The Aboriginal Population of the San Joaquin Valley, California Part 4

rancheria of Moraga. As pointed out previously, the total inhabitants to be deduced from 300 heads of families, under the conditions existing in 1816 was 1,200. This is twice the estimate of Moraga.

An important point arises here with respect to Moraga's estimates. At Bubal, it will be remembered, Martin found evidence of 1,300 people in 1804 whereas Moraga reported only 400 in 1806. At Lihuauhilame Martinez found according to the statement of the village chief 1,200, although Moraga had reported ten years previously only 600. Furthermore Cabot, at Bubal eight years after Moraga, found 700 persons. For these two important villages therefore Moraga differs flatly with three other competent authorities by a factor of two or three. Similar instances may be found elsewhere in which Moraga's population figures are far too low. It seems difficult to escape the conclusion, consequently, that Moraga (or Munoz) consistently underestimated the native population. The reason is not immediately apparent, although several possible suggestions may be offered. Moraga personally had little interest in such matters. Although he himself did not write the account of the expedition to the Tulares in 1806, he did write that of his expedition to the Sacramento Valley in 1808. The latter diary shows very clearly, through the extreme paucity of its population data, that Moraga either made no direct counts or estimates, or considered them too unimportant to mention in his ma.n.u.script. For the 1806 trip the estimates were all supplied, obviously, by Munoz. There is no reason to impugn either the judgment or veracity of this missionary. However, if one examines his account, it becomes evident that Munoz based his figures either (1) on statements of gentiles or (2) on the number of natives seen by him. The former source might or might not be accurate.

The latter was almost certain to yield too low values because the Moraga expedition was notoriously hostile to the natives and at nearly every village approached the inhabitants fled if they could possibly do so. Munoz therefore consistently saw only the residue, a fraction of the actual number.

For the above reasons the writer believes that a correction factor should be applied to the Moraga-Munoz data, and unless there is specific reason to believe otherwise, the figures should be regarded as indicating only about 50 per cent of the true population. Such a correction should not be applied to the figures of other explorers, like Cabot or Estudillo, who were far more careful in their methods of estimate.

If, now, we apply a correction factor of 2, Moraga's estimate for Telame I becomes 1,200, or the same as that found by Martinez for the same village (Lihuauhilame). On the same basis Telame II (Telame of Martinez) would have had 400 persons. Gelecto (unnamed by Moraga) was "big" but probably not as big as Telame I. Hence we may a.s.sume an intermediate value, say 800. The total for the Telame complex, or the triad of villages, would have been 2,400.

In addition to the triad we have Uholasi and the "otras varias 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 a.s.sume 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 doc.u.ments. 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 ent.i.ty 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 a.s.sumption 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 ma.s.sed 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 ma.s.s, 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 a.s.sume 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 doc.u.ments 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 princ.i.p.ally 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 antic.i.p.ate 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 a.s.sumed 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 a.s.sumptions 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 princ.i.p.al 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 a.s.signed 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 ma.s.sacred 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 princ.i.p.ally 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.