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.)
_July 24._ Early in the morning we started out toward the east. At two
leagues we came upon a salt marsh, a cross made of logs, and a wild
horse. At four leagues we reached the village of Sgene.[3] This village
consists of 7 men, 16 women, and 3 children. I baptized 3 old women of
seventy to eighty years old and one man of the same age. The names of
the baptized were as follows: Maria Agustina, Agustina Maria, Maria
Francisca, and Francisco Solano. Seven leagues east of this village we
encountered the village called Malapoa,[4] which has 29 men, 22 women,
and 8 children. I baptized at this village an old woman of eighty years
and named her Maria Rufina. The territory covered today is arid, without
herbage or trees. In the afternoon of this day I went out with the
Lieutenant and a few soldiers to a little settlement of Indians
belonging to the village of Napolea, the settlement being three leagues
from the village. There is a small spring one league from the village of
Napolea and on the way from Napolea to the little settlement there are
lands good for sowing crops. One can see mountains which have a few pine
trees and in the near-by hills there is some pasturage. In the little
ranch mentioned I baptized five old women and one old man, their names
being respectively Maria Lucia, Lucia Maria, Maria Dominga, Dominga
Maria, Fernandina, and Fernando. A league away from this settlement one
sees a range of mountains on which pine forests are growing.
_July 25._ Today after Mass we took our way in a northerly direction
and at eight leagues came to the village of Buenavista,[5] consisting,
according to the statement of the Indians, of 36 men, 144 women, and 38
children. This village is on the shore of a lake eight leagues long and
five leagues wide. The Indians travel on rafts [_balsas_] on the lake.
The source of the latter is a big river which divides into three
branches, and then all these branches join again to form the lake. I
baptized in the village of Buenavista one old woman of ninety years and
named her Antonina. The Indians say that a day and a half journey from
Buenavista is a crossing to the other side of the lake. We spent the
night two leagues from Buenavista.
_July 26._ Today after Mass we traveled till noon to the east along the
shore of the lake. After noon we went northward. The area covered in the
morning consisted of extensive plains. In quality the land is alkaline.
The shore of the lake is completely covered with a great deal of tule.
Elsewhere, and in the hills bordering the plains, I saw neither
pasturage nor watering places.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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