(pp. 267-279)
[1] Ortega gives no distances and the route appears to have been very
devious. Hence it is possible to locate the expedition at those points
only which are specifically named. Cholam is still a small village in
the southwest corner of T 25 S, R 16 E.
[2] The Yokuts subtribe Tachi occupied the area to the west of L. Tulare
and its outlet sloughs as far as the coast ranges (see Kroeber, 1925, p.
484). However, since Ortega speaks of operating along the Kings R., the
village he attacked must have been one of those not far west of Lemoore.
The records of the Calif. Archaeol. Survey show from 10 to 15 habitation
sites in this area, a fact which indicates in a general way a heavy
population.
[3] The Nutunutu. This tribe extended along the south bank of the Kings
R. from Lemoore nearly to Kingsburg.
[4] The chief center of the Telamni, who inhabited the oak forest of
the Kaweah delta at and below Visalia. This had originally been a very
large village but the disturbances caused by the Spanish expeditions
had substantially destroyed it. The heavy mortality and great famine
mentioned by Ortega were undoubtedly due to the continuous state of
fugitivism, severe exposure to the weather, and inability to gather and
store the customary stocks of food such as acorns and fish. No specific
epidemic was recorded, such as is implied by Cutter (Ms, p. 213) on the
basis of certain statements of the Father President, Mariano Payeras.
However, no fulminating epidemic was necessary to produce the mortality.
Starvation, exposure, and respiratory diseases would be quite adequate.
[5] The Choinok, who lived along Deep Cr., in the Kaweah delta, near and
northeast of Tulare. The San Gabriel R. was the Kaweah.
[6] Sumtache (Tuntache, Chuntache). This was probably the principal
village of the Chunut, on the northeast shore of L. Tulare. Bubal,
mentioned frequently in the early accounts, was the village of the
Wowol (see discussion in Kroeber, 1925, pp. 483-484 and Cook, 1955,
pp. 44-45).
[7] The party followed the usual route over Pacheco Pass to San Luis
Gonzaga and east into the valley.
[8] The stopping place may have been somewhere near Dos Palos, which is
20 mi. from San Luis Gonzaga. The expedition could scarcely have reached
Mendota as stated by Cutter (Ms, p. 218) since the latter is nearly 50
mi. from the starting point and the ride was only 3 hours long.
[9] The villages along the San Joaquin R. from the great bend above
Mendota to the vicinity of Newman had so completely disappeared in the
early years of the nineteenth century that the Yokuts informants of
Kroeber, Gifford, Gayton, and other modern ethnographers preserved no
memory of them. Yet it is clear from the accounts of Pico and of other
explorers and soldiers that they were relatively numerous and populous.
The inhabitants seem to have been unusually disposed to the stealing of
horses. Moreover, their habitat was on the west bank of the river and
wide open to attack from the coast. For these or other reasons, they
appear to have been completely obliterated.
The existence of 6 villages can be established with reasonable certainty
(see discussion in Cook, 1955, pp. 51-52). From north to south they
are: Cheneches, Malim, Nupchenches, Cutucho, Copicha, Tape. The first,
Cheneches, was probably near the mouth of Mariposa Cr., north of Los
Banos. The southernmost, Tape, was, according to Estudillo in 1819, 24
leagues south of, or upstream from, Cheneches. This would place Tape
south of the great bend of the San Joaquin, roughly 20 mi. west of
Fresno. Copicha was at the mouth of the Chowchilla.
[10] The general course of Pico's party was southeastward along the
connecting sloughs between Tulare L. and the San Joaquin R. On the
12th they reached the lower Kings R. in the territory of the Wimilchi
(Gumilchis). At or near this point the junction was made with Ortega's
division.
[11] The route for the next several days is confused. The joint
expedition moved back northwestward from the Kings R. to the San
Joaquin area, where Pico had been previously operating.
[12] An error, since the party had just left Cheneches.
[13] The huge number of dead animals found in these villages is
testimony to their great significance as an item in the diet of the
natives. The Nupchenches group evidently had undergone a profound
alteration from a sedentary, principally vegetarian people to active,
hard-riding, meat-eating raiders.
[14] From the 16th to the 28th of December the Pico-Ortega expedition
was pursued by miserable fortune and turned in a really pathetic
performance. Not lacking in competent leadership, it nevertheless
floundered for nearly two weeks through rain and mud, lost its horses,
was led on repeated wild-goose chases by native guides, and accomplished
nothing in the military sense. On the other hand, it contributed to the
rapid economic and physical disintegration which was being undergone by
the valley tribes. The Spaniards could return to the coast and organize
a new expedition. The natives could not recover from the damage they
suffered.
[15] The geography of this trip is very confusing and has never been
cleared up satisfactorily. Despite the fact that Father Martinez gives
distances with a great air of exactness, these distances cannot be
tied to recognizable points. It is clear that Thuohuala is Bubal, of
the Wowol, very probably on the western side of Tulare L. The river
mentioned, which ends in Buenavista L., Goose L., and Tulare L., may
have been Kern, since, moreover, it is the only unfordable stream in the
southern valley. However, Telame refers to the village of the Telamni,
west of Visalia. The only river 20 mi. (7 leagues) from Telame would be
the Tule R. which, to be sure, flows into Tulare L. but is 100 mi. from
Buenavista L. Gelecto may have been at or near Goose L., but if so,
where was Lihuahilame, 19 leagues away?
It may have been that Martinez actually stayed in the southwestern areas
of the valley and never crossed the line of the lakes and sloughs at
all. If so, when he mentioned "Telame" he was talking about the subtribe
Tulamni west of Buenavista L., not the Telamni in the Kaweah delta. In
favor of such an hypothesis is his statement that "in all our trip we
did not see a tree." This could scarcely have been true, had he reached
the lower Kaweah R. The big river was very probably the Kern.
[16] The photocopy in the Bancroft Library is poorly executed. Several
words close to the binding of the original book are impossible to
decipher.
[17] For another version of this fight see the account by Father Cabot.
[18] The personal pronouns in this excerpt are somewhat confusing.
However, the reader need only bear in mind that this is a transcript of
a letter, not the original. Hence the first two words may be rendered:
"Father Cabot says...." The entire letter is, of course, condensed and
paraphrased in the transcript.
[19] Here is a clear instance of mission Indians going by themselves on
a raid to the valley. They were, of course, authorized to do so by the
missionary himself (Father Fray Antonio Jaime). How many such forays
took place we have no means of knowing. As a rule, only when the
expedition got into trouble was notice taken of it in the official
correspondence or in the reports of the friars. It is probable that,
in addition to these trips, which might be called "semiofficial," a
vast number of Mission Indians came and went without permission. The
disturbing influence of such small parties in the valley was not as
great as that of the major, full-scale military enterprises, but in
the aggregate must have been considerable.
[20] These villages are in the general region of Tulare L.
[21] These villages are all along the San Joaquin R. from Mendota to
Patterson--in the Nupchenches group. Notice the final extinction of the
village of Malime and the emigration of the inhabitants of Notoalh to
the Sierra Nevada. By 1820 this area was probably completely denuded of
Indians.
[22] The eastern end of the Montezuma Hills, just southwest of Rio
Vista.
[23] Like those of other river explorers, Duran's leagues are not to be
taken literally.
[24] The day's trip can be followed with reasonable assurance. A league
from the stopping point at the eastern end of the Montezuma Hills near
Rio Vista would bring the party to the foot of Grand I. [Isla de los
Quenemsias]. The opening to the starboard was the main channel of the
Sacramento. Following to the left, they soon encountered the entrance
to Cache Slough to port. This they passed by and therefore must have
entered Steamboat Slough. At 6 leagues (actually much less) they saw
the fork of Steamboat Slough and Sutter Slough and followed the latter,
which appears to continue straight ahead whereas Steamboat Slough seems
to bear northeast. Both sloughs in fact lead back again to the main
channel of the Sacramento. The description of the oak groves conforms
to those of other early navigators of the Sacramento Basin.
[25] The opening or slough encountered at the end of one league was
probably Miner Slough--although clearly it was not the one passed on
the preceding day. The village of the Chucumnes was probably on Sutter
I. near this point. Here also must be the place where the river
"subdivides" into three branches; north, west, and south, Miner Slough
being the western branch and Sutter Slough both the northern and
southern arms. The afternoon voyage carried the party very slowly up
Sutter Slough to a point near the head of Sutter I. where they stopped
apparently on the west bank. The 18th they crossed the top of Sutter I.
by way of the short connecting slough and entered the main stream of the
Sacramento half a mile above Paintersville.
[26] Probably the slough which runs around Randall I. to the southeast.
[27] The halt was made probably somewhere near Richland.
[28] Since the distances in leagues are unreliable, it is impossible to
specify exactly where Duran's party stopped on the night of May 19 or
where they set up the cross and turned around on May 20. At the latter
point they were above the last of the important sloughs, Elkhorn Slough,
for the ground appeared as if it would be dry in the fall of the year
and Duran thought that an approach by land would be better than one
by water. The best guess is that the cross was set up somewhere near
Freeport, and in any case below the junction of the American R. at
Sacramento.
[29] It is doubtful that this "hill" was the Marysville, or Sutter,
Buttes because not only are these heights much more than 10 leagues
distant, but also because in the month of May there is no snow on them.
It is more likely that Duran saw some of the higher summits of the Coast
Range in Napa or Lake counties.
[30] Again somewhere near Richland, probably on Merritt I.
[31] This statement places the party definitely at the head of Grand I.
The following sentence is misleading. They left Steamboat Slough on the
right and took the main river which runs to the left. There is no other
waterway fitting the description in this area.
[32] The party probably reached the vicinity of Walnut Grove on the
afternoon of the 21st. From this time to the morning of the 24th it is
impossible to reconstruct Duran's exact route. However, in general he
seems to have run south, perhaps through the Mokelumne system, as far as
the region northwest of Stockton, and thence westward to Suisun Bay.
[33] If, as Fr. Duran said, he bore east as close as possible to the dry
land, then the most probable course was through Snodgrass Slough, past
Deadhorse I. into the South Fork of the Mokelumne. He must have followed
this stream downward to Potato Slough and perhaps Little Connection
Slough to a junction with the main San Joaquin R. There is no continuous
waterway farther east. Farther west the only feasible pathway is
directly down the Mokelumne R., a course which does not fit the
description given. The Nototemnes (to the right) may have lived
on Staten I., or conceivably Bouldin I. The others--Yatchicomnes,
Passasimas, and Mokelumnes--were on solid ground, east of the sloughs.
Their habitat probably extended inland from the delta for some distance.
We know that the Mokelumnes inhabited the river of that name for many
miles upstream.
[34] The sand dunes between Antioch and Oakley, extending some distance
up Marsh Cr. The name is still current as applied to the land grant made
to John Marsh.
[35] The reader will observe immediately that the point of view of a
soldier is very different from that of a priest. He will also note the
irritation inspired in the soldier by the priest. Despite the lengthy
apologies the soldier does not conceal his exasperation that he is
subordinate to the priest and that he is not permitted to go where
he wishes and explore as he sees fit. The criticism of Fr. Duran by
Arguello must be viewed in this light.
[36] Duran says merely that the Commandante (Arguello) had "gone ahead"
and stopped at the mouth of the San Joaquin. He followed the "route
agreed upon" and stopped at the mouth of the Sacramento.
[37] From the 15th to the 22nd the account of Arguello agrees within
reasonable limits with that of Duran. Differences in detail and emphasis
are to be expected and do not reflect upon the veracity of either
writer. For discussion of the route, reference may be made to the notes
(22-34 above) to Father Duran's manuscript.
[38] The route followed by Arguello cannot be traced in detail. He seems
to have followed sloughs in a generally northwest direction until he
came upon the main stream of the Sacramento somewhere east of Grand I.
(Isla de los Quenemsias), perhaps near Isleton. The skirmish with the
Christian fugitives must have occurred in the Walnut Grove area.
[39] According to Duran the meeting took place at the eastern entrance
to the Strait, near Martinez.