Galen Clark - Indians of the Yosemite Valley and Vicinity
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Galen Clark >> Indians of the Yosemite Valley and Vicinity
[Illustration: _Photograph by Taber_.]
[Signature: Galen Clark]
INDIANS
OF
THE YOSEMITE VALLEY
AND VICINITY
Their History, Customs and Traditions
BY
GALEN CLARK
Author of "Big Trees of California," Discoverer of the Mariposa
Grove of Big Trees, and for many years Guardian
of the Yosemite Valley.
With an Appendix
of
Useful Information for Yosemite Visitors
ILLUSTRATED BY
CHRIS. JORGENSEN
AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
YOSEMITE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
GALEN CLARK
1907
Copyright 1904, by Galen Clark
TO MY FRIEND
CHARLES HOWARD BURNETT
Contents
INTRODUCTION AND SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR ix
CHAPTER
I. EARLY HISTORY 1
II. EFFECTS OF THE WAR 14
III. CUSTOMS AND CHARACTERISTICS 21
IV. SOURCES OF FOOD SUPPLY 31
V. RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND BELIEFS 49
VI. NATIVE INDUSTRIES 67
VII. MYTHS AND LEGENDS 76
APPENDIX:
Hints to Yosemite Visitors 101
Official Table of Distances and Livery
Charges 105
Supplementary Table of Distances 107
Interpretation of Indian Names 107
Tables of Altitudes 110
Names of Indian Numerals 111
Indian Words in Common Use 111
Tribes Placed on Reservations in 1850-51 112
List of Illustrations
COVER DESIGN Mrs. Jorgensen
FRONTISPIECE, GALEN CLARK Taber
PAGE
YOSEMITE FALLS, Fiske 3
AN INDIAN DANCER, Boysen 8
THREE BROTHERS, Foley 13
CAPTAIN PAUL, Foley 17
YOSEMITE MOTHER AND PAPOOSE, Boysen 20
INDIAN O'-CHUM, Jorgensen 25
YOSEMITE MAIDEN IN NATIVE DRESS, Jorgensen 27
A YOSEMITE HUNTER, Jorgensen 32
INDIAN SWEAT HOUSE, Jorgensen 34
CHUCK'-AH, Mrs. Jorgensen 39
HO'-YAS AND ME-TATS', Fiske 42
A WOOD GATHERER, Fiske 47
A YOUNG YOSEMITE, Dove 53
LENA AND VIRGIL, Boysen 55
OLD KALAPINE, Boysen 62
YOSEMITE BASKETRY, Boysen 66
MRS. JORGENSEN'S BASKETS 68
INDIAN BEAD WORK, Fiske 70
A BASKET MAKER, Boysen 73
MARY, Boysen 79
HALF DOME, Foley 84
A BURDEN BEARER, Fiske 88
EL CAPITAN, Foley 91
NORTH DOME, Foley 93
BRIDAL VEIL, FALL, Fiske 97
Introduction and Sketch of the Author
Galen Clark, the author of this little volume, is one of the
notable characters of California, and the one best fitted to
record the customs and traditions of the Yosemite Indians, but it
was only after much persuasion that his friends succeeded in
inducing him to write the history of these interesting people,
with whom he has been in close communication for half a century.
The Indians of the Yosemite are fast passing away. Only a handful
now remain of the powerful tribes that once gathered in the
Valley and considered it an absolute stronghold against their
white enemies. Even in their diminished numbers and their
comparatively civilized condition, they are still a source of
great interest to all visitors, and it has been suggested many
times that their history, customs and legends should be put in
permanent and convenient form, before they are entirely lost.
Many tales and histories of the California Indians have been
written by soldiers and pioneers, but Mr. Clark has told the
story of these people from their own standpoint, and with a
sympathetic understanding of their character. This fresh point of
view gives double interest to his narrative.
Galen Clark comes of a notable family; his English ancestors came
to the State of Massachusetts in the seventeenth century, but he
is a native of the Town of Dublin, Cheshire County, New
Hampshire, born on the 28th day of March, 1814, and is
consequently nearly ninety years of age, but still alert and
active in mind and body.
He attended school in his early youth during the winter months,
and worked on a farm during the summer, leading nearly the same
life which was followed by so many others who afterwards became
famous in our country's history.
Later in life he learned chair-making and painting, an occupation
which he followed for some years, when he removed to Philadelphia
and subsequently to New York City.
Whilst residing in New York, in 1853, he resolved, after mature
reflection, to visit the new Eldorado. His attention was first
attracted to this State by visiting the celebrated Crystal
Palace in New York, where was then on exhibition quantities of
gold dust which had been sent or brought East by successful
miners.
Mr. Clark left New York for California in October, 1853, coming
via the Isthmus of Panama, and in due time reached his
destination. In 1854 he went to Mariposa County, attracted
thither by the wonderful accounts of the gold discoveries, and
the marvelous stories he had heard of the grandeur and beauty of
the Yosemite Valley and the surrounding mountains.
Upon his first arrival in Mariposa, he engaged in mining, and was
also employed to assist in surveying Government land on the west
side of the San Joaquin Valley, and canals for mining purposes,
some of which passed through the celebrated "Mariposa Grant," the
subject of prolonged and bitter litigation, both in this country
and in Europe. He probably knows more about the actual facts
concerning the Mariposa Grant than any one now living, and it is
to be hoped that some day he may overcome his natural repugnance
to notoriety, and give to the public the benefit of his
knowledge.
In the year 1855 Mr. Clark made his first trip into the Yosemite
Valley with a party made up in Mariposa and Bear Valley.
Returning to Mariposa, he resumed his old occupation of surveying
and mining, and, whilst so engaged, by reason of exposure, had a
serious attack of lung trouble, resulting in severe hemorrhages
which threatened to end his life.
He then removed, in April, 1857, to the South Fork of the Merced
River, and built a log cabin in one of the most beautiful of our
mountain valleys, on the spot where Wawona now stands. He soon
recovered his health entirely, and, though constantly exposed to
the winter storms and snows, has never had a recurrence of his
malady.
Wawona is twenty-six miles from Yosemite, and at that time became
known as Clark's Station, being on the trail leading from
Mariposa to the Valley, and a noted stopping place for travelers.
This trail, as well as one from Coulterville, was completed to
the Valley in 1857, and the trip to Yosemite then involved a
stage ride of ninety-two miles, and a journey of sixty miles more
on horseback. In 1874 and 1875 the three present stage roads were
constructed through to the Valley.
All travelers by the Raymond route will remember Wawona and the
surroundings; the peaceful valley, the swift-flowing Merced, and
the surrounding peaks and mountains, almost equaling in grandeur
the famous Yosemite itself.
In the early days this locality was annually visited by several
bands of Indians from the Chowchilla and Fresno rivers. The
Indian name for the place was Pal-lah'-chun. Whilst residing
there Mr. Clark was in constant contact with these visiting
tribes; he obtained their confidence, and retains it to this day.
Whilst on a hunting trip, in the summer of 1857, Mr. Clark
discovered and made known to the public the famous Big Tree
Grove, now known all over the world as the "Mariposa Grove of Big
Trees," belonging to the State of California. On this expedition
he did not follow the route now traveled, but came upon the grove
at the upper end, near the place where the road to Wawona Point
now branches off from the main drive. The spot where he caught
his first view of the Big Trees has been appropriately marked,
and can be seen from the stage road.
So impressed was Mr. Clark with the importance of his discovery,
that he opened up a good horse trail from Wawona to the Trees,
and shortly afterwards built a log cabin in the grove, for the
comfort and convenience of visitors in bad or stormy weather.
This cabin became known as "Galen's Hospice."
In the year 1864 the Congress of the United States passed an Act,
which was approved in June of the same year, granting to the
State of California the "Yosemite Valley" and the "Mariposa Grove
of Big Trees." This grant was made upon certain conditions, which
were complied with by the State, and a Commission was appointed
by Governor Low to manage and govern the Valley and the Big Tree
Grove. Galen Clark was, of course, selected as one of the
commissioners. He was subsequently appointed Guardian of the
Valley, and under his administration many needed improvements
were made and others suggested. Bridges were built, roads
constructed on the floor of the Valley, and trails laid out and
finished to various points of interest overlooking the Valley
itself. In a word, the Guardian did everything possible with the
limited means at his disposal.
After serving twenty-four years, Mr. Clark voluntarily retired
from the position of Guardian, carrying with him the respect and
admiration of every member of the Commission, of all the
residents of the Valley, and of every visitor who enjoyed the
pleasure of his personal acquaintance.
As showing the opinion of those with whom Mr. Clark was
intimately and officially associated for so long a time, the
following resolutions passed by the Board of Commissioners upon
his voluntary retirement from the office of Guardian, are herein
given:
Whereas, Galen Clark has for a long number of years been
closely identified with Yosemite Valley, and has for a
considerable portion of that time been its Guardian; and
Whereas, he has now, by his own choice and will,
relinquished the trust confided in him and retired into
private life; and
Whereas, his faithful and eminent services as Guardian, his
constant efforts to preserve, protect and enhance the
beauties of Yosemite; his dignified, kindly and courteous
demeanor to all who have come to see and enjoy its wonders,
and his upright and noble life, deserve from us a fitting
recognition and memorial; Now, Therefore, be it
Resolved, That the cordial assurance of the appreciation by
this Commission of the efforts and labors of Galen Clark, as
Guardian of Yosemite, in its behalf, be tendered and
expressed to him.
That we recognize in him a faithful, efficient and worthy
citizen and officer of this Commission and of the State;
that he will be followed into his retirement by the
sincerest and best wishes of this Commission, individually
and as a body, for continued long life and constant
happiness.
The subject of this sketch is one of the most modest of men; but
perfectly self-reliant, and always actively engaged in some
useful work. He has resided in the Valley for more than twenty
summers, and has also been a resident during many winters, and
his descriptions of the Valley, when wrapped in snow and ice, are
intensely interesting. Though always ready to give information,
he is naturally reticent, and never forces his stories or
reminiscences upon visitors; indeed it requires some persuasion
to hear him talk about himself at all. For some years Mr. Clark
was postmaster of Yosemite; and he has made many trips on foot,
both in winter and summer, in and out of the Valley.
In September, 1903, this writer made a trip through the high
Sierras from Yosemite, and, upon reaching the top of the Valley
Mr. Clark was met coming down the trail, having in charge a party
of his friends, amongst whom was a lady with her two small
children. This was at a point 2700 feet above the floor of the
Valley, which is itself 4000 feet above the level of the sea.
Needless to say, he is perfectly familiar with all the mountain
trails, and, notwithstanding his great age, he easily makes long
trips on foot and horseback which would fatigue a much younger
man. Mr. Clark is thoroughly familiar with the flora, fauna and
geology of the Valley and its surroundings. His knowledge of
botany is particularly accurate, a knowledge gleaned partly from
books, but mainly from close personal observation, the best
possible teacher.
His long residence in Yosemite has made him familiar with every
spot, his love for the Valley is deep and strong, and when he
departs this life his remains will rest close to the Yosemite
Falls, in the little grave yard where other pioneers are buried.
With his own hands he has dug his grave, and quarried his own
tombstone from one of the massive blocks of granite found in the
immediate neighborhood. His monument now rests in his grave, and
when it is removed to receive his remains, will be used to mark
his last resting place. His grave is surrounded by a neat fence,
and trees, shrubs and vines, which he has himself planted, grow
around in great profusion. In each corner of the lot is a young
_Sequoia_.
May it be many years before he is called to occupy his last
earthly tenement.
W.W. FOOTE.
_San Francisco,
February, 1904_.
INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE
INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE
Chapter One.
EARLY HISTORY.
During the past few years a rapidly growing interest in the
native Indians has been manifested by a large majority of
visitors to the Yosemite Valley. They have evinced a great desire
to see them in their rudely constructed summer camps, and to
purchase some articles of their artistic basket and bead work, to
take away as highly prized souvenirs.
They are also anxious to learn something of their former modes of
life, habits and domestic industries, before their original
tribal relations were ruthlessly broken up by the sudden advent
of the white population of gold miners and others in 1850, and
the subsequent war, in which the Indians were defeated, and, as
a result, nearly exterminated.
ORIGIN OF THE YOSEMITE INDIANS.
According to statements made by Teneiya _(Ten-eye'-ya)_ [see
footnote] chief of the Yosemites, to Dr. L.H. Bunnell, and
published by him in his book on the "Discovery of the Yosemite",
the original Indian name of the Valley was Ah-wah'-nee, which
has been translated as "deep grassy valley", and the Indians
living there were called Ah-wah-nee'-chees, which signified
"dwellers in Ah-wah'-nee."
[Footnote: The Indian names are usually pronounced exactly as
spelled, with each syllable distinctly sounded, and the principal
accent on the penult, as in Ah-wah'-nee, or the antepenult, as
in Yo-sem'-i-te. Where doubt might exist, the accent will be
indicated, or the pronunciation given in parenthesis.]
[Transcriber's note: The remaining footnotes in the original text are
moved, in the present version, into the line of text and are
marked by square brackets, thus: Ah-wah'-nee [Yosemite Valley].]
Many years ago, the old chief said, the Ah-wah-nee'-chees had
been a large and powerful tribe, but by reason of wars and a
fatal black sickness, nearly all had been destroyed, and the
survivors of the band fled from the Valley and joined other
tribes.
[Illustration: _Photograph by Fiske_.
YOSEMITE FALLS (CHO'-LACK), 2,634 Feet.
Near the foot of these falls was located the village of
Ah-wah'-nee, the Indian capital and residence of Chief Teneiya.
There were eight other villages in the Valley.]
For years afterwards this locality was uninhabited, but finally
Teneiya, who claimed to be descended from an Ah-wah-nee'-chee
chief, left the Mo'nos, where he had born and brought up,
and, gathering of his father's old tribe around him, visited the
Valley and claimed it as the birthright of his people. He then
became the founder of a new tribe or band, which received the
name "Yo-sem'-i-te." This word signifies a full-grown grizzly
bear, and Teneiya said that the name had been given to his band
because they occupied the mountains and valley which were the
favorite resort of the grizzly bears, and his people were expert
in killing them; that his tribe had adopted the name because
those who had bestowed it were afraid of the grizzlies, and also
feared his band.
The Yosemites were perhaps the most warlike of any of the tribes
in this part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, who were, as a rule,
a peaceful people, dividing the territory among them, and
indulging in few controversies. In fact, these Indians in general
were less belligerent and warlike than any others on the Pacific
Coast. When difficulties arose, they were usually settled
peacefully by arbitration, in a grand council of the chiefs and
head men of the tribes involved, without resorting to open
hostilities.
OTHER TRIBES.
Other bands of Indians in the vicinity of the Yosemite Valley
were the Po-ho-nee'-chees who lived near the headwaters of the
Po-ho'-no or Bridal Veil Creek in summer, and on the South Fork
of the Merced' River in winter, about twelve miles below
Wawo'na; the Po-to-en'-cies, who lived on the Merced River;
Wil-tuc-um'-nees, Tuol'-unme River; Noot'-choos and
Chow-chil'-las, Chowchilla Valley; Ho-na'-ches and
Me'-woos, Fresno River and vicinity; and Chook-chan'-ces, San
Joaquin River and vicinity.
These tribes, including the Yosemites, were all somewhat
affiliated by common ancestry or by intermarriage, and were
similar in their general characteristics and customs. They were
all called by the early California settlers, "Digger Indians," as
a term of derision, on account of their not being good fighters,
and from their practice of digging the tuberous roots of certain
plants, for food.
INDIAN WAR OF 1851.
Dr. Bunnell, in his book already referred to, has given the
soldiers' and white men's account of the cause of the Indian war
of 1851, but a statement of the grievances on the part of the
Indians, which caused the uniting of all the different tribes in
the mining region adjacent to Yosemite, in an attempt to drive
the white invaders from their country, has never been published,
and a brief account of these grievances may be interesting.
AGGRESSIONS BY THE WHITE SETTLERS.
The first parties of prospecting miners were welcomed by the
Indians with their usual friendliness and hospitality toward
strangers--a universal characteristic of these tribes,--and the
mining for gold was watched with great interest. They soon
learned the value of the gold dust, and some of them engaged in
mining, and exchanged their gold at the trading stations for
blankets and fancy trinkets, at an enormous profit to the
traders, and peace and good feeling prevailed for a short time.
The report of the rich gold "diggin's" on the waters of the
Tuolumne, Merced, Mariposa, Chowchilla, and Fresno Rivers, soon
spread, and miners by thousands came and took possession of the
whole country, paying no regard to the natural rights or wishes
of the Indians.
Some of the Indian chiefs made the proposition that if the miners
would give them some of the gold which they found in their part
of the country, they might stay and work. This offer was not
listened to by the miners, and a large majority of the white
invaders treated the natives as though they had no rights
whatever to be respected. In some instances, where Indians had
found and were working good mining claims, they were forcibly
driven away by white miners, who took possession of their claims
and worked them.
Moreover, the Indians saw that their main sources of food supply
were being rapidly destroyed. The oak trees, which produced the
acorns--one of their staple articles of food,--were being cut
down and burned by miners and others in clearing up land for
cultivation, and the deer and other food game were being
rapidly killed off or driven from the locality.
[Illustration: _Copyrighted Photograph by Boysen_.
AN INDIAN DANCER.
Chow-chil-la Indian in full war-dance costume.]
In the "early days," before California was admitted as a free
State into the Union, it was reported, and was probably true,
that some of the immigrants from the slave-holding States took
Indians and made slaves of them in working their mining claims.
It was no uncommon event for the sanctity of their homes and
families to be invaded by some of the "baser sort," and young
women taken, willing or not, for servants and wives.
RETALIATION.
In retaliation, and as some compensation for these many grievous
outrages upon their natural inalienable rights of domain and
property, and their native customs, the Indians stole horses and
mules from the white settlers, and killed them for food for their
families, who, in many instances, were in a condition of
starvation.
Finally the chiefs and leading men of all the tribes involved met
in a grand council, and resolved to combine their warrior forces
in one great effort to drive all their white enemies from the
country, before they became more numerous and formidable.
BEGINNING OF HOSTILITIES.
To prepare for this struggle for existence, they made raids upon
some of the principal trading posts in the mining sections,
killed those in charge, took all the blankets, clothing and
provisions they could carry away, and fled to the mountains,
where they were soon pursued by the soldiers and volunteer
citizens, and a spirited battle was fought without any decisive
advantage to either side.
The breaking out of actual hostilities created great excitement
among the whites, and an urgent call was made upon the Governor
of the State for a military force to meet the emergency, and
protect the settlers--a force strong enough to thoroughly subdue
the Indians, and remove all of them to reservations to be
selected by the United States Indian Commissioners for that
purpose.
Meantime the Governor and the Commissioners, who had then
arrived, were receiving numerous communications, many of them
from persons in high official positions, earnestly urging a more
humane and just policy, averring that the Indians had real cause
for complaint, that they had been "more sinned against than
sinning" since the settling of California by the whites, and that
they were justly entitled to protection by the Government and
compensation for the spoliations and grievances they had
suffered.
These protests doubtless had some influence in delaying hostile
measures, and in the inauguration of efforts to induce the
Indians to come in and treat with the Commissioners, envoys being
sent out to assure them of fair treatment and personal safety.
Many of the Indians accepted these offers, and, as the different
tribes surrendered, they were taken to the two reservations which
the Commissioners had established for them on the Fresno River,
the principal one being a few miles above the place where the
town of Madera is now located.
As before stated, these Indians were not a warlike people. Their
only weapons were their bows and arrows, and these they soon
found nearly useless in defending themselves at long range
against soldiers armed with rifles. Moreover, their stock of
provisions was so limited that they either had to surrender or
starve.
DISCOVERY OF YOSEMITE VALLEY.
The Yosemites and one or two other bands of Indians had refused
to surrender, and had retreated to their mountain strongholds,
where they proposed to make a last determined resistance. Active
preparations were accordingly made by the State authorities to
follow them, and either capture or exterminate all the tribes
involved. For this purpose a body of State volunteers, known as
the Mariposa Battalion, was organized, under the command of Major
James D. Savage, to pursue these tribes into the mountains; and,
after many long marches and some fighting, the Indians were all
defeated, captured, and, with their women and children, put upon
the reservations under strong military guard.
It was during this campaign that Major Savage and his men
discovered the Yosemite Valley, about the 21st of March, 1851,
while in pursuit of the Yosemites, under old Chief Teneiya, for
whom Lake Teneiya and Teneiya Canyon have appropriately been
named.
[Illustration: _Photograph by Foley._
THREE BROTHERS (WAW-HAW'-KEE), 3,900 Feet.
Named by the soldiers who discovered the Valley, to commemorate
the capture of three sons of Teneiya near this place. The Indian
name means "Falling Rocks."]
Chapter Two.
EFFECTS OF THE WAR.
The Yosemites and all of the other tribes named in the previous
chapter were put upon the Fresno reservation. Major Savage, who
had been the leading figure in the war against the Indians, was
perhaps their best friend while in captivity, and finally lost
his life in a personal quarrel, while resenting a wrong which had
been committed against them.
