Colonial Expeditions to the Interior of California Central Valley, 1800-1820Cook, Sherburne Friend
History
Colonial Expeditions to the Interior of California Central Valley, 1800-1820
Cook, Sherburne Friend
California -- Discovery and exploration; California -- History -- To 1846 -- Sources; Central Valley (Calif.)
The existence of 6 villages can be established with reasonable certainty
(see discussion in Cook, 1955, pp. 51-52). From north to south they
are: Cheneches, Malim, Nupchenches, Cutucho, Copicha, Tape. The first,
Cheneches, was probably near the mouth of Mariposa Cr., north of Los
Baños. The southernmost, Tape, was, according to Estudillo in 1819, 24
leagues south of, or upstream from, Cheneches. This would place Tape
south of the great bend of the San Joaquin, roughly 20 mi. west of
Fresno. Copicha was at the mouth of the Chowchilla.
[10] The general course of Pico's party was southeastward along the
connecting sloughs between Tulare L. and the San Joaquin R. On the
12th they reached the lower Kings R. in the territory of the Wimilchi
(Gumilchis). At or near this point the junction was made with Ortega's
division.
[11] The route for the next several days is confused. The joint
expedition moved back northwestward from the Kings R. to the San
Joaquin area, where Pico had been previously operating.
[12] An error, since the party had just left Cheneches.
[13] The huge number of dead animals found in these villages is
testimony to their great significance as an item in the diet of the
natives. The Nupchenches group evidently had undergone a profound
alteration from a sedentary, principally vegetarian people to active,
hard-riding, meat-eating raiders.
[14] From the 16th to the 28th of December the Pico-Ortega expedition
was pursued by miserable fortune and turned in a really pathetic
performance. Not lacking in competent leadership, it nevertheless
floundered for nearly two weeks through rain and mud, lost its horses,
was led on repeated wild-goose chases by native guides, and accomplished
nothing in the military sense. On the other hand, it contributed to the
rapid economic and physical disintegration which was being undergone by
the valley tribes. The Spaniards could return to the coast and organize
a new expedition. The natives could not recover from the damage they
suffered.
[15] The geography of this trip is very confusing and has never been
cleared up satisfactorily. Despite the fact that Father Martinez gives
distances with a great air of exactness, these distances cannot be
tied to recognizable points. It is clear that Thuohuala is Bubal, of
the Wowol, very probably on the western side of Tulare L. The river
mentioned, which ends in Buenavista L., Goose L., and Tulare L., may
have been Kern, since, moreover, it is the only unfordable stream in the
southern valley. However, Telamé refers to the village of the Telamni,
west of Visalia. The only river 20 mi. (7 leagues) from Telamé would be
the Tule R. which, to be sure, flows into Tulare L. but is 100 mi. from
Buenavista L. Gelecto may have been at or near Goose L., but if so,
where was Lihuahilame, 19 leagues away?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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