANS.
BIRTH AND CARE OF CHILDREN.
The time for delivery arriving, she seeks some quiet place by the side of a stream, sometimes accompanied by a female friend, but most frequently by herself. The moment the child is born she washes herself and infant in the stream, and then covering it with strips of soft skin, straps it to a board and earries it off' on her baek. It is suekled by drawing it around to the front and allowing it to hang there while the mother pursues her usual avoeations, so that in this way little time is consumed in the rearing of children, nor is it allowed to interfere with the usual avoeations of the mother. She is expected to do her daily drudgery, and is never allowed to shirk the responsibilties wbieh rest upon her as the servant of her lord and master.
Child-bearing effeets these women so little that cases have been known where they, while traveling on a journey, have stopped by the wayside for the purpose of delivery, and when the operation was over they would overtake the party, who had probably traveled several miles in advance. Painful par- turition, though rarely occurring, usually results fatally to the mother and child wben it does occur.
The women bring forth each year with great regularity, and soon break down and grow old. A eurious eustom is said to prevail among them at the time of child-birth. When child- birth overtakes the wife, the husband puts himself to bed, and there grunting and groaning he affcets to suffer all the agonies of a woman in labor. Lying there he is nursed and attended for some days by the women as earefully as though he were the actual sufferer. This seems ridiculous, but it is asserted to be the positive fact.
The age of puberty is arrived at early, and according to Powers, " It was not a thing at all uncommon, in the days of the Indians' aneient prosperity, to sce a woman become a mother at twelve or fourteen. An instance was related to me where a girl had borne her first-born at ten, as nearly as her years could be ascertained, her busband, a white man, being tben sixty odd."
We have seen very young looking girls carrying their papooses with as much pride as though they had borne a dozen. When a squaw begins to break down she looks very wrinkled and old, and at thirty, some of them look sixty. Many of them reaeb a good old age, and gray bairs are not uncommon among them.
TRADITIONS HANDED DOWN.
There are traditions among them which the old love to tell to the younger ones, and which are handed down from one gen- eration to another. We have but one of them at band, wbich is vouebed for by an old Mexican. It is that long, long ago, many Indians lived in the Coast Range of mountains, on the west side of the San Joaquin; there they had their wigwams and lived amidst the game which was so plentiful in those
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