the great rivers and the southern shore of Suisun Bay, we arrive at a
total population of 9,350.
Delta area ... 9,350
____________________
It is now preferable to depart from a strictly tribal sequence and
revert once more to a classification based upon river basins. Three
areas of this type are sufficiently clearly marked out; those
corresponding to (1) the Cosumnes River, (2) the Mokelumne River, and
(3) the lower San Joaquin River from just below the Merced to the head
of tide water near Manteca. The inhabitants may be designated village
or tribal groups in accordance with the river system where they were
located.
_The Cosumnes group._--On the river of this name lived the large and
important aggregate of peoples known popularly as the Cosumnes, which
included a restricted tribelet or subgroup also called Cosumnes.
Ethnically a portion of the Plains Miwok, they extended from
Sloughhouse close to the foothills, along the lower course of the
Cosumnes River to its confluence with the Mokelumne near Thornton, and
from that point northwestward to the Sacramento. The tribe as a whole
was divided into either villages or tribelets, the names of many of
which have come down to us from the Spanish records or have been
ascertained by informants from ethnographers. As might be expected,
there is considerable confusion among the different sets of names.
The mission documents are replete with village and tribal names but the
number of baptisms was not as large as might be anticipated from what
must have been a very populous aggregate of natives. The reason
probably lies in the fact that missionizing expeditions to the Cosumnes
were preceded by exploratory and punitive expeditions which, to be
sure, brought home a few converts but which were chiefly preoccupied
with military objectives. The Cosumnes, together with the Mokelumnes
and other peoples of the lower San Joaquin Valley, had the time and the
opportunity to develop great facility in the raiding and stealing of
livestock and consequently for many years were in a state of
uninterrupted war with the coastal settlers. The bitter hostility thus
generated, together with the aggressive psychology which accompanied
successful physical opposition to the Spaniards, made extensive
conversion to Christianity very difficult. As a result the relative
proportion of the natives baptized was unquestionably much lower than
among the bay and delta tribes previously considered. The baptisms
which appear in the mission records follow.
Tribe or Group Date of Conversion Baptisms
______________ __________________ ________
Cosumnes
(Tribelet) 1826-1836 84
Junisumne
(Anizumne,
Unsumne) 1813-1834 363
Lelamne
(Llamne) 1813-1836 128
Gualacomne 1825-1836 158
Amuchamne
(Mackemne) 1834-1835 13
Sololumne 1828-1834 6
Locolumne 1826-1834 52
_____
Total 804
If we apply the general principle used with the delta groups and double
the baptism number, the population becomes 1,608, a figure which is
much too low. The Lelamne, with 128 baptisms, comprises the group
attacked by Soto in 1813, at which time we have estimated that there
were four villages of 475 persons each involved in the battle. This
calculation implies a total of 1,900 for the Lelamne alone. On the
other hand, the account is not entirely clear as to whether or not
there were members of the Cosumnes tribelet concerned. If so, we may be
dealing with both the Lelamne and adjacent neighbors who were
designated locally Cosumnes. If we include the baptisms of all those
under both names, we have 212. Furthermore, the Junisumne (or Unsumne
or Anizumne) were often confused with the Cosumnes. If the 363 baptisms
listed under the Junisumne are added we get 575 and, multiplying by 2,
the population of the three divisions collectively would have been
1,150. This estimate also appears too small and leads to the conclusion
suggested above on historical grounds that a baptism factor valid for
the delta would not be applicable to the Cosumnes group as a whole.
Another documentary source is of interest in this connection. This is
the account by Jose Berreyesa in 1830 (MS) of an affray along the lower
Sacramento River in which Americans participated under Ewing Young.
Christian fugitives from the missions had been protected by the
Yunisumenes (Junisumne), who had joined with the Ochejamnes. They were
opposed by the Mexicans and their allies, the Sigousamenes (Siakumne),
the Cosomes, and the Ilamenes. These last tribes had gathered an army
of 450 "Gentiles auciliares." The Yunisumenes, Cosomes, and Ilamenes
are, of course, precisely the three subtribes discussed in the
preceding paragraph. Now if the Sigousamenes, Cosomes, and Ilamenes
contributed 450 men collectively, they each may be considered to have
furnished 150 men. Since the opponents were fairly well matched, it is
likely that the Yunisumenes supplied a similar number. We can assume
that for routine fighting of this sort, particularly where two of the
tribelets were ranged with the Mexicans instead of against them, the
armies included no more than the strictly military population, or not
in excess of half the males over the age of ten years. Hence, if the
sex ratio was unity and the young children constituted approximately 15
per cent of the population, the aggregate number of the three subtribes
would have amounted to 1,920, or almost the same as was estimated from
the Soto report in 1813 for the Lelamne (Ilamenes) above, or perhaps
the Lelamne augmented by some of the Cosumnes tribelets or subtribes.
The Berreyesa episode occurred in 1830, after all these groups had
suffered twenty years of attrition owing to perpetual minor warfare,
disease, and starvation. Hence the population of the three tribelets
jointly, Junisumne, Cosumnes, and Lelamne, must have reached fully
3,000 in 1813. The baptism factor, consequently, would not have been 50
per cent, but 575 divided by 3,000, or 19.2 per cent.
Three other villages or tribelets which can be identified in the
mission records as being closely associated with the Cosumnes are the
Amuchamne, Sololumne, and Locolumne. The first two probably correspond
to Merriam's Oo-moo-chah and So-lo-lo, which in later times at least
were rancherias. Assuming all three to have been villages, we may
consider that each contained an average number of 300 inhabitants. The
respective baptism numbers were 13.6, and 52. In relative terms the
baptisms amounted to 4.3, 2.0, and 17.3 per cent.
The last division listed above is the Gualacomne, synonymous with
Merriam's Wah-lah-kum-ne. Merriam (Mewko List, MS) places them between
the lower Stanislaus and the Tuolumne rivers, but quotes Hale, who saw
them in the 1840's, as saying that they lived on the lower east side of
the Sacramento River. Hale's statement is strongly supported by the
fact that they appear in J. A. Gatten's census of 1846 (MS, 1872).
Gatten ennumerated only the tribes along the lower Sacramento. Whether
the Gualacomne can be affiliated with the Cosumnes ethnically is
doubtful but it is reasonable to include them with this group
demographically.
Of the Gualacomne 158 were baptized in the missions. That the group was
fairly large is attested by the fact that Gatten reported, under the
name Yalesumne, that 485 were alive in 1846, Since no open valley group
could possibly have retained more than one-third of its former members
in 1846, it does not seem excessive to ascribe 1,455 persons to the
tribelet. The baptism factor is 10.8 per cent, and the average of the
five values secured with the Cosumnes group is 10.7, or, let us say
10.0 per cent. The total population on the lower Cosumnes and adjacent
Sacramento rivers, according to the discussion above would be 5,355
souls.
We may approach the problem from a different direction if we start with
the villages compiled by Merriam (1907, p. 349). He mentions sixteen
villages on the Cosumnes River system from Sloughhouse nearly but not
quite to the Sacramento. It is extremely probable that there were other
villages on the Sacramento River itself. Nevertheless, let us take
Merriam's list as it stands. The upper seven villages lie between
Sloughhouse and the junction of the Cosumnes River with Deer Creek, the
remainder below that point. Of the lower nine we may consider that four
correspond to those seen by Soto, which were quite large. It was
estimated that they contained 475 persons apiece. The other five lower
villages, although perhaps not so populous, must have held fully 300
inhabitants each. The upper seven were no doubt smaller but still
should have reached the values given by Moraga for similar stretches of
the Tuolumne and Merced, i.e., approximately 250 persons. The total
would then come to 5,150, very close to the previous estimate. It will
be both adequate and conservative to establish the population at 5,200.
Cosumnes group ... 5,200
________________________
_The Moquelumne group._--Here are included the Indians living on the
lower course of the Mokelumne River, the Calaveras River, and the plain
between the two. Five tribes mentioned by the Spanish writers fall
within this category: the Moquelumnes, the Siakumne, the Passasimas,
the Yatchikumne and the Seguamne. The exact territorial status of these
tribes has been a subject of considerable disagreement among
ethnographers.
The original Moquelumnes of the Spaniards were undoubtedly located on
the Mokelumne River itself from Campo Seco nearly to the junction with
the Cosumnes at which point they adjoined the Cosumnes tribe. According
to George H. Tinkham, in his History of San Joaquin County (1923), they
extended in a north-south direction all the way from Dry Creek to the
Calaveras River, but by the middle of the nineteenth century they may
have spread out from their original habitat. The Yatchikumne are shown
by Schenck as filling the space between the lower Mokelumne and the
lower Calaveras and extending westward to the San Joaquin River.
Merriam (Mewko List, MS) quotes F. T. Gilbert to the effect that they
occupied the Mokelumne River basin, but if they did so, it was because
of the displacements during the mining era. The Passasimas are placed
by Schenck on the left bank of the Calaveras River at, and for several
miles upstream from, its junction with the San Joaquin River.
The Siakumne and the Seguamne are subject to some confusion. This
difficulty arises partially from the similarity in name. The Siakumne
are called Si-a-kum-ne by Merriam and Sakayakumne by Kroeber. In
Gatten's census of 1846 they appear as Sagayakumne. In the San Jose
baptism book we find Ssicomne, Zicomne, Siusumne, and Sigisumne. The
Seguamne, on the other hand are designated Seguamnes and Saywamines by
Merriam and Sywameney or Seywameney by Sutter in his New Helvetia Diary
(1939). Gatten calls them Sywamney. They appear in the San Jose record
as Secuamne, Seguamne, Seyuame, and other variants.
The Siakumne lived somewhere between the Calaveras and Stanislaus
rivers according to Merriam, who places one of their villages at
Knights Ferry on the Stanislaus. Schenck doubts Merriam's location and
Kroeber puts the rancheria Sakayakumne as far north as the Mokelumne.
Sutter (1939, p. 88) says that some of these people came to work for
him, an unlikely event if they had been living as far away as the
Stanislaus. It is probable that the lower Calaveras River is as close
as we can place them. The Seguamne are not mentioned at all by Schenck.
Merriam (Mewko List, MS) says they were a "tribe or subtribe on E. side
lower Sacramento River" and may have been a subtribe of the Bolbones.
Sutter and Gatten both refer to the tribe, and the sphere of activity
of these men did not extend much below the Sacramento River itself.
Hence, although there are grounds for including the Seguamne with the
Bolbones or the Cosumnes, no serious error will be committed by placing
them in the Mokelumne group.
The Moquelumnes were unquestionably quite numerous. In Spanish and
Mexican times they were the most aggressive and belligerent of all the
valley tribes and gave the coastal settlers a very rough struggle.
Nevertheless, in spite of their detestation of the missionaries they
furnished 143 converts between 1817 and 1835. At a ratio of 10 per cent
this would mean a population, prior to the mission period, of about
1,400 souls. J. M. Amador (MS, 1877, p. 43) says that once, during the
later colonial period, they furnished 200 auxiliaries, a fact which
would argue fully 1,000 people at the time. Gatten in his census of
1846 gives them a total of 81 persons but G. H. Tinkham says that in
1850 or thereabouts they possessed four sizable villages with four
chieftains. This may have meant between 200 and 400 persons, a really
considerable number of survivors for a tribe which had suffered so
extensively in the preceding three decades. These indications, and it
must be admitted that they are only indications, would lead one to
infer that the aboriginal population reached at least 1,500.
Precisely because the Moquelumnes were so brutally handled in the
colonial era the modern ethnographic accounts of villages are very
incomplete. Neither Merriam nor Schenck gives us any list. Kroeber puts
three on his map (1925, opp. p. 446): Mokel (-umni), Lelamni, and
Sakayak-umni. I think we are now in a position to state that these
names represent former tribes and if they were applied to villages by
informants, it is because the component units had shrunk to very small
size.
Stream density comparisons are of value for the Mokelumne group. On the
Cosumnes River, from Sloughhouse to Thornton, Merriam shows thirteen
rancherias (omitting those close to the Sacramento River). As was
proposed above we may ascribe from 200 to 400 inhabitants to each of
these, say on the average 300. Now there is no reason to suppose that
the Mokelumne River from the San Joaquin-Calaveras county line to just
west of Lodi was less heavily populated than the Cosumnes. If so, the
number of villages per linear river mile must have been very nearly the
same. For the stretches under consideration there were 24 miles on the
Cosumnes and 22 on the Mokelumne. Thus we would get 12 villages and
3,600 persons living on the Mokelumne River.
The Yatchikumne and, if we are to credit Schenck, the Passasimas
occupied a position on the Calaveras River comparable to that occupied
by the Moquelumnes on the Mokelumne. Schenck regards the Yatchikumne
as a tribe equal in importance to the Moquelumnes, and the county
historians speak of them as a large group. Their river frontage is
equivalent to that of the Moquelumnes. For these reasons we would be
justified in ascribing to the Yatchikumne and Passasimas the same
population as the Moquelumnes, i.e., 3,600. The evaluation of the other
two groups from the geographical standpoint is difficult, owing to the
uncertainty of their location. The Siakumne may be regarded as living
somewhere on the lower Calaveras and, if so, must be included with the
Yatchikumne and Passasimas in the estimate for the Calaveras. The
Seguamne may or may not have inhabited the banks of the Mokelumne and
Calaveras rivers. In view of our ignorance on this point it may be well
to omit them from consideration in this connection and leave the
estimate with the existing total of 7,200.
We may attempt some direct tribal comparisons. In considering the
northern San Joaquin Valley and delta 21 tribes and tribelets have been
examined, namely: Aguastos, Bolbones (4 tribes), Leuchas, Ochejamnes,
Guaypen, Quenemsias, Chuppumne, Chupunes, Tarquines, Julpunes, Ompines,
and the Cosumnes group (7 tribes). For all these the average population
calculated has been very close to 700. If this figure is applied
directly to the Moquelumne group, its population becomes 3,500.
However, some adjustment is necessary. The Moquelumnes by all accounts,
Spanish and American, were an unusually large tribe, probably reaching
at least 1,500. The Yatchikumne may not have been as numerous but were
apparently above the average size, let us say 1,200. The Passasimas,
despite the fact that Schenck thinks they were a "group plus" may be
regarded as smaller, perhaps no more than average. For the Siakumne and
Seguamne we must also assume the average figure, 700. With these
adjustments the total reaches 4,800.
The baptism books give us a record of the following conversions.
Tribe San Jose Santa Clara
_____ ________ ___________
Moquelumnes 143 ...
Yatchikumnes 118 ...
Passasimas 145 ...
Siakumne 22 ...
Seguamne 47 116
The Passasimas, Siakumne, and Seguamne were situated in the vicinity of
the San Joaquin River and hence were more exposed to the Spanish
expeditions than the tribes along the lateral streams. Hence the
proportion of those taken for conversion may have been higher than the
10 per cent of the aboriginal population found for the Cosumnes,
although it would not have attained the value of 50 per cent
characteristic of the more westerly delta tribes. We may take an
intermediate figure, 20 per cent. This would give the Passasimas a
population of 725, the Siakumne 110, and the Seguamne 815. The great
disparity between the figures for the last two tribes may well be due
to confusion of names in the mission records. The total for the three
is 1,650. For the Yatchikumne on the Calaveras River no more than 10
per cent baptisms can be assumed, yielding a population figure of
1,180. If only geographical location were considered, the same factor
could be used for the Moquelumnes but this tribe resisted
missionization with extraordinary tenacity. Hence we are not justified
in using a factor of more than 7 per cent, from which we may infer that
the population was 2,040. The baptism data would then give us a total
for the group of 4,870.
According to the estimates furnished by pioneers and government
officials for the period just preceding the Gold Rush the population
ran into the thousands. The census by Savage (Dixon, MS, 1875) puts
4,000 on the Cosumnes, Mokelumne, and Calaveras and 2,500 on the
Stanislaus, F. T. Gilbert (1879, p. 13) says that "before the advent of
Sutter" there were 2,000 on the Mokelumne and, as far as I can
ascertain, he implies that on the Cosumnes and Mokelumne together there
were fully 5,000. These figures were undoubtedly greatly exaggerated
but nevertheless indicate a very large population in the area just
before the discovery of gold and subsequent to the destructive
epidemics of 1833-1835. Even if we cut these estimates in half, there
would remain in midcentury approximately 2,000 persons in the basins of
the Moquelumne, Calaveras, and adjacent San Joaquin rivers. A residue
of 2,000 in 1850 means certainly an original population of three times
as much, i.e., 6,000.
To recapitulate the estimates for the Moquelumne group, we find:
By stream densities 7,200
By adjusted tribal averages 4,800
By baptism data 4,870
By extrapolation from American estimates 6,000
_______
Mean 5,720
The mean, 5,720, appears entirely reasonable for the aboriginal
population of such a vigorous and important group.
Moquelumne group ... 5,720
__________________________
_The lower San Joaquin River group._--Here are included for convenience
the tribes and fragments of tribes inhabiting the banks of the San
Joaquin River from the habitat of the Leuchas, in the vicinity of
Manteca, to just below the mouth of the Merced, together with those
living along the lower courses of the Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers
(see maps 1, 5, and 6, area 8). The San Joaquin villages or tribes
appear to have been Cuyens, Mayemes, Tationes, and Apaglamnes. The
first two are regarded by Schenck as villages only and the latter two
as "villages plus." The only Spaniard who described the area was
Viader, in the accounts of his two expeditions of 1810.
On his first expedition, having left the village of Tomchom, he went
south-southeast up the river for 2-1/2 leagues to another village "...
cuya capitan se llama Cuyens." This was very close to section 10, in
T3S, R6E. After a journey of another 2-1/2 to 3 leagues he found
another village, whose captain was Maijem (sec. 8, in T4S, R7E). Then,
after 2 leagues, still another village, whose captain was Bozenats (in
sec. 34, in T4S, R7E), was seen. Three leagues farther in the same
direction brought him to the rancheria "... cuyo appelido es Tationes."
In the meantime he had seen 30 gentiles from the Apaglamnes. The
Tationes were located close to section 27, in T5S, R8E.
During his second expedition, on October 22, Viader went from Pescadero
southeast up the river for 5 leagues to "los indios Tugites." Three
leagues farther on he was met by Indians from Cuyens, who went with him
to the "Rancheria de Mayem," another 4-1/2 leagues farther on. Then,
having forded the river to the east shore, they went still another 2
leagues to a rancheria "que se llama ... Taualames." The Rio Dolores
(Tuolumne) was supposed to be 2 to 3 leagues north. However, Viader
went upstream on the east bank 6 leagues to the Rio Merced, having in
the meantime passed "en frente de ... los indios Apelamenes y
Tatives."
The distances on both trips are very consistent and the village
locations check closely with those shown on Schenck's map, except that
only the Taualames should be placed on the east bank of the river.
Viader is very explicit in saying that all the others were on the west
bank.
Cuyens, Mayem, and Bozenats are beyond doubt villages, since each was
named after its chief, or captain. The Tationes and Apaglamnes are
given in the plural: "los indios Apelamenes y Tatives." They may well
have possessed more than one rancheria each, as is supposed by Schenck.
Schenck thinks that Cuyens and Mayem were transient parties from
Kroeber's Miwok villages, Chuyumkatat and Mayemam, which were on the
Cosumnes. Aside from the possible similarity in names there is not the
slightest evidence in Viader's diaries to support such a theory. Viader
definitely specifies rancherias, and the missionaries of that period
were able to distinguish rancherias from fishing parties.
From the record we have in this area five villages certain and at least
one other probable. For six villages of average size (there is no
indication that they were smaller) the population would be assumed as
300 persons each, or 1,800 in all.
The mission records show for baptisms:
Tribe or Dates of Number of
Village Conversion Baptisms
________ __________ _________
Cuyens 1811-1813 88
Mayemes 1813-1823 91
Apaglamnes 1818-1824 48
Tationes 1805-1811 243
The total is 470. These were San Joaquin River natives, not from the
delta and marsh region. On the other hand they were less remote from
Spanish influence and attack than the tribes which extended up the
lateral streams. Hence the proportion of baptisms was probably
intermediate between the value of 50 per cent assumed for the very
exposed bay and delta people and that of 10 per cent ascribed to the
Cosumnes. An estimate of 25 per cent would be reasonable, yielding a
population value of 1,800. The two methods of calculation coincide, and
the result, 1,800 inhabitants, may be allowed for the area.
For the lower Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers the only tribes mentioned
in the Spanish documents are the Tauhalames (or Taulamnes) on the
Tuolumne and the Lakisamne (or Lakisumne or Laquisemne) on the
Stanislaus. Kroeber (1925, p. 485) writes: "the Tawalimni, presumably
on Tuolumne River ... the Lakisamni ... on the Stanislaus ..." Schenck
says (p. 141):
The villages of Taulamne and Taualames are both definitely
placed, the former on an inaccessible rock on the Stanislaus
river in the foothills, the latter at the ford of the San
Joaquin just below the mouth of the Tuolumne river.... This
seems to establish the region between the lower Tuolumne and
Stanislaus rivers as Taulamne territory. Merriam agrees in
assigning the same region to the Tuolumne.