rancherias" of Moraga. Since Moraga gives 100 for Uholasi we may
increase that number to 200. Among the other rancherias we have
Quihuame (or Quiuamine) and Yulumne, which were noted by later
visitors. Moraga, however, in saying "otras varias" clearly means more
than two, probably at least four. It is pertinent to note in this
connection that some of these may have disappeared during the turmoil
of 1806 to 1816 and that their surviving inhabitants may have been
absorbed by other, larger villages. Such an explanation would account
for the failure of Cabot and Martinez to refer to them. If we assume
four villages at the time of Moraga's expedition (and of course the
aboriginal number would have been no less), it is safe to consider them
as having been relatively small. According to the size scale of the
Kaweah villages as a whole 200 inhabitants could reasonably be ascribed
to each of them, or 800 for the group.
The aboriginal population of the Telamni and the Wolasi may therefore
be set as closely as we can get at 3,200. The Choinok appear to have
had only one rancheria. At least there is one and one only which recurs
repeatedly in the Spanish documents. This is Choynoque (Moraga, 1806),
Choynoct (Ortega, 1816), Choinoc (Cabot, 1818) or Choijnocko
(Estudillo, 1819). Moraga gave 300 as the population, as did also
Estudillo. The two values are comparable, if we remember the attrition
occurring between the years 1806 and 1816. We may then apply the
correction factor of 2 and get 600 as the most probable number in 1806.
Such a value is also consistent with the status of the Choinok as an
independent tribal entity of the Kaweah basin, although it does not
take into account any reduction in population prior to the expedition
of Moraga. There was doubtless such a reduction, but since we have no
direct evidence bearing upon the matter it will be better to let the
figure 600 stand.
The total for the Kaweah delta group (Telamni, Wolasi, Choinok) is
3,800. This is indeed surprising but the figure perhaps is corroborated
by the statement of the Franciscan President for the California
missions, Father Payeras--made in support of the establishment of new
missions in the valley--that the Telame district alone contained 4,000
unconverted heathen.
The middle Kaweah above Visalia was inhabited by the Gawia, Yokod, and
Wukchamni. The Gawia are represented in Moraga's account by Eaguea (300
inhabitants) and the Yokod by Cohochs (100 inhabitants). The Wukchamni
were by far the most numerous and for an excellent account of them we
are indebted to Estudillo. This officer, in addition to being a
competent field commander, appears to have been a scholar and a
gentleman. His report on the Wukchamni village of Chischa is
unquestionably the most complete and accurate left us by any of the
Spanish explorers and as such is worth discussing in detail.
Estudillo was the first white man to see Chischa. On this point he is
very explicit:
... su capitan joasps, ni su gente jamas havian visto tropa,
siendo esta la primera vez q. havilan llegado alli, pues
hace mucho tiempo paso por abajo (este fue D. Gabriel Moraga
en el reconocimiento q. hizo en 1806) y solo noticia tubo
por sus amigos de Telame ...
Consequently, allowing for possible communicable disease, Chischa was
in its aboriginal state when Estudillo saw it.
Chischa was 5 leagues east of Telame and 3 leagues from Choinocko. This
places the village, according to the maps of Kroeber and of Gayton, at
or just above Lemon Cove in the territory ascribed by these
ethnographers to the Wukchamni. Estudillo measured off the dimensions
of the village by pacing. The shape was semilunar, crescentic or
approximately that of the sector of a circle. The short side ("por su
frente") was 624 varas long and the long side ("por la espalda") was
756 varas. A figure plotted on coordinate paper to scale shows that the
area was 80,000 square varas. On the assumption that the Spanish vara
equaled a yard, and that an average city block measures 300 feet on a
side, the village of Chischa would have covered eight city blocks.
Estudillo caused the Indians living in the village to form a line
before the town, with the men in a single file and the women and
children massed in front of them. He counted the men and found that
there were exactly 437 warriors ("jovenes de arma") and "como 600
mugeres y ninos." According to the translation made for Merriam (MS in
his collection):
Then I went opposite where the invited guests were lodged,
and as they all, men and women and boys and girls were
presented to me in a confused mass, I could not count them
as I did those of Chischa but there were perhaps 600 men."
He specifies the 600 men as "jovenes" and adds that there were 200
"mugeres jovenes." He then describes going behind the village to the
arroyo, where he saw more than 100 "mugeres de mayor edad," washing
seeds for atoles for the celebrants of the fiesta, and an even greater
number of "jovenes moliendo en piedras dhas semillas."
The extraordinary care with which Estudillo conducted his investigation
can leave little doubt of the accuracy of his figures. He saw 437
"jovenes de arma" in front of the village together with 600 women and
children, plus 100 "mugeres de mayor edad" and more than 100 "jovenes"
behind the village preparing the meal. Even allowing for some
duplication of individuals the population must have reached at least
1,250. The solidity of this evidence for Chischa renders even more
probable comparable figures for Bubal and the other large villages of
the general area.
Estudillo saw 600 young men and 200 young women who were visitors. If
we use the same ratio of young men ("jovenes de arma") to total
population for these groups as for Chischa, then the 600 young men
represented a total of 1,700 persons. These were all, says Estudillo,
from the "roblar," or the Kaweah basin. When he arrived at the village,
he was met by seven chiefs (who were already on the scene), two from
Telame, one from Choynoco, and four from other rancherias of the
"roblar" near the sierra. We may assume that the seven visiting chiefs
were accompanied by approximately equal retinues, or 114 persons each.
If two of the chiefs and 228 persons came from the Telame district and
one chief with 114 persons from Choynoco (i.e., Choinok), then the
remainder, 458, were from other tribes. By the same proportionality
factor these represented a total of 980, or let us say 1,000, Indians.
The Wukchamni and their satellites must therefore have numbered 2,250
individuals in the year 1819. Estudillo himself says that the
population of Chischa and its neighbors was 2,400, but he may have
included some Telamni among this number. On the other hand, the
visitors to Chischa on the occasion of the fiesta could scarcely have
included all the inhabitants of the villages whence they came. Some,
for one reason or another, must have remained at home. Hence the
estimate of 1,000 is probably under the true value.
Now it is important that Estudillo was in the "roblar" in 1819. In view
of the severe disorganization, "mortality," and "famine" of 1814 to
1816, the population of the Wukchamni must have undergone a serious
decline before Estudillo saw the tribe. Despite the absence of any
specific figures the documents give the impression that the reduction
of population around Tulare Lake was almost complete by 1819 and that
the valley tribes along the margin of the foothills had lost fully half
their number. It will be proper therefore to ascribe a one-quarter
reduction to the Wuchamni, Gawia, and Yokod. If we accept Estudillo's
estimate of 2,400 for the year 1819, the aboriginal population for
these groups would have been 3,200.
In the meantime the Mono of the upper river had scarcely been touched,
save possibly by epidemics of which we have no record. It is
significant that at the great gathering at Chischa there appeared, near
the middle of the day, a chief with 69 men and 42 women from a
rancheria called Apalame in the interior of the Sierra Nevada. These
natives, probably Balwisha or Waksache, had never seen troops. To
arrive at the population of the entire Kaweah basin in aboriginal or
proto-aboriginal times these tribes must be included. Their strength,
as previously estimated, was of the order of 600 persons.
Computing now the total for the Kaweah river and delta as first
described by white men, we find an aggregate of 7,600 inhabitants. As
set forth previously, the survivors in 1850 numbered about 1,800 or
23.7 per cent of the aboriginal (or early historical) value. Excluding
the relatively undisturbed Mono the comparable value for the lower
river and delta is 17.2 per cent. These percentages are in close
agreement with those found for the ecologically similar area bordering
Lake Tulare.
KAWEAH RIVER ... 7,600
______________________
THE MERCED RIVER
It will be convenient at the present juncture to consider the watershed
of the Merced River, although this area lies at a considerable distance
from that just examined (see maps 1 and 4, area 6).
In the preceding section it was concluded that only 500 to 600 natives
still remained in 1850 on the lower portion of the river below the
foothills, whereas the population of the southern Miwok in the
foothills and higher ranges amounted to approximately 1,250. The latter
figure was based principally on Merriam's village lists and the
population counts obtained from informants by Gifford for the Miwok
farther north. The question must now be propounded whether these data,
which appear to be fairly accurate for the year 1850 or even 1840, can
be taken as showing the population under substantially aboriginal
conditions, let us say those obtaining prior to the intense Spanish
invasion of the valley in the decade 1800 to 1810.
1. As a matter of generalization it can be stated that the environment
as remembered by the oldest informant or even his parents can scarcely
reach into pre-Spanish times. Hence the village populations and
distributions as reported in good faith to Gifford or Merriam must have
been subjected in some measure to the disruptive effect of the white
man. The great disturbance in the valley itself, which was manifested
by the entire extinction of whole Yokuts and Plains Miwok tribes, must
have had repercussions in the near-by hills through disease, kidnaping,
and minor dislocation of food supply, even though the actual territory
of the natives was not physically invaded by the newcomers. Hence, a
priori, one might anticipate that the populations as derived from
ethnographic sources would be somewhat less than truly aboriginal.
2. In the discussion of Gifford's data on the North Fork Mono it was
shown, on the basis of persons per family and houses per village, that
the population in the memory time of the informants was about 440
whereas the precontact value must have been nearer 640. The population
residue in 1840-1850 would then have been 68.8 per cent of the
aboriginal level.
3. For the upper Tuolumne and Stanislaus Gifford's population figures
were based upon the values given by his informants for 49 villages. The
average was 20.8 persons per village, a number which was accepted as
valid for the period of 1850. The distribution of population for the
villages is as follows:
Inhabitants Number of Number of
per Village Villages Persons
___________ _________ _________
60 1 60
55 1 55
35 3 105
30 6 180
25 8 200
20 9 180
15 6 90
10 12 120
5 1 5
0 2 0
____ ____ ____
Total 49 995
Now it may be assumed that under normal conditions few if any villages
would contain less than 20 persons and that those listed by Gifford
with 15 or less were the victims of a general decline in numbers. Hence
to the latter may be ascribed a minimum of 20 persons. At the same time
the other villages must have suffered some reduction. Although there is
no positive evidence bearing on the matter, it would not be excessive
to add five persons to each of the others. Making these corrections the
total becomes 1,340 instead of 995. The residue in 1850 would then be
74.2 per cent of the aboriginal level. Incidentally, the inhabitants
per village would then be only 27.35, a value by no means excessive for
prehistoric times.
Some confirmation for these assumptions can be obtained by further
consideration of Gifford's study of the North Fork Mono. As previously
mentioned, Gifford shows the number of houses and hence the number of
families living in the hamlets of this tribe. For many hamlets two or
more sets of houses are given, implying consecutive, not simultaneous,
occupancy. The average number of houses per hamlet occupied at one time
is 2.7. However, informants were able to recollect an additional 44
houses, which had been formerly used. Including these, the average
number per occupied hamlet is 3.21. Gifford's family number is 4.89, a
value which may be increased to 6.0 to cover aboriginal conditions.
Thus the mean size of an active prehistoric Mono hamlet may be taken as
19.25, or let us say 20 persons. Since the Mono villages were
intermittently inhabited whereas those of the Miwok were permanent and
probably somewhat larger, the average value of 27.35 for the latter
seems in no way excessive.
From the above considerations the conclusion is warranted that for the
northern Mono and the Miwok the population as derived from good modern
ethnographic data is about 70 per cent of the precontact value. The
estimate for the upper Merced, derived from Merriam's village lists was
1,239. If the factor of 70 per cent is applied, the aboriginal
population becomes 1,770.
For the lower Merced Valley we are dependent entirely upon the account
of Moraga's visit in 1806. Coming from the west, he crossed the San
Joaquin River on September 27 and moved three leagues north to camp on
or near Bear Creek in T8S, R10E. The following day, September 28,
Moraga divided his expedition and sent one group north and another
northeast to explore. Both groups found a great river, with many
natives, all of whom fled on seeing the white men. At least one
rancheria was found, because Moraga "adquirio la noticia de otras 5
rancherias sitas en el rio fuera de aquella en que se hallaba del parte
de 250 almas, segun el informe de los gentiles." On the 29th the camp
was moved three leagues ENE (more probably NNE) to the river, the
Merced. There were two rancherias on the river bank, the people of
which had fled through fear of the white men. On the 30th a party went
up the Merced and found many natives "sin duda de sus 5 rancherias."
Moraga then went north and returned to the Merced on October 7. The
Spaniards saw many natives and were visited by 79 warriors from the
rancheria "del otro lado del rio," i.e., on the south bank. The 8th of
October the expedition visited the rancheria just mentioned; to judge
by the number of men (the women having fled) the rancheria had 200
souls. This place was called Latelate, and there was another village
near by, called Lachuo, with the same number of inhabitants. The next
day the expedition moved on southeast.
Moraga evidently saw two villages and heard of about five others. The
two which he saw, Latelate and Lachuo, are said, on the basis of the
warriors seen, to have contained 200 persons each. Since warriors of
one village, Latelate, numbered 79, the estimate of 200 total
inhabitants, or a ratio of 2.5 to 1, is entirely reasonable. If the
other five villages had the same number, the aggregate for the river
would have been 1,400. However, some of the others may have been
larger. In the list of rancherias appended by Munoz, the approximate
sequence of the journey is followed. Five rancherias can be ascribed
logically to the Merced: Chineguis, Yunate, Chamuasi, Latelate, and
Lachuo. Chineguis follows Nupchenche in the list, Nupchenche having 250
souls and Chineguis the same population. Likewise, Yunate and Chamuasi
have the same "segun compute regular." Latelate and Lachuo are given
200 each, thus corresponding to the text of the diary. The other two
villages are not mentioned by name in the list but it may be presumed
that they were of approximately the same size, let us say one of 250
souls and the other of 200. Thus the Munoz-Moraga count gives us 1,600
inhabitants.
It will be remembered that the figures cited by Moraga for the
population of villages in the Kaweah-Tulare region were uniformly at
variance with those of other observers and were always too low. Hence a
question may be raised with respect to his data for the Merced valley.
The villages in this area, by all subsequent accounts, were smaller
than in the heavily populated territory farther south. Furthermore,
Moraga's was the first expedition of which we have record which
explored the Merced Basin. These facts would tend to indicate that
Moraga's figures may be reasonably accurate. On the other hand, the
repeated statements that the Indians fled on the approach of the white
men and the fact that estimates had to be made from the number of
warriors seen leave the possibility open that there actually were more
people than Moraga thought. Hence it will be reasonable to ascribe an
aboriginal population of 250 to each of the seven rancherias, giving as
a total 1,750 for the lower Merced River.
The population of the entire valley then would have been 3,520, or,
rounding off to the nearest hundred, 3,500. The survivors along the
lower river amounted to approximately 550 in the year 1852. If the
population in Moraga's time was 1,750, then the reduction from 1806 to
1852 was to 31.4 per cent of the original level. In view of the
somewhat more remote position of the Merced, this figure checks quite
well with the values found on the Kaweah River and Lake Tulare.
MERCED RIVER ... 3,500
______________________
THE KINGS RIVER
The next region to be considered is the basin of the Kings River. Like
the Kaweah, this stream may be divided into three sectors. The first
comprises the delta and slough area southwest of Kingsburg and was the
home of the Yokuts tribes, Apiachi, Wimilchi, and Nutunutu (area 4A).
The second includes the valley margin and foothills, with the tribes
Wechihit, Aiticha, Choinimni, Chukamina, Michahai, and Emtimbich (area
4B). The third is in the higher foothills and embraces the territory of
the Mono groups, Wobunuch and Holkoma (area 4C).
The Kings River sloughs were first described in 1804 by Martin, who
mentions the tribe, or rancheria, of Notonto (Nutunutu) but gives no
population data. The next visitor was Moraga in 1806. In the diary of
the expedition, written by Father Munoz, no mention is made of Notonto
but in the appended "List of rancherias visited in this trip and the
one in April" are included Notonto I with 300 persons and Notonto II
with 100. Estudillo saw the region in 1819 and said that Notonto (only
one village of this name is mentioned) had 303 men "todos gente robusta
y de armas." He also saw a few old women and children. Since the men
are of the same type ("robust warriors") and were carefully counted in
the same way as at Chischa, the same ratio of warriors to total
inhabitants may be used. A population of 866 is thus indicated or, in
round numbers, 850. Estudillo also says there were four chiefs, one
each of the "Notontos," Gumilche, Guchetema, and Tateguy. The Nutunutu
are thus clearly segregated from the Wimilchi (Gumilche). The other two
names cannot be traced and may indeed have been those of individuals.
The "guimilchis," in the meantime, had been seen in 1815 by Pico, who
says that they had at least two rancherias.
From the ethnographers we get indication of six villages: of the
Apiachi, the village of Wohui (Kroeber, Gayton, Latta); of the
Nutunutu, the villages of Chiau (Kroeber, Gayton, Latta), Hibekia
(Kroeber), Honotau (Gayton), and Kadestiu (Latta); of the Wimilchi, the
village of Ugona (Kroeber, Gayton, Latta). If these villages actually
existed in the early years of the nineteenth century, they can scarcely
have held less than 250 persons apiece and the population would have
been in the vicinity of 1,500.
From the Spanish accounts we find evidence of at least four villages:
originally two (perhaps later one) of the Nutunutu and two of the
Wimilchi. One of the latter may have been in fact the principal village
of the Apiachi. The Nutunutu, whether as a single village or as a
tribe, seem to have amounted to fully 850 persons at the time of
Estudillo. Since these groups had been exposed to expeditions beginning
in 1804, it is very probable that they had undergone considerable
attrition before they were observed by Estudillo. This point of view is
supported by Estudillo's remark that he requested the warriors of
Notonto to meet him _without their weapons_ because this rancheria "es
la mas velicosa y terrible de los Tulares." Hence it is quite probable
that the aboriginal population reached 1,200. A value of 500 may be
assigned arbitrarily to the other villages or tribes, for Estudillo
mentions three chiefs apart from the Notontos and Pico says that the
Wimilchi had at least two rancherias. The probable aboriginal
population for the entire area is therefore 1,700.
By the year 1850 the tribes of the Kings River delta were represented,
according to the account of G. H. Derby, only by the rancheria of
Notonto which then had 300 inhabitants. The population had thus fallen
to 17.6 per cent of its former value. A footnote to the decline of the
native inhabitants in this region is the fact that within a year or two
after Derby's visit the village of Notonto was attacked by American
cattlemen and farmers. The rancheria was devastated and 200 of the 300
people present were massacred in cold blood.
For the second sector of the Kings River we are dependent primarily
upon the record of the Moraga expedition. Moraga and Munoz evidently
covered the river from the vicinity of Reedley to, or nearly to, the
junction of the main stream and Mill Creek. The villages mentioned by
them belonged principally to the Aiticha and the Choinimni. The
Wechihit and the Toihicha may have been included but the Chukamina,
Michahai, and Emtimbich seem to have been overlooked. Hence the figures
given by Moraga are undoubtedly incomplete.
On October 16, 1806, having arrived from the San Joaquin River two days
previously, Moraga sent out two scouting parties. One went upstream and
found a rancheria of "como de 60 almas," called Ayquiche (or Aycayche).
They were no doubt among the Aiticha, above Sanger. Here they heard
about, but did not see, six other rancherias "sitas a la orillas del
rio por la parte de la sierra." The other party went downstream and
found three villages close together on a spacious plain along the banks
of the river. They had a total of 400 inhabitants, but most of the
people had fled. The "List of rancherias visited in this trip and the
one in April" gives the names of these villages: Aycayche, which
"according to the Indians" had 200 people, Ecsaa with 100, Chiaja with
100, and Xayuase with 100. In addition there was Capitau, which was
very small and a "sugeto" of Xayuase. It had about 10 people.
Apparently in October Munoz and Moraga found only 60 Indians left in
Aycayche, whereas in April they learned that it really contained 200.
The difference must be ascribed to fugitivism.
The three downstream villages are credited by the "List" with 100
inhabitants apiece, but the diary states that there was a total of 400.
The latter figure is more likely to be correct. Thus, with Aycayche,
Moraga saw in this sector four villages and 600 persons. The other
group of villages, six in number, was farther toward the mountains and
no particular information concerning them is given in the diary. The
"List," however, is more explicit. Under Aycayche it is stated:
Aqui hay otras 6 rancherias que no se pudieron reconocer y
son todos, segun la noticia de los indios de esta rancheria
como del porte de almas de Pizcache.
Pizcache is said to contain 200 souls. An aggregate of 1,200 persons is
therefore indicated or, for the entire region seen by Moraga, 1,800.
The middle course of the Kings River has been discussed in the
preceding section and it has been pointed out that in the middle of the
nineteenth century this region was relatively heavily populated. The
accounts of several contemporary observers indicate that in 1850 or
thereabouts somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 natives were still to be
found between the remnants of the Nutunutu on the west and the
foothills Mono on the east. The ethnographic data supplied by Kroeber,
Gayton, Latta, and Stewart show approximately 25 villages remembered by
informants. If we use the fairly conservative average of 150 persons
per village, the total is 3,750. To assume 3,500 is merely to stay
within the bounds of the existing evidence.