The Aboriginal Population of the San Joaquin Valley, California — John Shaqi
The Aboriginal Population of the San Joaquin Valley, CaliforniaCook, Sherburne Friend
History
The Aboriginal Population of the San Joaquin Valley, California
Cook, Sherburne Friend
Indians of North America -- California -- San Joaquin Valley; San Joaquin Valley (Calif.) -- Population
G. W. Barbour (1852), in a letter dated July 28, 1851, said that the
area bounded by Buenavista Lake, Tule River, and Paint Creek contained
a population of about 2,000. Savage (Dixon, MS, 1875) said there were
1,700 on the Kern River and Barbour (1853) stated that, for
treaty-making purposes in 1851, 1,700 congregated at Paint Creek below
Tule River. The villages listed by Kroeber, Gayton, and Latta for the
various tribes are as follows: Bokninuwad 2, Hometwoli 3, Koyeti 8,
Kumachisi 6, Paleuyami 7, Tuhohi 1, Tulamni 3, Yaudanchi 8, and
Yauelmani 7. The total is 45. The village size indicated by Derby for
the Tulare Lake Basin and adjacent valley territory is 60 or 70; that
for the hill regions is undoubtedly smaller. If we take 40 persons as
the average village population, the aggregate for the region would be
1,800 and if we take 50 persons, it is 2,250. We cannot be far in error
in setting the population at Barbour's value, 2,000.
TULE-KERN-BUENAVISTA ... 2,000
______________________________
On the basis of gross estimates and semicomprehensive counts for the
entire region the population for the San Joaquin Valley and neighboring
foothills in 1851 was tentatively set at 8,600 (p. 34). The detailed
consideration of the seven subdivisions of the entire region, as above,
leads to an estimate of 19,000, as set forth in the following
recapitulation.
Stanislaus-Tuolumne 2,000
Merced-Mariposa-Chowchilla 2,500
Cosumnes-Mokelumne-Calaveras 1,000
Fresno-San Joaquin 3,600
Kings-Kaweah 6,800
Tulare Lake Basin 1,100
Tule-Kern-Buenavista 2,000
________
Total 19,000
It is believed that this total is more reliable than that previously
given for several reasons. In the first place, it is derived from a
careful consideration of all available sources in detail. In the second
place, the preliminary estimate was weighted heavily by the reports of
government officials, who saw principally those Indians with whom they
were able to make treaties or whom they were able to collect on
reservations. That this seems to represent less than one-half the
natives in the territory is not surprising. In the third place, recent
investigations by ethnographers have brought to light many local groups
which were overlooked by contemporary observers, official and civilian
alike. We may therefore accept the figure 19,000 as the population of
the San Joaquin Valley surviving in 1852.
FOOTNOTES:
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