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.)
From this creek we perceived at a short distance an oak forest lying in
the same direction, and after going about two leagues we entered it.
According to the way it appeared to us it was without end but actually
it reaches about four leagues in width. Its length we could not
determine, for it is very extensive. There are in this forest various
kinds of oak and live oak. The grass is very sparse because the soil is
very poor. After going into the woods about a league and a half we came
upon a river similar to the preceding ones in size and clearness of the
water, although its bed is narrower than the others.[22] The banks are
covered with an infinity of wild grapevines, a little torote, and an
abundance of ash trees. We pitched camp on this river, so as to use it
as a base for further exploration. The river we named Our Lady of
Guadalupe.
_13th day and 3 [October]._ In the morning the expedition went to the
east along the margin of the river and, having traveled about six
leagues, we came upon a village called Taulamne.[23] This village is
situated on some steep cliffs, inaccessible because of their rough
rocks. The Indians live in caves; they climb and descend by a feeble
pole held by one of them while he who is descending slides down. It was
impossible for us to get them to come down to a little flat spot beside
the stream where we had assembled near a pool formed by the river. Tired
of promising them everything they wanted and seeing that they still
persisted in their negative attitude, we determined to ascend on foot to
where they were. We asked their permission to do so. This having been
obtained we began to climb but it was not possible for us to reach the
point where they were. As a result some twelve or fifteen of them
descended to a narrow shelf among the cliffs. There, even though they
were so distrustful as to carry weapons in their hands, they were
reassured of our good will and gave evidence of affability. We
distributed presents to them, and some pinole. Their excuse for
remaining obstinate and refusing to come down was that they were afraid
because the soldiers killed and captured people. It was explained to
them that the purpose of the expedition was to advance the Kingdom of
God and to make friends with them so that their souls might be saved.
They replied that they all wanted to become Christians and have a
mission established for them. In spite of this, it was not possible to
achieve a single baptism, although there were a great many old women to
whom baptism might be administered, because they would not come down
from their hiding places and it was too difficult for me to go up.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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