USA > California > Nevada County > History of Nevada County, California; with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and manufactories > Part 5
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neck, the oxen dragged the plow by their horns and fore- heads. When so harnessed the poor beasts were in a very deplorable condition; they could not move their heads np, down, or sidewise, went with their noses turned up, and every jolt of the plow knocked them abont, and seemed to give them great pain. Only an ancient Spaniard could de- vise snch a contrivance for animal torture. When Alexander Forbes suggested to an old Spaniard that perhaps it might be better to yoke the oxen by the neck and shoulders, " What!" said the old man, "can you suppose that Spain, " which has always been known as the mother of the sci- " ences, can be mistaken on that point ? "
The carts were drawn by oxen yoked in the same manner, and having to bear the weight of the load on the top of their heads, the most disadvantageous mechanical point of the whole body. The ox-cart was composed of a bottom frame of clumsy construction, with a few upright bars con- nected by smaller ones at the top, and, when used for carry- ing grain, it was lined with canes or bnlrushes. The pole was large, and tied to the yoke in the same manner as with the plow, so that every jerk of the cart was torture to the oxen. The wheels had no spokes, and were composed of three pieces of timber, the middle piece hewn ont of a log, of sufficient size to form the nave and middle of the wheel, all in one; the middle piece was of a length equal to the diameter of the wheel, and rounded at the ends to arcs of the circumference. The other two pieces were of timber naturally bent, and joined to the sides of the middle piece by keys of wood grooved into the ends of the pieces which formed the wheel. The whole was then made eirenlar, and did not contain a particle of iron, not even so much as a nail.
· From the rnde construction of the plow, which was inca- pable of turning a furrow, the ground was imperfectly broken by scratching over, crossing, and re-crossing several times; and although four or five crossings were sometimes given to a field, it was found impossible to eradicate the weeds. It was no nncommon thing, says Forbes in 1835, to see, on some of the large maize estates in Mexico, as many as two hundred plows at work together: "As the plows are " equal on both sides, the plowmen have only to begin at one " side of the field and follow one another np and down, as " many as can be employed together without interfering in " turning round at the end, which they do in succession, like " ships tacking in a line of battle, and so proceed down the " same side as they come np."
Harrows were nnknown, the wheat and barley being
brushed in by a branch of a tree. Sometimes a heavy log was drawn over the field, on the plan of a roller, save that it did not roll, but was dragged so as to carry a part of the soil over the seeds. Indian corn was planted in furrows or rnts drawn abont five feet apart, the seed being deposited by hand, from three to five grains in a place, which were slightly covered by the foot, no hoes being used. The sowing of maize, as well as all other grains in Upper California, commenced in November, as near as pos- sible to the beginning of the rainy season. The harvest was in July and Angnst. Wheat was sown broad-cast, and in 1835 it was considered eqnal in quality to that produced at the Cape of Good Hope, and had begun to attract attention in Enrope. All kinds of grain were threshed at harvest time, without stacking. In 1831 the whole amount of grain raised in Upper California, according to the mission records, was 46,202 fanegas-the fanega being equal to 2} English bushels. Wheat and barley were then worth two dollars the fanega; maize, a dollar and a half; the crop of that year at the several Missions being worth some $86,000.
The mills for grinding grain consisted of an upright axle, to the lower end of which was fixed a horizontal water- wheel nnder the building, and to the upper end a millstone. As there was no intermediate machinery to increase the velocity of the stone it could make only the same number of revolutions as the water-wheel, so that the work of grinding a grist was necessarily a process of time. The water-wheel was fearfully and wonderfully made. Forbes described it as a set of cucharas, or gigantic spoons, set around its periphery in place of floats. They were made of strong pieces of timber, in the shape of spoons, with the handles inserted in mortises in the outer surface of the wheel, the bowl of the spoons toward the water, which impinged npon them with nearly its whole velocity. Rude as the con- trivance was, it was exceedingly powerful -- a sort of primi- tive turbine. There were only three of these improved mills in the country in 1835, and the possession of such a rare piece of machinery was no small boast for the simple-hearted Fathers, so far away from the progressive mechanical workl. It was not a primitive California invention, however. as Sir Walter Scott, in his romance of "The Pirate," describes a similar apparatus formerly in use in the Shetland Islands.
Before the advent of foreigners neither potatoes nor green vegetables were cultivated as articles of food. Hemp was raised to some extent, and flax grew well, but its culture was discontinned for want of machinery for manufacture. Pasturage was tho principal pursuit in all Spanish colonies
HERALD PRINTING OFFICE
AUCTION TORE
M
MEN
J. B.GRAY E.A. DAVIS H.L. HERZINGER
PROPRIETORS.
TRI- WEEKLY HERALD. NEVADA CITY, NEVADA CO CAL.
PUBLISHED BY THOMPSON & WEST.
23
HISTORY OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
iu America. The immense tracts of wild land afforded unlimited ranges, but few men and little labor were re- quired, and the pastoral state was the most congenial to tho people. The herds were very large; in the four juris- dictions of San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and San Diego there were in 1836 three hundred thousand black cattle, thirty-two thousand horses, twenty-eight thou- sand mules, and one hundred and fifty-three thousand sheep. Great numbers of horses ran wild, and these were hunted and killed to provont their cating the grass. There wns hardly such a thing as butter or cheese in use, buttor being, in general, an abomination to a Spaniard.
In the earlier times immenso droves of young bulls were sont to Mexico for boef. The cattle being half-wild, it was necessary to catch thom with the lasso, a process which need not bo hero described. Tho procoss of milking the cows wus peculiar. They first let the calf suck for a while, when the dairyman stole up on the other side, and, while the calf was still sucking, procured a little of the milk. They had an idon that the cow would not "give down " milk if the calf was taken away from her. The sheep were of a bad breed, with course wool; and swine received little attention. The amount of the annual oxports in the first few years after the opening of the ports to foreign vessels, was estimated at 30,000 hides and 7,000 quintals of tallow; with small cargoos of wheat, wine, raisins, olives, otc., sent to the Russian set- flemonts and San Blas. Hidos wore worth two dollars each, and tallow oight dollars per quintal. Attorwards the exporta- tion of hides and tallow was greatly increased, and it is said that after the Fathers had bocome convinced that they would havo to give up the mission lands to the Government, they caused the slaughter of 100,000 cattle in a single year, for their hides and tallow alone. And who could blame them ? The eattlo wore their's. Notwithstanding all this immenso rovenne these enthusiasts gavo it all to the church, and themselves went away in penury, and, as has been related herotofore, one of them netually starved to death.
AMONG barbarous nations, eustoms chango very little from age to age. Barbarism is essentially conservativo, and what was good enough for the fathers, is sufficient for the sons. In their wild state when entirely removed from the influ- ences of civilization, if indeed such a condition anywhere exists, the California Indiaus of the present timo aro very much as their forefathers were a hundred years ago. They lead wandering and migratory lives. moving periodically from place to place, for the purpose of hunting, fishing, and gathering supplies. Some few, near the settlements, engage in light work for the whites, but, as a rule, they make 1 no provision for their wants, beyond what is provided spontanoously by nature. Some cultivate little patches of corn, melons, or clover, but their principal subsistence consists of pine-unts, grass-seeds, roots, berries, and what small animals they can shoot or ensnare. When pressed by hunger, they will devour reptiles, insects, and vermin, and nothing is sufficiently revolting in appearance to appall their appetites. Half the year is spent in making provision for the other half, and during the last of the second half, they was fivo dollars; a cow, fivo; a saddle-horse, ton; a mare, , generally undergo a moderate famine.
In 1836 the value of a fat ox or bull in Upper California five; a shoop, two; and a mulo ten dollars.
The first ship over constructed on the eastern shores of tho Pacific was built by the Josuit Father Ugarte, at Loreto, in 1719. Being in want of a vessel to survey the coast of tho peninsula, and there boing nono available nearer than New Spain or tho Philippine Islands, the enterprising Friar determined to buikl one. After traveling two hundred miles through the mountains suitable timber was at last found, in
a marshy country; but how to get it to the coast was the great questiou; this was considered impossible by all but the stubborn old Friar. When the party returned to Loreto, Father Ugarte's ship in the mountains became a ghostly joke among - his brother Friars. But, not to be beaten and langhed down, Ugarto made the necessary preparations, returned to the mountains, felled the tiurber, dragged it two hundred miles to the coast, aud built a handsome ship, which he appropriately named " The Triumph of the Cross." The first voyage of this historic vessel was to La Paz, 200 miles south of Loreto, where a mission was to be founded.
Qmit
CHAPTER VIII. INDIANS AFTER THE AMERICAN CONQUEST.
Their Manners and Customs in the Wild State Dwellings, Dress, and Pursuits
Reputed Giants-Superstitious and Religious Beliefs -- Tribes of the Sac. ramento Valley -Etc.
very sellom take cold or suffer from rheumatism. Their dress, in the native state, consists of grass-cloths and the skius of animals, but in the neighborhood of the white sottlo- ments they avail themselves of old cast-off garments, som0- times extremely grotesque in appearance. Like the South Sea Islanders, they daub their faces with ointment and col- ors. Their natural complexion is rather swarthier than the Indians of Mexico, amt they improvo in physical character- istics and appearanco as tho spectator goes northward. . As mentionod in another article, there is a very marked differ- enee between the valley and mountain Indians; the former subsisting upon fish, roots, and insects, and the latter upon nuts, berries, and the fruits of the chase; and while the wo- men of the valleys are generally debased to the last dogroe, their mountain sisters maintain a cortain appearance of re- spectability.
But, low in the scale of humanity as these poor creatures scein, they aro nevertheless susceptiblo to great improve- ment. Not long ago, a full-blood Indian girl died in the Ala- meda County Hospital, of consumption. She knew that hor end was near, and to the very last her ruling passion was to do and look like white girls. She had her apartment ornamented with flowers and some books, occupied her last days in making elaborate grave-clothes, and her very last words to tho attendant were, " Do I look white?" The poor dust that enclosed a soul of natural refinement is buried in that dreary potter's field, and her only opitaph is, " Novem- ber 20: Indian Girl." But she is still remembered there by loving friends of another and more favored race.
When the Jesuit Fathors first came to Lower California, they were told by the inhabitants that their ancestors came from the north; but the natives had no recording dovices, literary or pictorial. But the Fathers discovered extensive caves in the mountains, hewn out of the solid rock, like those in Southern Hindostan. Iu these were painted representa- tions of men and women decently attired, as well as of different species of animals. One of these caves was fifty feet loug, fif- teen feet high, and in the form of an arch. The malo figures were represented with arms extended, and one of the women had long hair flowing over her shoulders, and a crown of feathers on her head. From that the Fathers inferred that the then inhabitants were not the original people of the country. It is solemnly recorded that at the mission of Kada Kamong, Father Joseph Rotea discovered the skeleton of a man eleven feet high. But then, it may be possible that, under the inspiration of good mission wine, the more
Their dwellings are among the rndest and most primitive known to mankind-a few poles stuck circularly in the ground, drawn together at the top, and covered with brush wood or loose earth; sometimes in the more palatial struct- ures, or in the colder regions of the mountains, a sort of cellar is excavated in the ground, which adds greatly to the warmth, if not to the purity of the atmosphere. Notwith- standing their frail and apparently inadequate honsing, they - imaginative of the jolly Fathers were inclined to romance.
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HISTORY OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA,
It is a fact, however, of later demonstration and notoriety, that in 1855 a human skeleton was discovered nnder Table Mountain, in Tuolumne County, 300 feet from the surface of the ground, which, according to the measurement of the leg and thigh bones, must have been that of a man eight or nine feet in stature. A few years ago, these pre-historic remains, including a stone-pipe and certain appliances of the chase, were in the possession of Dr. Perez Snell, the local natural- ist of Sonora.
" The simplicity of thoir lives," says Professor Gleeson, " and the fowness of their wants, rendered ambition un- "necessary. The entire extent of their desires was to ob- " tain sufficient food for the passing day, trusting to chanco " for the morrow. Their articles of furniture consisted only " in what was necessary for hunting, fishing, and war. A " boat, a bow and arrow, a dart, and a bowl were among " their chiof articles of use. A bone served them for an " awl, a net for carrying their fruits and children, a conple " of bits of hard wood for procuring fire, which was ob- " tainod by rubbing the sticks briskly between the hands. " The only difference between the Indians of that time and " this, some few thousands of whom are scattered through " the country, is that the latter are more civilized in the " manner of their dress, an acquirement they have learned " from contact with their American neighbors."
In their original state, tho California Indians had no knowlodgo of intoxicating drinks; but they found a substi- tute in the smoke of an herb with which they were accns- tomed to get inebriated on festivo occasions.
At the time of conquest by Americans, the wild Indians had no division of lands, and no general laws, written or traditional. The power of the chiefs, or caziques, was limited, their duties consisting mainly in directing the gathering of the natural fruits, attending to the fisheries, and heading the military expeditions. "The leader, or " cazique," says Father Venegas, " conducted them to the " forest and sea coast in quest of food; sent and received " messages to and from adjacent tribes; informed them of " impending danger; inspired them to revenge of injuries; " and headed them in their wars, ravages, and depredations. " In all other particulars every one was entire master of his " liborty."
Having no system of divino worship, their festivals par- took moro of the character of social entertainments than of religious assemblies. The principal féte was the day set for the distribution of the skins of animals taken during the year. It was a sort of State fair, and was a time of great
delight for the young girls. To them, a mantle of beaver or rabbit skin, was as precious as one of silk or satin would be to a young lady of the civilized world. At the entrance to the arbor stood the orator, who recited the exploits of noted hunters, and the people, being animated by his eloquence, ran abont in the wildest hilarity. The speech and races over, the festival ended in a fandango, or ball, of the very worst sort.
Polygamy was admitted, but none bnt the chiefs availed themselves of the privilege. Marital infidelity was regarded as a heinons offense, except at festival gatherings. The ceremonies of betrothal and marriage were very simple, and varied with different tribes. Matrimonial engagements were not considered indissoluble, the parties being at liberty to withdraw whenever it snited their inclination. One Indicrous enstom prevailed in domestic life-when a child was abont to be born, the father lay stretched in a cave or nnder a tree, affecting great debility and groaning dismally, while ,the mother was left to shift for herself. During that critical time the husband was prohibited from smoking and every sort of diversion, and was not allowed to leave the place, except for water or fuel.
When the missionaries reached Lower California, they fonnd no indications of existing idolatry; no altars, temples, or sacred places were found. The people had some idea of a Deity, however, and it appears from Torquemada, the Mexican historian, that on St. Catharine's Island a religious temple was fonnd, with a large conrt for the performance of sacrifices. In Upper California idol-worship was common and the god Chinigh-chinigh was worshiped in almost every village in the form of a stuffed coyote. It is a remarkable fact that the rnde temples of these poor people possessed the right of sanctuary, and the fugitive from justice, no matter what had been. his crime, was there safe from pursuit or molestation, The god Chinigh-chinigh was believed to be a spirit and immortal, and yet nnderwent the penalty of death. " When I die," the god had said to his people, "I shall " ascend above the stars, where I shall always behold yon, and " to those who have kept my commandments I will give all " they ask of me; but those who shall obey not and believe " not, I will severely punish. I will send nnto them bears " to bite and serpents to sting them. They shall be without " food, and have mortal diseases that they may die." Snch was the tradition which Father Boscana. found among the Indians at the mission of San Juan Capistrano, It is cer- tain that the Indians of Upper California had a confused idea of the resurrection of the body, from the fact that, once
a month, all the rancherias assembled and danced, as on a festive occasion, singing and shouting, " As the moon dieth, " and cometh to life again, so we also, having to die, will " live again!" When they buried the bodies of the dead, the heart, as they believed, was not consumed, but went to a place provided for it by God. They believed in something like the Valhalla of the Scandinavians.
The foregoing describes the manners and customs of the California Indians as they were found at the time of the Amer- icau conquest. According to a series of elaborate articles in the Overland Monthly, by Mr. Stephen Powers, they have changed very little since, except for the worse, in adopting the worst vices of civilization, Mr. Powers was intimately acquainted with the habits of several of the valley tribes during a number of years, and has left on record in that magazine the best account that has ever been written. He describes the Cahrocs, on Klamath river, as the finest tribe of men on the Northwestern Pacific shore. They are a little lower in stature than the American people, but well made and strong; the face oval, low cheek bones; eyes bright, opening straight across; nose straight and strong. Many of the women are handsome in features, graceful in shape, and do not age so rapidly and repulsively as the women of the valley, bnt seem to belong to a superior race. The men dress chiefly in a buckskin girdle abont the loins. The women wear a chemise of braided grass, tattoo their faces, and dress their hair in clubbed queues. Both sexes bathe in cold water every morning, but are nntidy iu their houses. In addition to bows and arrows, the men use, in close quarters, a sharp stone as a weapon of war, gripped iu the hand. Their native money cousists iu the red scalps of woodpeckers, valued at five dollars each, and strings of shells. Each village has a head man, or captain, but his authority is limited; in war they have a head chief, or major- general, for the whole tribe. In war they take no scalps, bnt decapitate their dead enemies. Sometimes the meu fight savage dnels with sharp stones clutched in the hand. Previous to marriage, there is no love-making among the young people; everything is settled by the parents; the lover offers to them so many strings of shells and no marriage is legal without pre-payment. Before marriage female virtue is unknowu; afterwards, conjugal infidelity may be condoned by the payment of money. Illegitimate children are classed as social outlaws. There is a tolerable division of labor be- tween the sexes, but still the women are drudges. They have a confused idea of a God, whom they call " Chareya," or the Old Man Above. They worship the coyote, aud be-
OFFICE OF THE FOOTHILL TIDINGS, AND RESIDENCE OF S. G. LEWIS . GRASS VALLEY, NEVADA CO CAL.
PUBLISHED BY THOMPSON & WEST.
25
HISTORY OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
lieve in ghosts, who clase people at night. Their sweat- honses are built partly under ground, and answer for church, theater, dormitory, and hospital. They bury their dead, and abhor cremation. Their language is copions, flexible, and somowhat resembles the Spanish.
Tho Meewoes wero the largest nation, or group, in Califor- nia, both in numbers and extent of country. Their territory extended from the snow line of the Sierra Nevada to the San Joaquin, and from Cosminnes to Fresno. Feather Island, in the Sun Joaquin River, contains the ruins of a town which was constructed in military style, and the bottom-lands along the Tuolumne and Merced rivers abonnd with the re- mains of their villages. The language over the whole extent of country, from Yosomito to the San Joaquin, was homo- goncons; there were several dialects, but the root of tlio language was common to all. The Meewoes woro the largest, and morally and socially the lowest nation. Both sexes formerly wont naked, lived together indiscriminately, and ato overy abominable creature, animal, reptile, and insect. They believed in wood-spirits and water-spirits, and in other fetiches which inhabited owls. Soul and body were sup- posed to ho annihilated by donth; the dead were never to be mentioned more, and all their property was destroyed, so as to uttorly obliterate their recollection. Physically, the pooplo were weak, with very small heads, which were flattened by tho mannor of nursing in infancy. They had little or no conception of modesty, and were unspeakably obscono in their traditions and logonds. The mother sold the bride; when twins were born, one was destroyed; there were both malo and female doctors and sorcerers, and .an occasional orator, or prophet, who made a sort of lecturing tour every year through the several villages of the tribe.
There was a time fixed for tho aunnal mourning for the dead. In casos of persons of distinction, several villages united, usually iu the evening, when the Indians sat in a circle, and with loud wailing, toaring of hair, and other signs of inconsolable grief gave vent to their feelings. The women ran through the woods, crying aloud, and pray- ing the dead to come back. Sometimes a sqnaw would perform the death-dance for three or four hours, while the others lockod arms and walked in a cirele chanting the death- song. When the mourning was over they scoured off the pitch and engaged in a sensnal debauch. Incremation was general, but not universal, and the oldost surviving brother was expected to marry the widow.
The Patweens formerly lived on the middle and lower Sacramento. They were a considerablo nation, their lan-
gnago being common to Long, Indian, Bear, and Cortina Valleys, and their territory extending along the Sacramento from Jacinto to Suisun. On Cache and Pntah Creeks and in Napa Valley the same dialcet was spoken. The Snisuns lived on the shores of the bay having their name; the Malae- cas, in Lagoon Valley; the Olulalos, about Vneaville; tho Leroylos, on Putah Creek. The plains which were some- times overflowed were not much inhabited, there being no wood and too great abundance of mosquitos. The Indians generally lived on water-courses, except when on hunting expeditions. Four miles below Colnsa there are indications of a permanent village which had a thousand inhabitants in 1849. Near Spring Valley and Vacaville layers of bones, six feet under ground, indiente a dense population some time or other, though perhaps not of the same people.
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