Read Ebook: The Aboriginal Population of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties California by Cook Sherburne Friend

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A little afterward a rather old Indian woman came out, and in front of us, for we were on horseback, nobody having dismounted. She began to dance along, making motions very indicative of pleasure, and at times stopping to talk to us, making signs with her hands as if bidding us welcome. After a short while I said to the commander that that was enough. So he gave presents of glass beads to all the women, they regaled us with their cacomites, and we said goodby to everybody in order to continue on our way. They were apparently sad because we were leaving, and I was moved to tenderness at seeing the joy with which we were welcomed by those poor Indians. Their color and other qualities of nakedness, slight beard, etc., are the same as those seen hitherto, and the same as those we saw farther on. Some wear the hair long, others short, and some have beards rather long and heavy.

Font and Anza had an excellent opportunity to observe aboriginal methods of navigation and fishing. At the western end of Carquinez Strait, says Anza , five tule rafts crossed the strait in less than a quarter of an hour, the tide being slack. Font says, regarding these craft :

We saw there some launches very well made of tule, with their prows or points somewhat elevated. They had been anchored near the shore with some stones for anchors, and in the middle of the water some Indians were fishing in one.... I saw that they were fishing with nets and that they anchored the launch with some very long slim poles.

These poles were measured and found to be about 13 varas long . Font goes on to describe the actual taking of fish:

Among other fish which they caught the Indians who were fishing pulled out two very large ones, about two varas long, and their method of catching them was this: as soon as they felt from the pull made by the fish that it was in the net, which was tied to the two poles, they began gradually to raise one of the poles, and as soon as the fish and the net came in sight, without taking it from the water they gave the fish many blows on the head. Once I counted fifteen blows in succession and in another case twenty-odd. Now that it was dead and had lost its strength they took it from the net and put it inside the launch.

A soldier traded a piece of cloth for a fish. But the Indians

... before delivering it took the spawn from the stomach and an intestine like a pocket, and right there on the spot they ate the spawn raw and put what was left over in the intestine. They then went to eat the other fish, which they dispatched quickly. Making a little fire they put it in, and in a short time, almost before it was hot, like brutes they ate it as it was, almost raw.

Some war equipment was seen. Near the camp on Walnut Creek at Pacheco, the party was visited by local Indians with whom there was a little trouble.

Some of them came to see us, carrying bows and arrows, for all had very good ones and well made, the bow of good wood, small and wound with tendons like those we saw on the Channel, and the arrows of little reeds, very smooth, well made, and with flints, transparent and very sharp. One came with a scalp hanging from a pole. This did not please me, for it suggested war.

Near the camp there were two villages: one, says Anza , "which we left behind" and another, "which we have immediately ahead." Between the large rancheria of Tormey and the two just mentioned there appear to have been no Indian settlements whatever.

The day of Wednesday, April 3, was spent in crossing the low hills east of Concord and in traveling along the southern shore of Suisun Bay as far as Antioch Bridge. Neither Anza nor Font has particular comment concerning the one and one-half leagues, which brought them to the summit of Willow Pass, overlooking the area of Pittsburg. Beyond this point the explorers entered the northwest corner of the San Joaquin Valley, or the western tip of the delta. They probably had just left Costanoan territory, although, to be sure, the exact tribal boundaries are unknown. At any rate it is preferable to limit the present discussion to the region west and south of the low hills which extend from Port Chicago southeast to the vicinity of Byron. The rancherias which were seen near Antioch would therefore be more profitably considered in a survey of the valley tribes than in one of the East Bay and adjacent coast ranges.

Thursday, April 4, was spent in the famous attempt to cross the great tule swamps. In the course of this effort the party bore southeastward along the margin of the tules as far as the latitude of Bethany . Thence they turned inland over Patterson Pass and, if Bolton's reconstruction is correct, followed up the ridge to the east of Arroyo Mocho. No trees or water were encountered until a point was reached not far southeast of Livermore. In the meantime, no Indians were seen and no traces of villages observed along the line of march.

The journey of Friday, April 5, took the party into the rough country due east of Mt. Hamilton as far as the southeastern edge of San Antonio Valley at the head of the east fork of Coyote Creek. The terrain was extremely hilly and was covered with oak and coniferous trees, probably principally digger pine, although Font says he saw "spruce." Great stretches of chamise , which Anza calls "Mattal," were observed. The descriptions make it clear that the type of vegetation and the general appearance of the country were essentially as they are today.

Only a few streams are mentioned: Arroyo Mocho is described merely as an "arroyo in a canyon." There were several small watercourses near the upper end of San Antonio Valley, and water in pools was found at the lower end near the night's camp. These streams may have been Sulphur Spring Creek and San Antonio Creek.

The area was destitute of natives. The only mention of Indians is by Font .

In the course of the valley we saw some ruinous and abandoned little huts, but the only Indian seen was at a distance and running, for as soon as he saw us he fled for the brush of the Sierra like a deer.

Also, referring to the fruit of "a plant like a fig tree" which appears to be the buckeye, he says that "the heathen eat it, judging from the piles of its shells which we saw in the abandoned huts." A reasonable inference from Font's account is that in this area there were no permanent Indian settlements but in places there were temporary camp sites, used in the time of maturity of the local tree-crops .

On April 6 and the first part of April 7 the party descended Coyote Creek, through Gilroy Hot Springs to the valley of the Pajaro River. The country throughout this stretch is described as hilly and rough, but little further description is given.

In all this journey we did not see a single Indian, although we found some tracks of them, and in places a few signs and traces of ruined huts and small villages; for it is known that at times they go to the sierra and camp, especially during the seasons of the pi?on and the acorn.

From the Font-Anza diaries, together with that of Crespi, certain tentative conclusions may be reached.

Examination of the modern maps is instructive. The U. S. Geological Survey quadrangles for the Bay Area were mapped in the decade 1895 to 1905, with subsequent re-editing. Thus the picture presented antedates the disruption of natural conditions caused by the population expansion of this century. The USGS sheets now show 20 streams between Milpitas and Rodeo which were named on the maps, or whose names are otherwise well recognized. These are, from south to north: Arroyo Coches Creek, Calera Creek, Scott Creek, Toroges Creek, Agua Fria Creek, Agua Caliente Creek, Mission Creek, Alameda Creek, San Lorenzo Creek, San Leandro Creek, the creek flowing past Mills College, the creek flowing out of Diamond Canyon through Fruitvale, Indian Gulch, Claremont Creek, Strawberry Creek, Codornices Creek, Wildcat Creek, San Pablo Creek, Pinole Creek, and Rodeo Creek. In addition there are approximately 12 unnamed creeks or arroyos descending the front slope of the hills onto the plain. The total, 32, conforms very closely with the descriptions left by the Spaniards in 1772 and 1776.

It is further to be noted that the government surveys of the period of 1900 showed all these streams as intermittent and therefore dependent for their flow upon the winter rainfall. Thus it is quite probable that in late March the amount of water might be copious or relatively scanty . The conclusion seems warranted that, apart from dessication induced by such factors as soil damage, overgrazing, and diversion for minor irrigation projects, the local water supplies have not diminished since 1770. It then follows that under primitive conditions the natives had substantially the same quantity of water at their disposal as is available in the same area today.

The six villages seen on the way from Warm Springs to San Lorenzo were largely abandoned by the inhabitants, who had fled in terror. Hence no population estimate is given. However an average of 100 persons each would be a reasonable assumption.

North of Berkeley an abandoned village was seen, probably on Wildcat Creek . Then a village of 100 persons was found on San Pablo Creek and another "fair sized" village probably on Pinole Creek. At Rodeo Creek was a village larger than the other two. Allowing 100 persons each for the abandoned village and the "fair sized" village and 150 for the one on Rodeo Creek, the four sites may be considered to represent at least 450 inhabitants. The village at Tormey had a population of 400, according to Font, and 500, according to Anza. No others are mentioned except the two in Concord Valley to which may be ascribed 100 persons each. If we use Font's estimate of 400 for the largest town, the total from Warm Springs to Concord Valley is 1,650. This is reasonably close to the value of 1,900 derived from Crespi.

For the remainder of the Northern Costanoan territory, since Anza found no inhabitants south of the Livermore Valley, we have to use the figures derived from Crespi: approximately 500 for the interior valleys. The total, then is 2,150 as compared with the 2,400 based upon Crespi's account alone. In any case, the present estimate is purely tentative and must be considered in the light of the Mission baptism records which are subsequently described.

THE CA?IZARES EXPEDITION

During the period of initial land exploration attempts were made to secure information by water. The most important such episode was the voyage, if one may call it that, made by Jos? Ca?izares in 1775. Ca?izares was the first mate of the ship, San Carlos, under command of Juan Manuel Ayala. Ayala was commissioned to survey the entire San Francisco Bay area, but was unable to complete the task because of illness. He therefore delegated the interior exploration to Ca?izares, who fulfilled the mission in late August and early September. The results of the trip are embodied, first, in a series of maps, and second, in a letter by Ca?izares to Ayala.

The maps are three in number, all versions of the same map drawn by Ca?izares, and dated respectively 1775, 1776, and 1781. The first is very poorly executed and shows little more than the outline of the Bay; it is not reproduced here.

The second is carefully done and gives an extensive list of localities. The original is in the Ministry of War, Madrid, Spain. It is an elaboration of, and a very great improvement on, a map drawn by Ayala in 1775 which showed merely the outline of San Francisco, without detail. Ayala's map has slight value, hence it is not shown here, but a copy is available in the Bancroft Library, Berkeley.

Since the present map is itself reproduced from a photograph of a photograph, the text of the legends in the boxes is very faint and blurred. To facilitate reading, these legends have been copied, with translations. The symbols used on the map are the Latin alphabet, using capitals, for twenty-three items; they then continue as Greek letters, which are difficult to decipher and do not run strictly in sequence. Hence, for convenience, I have substituted in the legends numbers for the Greek letters, number 1 following Z of the alphabetical series. The use of these numbers in conjunction with the Greek letters on the map will not be difficult. In the left-hand column is the Spanish text; in the right-hand column, a literal translation. No attempt is made to correlate the names given by Ca?izares with those applied at the present time.

The third map copies the second, is carefully done, and gives essentially the same information, but varies in minor points. Ca?izares remained in San Blas for several years after his visit to San Francisco. During this period his 1776 map was apparently redrawn by Manuel Villavicencio, in 1781, presumably under the supervision of Ca?izares himself. Whether it is more accurate than the 1776 map is open to question. Small and capital letters are used for the localities on the map and in the legends.

The letter describing the survey of the Bay was written by Ca?izares and addressed to "Se?or Capitan," obviously Ayala. It was dated September 7, 1775, "en este nuebo Puerto de S. Fran^ al abrigo de la Isla de Los Angeles." This document, which is an account of the first boat trip throughout San Francisco Bay, has never, to my knowledge, been published. Its intrinsic interest, consequently, as well as its bearing upon primitive geography and ethnography, warrants its presentation. A translation follows herewith. Various matters requiring comment are discussed immediately subsequent to the translation.

On the four occasions when I went out to explore this port and survey its northeastern and north-northeastern portion I discovered what is shown on the map and is set forth here. To the north-northeast of the Island of Los Angeles, at a distance of one mile, there is a bay which runs north-northwest to south-southeast. The distance across between the points which form it is about two leagues and its length two and one-half. In its northwestern part there are three little islets, forming with the coast a narrow channel, which is shut off at its southwestern mouth by a shoal. Around all the margin of the bay are folded hills, with very few groves of trees and these which there are consist in part of laurel and live-oak; there may be seen in the interior to the west-northwest a forest of trees, which from afar seem to be pines. In the middle of this sound there is situated a great high cliff with some submerged rocks on the northeast side. As the map shows its depth is sufficient for anchorage; it no doubt is a roadstead for such vessels as have good cables and anchors, for much trouble would be caused by the current which flows here and which would not be less than four knots.

Starting at the gorge which is at the northeastern end, the land forms a strait a mile and a half wide, clear, and capable of being sounded. At the eastern part of the entrance there is located a rancheria whose population might exceed 400 souls. I traded with these people, not to buy anything from them, but to present them with the beads which your Excellency has given me for this purpose, together with some of my used clothing. Contact with them was very useful to me and the crew on account of the many gifts they made us of very choice fish , seeds, and ground meal. After visiting them on four occasions I found them as they were the first time, and observed in them an urbane courtesy, and what is more, much modesty and neatness among the women. They tend to beg for nothing except for that which one gives them freely; without pressing to the limit of impertinence, like many others whom I have seen in this conquered territory. This rancheria has some rafts, better described as canoes, of tule rushes so carefully wrought and woven that it caused me admiration of their handiwork. In these they embark four men to go fishing, each one rowing with a double-ended oar. Using the latter they travel with such dexterity, as I found out, that they go faster than the launch. These were the first and the last Indians in this part of the north with whom I had communication.

Following the above mentioned channel, at a distance of a league from its mouth, the coast forms a cove so spacious, navigable, well provided with firewood and watering places, and protected from all winds that I judge it to be one of the best interior ports which our sovereign possesses, large enough to anchor a fleet of warships. I gave it the name of Port of the Assumption on account of having reconnoitred it on the day of this festivity. To the southeast of this port the passage continues until it merges with the channel of the rancheria. Then it continues three leagues in an east-northeasterly direction. At the end of this distance it enters another bay with a depth of 13 fathoms, the latter diminishing until it reaches four. Into this bay flow several rivers, as is demonstrated by the fact that, leaving the salt water, one is able to drink fresh water from where the rivers come as if into a lake. One river comes from the east-northeast , and the other, which is formed from quite small arms, flows from the northeast through a very low-lying region among swamps and sand dunes. Its depth does not reach two fathoms. These rivers have at their mouths some sand bars at a depth of half a fathom. The reason why I do not consider them navigable is principally that the second time I went to explore them I penetrated into the interior and ran aground both in the rivers and on the sand bars. In the bay into which these rivers discharge is another port more extensive than that of la Asumpta in which it is possible to moor any vessel whatever, but it would be difficult to get wood because of the remoteness of its shores. From the rancheria at the entrance which communicates with them, to the rivers themselves, all the coast of the east is covered with trees and all that on the west is arid, dry, full of locusts, and incapable of ever being populated.

The foregoing is what I discovered in this part of the north, and proceeding from the above-mentioned Island of Los Angeles the reconnoissance of the estuary to the southeast I describe as follows.

To the east of this island at a distance of two leagues there is another, rough, craggy, and of no value, which divides the mouth of the bay into two passages through which the sea penetrates about twelve leagues. The width in places is one, two and three leagues. The channel of this sound does not exceed four fathoms. Its width is adequate but on departing from it the distance of a pistol shot the depth does not reach two fathoms. The tip of this sound, which faces the east, forms, with a horseshoe-shaped headland, a pocket which, at low tide, is mostly dry. In this inlet are some logs to which are fastened black feathers, bunches of reeds and snail shells, which gave me the idea that they are fishing floats, since they are in the middle of the water. Beyond three leagues from the entrance of this estuary I estimate that nowhere is it possible to anchor, due to the lack of shelter. However, if such is the case, position ought to be maintained by force of cables because the same current is found here as in the northern part of the bay.

On the northeastern shore this bay is surrounded by high ranges of hills. At the mouth there is a luxuriant forest of live oak and another even larger at the upper end, together with a heavy growth of redwood. On the southwestern shore is a small estuary navigable only by small boats, and on the same shore two inlets in which anchorage is possible. Another, to the east, has a rancheria of Indians like those at Monterey. This coast appears to have locations very suitable for missions, although I examined them only from a distance.

All that is set forth in this account is what I have observed, witnessed, measured, and sounded during these days when, on orders from your Excellency, I went out to explore the interior of this port of San Francisco. For the record I am composing this account in this new port of San Francisco under the shelter of the Island of Los Angeles, today September 7, 1755.

It is clear that Ca?izares, starting from what is now called Angel Island, crossed the Bay south of Point Richmond and proceeded northward between Point San Pablo and Point San Pedro into San Pablo Bay . He explored Petaluma Creek and the sloughs near Mare Island. Except for the southwest he found this bay surrounded by arid, treeless hills, thus agreeing with the opinion of the explorers by land. Just before entering Carquinez Strait, he saw a large rancheria. Although this village is not shown on the 1776 map it appears on the 1781 map at the southwest side of the western mouth of the strait. It is no doubt the same site described by Font.

One league, or perhaps three miles, from the entrance Ca?izares encountered what he regarded as a spacious inlet or cove. Wagner and Cutter both state that this was Southampton Bay, opposite Port Costa . Cutter also claims that it has been filled with mud since 1775 and largely obliterated, but gives no evidence in support of the opinion. Ca?izares describes Army Point, near Benicia , and then gives an account of Suisun Bay which he says contained numerous islands filled with tules. Toward the upper end of these, on the maps, is shown fresh water. After attempting to penetrate the rivers, and running aground on sand bars, Ca?izares returned to Angel Island before embarking for a reconnaissance of the southern area of the Bay. His description of the lower delta region is too confusing to be of value. He evidently did not fully understand the relations of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers at their junction.

Cutter states, regarding vegetation, that Ca?izares found the north shore of the Bay covered with trees and the south shore arid and dry. Ca?izares says the vegetated shore was "east" and the arid shore was "west." Both maps depict trees on both shores, but with the heavier concentration on the south side. The 1781 map uses for "Bosques de buenas Maderas" the symbol "Q." The latter appears at the southeast end of San Francisco Bay, in the vicinity of Oakland and Alameda, on the south side of the rivers at the head of Suisun Bay, and on the north side, well above Suisun Bay. Small groups of trees appear on both maps at each entrance of Carquinez Strait, in the vicinity of Pinole and of Martinez. There is no real evidence that there were trees on the north side of Carquinez Strait.

Although the data in the letter are scanty, the distribution of Indian population indicated by Crespi and Font is substantially confirmed. The text of the letter mentions only one rancheria, the one at or near Pinole or Selby, to which Ca?izares ascribes a population of 400. This is the exact value given by Font, and seems to constitute very reliable evidence. Other villages are shown on the 1776 map, under the symbol "q." as "Rancherias de Indios Amigos," one on the north side of Southampton Bay, one near Martinez, one apparently near Bay Point , and one somewhere near Pittsburg. The same number of symbols is shown on the 1781 map, but those on the south side of the strait are displaced several miles to the west. We can be reasonably sure therefore that Ca?izares found four rancherias, including the one described in the letter, three on the south shore, one on the north. In view of the vague placement on the maps it is scarcely worth while to insist upon the precise location. As far as population is concerned, what information can be derived from Ca?izares lends support to the conclusions based upon Crespi and Font.

EXPLORATORY AND PUNITIVE EXPEDITIONS, 1776-1811

After the return of Anza to Monterey in 1776 the San Francisco Presidio was founded. After this a joint expedition was sent out under Jos? Joaquin Moraga and Francisco Quiros. The latter was to proceed by water and the former by land to a junction near the mouths of the rivers. The plan, however, miscarried, and Moraga went off on the earliest and the least known exploration of the main San Joaquin River. Meanwhile Quiros, with Jos? Ca?izares and Father Pedro Cambon, sailed up the Bay to a point quite close to that described by Ca?izares in his first trip. The only account we have of this journey is contained in Pal?u's New California . No details of ecological interest are given and there is no mention of natives. For a detailed discussion of the exploration, reference may be made to Cutter .

Following the series of explorations which culminated in the Anza Expedition of 1776, little further official notice was taken of the East Bay counties until approximately 1794. There is an item in the Bancroft Library Transcript series , consisting of a letter from Fages to Moraga, January 23, 1783 , noting that the latter had pursued the "indios gentiles Serranos" who had killed 18 head of livestock belonging to the Mission of San Jos?. It is probable that many other unrecorded punitive expeditions were being undertaken throughout the two decades from 1775 to 1795.

In 1793 there was activity along the coast, in the course of which Lieutenant Francisco Eliza spent approximately two weeks exploring the Bay, but the documents available include no details of topography, vegetation, or ethnography worth recording.

Late in the following year, 1794, trouble began with the natives of the Contra Costa. The immediate cause appears to have been the zeal of the missionaries to push conversion in the area. On November 30, 1794, the military commander at San Francisco, Perez-Fernandez, wrote to Governor Borica that "the missionaries of San Francisco have requested an additional two or three men for the guard in order to go from Santa Clara to the other shore, in a northerly direction, as far as opposite the port to make conquests of the heathen...." The request was refused for reasons which in themselves throw light on the status of the East Bay natives:

Nevertheless, such forays were already in progress, for Perez-Fernandez reported that the Fathers at San Francisco "sent by sea to the islands and other shore opposite the mouth of the port some Mission Indians in rafts of tule on the 4th of this month to capture heathen." One of the rafts was carried as far out to sea as the Farallones, and two men were lost.

On March 3, 1795, Perez-Fernandez again wrote to Governor Borica from San Francisco . He now announced the murder by the heathen of seven Christian Indians sent across the bay by Fray Antonio Danti to hunt for runaway neophytes. The culprits belonged to the rancheria of the Chaclanes, and, says Perez-Fernandez, "these rancherias of the Chaclanes are in the country where the said Father Danti wanted to go, and whom I prevented from going, as I told your Excellency under date of November 29 last."

A lively correspondence ensued, reference to most of which may be omitted. An investigation was inaugurated and some type of scouting party was sent out. At least, we have record of a letter dated at Monterey, June 2, 1795, from Governor Borica to Jos? Perez in which the Governor orders Perez "to tell Sergeant Amador that he has received the report he sent concerning the reconnaissance to the Alameda, and that he shall continue this with the others who went with him." This is no doubt the expedition by Amador referred to by Danti in his diary .

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