is not mentioned by name by Kroeber or Schenck, but there is a brief
set of typed notes in the Merriam collection in which the location is
discussed (MS entitled: "On the East Side San Francisco Peninsula").
The multiplicity of synonyms, however, as well as the large number of
neophytes involved, indicates that these tribes were very familiar to
the missionaries.
The Merriam notes (pp. 5 and 6) point out the following considerations.
1. "Abella's diary (1811) speaks of present Point San Pablo as the
Point of the Huchunes and says their territory extended on the mainland
from this point to Pt. San Andres (Pt. Pinole)."
2. Several rancherias belonging to this tribe are mentioned as being on
the east side of the bay.
3. "The mission books locate the Habasto tribe 'on the other side of
the Bay from the Mission of San Francisco toward the estero which goes
to the rivers (Suisun Bay).' Abella's diary calls Point San Pedro the
Point of the Abastos."
Merriam therefore was strongly of the opinion that these tribes
inhabited the south shore of San Pablo Bay and did not extend farther
than Carquinez Strait.
On the other hand, the item in the mission books quoted by Merriam
(par. 3, above) indicates Suisun Bay rather than San Pablo Bay.
Moreover, there is another statement in the baptism books alongside the
designation "Aguastos o Huchum" to the effect that this tribe was 16 to
18 leagues by water from San Francisco. This distance would place them
close to the site of the modern town of Pittsburg, that is, on the
southern shore of Suisun Bay. But this area is assigned by Schenck to
the Tarquines and perhaps the Julpunes, tribes which are also clearly
mentioned by name in the mission records.
If the Aguastos extended from Richmond to Crockett or thereabouts, they
were Costanoan and strictly bay people; hence not pertinent to this
study. If they lived along Suisun Bay, regardless of their ethnic
affiliation they may be included for demographic purposes among the
delta tribes. Some further light can be thrown upon the problem by an
analysis of the dates shown for baptisms in the San Francisco Mission
records.
If the baptisms of gentiles are tabulated according to village and
year, it is seen immediately that the conversions in the first year,
1777, were all from local rancherias. This group was extended during
the following decade until the San Francisco peninsula had been
completely covered. However, after the year 1792 all mention of the
peninsula abruptly and entirely ceases. As early as 1778 on the other
hand baptisms are listed from a village (Halchis) specified as being in
the "sierra oriente de la otra banda." In the succeeding years villages
ascribed to the "otra banda" become more frequent and reach a peak
between 1790 and 1795. Subsequent to 1800 the conversions from these
places diminish rapidly and disappear. Now we know by following the
documentary accounts of expeditions that during the decade 1790 to 1800
the great effort of the San Francisco Mission was expended in securing
neophytes from the east shore of San Francisco Bay as far north as the
Carquinez Strait. There are no baptisms of gentiles whatever listed in
the San Francisco books for the years 1797, 1798, and 1799. Therefore
it is reasonable to assume that the supply of Costanoans from the east
bay had been exhausted. Furthermore, village names qualified by the
term "otra banda" and appearing in the baptism record _for the first
time_ prior to 1800 must certainly refer to villages in this region.
Among these are rancherias stated as belonging to the "nacion Juchium"
together with the separate designation "Tuchimes." Thus it is clear
that the Huchium lived, as Merriam believed, on the east shore of the
bay.
After the inactive period at the end of the century a flood of
neophytes began to pour into the mission together with a completely new
set of names. One of the first of these is Habastos, a rancheria which
contributed 137 converts in 1800 and 1801 and which is now stated, for
the first time in the mission book, to lie "acia el estero de los
rios." Later, the variants Quivastos and Aguastos are used. Conversions
from this tribe continued until 1810, after which the name disappears
from the lists.
The sharp segregation of dates of conversion are clear evidence that,
whatever the racial or linguistic affiliation, there were two groups of
Indians, one converted before 1801 and living along the shore of the
bay generally south and west of the Carquinez Strait, the other
converted between 1801 and 1810 and living at the east end of the
strait and along Suisun Bay. There probably was no clear separation of
the two in the minds of the Spaniards; hence the confusion of names. We
are concerned here with the second group, the one uniformly designated
Aguastos, which inhabited the approaches to the delta.
With respect to the aboriginal population of this group we have no
direct evidence whatever. On the other hand the record of the San
Francisco Mission shows 396 baptisms. This immediately sets a lower
limit to the number of Aguastos for there certainly can have been no
fewer members of the tribe than were baptized. Regarding the upper
limit it can be pointed out only that the group was completely
obliterated at the time of conversion and its name never appears again
in either contemporary or modern records. Hence it is safe to assume
that substantially all the Aguastos were taken to San Francisco and
that the baptisms include the entire tribe. We may thus ascribe to them
a population of approximately 400 persons.
We now encounter the Chupunes (or Chupcanes), concerning whom Schenck
(1926, p. 143) has this to say:
The Chupunes (Chupcanes), apparently a group, were located
along the southern shore near the east end of Carquinez
strait. West of the strait, also on the southern shore--in
the Pinole region of San Pablo bay--were the Huchones.
The earliest documentary reference is to the diary of Abella, in 1811.
On October 16 he went through Carquinez Strait by boat. Then he says
that the strait "... remata en la tierra de los Chupunes, porque hay ya
ensancha ..." The "ensancha" or widening begins at Port Costa and
continues to Martinez. This, then, is the boundary of the Chupunes. On
October 28, discussing the Suisunes on the north side of the bay, he
says that "La rancheria citada de los Suisunes cahe al nordeste de los
Chupanes, tierra adentro del Cerro de los Karquines ..." The Cerro de
los Karquines is, of course, Mt. Diablo.
In his account of the expedition of 1817 Duran tells how he arrived at
noon of May 14, by boat from San Francisco, at the "remate" of the
"estrecho de los Chucanes," at a point 14 leagues northeast of San
Francisco and 17 leagues north-northeast of San Jose. The rancheria of
this name, he states, is now Christian, at San Francisco and San Jose.
The mission books show a total of 105 baptisms at the two
establishments.
It is reasonably plain that the Aguastos and the Chupunes occupied more
or less the same territory--along the south shore of the eastern end of
Carquinez Strait and the western end of Suisun Bay. The diaries and the
baptism records both indicate that the original inhabitants were the
Aguastos, who were missionized and removed. Their place seems to have
been taken by another group of natives known as the Chupunes, who also
were gathered into the fold at some period between the visits of Abella
and Duran. Subsequent to the 1817 diary of Duran there is no further
mention of this tribe. With respect to population we have only the
record showing 105 baptisms. Since the conversion seems to have been
quite complete, we may set the aboriginal value at no more than 150.
Let us now consider the Ompines. This group is placed by Schenck on the
north bank of the Sacramento River at and above the junction of the
river and Suisun Bay. Schenck also (p. 137) discusses the possibility
that the Ompines and Julpunes composed a single group. In spite of an
assumed similarity in names the Spanish accounts are unequivocally
explicit to the effect that there were two groups, not one, hence
Schenck's hypothesis may be disregarded. With respect to location the
later Spanish accounts bear out Schenck's contention that the tribe was
situated north of the river.
In his entry for May 14, 1817, Duran says that his expedition stopped
at the mouth of the San Joaquin River, whereas another boat (that of
Argueello) stopped opposite "en tierra de Ompines." The next day they
all went up the Sacramento River to the "remate de las lomas de los
Ompines." Meanwhile Argueello, in his entry for May 15, says that they
went along the north shore and stopped "donde termina la tierra de los
Ompines." This puts the eastern edge of the Ompines at the east side of
the Montezuma Hills in T3N, R2E, approximately as shown by Schenck.
Altimira describes an unauthorized raid by Fr. Duran on the tribes
north of Suisun Bay, among them "... otra rancheria aislada llamada los
Ompines" (Altimira, MS, 1823).
A few of the earlier documents, on the other hand, contain statements
which raise the possibility that the Ompines were not always confined
exclusively to the north shore. In his diary of 1811 Abella describes
how, on October 17, his party entered a big bay (Suisun Bay) and, after
5 leagues, following along the south shore, began to find estuaries and
numerous islands covered with tules. They continued into the west
channel of the San Joaquin and stopped at an island on which large
trees were growing. At this point, somewhere near Antioch, there was a
"pescadero" of the Ompines. It is evident, therefore, that in 1811 the
Ompines had at least temporary fishing spots on the south side of the
estuary, in an area usually ascribed to the Julpunes or Tarquines.
The San Jose baptism book shows the conversion of 108 Ompines. Those
from San Rafael and Solano do not mention the tribe. The fact that a
tribe situated north of Suisun Bay does not appear in the records of
either of these missions is noteworthy, since during the 1820's and
1830's the north-bay groups were brought to them in large numbers, and
since we know from Altimira's comment on Duran's raid that the Ompines
were still in existence in 1823. Furthermore, the Ompines must have
constituted more than a single small village, for Argueello and Duran
both refer to the "tierra" of the Ompines. The hypothesis is possible,
although admittedly there is no real proof, that the Ompines may have
originally occupied the sloughs and islands at and above Antioch, that
they may have been pushed north at an early date by Spanish intrusion
from the south and west, and that they may have been further dispersed,
or exterminated without extensive conversion, prior to 1830. If such a
theory in any way represents the course of their decline and
disappearance, then it also follows that the aboriginal population was
considerably greater than the baptism number would lead one to suppose.
To turn now to the Julpunes, there seems to be little difference of
opinion regarding their original location. This was as Schenck pictures
it: the south shore of the San Joaquin estuary from Antioch to the line
between R3E and R4E. The "Informe" of Hermengildo Sal, written in 1796
and previously referred to, specifies the "Tulpunes" as a "nacion"
living on the "orilla del estero." Fourteen years later in 1810 Viader
went 7 leagues from Pittsburg to the "old river" west of Stockton. He
was: "... esta tierra es de los Tulpunes." Duran, May 24, 1817, on his
return journey downstream reached the region of the Julpunes at 8:00
A.M. and joined the other boat at 6:00 P.M. of the same day at
Carquinez Strait.
Schenck (1926, p. 137) points out that Kotzebue, who was in the area in
1823, implies that the Julpunes were living on the north bank. Merriam
(1907, p. 348), says that the Hulpoomne "occupied the east bank of the
Sacramento River from a few miles south of the mouth of American river
southward ..." Schenck's explanation of the discrepancy appears to the
present writer entirely sound: the Julpunes retired across the estuary
to the north bank and then upstream nearly to Sacramento. In so doing
they may very well have carried the surviving Ompines with them. The
San Jose record lists 148 baptisms of Julpunes but the name is absent
from the records of San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Rafael, and Solano
missions. Along with the Ompines the Julpunes must have escaped the
active proselyting effort of San Rafael, and particularly Solano,
between 1824 and 1834, by a rapid retirement so far up the river as to
elude the parties sent out from the missions. The converts at San Jose
must have been captured by the Viader, Duran, Argueello, and similar
expeditions before the migration upstream.
The Tarquines are claimed by Schenck to have been "... a single group.
It seems to have stretched from east to west entirely across the marsh
area between the main channels of the Sacramento and San Joaquin
rivers, and then to have extended along the southern shore of Suisun
Bay" (pp. 134-136). Schenck's belief in this remarkable distribution is
based upon three documentary references (at least he cites no more than
these three in his tabulation on p. 135).
The first of the three documents, chronologically, is the first
expedition of Viader, in 1810. In his entry for August 17 Viader says
that, having spent the preceding night near the present location of
Pittsburg, he reconnoitred these lands which "... son de los Tarquines,
que lo mas, 6 casi todos son Cristianos de San Francisco." After noting
the mouths of the two rivers, he goes on to mention a spot on the
estuary "... en donde dicen _estaba_ la rancheria de los Tarquines"
(emphasis mine). Let it be emphasized that in 1810 _the_ Tarquines are
_almost all_ Christians in San Francisco, and Viader saw there _the_
rancheria which _was_, or _had been_, that of the Tarquines. The San
Francisco baptism book shows 18 "Talquines" converted in 1801 and 63
more in 1802, making a total of 83. This number could well be the
majority, or almost all, the inhabitants of a moderate-sized rancheria.
Schenck is therefore technically correct in placing the tribe on the
south shore of the eastern end of Suisun Bay.
The second document is the diary of Abella in 1811. On October 25, in
the course of the return trip downstream, some distance below the
junction of the channels of the San Joaquin, he found a rancheria of
the Tauquimenes, one part of each side of the river, which was 30 to 40
varas wide. This point was apparently at or near the head of Sherman
Island. The rancheria had 60 houses. He saw 200 warriors. He then
crossed through the sloughs to the Sacramento River and on or opposite
Sherman Island saw one rancheria of 14 houses and several of 2 to 3
houses. He says that all they passed this day was "... parte de una
isla" (i.e., Sherman Island). Furthermore
... en todo este dia andubimos como unas 12 leguas
[overestimate] y podra haver gente, como 200 almas, todavia
puede que haiga mas, porque en la primera [rancheria]
habraumas 1,000, segun lo grande que por aqui son las casas,
tienen un circuito de 28 o 30 varas, con su orcon en medio
...
This account deserves comment on several grounds: with relation to
Viader's visit of the previous year and the baptisms at San Francisco
it is evident that whereas the southern extension of the Tarquines'
habitat, whatever its size, had been swept clear prior to 1810,
nevertheless the tribe persisted on the estuarine islands in truly
large numbers. Moreover, since there is evidence of no more than one
rancheria on the south shore, it appears that the territory in that
region allotted by Schenck to the tribe is too large and should be
restricted to a small area of the southeastern corner of Suisun Bay.
With respect to population, Abella's figures are quite credible. It has
been suggested that one of the huge houses found in this region could
accommodate 9 persons without difficulty. Then the large village should
have had 540 inhabitants. Allowing 24 houses for the other villages
seen, 216 persons should be added, making a total of 756, a figure not
far from Abella's guess of 1,000.
The final reference to the tribe occurs in the diary of Duran. During
the night of May 22-23, 1817, he went up the main channel of the San
Joaquin, in T3N, R4E, and passed the Tauguimenes on the _left_, that is
to say, on the _east_ bank. Schenck thinks that the group covered the
entire strip from Pittsburg to the east bank of the main river
_contemporaneously_. Now it has been pointed out as probable that the
southwestern outliers were missionized, or pushed back into the swamps,
as early as 1801. It is equally possible that the island communities
described by Abella in 1811 were pushed, in the next five or six years,
off the islands altogether and clear back eastward to the far bank of
the main river. Of considerable significance is the fact that whereas
both Viader and Abella mention the Tarquines as being in the estuary
region, Duran, who covered this area thoroughly, is completely silent
with regard to their presence. It is highly unlikely that, had there
been any of the tribe left in their former habitat, he would have
failed to note them.
The details are very obscure but the main outlines of events in the
first three decades of the nineteenth century can be perceived.
Aboriginally and perhaps till nearly 1800, there was a dense population
of natives extending from Port Costa along the southern shore of Suisun
Bay and up the rivers for fifteen miles beyond Antioch. Among them
were included tribal groups, or rancherias, called Aguastos, Chupunes,
Ompines, Julpunes, and Tarquines, belonging very likely to different
ethnic and linguistic stocks. Under the pressure of the Spanish
military power, which was the real force behind missionization,
portions of these groups were exterminated, other segments gave ground
and shifted habitat, and occasional remnants persisted in the old
localities. Thus each visitor in turn found a different geographical
organization, until the entire native society was obliterated.
An accurate assessment of aboriginal population in this area is
impossible. The best we can do is try to make an intelligent guess.
Several methods are available for this purpose--group comparisons,
mission figures, area comparisons.
Throughout the plains of the lower San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys
the native social units appear to have resembled rather uniformly the
political organization of the Yokuts in the central and southern San
Joaquin Valley. There were aggregates, or communities, consisting of
perhaps one, but usually more than one, village, and occupying a more
or less clearly defined territory. These groups, as they may be called,
can be identified by the plural names which are ordinarily attached to
them--the Bolbones, the Leuchas, and so forth. Naturally these groups
varied considerably in size, and concerning no single one of them can
we be absolutely sure of the number of their people. Nevertheless, if
we had data concerning enough of them, the variations due both to
inherent difference and to inaccurate estimate would tend to cancel out
and an approximate average could be secured. No pretence can be made
that we have enough estimates to establish a mean which would be
statistically satisfactory. Nevertheless, as so frequently happens when
we are dealing with data of this character, we have to employ the
information available to us or forsake the problem entirely.
We have hitherto considered a number of the local groups mentioned
above and have estimated their population as follows: Bolbones
(restricted group, see p. 58), 1,500; Jusmites, 300; Tugites, 500;
Nototemnes, 200; Leuchas, 900; Ochejamnes, 750; Guaypem, 300;
Quenemsias, 400; Chucumes and Chuppumne, 1,500. The average for the
nine groups is 705 or, in round numbers, 700. If we consider that the
Aguastos, Chupunes, Ompines, Julpunes, and Tarquines were groups of the
same character as the foregoing, then their total population may be
taken as 3,500.
The total baptisms shown in the mission books of the five northern
missions (in fact, only San Francisco and San Jose) for these groups is
911. In previous instances we have estimated the aboriginal population
by doubling the baptism number. This procedure is admittedly purely
arbitrary and based upon the general consideration that, except for
small local populations relatively close to the mission, it was
impossible for the missionaries and soldiers to prevent the escape of a
sizable fraction of the people. Of the five groups here discussed, the
Aguastos, it is evident, were completely missionized or at least
obliterated. A much greater proportion of the other tribes survived, as
is attested by their probable migrations up the rivers. Hence for the
entire population it is doubtful if even one-half received baptism.
Using the value of one half, the aboriginal number would have been
approximately 2,000.
Linear distances along streams are useful as a basis for comparison in
country where the rivers are similar ecologically but are clearly
separated spatially and where the human population is concentrated
along the stream banks to the exclusion of the interfluvial hinterland.
Where a territory is marked by a network of creeks and sloughs, and the
intermediate land is marsh, the linear comparisons become impossible.
Areas must be substituted.
In relation to the present problem three such areas may be delineated.
The first comprises the territory of the Bolbones (including all the
subordinate villages) and the Leuchas. Following Schenck's map, it
embraces all the land between the channels of the San Joaquin plus a
strip approximately two miles wide east of the main river in T1 and 2S,
R6E which accounts for the Leuchas. The area, as projected from a
large-scale map onto coordinate paper, is 775 square miles, the
population 3,400, and the density 4.39 persons per square mile. The
second comprises the home of the Ochejamnes, Guaypem, Quenemsias, and
Chucumnes-Chuppumne. For the habitat of these groups we have followed
Schenck as far as possible. Our line runs actually from the junction of
the east and west channels of the Sacramento at the foot of Grand
Island southeast to the main channel of the San Joaquin, thence
northeast and north to just east of Walnut Grove and then, at a
distance of about 2 miles east of the eastern channel of the
Sacramento, to a point 4 miles north of Courtland. Here the line
crosses the river and continues downstream, 2 miles west of the river,
to the starting point. This strip of the western bank of the western
branch of the Sacramento is included in order to take in the Chucumes,
who may have lived on the west side of the river. The area of this
territory is 330 square miles, the population 2,950, and the density
8.94 persons per square mile.
The third area is the one shown by Schenck as belonging to the
Chupunes, Tarquines, Julpunes, and Ompines, with the exception of the
region east of the San Joaquin attributed to the Tarquines. For reasons
stated previously the author does not believe that the Tarquines
occupied this spot aboriginally. A strip 2 miles wide is included on
the north shore, however, between Rio Vista and Collinsville, in the
probable land of the Ompines. The eastern boundary is formed by the
borders of areas one and two. In area three there are 600 square miles.
The mean of the densities of the other two areas is 6.67 persons per
square mile. Hence the population would have been 4,002 persons. No
significance should be attributed to the third and probably also the
second digit in these numbers. They are used only for purposes of
estimate.
The three methods employed have yielded respectively 3,000, 2,000, and
4,000 as the most likely population of the five groups here being
discussed. In default of any other evidence we may take the average
3,000.
(Chupunes, Tarquines, Ompines, Julpunes ... 3,000)
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