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Showing papers in "California Archaeology in 1984"


Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: The Indians who live in the little oases where fresh water is found have a well-defined tradition of a great flood which once covered all of this territory from the far south well up the slopes of the San Jacinto and San Bemardino Mountains.
Abstract: The Indians who live in the little oases where fresh water is found have a well-defined tradition of a great flood which once covered all of this territory from the far south well up the slopes of the San Jacinto and San Bemardino Mountains. They have no idea as to the exact time of this flood, and the gray-haired old patriarchs relate that their fathers told them of a time when they used to go into the valley that is now a dry, sandy waste and catch an abundance of fish. But there came a time when the waters receded and left millions of fish on the beach, whereupon the wild animals came down from the mountains to feast themselves, and were in such numbers that the Indians were forced to flee for their lives.

48 citations


Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: Two young men in particular, a young chief and his brother, from a neighboring village on the Trinity, were taller than the majority of whites, superbly formed, and very noble in feature as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Two young men in particular, a young chief and his brother, from a neighboring village on the Trinity, were taller than the majority of whites, superbly formed, and very noble in feature. The superiority, however, was especially manifested in the women, many of whom were exceedingly pretty; having large almond-shaped eyes, sometimes of a hazel color, and with the red showing through the cheeks.

24 citations


Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: When we reflect that the mountain valleys were thickly populated as far east as Yosemite (in summer, still further up), and consider the great extent and fertility of the San Joaquin plains, we shall see what a capacity there was to support a dense population as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: When we reflect that the mountain valleys were thickly populated as far east as Yosemite (in summer, still further up), and consider the great extent and fertility of the San Joaquin plains … . then add to this the long and fish-full streams, the Mokelumne, the Stanislaus, the Tuolumne, the Merced, the Chowchilla, and the San Joaquin encircling all, along whose banks the Indians anciently dwelt in multitudes, we shall see what a capacity there was to support a dense population.

10 citations


Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: The authors discusses the northeastern comer of the state California and discusses the rudiments of a chronological sequence and several major points of articulation have been recognized that may serve to outline, augment, or refine the sequences in those portions of the region.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the northeastern comer of the state California. The population is sparse, the towns are few, and the major roads that cross it are generally going somewhere else. There is little to attract tourists save the annual deer hunt, and the region's chief exportable commodities are marginal when measured against the productivity of other areas. Despite the paucity of attention that has been paid to the area, the rudiments of a chronological sequence have been sketched and several major points of articulation have been recognized that may serve to out­line, augment, or refine the sequences in those portions of the region. The Surprise Valley sequence appears to be the fullest in a developmental sense, but useful starts have been made in the basins of Eagle Lake and Goose Lake as well as in Secret Valley and Honey Lake Valley. Although research in the area has seldom achieved the intensity of sustained effort that other parts of the state have enjoyed, northeastern California has entered the mainstream of anthropological archaeology by serving some of the major preoccupations of the discipline. The band territories are mapped with a fairly high degree of confidence, and the ethnic separateness of the bands is insisted upon by modern informants.

3 citations


Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: The banks of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, and numerous tributaries of these rivers, and the Tule Lake (i.e., Tulare Lake), were at this time studded with Indian villages of from one to twelve hundred inhabitants each.
Abstract: The banks of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, and the numerous tributaries of these rivers, and the Tule Lake (i.e., Tulare Lake), were at this time studded with Indian villages of from one to twelve hundred inhabitants each. The population of this extensive valley was so great that it caused surprise, and required a close investigation into the nature of a country that without cultivation, could afford the means of subsistence to so great a community, and who were such indifferent hunters.

1 citations


Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: This is certainly a fine harbour: it presents on sight a beautiful fitness, and it has no lack of good drinking water and plenty of firewood and ballast as mentioned in this paper, and it is free from such troublesome daily fogs as there are at Monterey, since these scarcely come to its mouth and inside there are very clear days.
Abstract: This is certainly a fine harbour: It presents on sight a beautiful fitness, and it has no lack of good drinking water and plenty of firewood and ballast. Its climate, though cold, is altogether healthful and it is free from such troublesome daily fogs as there are at Monterey, since these scarcely come to its mouth and inside there are very clear days. To these many good things is added the best of all: The heathens all around this harbour are always so friendly and so docile that I had Indians aboard several times with great pleasure, and the crew as often visited them on land.

1 citations