From the Mad River south to the Eel there is general agreement except
that, as usual, Merriam's lines tend to follow the streams, whereas
those of Kroeber and Loud follow the ridges. Another conflict comes
at the crossing of the Eel River. Curtis (1924, 13:67) says the line
crosses at the mouth of the Van Duzen. Nomland (1938, map 1), Loud,
and Merriam all agree with this. Powers (1877, p. 101) and Kroeber
both locate the line a few miles up the river from this point at Eagle
Prairie, while Nomland's Wiyot informant (Nomland and Kroeber, 1936, map
1) places the line even farther south at the mouth of Larabee Creek. The
weight of evidence indicates that the line was probably near the mouth
of the Van Duzen; Goddard (1929, p. 292) states that there was a Bear
River village near there.
There is also some disagreement on the northern boundary of the Bear
River group. Nomland says that it is at Fleener Creek, about five miles
north of Bear River Ridge, whereas Kroeber indicates a line about two
miles north of Bear River Ridge. Loud, Merriam, and Goddard, on the
other hand, all indicate that the boundary is Bear River Ridge itself.
Nomland's boundary is almost certainly in error, since Loud gives Wiyot
villages occurring south of that line. Most of the evidence points to
Bear River Ridge as the line, and this version has been accepted.