GIFT or 
 
Photograph by Taber. 
 
INDIANS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE YOSEMITE VALLEY 
 
 AND VICINITY 
 
 Their History, Customs and Traditions 
 
 BY 
 
 CALEF CLARK 
 
 Discoverer of the Mariposa Grove of Big- Trees and for nTau> vear s 
 Guardian of the Yosemite Valley 
 
 With an Appendix 
 
 of 
 Useful Information for Yosemite Visitors 
 
 ILLUSTRATED B f 
 
 CHRIS. JORGFNSEN 
 
 AND FROM PHOTOGHAPHf 
 
 YOSEMITE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA 
 
 GALEN CLARK 
 
 1904 
 

 Copyright 1904, by Gulen Clark, 
 ALL HIQHTS KESKRVKD. 
 
 * * 
 
 ELK("I ROTYPKI> AND PRINTED 
 BV THB 
 
 H S. CROCKER Co., SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
TO MY FRIEND 
 
 CHARLES HOWARD BURNETT 
 
 8690 1 8 
 
PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION AND SKETCH OF THE 
 AUTHOR ix 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. EARLY HISTORY i 
 
 II. EFFECTS OF THE WAR 14 
 
 III. CUSTOMS AND CHARACTERISTICS 21 
 
 IV. SOURCES OF FOOD SUPPLY 31 
 
 V. RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND BELIEFS... 49 
 
 VI. NATIVE INDUSTRIES 67 
 
 VII. MYTHS AND LEGENDS 76 
 
 APPENDIX : 
 
 Hints to Yosemite Visitors 101 
 
 Official Table of Distances and Livery 
 
 Charges 105 
 
 Supplementary Table of Distances 107 
 
 Interpretation of Indian Names 107 
 
 Tables of Altitudes. . .no 
 
nf JlUuatratuws 
 
 COVER DESIGN Mrs. Jorgensen 
 
 FRONTISPIECE, GALEN CLARK, on his Eighty- 
 ninth Birthday Taber 
 
 PAGE 
 
 YOSEMITE FALLS, Fiske 3 
 
 AN INDIAN DANCER, Boy sen 8 
 
 THREE BROTHERS, Foley 13 
 
 CAPTAIN PAUL, Foley 17 
 
 YOSEMITE MOTHER AND PAPOOSE, Boysen 20 
 
 INDIAN O -CHUM, Jorgensen 25 
 
 YOSEMITE MAIDEN IN NATIVE DRESS, Jorgensen 27 
 
 A YOSEMITE HUNTER, Jorgensen 32 
 
 INDIAN SWEAT HOUSE, Jorgensen 34 
 
 CHUCK - AH, Mrs. Jorgensen 39 
 
 HO -YAS AND ME-TATS , Fiske 42 
 
 A WOOD GATHERER, Fiske 47 
 
 A YOUNG YOSEMITE, Dove 53 
 
 LENA AND VIRGIL, Boysen 55 
 
 OLD KALAPINE, Boysen 62 
 
 YOSEMITE BASKETRY, Boysen 66 
 
 MRS. ATKINSON S BASKETS, Fiske 68 
 
 INDIAN BEAD WORK, Fiske 7 
 
viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A BASKET MAKER, Boy sen 73 
 
 MARY, Boyscn 79 
 
 HALF DOME, Foley 84 
 
 A BURDEN BEARER, Fiske 88 
 
 NORTH DOME, Foley 91 
 
 EL CAPITAN, Foley 93 
 
 BRIDAL VEIL FALL, Fiske 97 
 
nf 
 Author :; !" 
 
 ALEN CLARK, the author of this little 
 volume, is one of the notable char 
 acters of California, and the one best fitted 
 to record the customs and traditions of the 
 Yosemite Indians, but it was only after 
 much persuasion that his friends succeeded 
 in inducing him to write the history of these 
 interesting people, with whom he has been 
 in close communication for half a century. 
 
 The Indians of the Yosemite are fast 
 passing away. Only a handful now remain 
 of the powerful tribes that once gathered in 
 the Valley and considered it an absolute 
 stronghold against their white enemies. 
 Even in their diminished numbers and their 
 comparatively civilized condition, they are 
 still a source of great interest to all visitors, 
 and it has been suggested many times that 
 their history, customs and legends should 
 be put in permanent and convenient form, 
 before they are entirely lost. 
 
 Many tales and histories of the California 
 Indians have been written by soldiers and 
 
x INTRODUCTION. 
 
 .pioneers, te Mr. Clark has told the story 
 . of j these people fiom their own standpoint, 
 a ild with a . Sympathetic understanding of 
 their character. This fresh point of view 
 gives double interest to his narrative. 
 
 Galen Clark comes of a notable family ; 
 his English ancestors came to the State of 
 Massachusetts in the seventeenth century, 
 but he is a native of the Town of Dublin, 
 Cheshire County, New Hampshire, born on 
 the 28th day of March, 1814, and is conse 
 quently nearly ninety years of age, but still 
 alert and active in mind and body. 
 
 He attended school in his early youth 
 during the winter months, and worked on 
 a farm during the summer, leading nearly 
 the same life which was followed by so 
 many others who afterwards became famous 
 in our country s history. 
 
 Later in life he learned chair-making and 
 painting, an occupation which he followed 
 for some years, when he removed to Phila 
 delphia and subsequently to New York Citv, 
 
 Whilst residing in New York, in 1853. ne 
 resolved, after mature reflection, to visit the 
 new Eldorado. His attention was first at 
 tracted to this State by visiting the cele- 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 brated Crystal Palace in New York, where 
 there was then on exhibition quantities of 
 gold dust which had been sent or brought 
 East by successful miners. 
 
 Mr. Clark left New York for California 
 in October, 1853, coming via the Isthmus 
 of Panama, and in due time reached his 
 destination. In 1854 he went to Mariposa 
 County, attracted thither by the wonderful 
 accounts of the gold discoveries, and the 
 marvelous stories he had heard of the 
 grandeur and beauty of the Yosemite Valley 
 and the surrounding mountains. 
 
 Upon his first arrival in Mariposa, he 
 engaged in mining, and was also employed 
 to assist in surveying Government land on 
 the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, and 
 canals for mining purposes, some of which 
 passed through the celebrated " Mariposa 
 Grant," the subject of prolonged and bitter 
 litigation, both in this country and in 
 Europe. He probably knows more about 
 the . actual facts concerning the Mariposa 
 Grant than any one now living, and it is to 
 be hoped that some day he may overcome 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 his natural repugnance to notoriety, and 
 give to the public the benefit of his knowl 
 edge. 
 
 In the year 1855 Mr- Clark made his first 
 trip into the Yosemite Valley with a party 
 made up in Mariposa and Bear Valley. 
 
 Returning to Mariposa, he resumed his 
 old occupation of surveying and mining, 
 and, whilst so engaged, by reason of ex 
 posure, had a serious attack of lung trouble, 
 resulting in severe hemorrhages which 
 threatened to end his life. 
 
 He then removed, in April, 1857, to the 
 South Fork of the Merced River, and built 
 a log cabin in one of the most beautiful of 
 our mountain valleys, on the spot where 
 Wawona now stands. He soon recovered 
 his health entirely, and, though constantly 
 exposed to the winter storms and snows, 
 has never had a recurrence of his malady. 
 
 Wawona is twenty-six miles from Yosem 
 ite, and at that time became known as 
 Clark s Station, being on the trail leading 
 from Mariposa to the Valley, and a noted 
 stopping place for travelers. This trail, as 
 well as one from Coulterville, was completed 
 to j:he Valley in 1857, and the trip to 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 Yosemite then involved a stage ride of 
 ninety-two miles, and a journey of sixty 
 miles more on horseback. In 1874 and 1875 
 the three present stage roads were con 
 structed through to the Valley. 
 
 All travelers by the Raymond route will 
 remember Wawona and the surroundings; 
 the peaceful valley, the swift-flowing 
 Merced, and the surrounding peaks and 
 mountains, almost equaling in grandeur the 
 famous Yosemite itself. 
 
 In the early days this locality was an 
 nually visited by several bands of Indians 
 from the Chowchilla and Fresno rivers. The 
 Indian name for the place was Pal-lah - 
 chun. Whilst residing there Mr. Clark was 
 in constant contact with these visiting 
 tribes ; he obtained their confidence, and 
 retains it to this day. 
 
 Whilst on a hunting trip, in the summer 
 of 1857, Mr. Clark discovered and made 
 known to the public the famous Big Tree 
 Grove, now known all over the world as the 
 " Mariposa Grove of Big Trees," belonging 
 to the State of California. On this expedi 
 tion he did not follow the route now 
 traveled, but came upon the grove at the 
 
xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 upper end, near the place where the road to 
 Wawona Point now branches off from the 
 main drive. The spot where he caught his 
 \ first view of the Big Trees has been appro 
 priately marked, and can be seen from the 
 stage road. 
 
 So impressed was Mr. Clark with the im 
 portance of his discovery, that he opened up 
 a good horse trail from Wawona to the 
 Trees, and shortly afterwards built a log 
 cabin in the grove, for the comfort and con 
 venience of visitors in bad or stormy 
 weather. This cabin became known as 
 " Galen s Hospice." 
 
 In the year 1864 the Congress of the 
 United States passed an Act, which was 
 approved in June of the same year, granting 
 to the State of California the " Yosemite 
 Valley " and the " Mariposa Grove of Big 
 Trees." This grant was made upon certain 
 conditions, which were complied with by the 
 State, and a Commission was appointed by 
 Governor Low to manage and govern the 
 Valley and the Big Tree Grove. Galen Clark 
 was, of course, selected as one of the com 
 missioners. He was subsequently appointed 
 Guardian of the Valley, and under his ad- 
 
INTRODUCTION. xv 
 
 ministration many needed improvements 
 were made and others suggested. Bridges 
 were built, roads constru ted on the floor of 
 the Valley, and trails laid out and finished to 
 various points of interest overlooking the 
 Valley itself. In a word, the Guardian did 
 everything possible with the limited means 
 at his disposal. 
 
 After serving twenty-four years, Mr. 
 Clark voluntarily retired from the position 
 of Guardian, carrying with him the respect 
 and admiration of every member of the 
 Commission, of all the residents of the 
 Valley, and of every visitor who enjoyed the 
 pleasure of his personal acquaintance. 
 
 As showing the opinion of those with 
 whom Mr. Clark was intimately and 
 officially associated for so long a time, the 
 following resolutions passed by the Board 
 of Commissioners upon his voluntary retire 
 ment from the office of Guardian, are herein 
 given : 
 
 WHEREAS, Galen Clark has for a long number 
 of years been closely identified with Yosemite 
 Valley, and has for a considerable portion of that 
 time been its Guardian; and 
 
 WHEREAS, he has now, by his own choice and 
 will, relinquished the trust confided in him and 
 retired into private life ; and 
 
xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 WHEREAS, his faithful and eminent services as 
 Guardian, his constant efforts to preserve, protect 
 and enhance the beauties of Yosemite ; his digni 
 fied, kindly and courteous demeanor to all who 
 have come to see and enjoy its wonders, and his 
 upright and noble life, deserve from us a fitting 
 recognition and memorial ; Now, Therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the cordial assurance of the 
 appreciation by this Commission of the efforts 
 and labors of Galen Clark, as Guardian of 
 Yosemite, in its behalf, be tendered and expressed 
 to him. 
 
 That we recognize in him a faithful, efficient 
 and worthy citizen and officer of this Commission 
 and of the State ; that he will be followed into 
 his retirement by the sincerest and best wishes of 
 this Commission, individually and as a body, 
 for continued long life and constant happiness. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is one of the 
 most modest of men ; but perfectly self- 
 reliant, and always actively engaged in some 
 useful work. He has resided in the Valley 
 for more than twenty summers, and has also 
 been a resident during many winters, and 
 his descriptions of the Valley, when wrapped 
 in snow and ice, are intensely interesting. 
 Though always ready to give information, 
 he is naturally reticent, and never forces his 
 stories or reminiscences upon visitors ; in 
 deed it requires some persuasion to hear him 
 talk about himself at all. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 For some years Mr. Clark was postmaster 
 of Yosemite ; and he has made many trips on 
 foot, both in winter and summer, in and out 
 of the Valley. 
 
 In September, 1903, this writer made a 
 trip through the high Sierras from Yosem 
 ite, and, upon reaching the top of the Valley, 
 Mr. Clark was met coming down the trail, 
 having in charge a party of his friends, 
 amongst whom was a lady with her two 
 small children. This was at a point 2700 
 feet above the floor of the Valley, which is 
 itself 4000 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 Needless to say, he is perfectly familiar 
 with all the mountain trails, and, notwith 
 standing his great age, he easily makes 
 long trips on foot and horseback which 
 would fatigue a much younger man. Mr. 
 Clark is thoroughly familiar with the flora, 
 fauna and geology of the Valley and its sur 
 roundings. His knowledge of botany is 
 particularly accurate, a knowledge gleaned 
 partly from books, but mainly from close 
 personal observation, the best possible 
 teacher. 
 
 His long residence in Yosemite has made 
 him familiar with every spot, his love for 
 
xviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Valley is deep and strong, and when he 
 departs this life his remains will rest close 
 to the Yosemite Falls, in the little grave 
 yard where other pioneers are buried. 
 
 With his own hands he has dug his grave, 
 and quarried his own tombstone from one 
 of the massive blocks of granite found in 
 the immediate neighborhood. His monu 
 ment now rests in his grave, and when it is 
 removed to receive his remains, will be used 
 to mark his last resting place. His grave is 
 surrounded by a neat fence, and trees, 
 shrubs and vines, which he has himself 
 planted, grow around in great profusion. 
 In each corner of the lot is a young Sequoia. 
 
 May it be many years before he is called 
 to occupy his last earthly tenement. 
 
 W. W. Foom 
 San Francisco, 
 
 February, 1904. 
 
INDIANS OF THE 
 YOSEMITE 
 
Photograph In/ Make. 
 
 YOSEMITK FALLS (CHO -LACK), 
 
 2,634 Feet. 
 
 Near the foot of these falls was located the village of Ah- wah - 
 uee, the Indian capital and residence of Chief Tenelya. 
 There were eight other villages In the Valley. 
 
4 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 chief, left the Mo nos, where he had been 
 born and brought up, and, gathering some 
 of his father s old tribe around him, visited 
 the Valley and claimed it as the birthright of 
 his people. He then became the founder of 
 a new tribe or band, which received the 
 name " Yo-sem -i-te." This word signifies 
 a full-grown grizzly bear, and Teneiya said 
 that the name had been given to his band 
 because they occupied the mountains and 
 valleys which were the favorite resort of the 
 grizzly bears, and his people were expert in 
 killing them ; that his tribe had adopted the 
 name because those who had bestowed it 
 were afraid of the grizzlies, and also feared 
 his band. 
 
 The Yosemites were perhaps the most 
 warlike of any of the tribes in this part of 
 the Sierra Xevada Mountains, who were, as 
 a rule, a peaceful people, dividing the terri 
 tory among them, and indulging in few con- 
 troversies. In fact, these Indians in general 
 were less belligerent and warlike than any 
 others on the Pacific Coast. When difficul 
 ties arose, they were usually settled peace 
 fully by arbitration, in a grand council of 
 
EARLY HISTOKF. 
 
 the chiefs and head men of i 
 
 volved, wttbocrr 
 
 Other barjd< -of Indian? in ttbe TxM 
 the Yosemh* Vallev wsre ^je Bo-biv- 
 irhc- Irrsed ue^r tbe r:A."^-;.reis o 
 -Tjo or Biidal Val 
 and on the Scin 
 
 in TrrnteT, aVert 
 
 : the Pcv-t 
 the Merced Tviver : 
 rmine Ivrrer: Xoci -chcics 
 la^ ChowchiRa Valle: 
 
 San 
 
 ^e triV*. rah?dmc th 
 ne all sorrsesrhat atfiKa^ed ^T 
 cestry c- br intenTvarna^, aud 
 in their ^pnral cba-na^eri<6cs and cnstx 
 The were aB catkvl by the earfy CaSforai* 
 D%^w Tm^an^ " as a iserm ^ 
 isJon, on accocnt oC thesr 
 
 and from their p 
 
 the tc^ert>n< rxvss of certain native 
 food 
 
6 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 INDIAN WAR OF 1851. 
 
 Dr. Bunnell, in his book already referred 
 to, has given the soldiers and white men s 
 account of the cause of the Indian war of 
 1851, but a statement of the grievances on 
 the part of the Indians, which caused the 
 uniting of all the different tribes in the min 
 ing region adjacent to Yosemite, in an at 
 tempt to drive the white invaders from their 
 country, has never been published, and a 
 brief account of these grievances may be 
 interesting. 
 
 AGGRESSIONS BY THE WHITE SETTLERS. 
 
 The first parties of prospecting miners 
 were welcomed by the Indians with their 
 usual friendliness and hospitality toward 
 strangers a universal characteristic of 
 these tribes, and the mining for gold was 
 watched with great interest. They soon 
 learned the value of the gold dust, and some 
 of them engaged in mining, and exchanged 
 their gold at the trading stations for 
 blankets and fancy trinkets, at an enormous 
 profit to the traders, and peace and good 
 feeling prevailed for a short time. 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 7 
 
 The reports of the rich gold " dig-gin s" 
 on the waters of the Tuolumne, Merced, 
 Mariposa, Chowchilla, and Fresno Rivers, 
 soon spread, and miners by thousands came 
 and took possession of the whole country, 
 paying no regard to the natural rights or 
 wishes of the Indians. 
 
 Some of the Indian chiefs made the 
 proposition that if the miners would give 
 them some of the gold which they found in 
 their part of the country, they might stay 
 and work. This offer was not listened to by 
 the miners, and a large majority of the 
 white invaders treated the natives as though 
 they had no rights whatever to be respected. 
 In some instances, where Indians had found 
 and were working good mining claims, they 
 were forcibly driven away by white miners, 
 who took possession of their claims and 
 worked them. 
 
 Moreover, the Indians saw that their 
 main sources of food supply were being 
 rapidly destroyed. The oak trees, which 
 produced the acorns one of their staple 
 articles of food, were being cut down and 
 burned by miners and others in clearing up 
 land for cultivation, and the deer and other 
 
Copyrighted Photograph by Boysen. 
 
 AN INDIAN DANCER. 
 Chow-chll-la Indian in full war-dance costume. 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 9 
 
 food game were being rapidly killed off or 
 driven from the locality. 
 
 In the " early days," before California 
 was admitted as a free State into the Union, 
 it was reported, and was probably true, that 
 some of the immigrants from the slave- 
 holding States took Indians and made slaves 
 of them in working their mining claims. It 
 was no uncommon event for the sanctity of 
 their homes and families to be invaded by 
 some of the " baser sort," and young women 
 taken, willing or not, for servants and wives. 
 
 RETALIATION. 
 
 In retaliation, and as some compensation 
 for these many grievous outrages upon their 
 natural inalienable rights of domain and 
 property, and their native customs, the 
 Indians stole horses and mules from the 
 white settlers, and killed them for food for 
 their families, who, in many instances, were 
 in a condition of starvation. 
 
 Finally the chiefs and leading men of all 
 the tribes involved met in a grand council, 
 and resolved to combine their warrior forces 
 in one great effort to drive all their white 
 enemies from the country, before they 
 became more numerous and formidable. 
 
TO INDIANS OF/THE Y OS EM IT E. 
 BEGINNING OF HOSTILITIES. 
 
 To prepare for this struggle for exist 
 ence, they made raids upon some of the 
 principal trading posts in the mining sec 
 tions, killed those in charge, took all the 
 blankets, clothing and provisions they could 
 carry away, and fled to the mountains, 
 where they \vere soon pursued by the sol 
 diers and volunteer citizens, and a spirited 
 battle was fought without any decisive ad 
 vantage to either side. 
 
 The breaking out of actual hostilities 
 created great excitement among the whites, 
 and an urgent call was made upon the Gov 
 ernor of the State for a military force to 
 meet the emergency, and protect the settlers 
 a force strong enough to thoroughly sub 
 due the Indians, and remove all of them to 
 reservations to be selected by the United 
 States Indian Commissioners for that 
 purpose. 
 
 Meantime the Governor and the Com 
 missioners, who had then arrived, were 
 receiving numerous communications, many 
 of them from persons in high official posi 
 tions, earnestly urging a more humane and 
 just policy, averring that the Indians had 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 11 
 
 real cause for complaint, that they had been 
 " more sinned against than sinning " since 
 the settling of California by the whites, and 
 that they were justly entitled to protection 
 by the Government and compensation for 
 the spoliations and grievances they had 
 suffered. 
 
 These protests doubtless had some in 
 fluence in delaying hostile measures, and in 
 the inauguration of efforts to induce the 
 Indians to come in and treat with the Com 
 missioners, envoys being sent out to assure 
 them of fair treatment and personal safety. 
 Many of the Indians accepted these offers, 
 and, as the different tribes surrendered, they 
 were taken to the two reservations which 
 the Commissioners had established for them 
 on the Fresno River, the principal one being 
 a few miles above the place where the town 
 of Madera is now located. 
 
 As before stated, these Indians were not 
 a warlike people. Their only weapons were 
 their bows and arrows, and these they soon 
 found nearly useless in . defending them 
 selves at long range against soldiers armed 
 with rifles. Moreover, their stock of provi- 
 
12 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 sions was so limited that they either had to 
 surrender or starve. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF YOSDMITE 
 
 The Yosemites and one or two other bands 
 of Indians had refused to surrender, and 
 had retreated to their mountain strongholds, 
 where they proposed to make a last deter 
 mined resistance. Active preparations were 
 accordingly made by the State authorities to 
 follow them, and either capture or exter 
 minate all the tribes involved. For this pur 
 pose a body of State volunteers, known as 
 the Mariposa Battalion, was organized, 
 under the command of Major James D. 
 Savage, to pursue these tribes into the 
 mountains ; and, after many long marches 
 and some righting, the Indians were all de 
 feated, captured, and, with their women and 
 children, put upon the reservations under 
 strong military guard. 
 
 It was during this campaign that 
 Major Savage and his men discovered the 
 Yosemite Valley, about the 2ist of March, 
 1851, while in pursuit of the Yosemites, 
 under old Chief Teneiya, for whom Lake 
 Teneiya and Teneiya Canyon have appro 
 priately been named. 
 
Photograph by Foleij. 
 
 THREE: BROTHERS (WAW-IIAW -KEE), 
 
 3,900 Feet. 
 
 Named by the soldiers who discovered the Valley, to com 
 memorate the capture of the three sons of Tenelya near 
 this place The Indian name means "Falling Rocks." 
 
Stun. 
 
 EFFECTS OF THE WAR. 
 
 The Yosemites and all of the other tribes 
 named in the previous chapter were put 
 upon the Fresno reservation. Major Sav 
 age, who had been the leading figure in the 
 war against the Indians, was perhaps their 
 best friend while in captivity, and finally 
 lost his life in a personal quarrel, while 
 resenting a wrong which had been com 
 mitted against them. 
 
 The tribes from south of the San Joaquin 
 River, who were also conquered in 1851, 
 were put upon the Kings River and Tejon 
 (Tay-hone ) reservations. 
 
 UFE ON THE) RESERVATIONS. 
 
 Ample food supplies, blankets, clothing 
 and cheap fancy articles were furnished by 
 the Government for the subsistence, com 
 fort and pleasure of the Indians on the res 
 ervations, and for a short time they seemed 
 to be contented, and to enjoy the novelty 
 of their new mode of life. The young, able- 
 bodied men were put to work assisting in 
 
EFFECTS OF THE WAR. 15 
 
 clearing, fencing and cultivating fields for 
 hay and vegetables, and thus they were par 
 tially self-supporting. A large portion of 
 them, however, soon began to tire of the 
 restraints imposed, and longed for their 
 former condition of freedom, and many of 
 them sickened and died. 
 
 Old Teneiya, chief of the " Grizzlies," 
 was particularly affected by the change in 
 his surroundings, and by the humiliation of 
 defeat. He suffered keenly from the hot 
 weather of the plains, after his free life in 
 the mountains, and begged to be allowed to 
 return to his old home, promising not to dis 
 turb the white settlers in any way, a pledge 
 which he did not break. 
 
 DEATH OF TENEIYA. 
 
 Teneiya was finally allowed to depart, 
 with his family, after having been on the 
 reservation only a few months, and some of 
 his old followers afterwards stole away and 
 joined him. With this remnant of his band 
 he returned to the Yosemite, but not long 
 afterwards they were set upon by the 
 Monos, a tribe from the eastern side of the 
 Sierras, with whom they had quarreled, and 
 the old chief and many of his warriors were 
 
16 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 killed. It was perhaps fitting that he should 
 meet his death in the valley which he loved, 
 and which he had so long defended against 
 his enemies. 
 
 RESTORED TO LIBERTY. 
 
 In 1855, after four years of confinement 
 on the reservations, an agreement war made 
 with the Indian Commissioners, by the head 
 men of the tribes, that if their people were 
 again allowed their freedom, they would 
 forever remain in peace with the white set 
 tlers, and try and support themselves free of 
 expense to the Government. They were 
 soon permitted to leave, and have ever since 
 faithfully kept their promise. 
 
 Most of them went back to the vicinity of 
 their old homes, and made temporary settle 
 ments on unoccupied Government land, as 
 many of their old village sites were now in 
 possession of white settlers. As there was a 
 very large crop of acorns that season, they 
 gathered an abundant supply for winter use, 
 and, with what was given to them in the 
 way of food and clothing by some of the 
 white settlers, they managed to get through 
 the winter fairly well. 
 
Photograph by Foley. 
 
 CAPTAIN PAUL. 
 
 One of the characters of the Valley. Supposed to be at least 
 105 years old, and a survivor of Tenelya s band. 
 
i8 INDIANS OF THE YOSEM1TE. 
 
 HARDSHIP AND SUFFERING. 
 
 Their four years residence on the reser 
 vations, however, had been more of a school 
 in the vices of the whites than one of a 
 higher education. They became demoral 
 ized socially, addicted to many bad habits, 
 and left the reservations in worse condition 
 than when they were taken there. Their old 
 tribal relations and customs were nearly 
 broken up, though they still had their head 
 men to whom they looked for counsel in all 
 important matters. 
 
 As the country became more settled, much 
 of their main food supply, the acorns, was 
 consumed by the domestic animals of the 
 ranchers, and their mode of living became 
 more precarious and transitory, and many 
 of them were, at times, in a condition near 
 to starvation. In these straitened and 
 desperate circumstances, many of their 
 young women were used as commercial 
 property, and peddled out to the mining 
 camps and gambling saloons for money to 
 buy food, clothing or whisky, this latter arti 
 cle being obtained through the aid of some 
 white person, in violation of law. 
 
EFFECTS OF THE WAR. 19 
 
 Their miserable, squalid condition of liv 
 ing opened the way for diseases of a malig 
 nant character, which their medicine men 
 could not cure, and their numbers were rap 
 idly reduced by death. 
 
 At the present time there are not in exist 
 ence a half-dozen of the old Yosemites who 
 were living, even as children, when the Val 
 ley was first discovered in 1851 ; and many 
 of the other tribes have been correspond 
 ingly reduced. 
 
Photograph by Jloysen. 
 
 YOSEMIT MOTHER AND PAPOOSE). 
 
 The baby basket is carried on the back, like all burdens, and 
 supported by a band across the forehead. 
 
CUSTOMS AND CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 As stated in a previous chapter, all of the 
 Indian tribes occupying the region in the 
 vicinity of the Yosemite Valley were mdre 
 or less affiliated by blood and intermarriage, 
 and resembled each other in their customs, 
 characteristics and religious beliefs. What 
 is said, therefore, on these subjects in the 
 following pages, will be understood to apply 
 generally to all of the tribes which have 
 been mentioned as inhabiting this region, 
 although, of course, minor differences did 
 exist, principally due to environment. As in 
 the case of all primitive peoples, their mode 
 of life, food supply, etc., were largely deter 
 mined by natural conditions, and the tribes 
 living in the warm foot-hills differed some 
 what in these respects from those dwelling 
 higher in the mountains. 
 
 DIVISION OF TERRITORY. 
 
 In their original tribal settlements, at the 
 time the first pioneer whites came among 
 them, the Indians had well defined or under- 
 
22 INDIANS OF THE YO SEMITE. 
 
 stood boundary lines, between the territories 
 claimed by each tribe for their exclusive use 
 in hunting game and gathering means of 
 support ; and any trespassing on the domain 
 of others was likely to cause trouble. This 
 arrangement, however, did not apply to the 
 higher ranges of the Sierras, which were 
 considered common hunting ground. 
 
 COMMERCE AMONG THE TRIBES. 
 
 As there was a difference in the natural 
 products and resources of different sections 
 of the country, there was a system of recip 
 rocal trade in the exchange of the differ 
 ent desirable commodities. Sometimes com 
 merce between tribes extended for a long 
 distance, as, for instance, the Indians on the 
 western side of the Sierra Nevada Moun 
 tains were entirely dependent upon the 
 Pai-utes (Pye-yutes ) on the eastern side 
 for the obsidian, a kind of volcanic glass, 
 from which they made the points for their 
 most deadly arrows, used in hunting large 
 game or when in mortal combat with their 
 enemies. They were also dependent upon 
 the Pai-utes for their supply of salt for 
 domestic use, which came in solid blocks as 
 
CUSTOMS AND CHARACTERISTICS. 23 
 
 quarried from salt mines, said to be two 
 days travel on foot from Mono Lake. 
 
 From the Indians at or near the Catholic 
 Missions to the South, on the Pacific Coast, 
 they got their hunting knives of iron or 
 steel, and sea shells of various kinds, for 
 personal or dress ornaments, and also to be 
 used as money. From the same source they 
 obtained beads of various forms, sizes and 
 colors, cheap jewelry and other fancy arti 
 cles, a few blankets, and pieces of red bunt 
 ing, strips of which the chiefs and head 
 men wore around their heads as badges, in 
 dicating their official positions. 
 
 COMMUNICATION. 
 
 They had a very efficient system of 
 quickly spreading important news by relays 
 of special couriers, who took the news to 
 the first stations or tribes in different direc 
 tions, where others took the verbal dispatches 
 and ran to the next station, and so on, so 
 that all tribes within an area of a hundred 
 miles would get the good or bad tidings 
 within a few hours. Tn this manner impor 
 tant communication was kept up between 
 the different tribes. 
 
24 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 They also had well organized signal sys 
 tems, by fires in the night and smoke by 
 day, on high points of observation varia 
 tions in the lights (either steady, bright or 
 flashing) indicating somewhat the character 
 of the tidings thus given. 
 
 DWJXUNGS. 
 
 Their winter huts, or o -chums, as they 
 termed them, were invariably of a conical 
 form, made with small poles, and covered 
 with the bark of the incense cedar (Liboce- 
 drus dccurrens). A few poles ten or twelve 
 feet long were set in the ground around an 
 area of about twelve feet in diameter, with 
 their tops inclined together. The outside 
 was then closely covered with long strips of 
 the cedar bark, making it perfectly water 
 tight. An opening was left on the south 
 side for an entrance, which could be readily 
 closed with a portable door. An opening- 
 was also left at the top for the escape of the 
 smoke, a fire being kindled in the center 
 inside. 
 
 One of these huts would hold a family of 
 a half-dozen persons, with all their house 
 hold property, dogs included ; and there is 
 
Di-dirhnj by /oryeitxoi. 
 
 INDIAN (/-CHUM. 
 
26 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 no other form of a single-room dwelling 
 that can be kept warm and comfortable in 
 cold weather with so little fire, as this Indian 
 o -c/inm. 
 
 Their under-bedding usually consisted of 
 the skins of bears, deer, antelope or elk, and 
 the top covering was a blanket or robe made 
 of the skins of small fur-bearing animals, 
 such as rabbits, hares, wildcats and foxes. 
 The skins were cut in narrow strips, which 
 were loosely twisted so as to bring the fur 
 entirely around on the outside, and then 
 woven into a warp of strong twine made of 
 the fine, tough, fibrous bark of a variety of 
 milkweed (Asclepias spcciosa). These fur 
 robes were very warm, and were also used 
 as wraps when traveling in cold weather. 
 
 During the warm summer season they 
 generally lived outside in brush arbors, and 
 used their o -chums as storage places. 
 
 CLOTHING. 
 
 Their clothing was very simple and scant, 
 before being initiated into the use of a more 
 ample and complete style of covering while 
 living at the reservations. The ordinary full 
 complement of dress for a man (Nung -ah) 
 
Drawing by Jorgensen. 
 
 YOSEMITE MAIDEN IN NATIVE DRESS. 
 
 This buckskin costume has now been replaced by the un- 
 picturesque calico of civilization. 
 
28 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 was simply a breech-clout, or short hip-skirt 
 made of skins; that for a woman (O -hoh) 
 was a skirt reaching from the waist to the 
 knees, made of dressed deer-skin finished at 
 the bottom with a slit fringe, and sometimes 
 decorated with various fancy ornaments. 
 Both men and women frequently wore 
 moccasins made of dressed deer or elk skin. 
 Young dhildren generally went entirely 
 nude. 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 The Indians of the various tribes in this 
 part of the Sierras vary somewhat in physi 
 cal characteristics, but in general are of 
 medium height, strong, lean and agile, and 
 the men are usually fine specimens of man 
 hood. They are rather light in color, but 
 frequently rub their bodies with some kind 
 of oil, which gives the flesh a much redder 
 and more glossy appearance. The hair is 
 black and straight, and the eyes are black 
 and deep set. The beard is sparse, and in 
 former times was not allowed to grow at 
 all, each hair being pulled out with a rude 
 kind of tweezers. They are naturally of a 
 gentle and friendly disposition, but their 
 
CUSTOMS AND CHARACTERISTICS. 29 
 
 experience with the white race has made 
 them distant and uncommunicative to 
 strangers. 
 
 Most of the older Indians still cling to 
 their old customs >and manner of living, and 
 are very slow to learn or talk our language, 
 but the younger ones are striving to live like 
 the white people, and seem proud to adopt 
 our style of dress and manner of cooking. 
 They all speak our language plainly, and 
 some few of them attend the public schools 
 when living near by, and acquire very read 
 ily the common rudiments of an education. 
 
 Their style of architecture is in a state 
 of transition, like themselves. Their old 
 o -chum form of dwelling is now very sel 
 dom seen a rude building of more roomy 
 and modern design having taken its place. 
 
 All the able-bodied men &re ready and 
 willing to work at any kind of common 
 labor, when they have an opportunity, and 
 have learned to want nearly the same 
 amount of pay as a white man for the same 
 work. 
 
 As a rule, they are trustworthy, and when 
 confidence is placed in their honesty it is 
 very rarely betrayed. During nearly the 
 
30 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 past fifty years, a great many thousands of 
 people have visited the Yosemite Valley 
 with their own camping outfits, and, during 
 the day, and often all night, are absent on 
 distant trips of observation, with no one left 
 in charge of camp, yet there has never to my 
 knowledge been an instance of anything 
 being stolen or molested by Indians. There 
 are, however, some dishonest Indians, who 
 will steal from their own people, and some 
 times, when a long distance from their own 
 camp, they may steal from the whites. A 
 few, if they can get whisky, through the 
 aid of some white person, will become drunk 
 and fight . among themselves, and occasion 
 ally one of them may be killed; but, as a 
 rule, they are peaceful and orderly, and hold 
 sacred the promise made to the Indian Com 
 missioners by the old tribal chiefs, when re 
 leased from confinement on the reservations, 
 that they would forever keep the peace, and 
 never again make war against the white 
 people. 
 
(Uljapier Jfaur. 
 
 SOURCES OF FOOD SUPPLY. 
 
 The food supply of the Sierra Indians 
 was extensive and abundant, consisting of 
 the flesh of deer, antelope, elk and mustang 
 horses, together with fish, water-fowls, 
 birds, acorns, berries, pine nuts, esculent 
 herbage and the tuberous roots of certain 
 plants, all of which were easily obtained, 
 even with their simple and limited means of 
 securing them. Mushrooms, fungi, grass 
 hoppers, worms and the larvae of ants and 
 other insects, were also eaten, and some 
 of these articles were considered great 
 delicacies. 
 
 J1UNTING. 
 
 Their main effective weapons for hunting 
 large game were their bows and obsidian- 
 pointed arrows. Their manner of hunting 
 was either by the stealthy still hunt, or a 
 general turn-out, surrounding a large area 
 of favorable country and driving to a com 
 mon center, where at close range the 
 
H S 
 ^ 
 
 w *i 
 
 I 
 
 w * 
 
 S s 
 
 frJ 
 t/1 "^ 
 
 o s 
 
FOOD SUPPLY. 33 
 
 hunters could sometimes make an extensive 
 slaughter. 
 
 When on the still hunt for deer in the 
 brushy, sparsely timbered foothills of the 
 Sierra Range of mountains, or higher up in 
 the extensive forests, some of the hunters 
 wore for a headgear a false deer s head, by 
 which deceptive device they were enabled to 
 get to a closer and more effective range with 
 their bows and arrows. This head-dress 
 was made of the whole skin of a doe s head, 
 with a part of the neck, the head part stuffed 
 with light material, the eyeholes filled in 
 with the green feathered scalp of a duck s 
 head, and the top furnished with light 
 wooden horns, the branching stems of the 
 manzanita (Arctostaphylos) being generally 
 used for this purpose. The neck part was 
 made to fit on the hunter s head and fasten 
 with strings tied under the chin. This 
 unique style of headgear was used by some 
 Indian hunters for many years after they 
 had guns to hunt with. 
 
 The high ranges of the mountains, as 
 already stated, were considered common 
 hunting ground by the different tribes. The 
 deer, many of them, were in some degree 
 
T 
 
 Q 
 
 1 
 
FOOD SUPPLY. 35 
 
 migratory in their habits, being driven from 
 the higher ranges to the foothills by the 
 deep winter snows, and in the spring follow 
 ing close to the melting, receding snow, back 
 again to their favorite summer haunts. 
 
 Late in the summer, or early in the fall, 
 just before holding some of their grand 
 social or sacred festivals, the Indian hunters 
 would make preparation for a big hunt in 
 the mountains, to get a good supply of veni 
 son for the feast. One of the first absolute 
 prerequisites was to go through a thorough 
 course of sweating and personal cleansing. 
 This was done by resorting to their sweat 
 houses, which were similar in construction 
 to the o - chums, except that the top was 
 rounded and the whole structure was cov 
 ered thickly with mud and earth to exclude 
 the air. These houses were heated with hot 
 stones and coals of fire, and the hunters 
 would then crawl into them and remain until 
 in a profuse perspiration, when they would 
 come out and plunge into cold water for 
 a wash-off. This was repeated until they 
 thought themselves sufficiently free from all 
 bodily odor so that the deer could not detect 
 their approach by scent, and flee for safety. 
 
36 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 After this purification they kept them 
 selves strictly as celibates until the hunt was 
 over, though their women went along to 
 help carry the outfit, keep camp, cook, search 
 for berries and pine nuts, and assist in 
 bringing to camp and taking care of the 
 deer as killed, and in " packing " the meat 
 out to the place of rendezvous appointed for 
 the grand ceremonies and feast. 
 
 Their usual manner of cooking fresh meat 
 was by broiling on hot coals, or roasting 
 before the fire or in the embers. Sometimes, 
 however, they made a cavity in the ground, 
 in which they built a fire, which was after 
 wards cleared away and the cavity lined 
 with very hot stones, on which they placed 
 the meat wrapped in green herbage, and 
 covered it with other hot rocks and earth, to 
 remain until suitably cooked. 
 
 When they had a surplus of fresh meat 
 they cut it in strips and hung it in the sun 
 shine to dry. The dried meat was generally 
 cooked by roasting in hot embers, and then 
 beaten to soften it before being eaten. 
 
 A young hunter never ate any of the first 
 deer he killed, as he believed that if he did 
 
FOOD SUPPLY. 37 
 
 so he would never succeed in killing 
 another. 
 
 FISHING. 
 
 They had various methods of catching 
 fish with hook and line, with a spear, by 
 weir-traps in the stream, and by saturating 
 the water with the juice of the soap-root 
 plant (Chloro galum pomeridiannm} . Be 
 fore they could obtain fishhooks of modern 
 make, they made them of bone. Their lines 
 were made of the tough, fibrous, silken bark 
 of the variety of milkweed or silkweed, 
 already mentioned. Their spears were 
 small poles pointed with a single tine of 
 bone, which was so arranged that it became 
 detached by the struggles of the fish, and 
 was then held by a string fastened near its 
 center, which turned it crosswise of the 
 wound and make it act as an effective barb. 
 
 Their weir-traps were put in the rapids, 
 and constructed by building wing dams 
 diagonally down to the middle of the stream 
 until the two ends came near together, and 
 in this narrow outlet was placed a sort of 
 wicker basket trap, made of long willow 
 sprouts loosely woven together and closed 
 
38 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 at the pointed lower end, which was ele 
 vated above the surface of the water below 
 the dam. The fish, in going down stream, 
 ran into this trap, and soon found them 
 selves at the lower end and out of the water. 
 
 The soap-root was used at a low stage 
 of water, late in summer. They dug several 
 bushels of the bulbous roots and went to a 
 suitable place on the bank, where the roots 
 were pounded into a pulp, and mixed with 
 soil and water. This mixture, by the hand 
 ful, was then rubbed on rocks out in the 
 stream, which roiled the water and also 
 made it somewhat foamy. The fish were 
 soon affected by it, became stupid with a 
 sort of strangulation, and rose to the sur 
 face, where they were easily captured by 
 the Indians with their scoop baskets. In a 
 stream the size of the South Fork of the 
 Merced River at Wawona, by this one oper 
 ation every fish in it for a distance of three 
 miles would be taken in a few hours. 
 
 The fish were generally cooked by roast 
 ing on hot coals from Burned oak wood or 
 bark. 
 
 ACORNS AS FOOD. 
 
 Acorns were their main staple article of 
 breadstuff, and they are still used by the 
 

 *^ 
 
 : 
 
 Drairiiifj IHJ J/ir-s. Joryoisen. 
 
 CHUCK -AH. 
 
 Storehouse for nuts anil aeorns, thatched with pine branches, 
 points downward, to keep out mice and squirrels. 
 
40 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 present generation whenever they can be 
 obtained. 
 
 They are gathered in the fall when ripe, 
 and are preserved for future use in the old 
 style Indian cache or storehouse. This con 
 sists of a structure which they call a 
 chuck -ah, which is a large basket-shaped 
 receptacle made of long willow sprouts 
 closely woven together. It is usually about 
 six feet high and three feet in diameter. It 
 is set upon stout posts about three feet high, 
 and supported in position by four longer 
 posts on the outside, reaching to the top, and 
 there bound firmly to keep them from 
 spreading. The outside of the basket is 
 thatched with small pine branches, points 
 downward, to shed the rain and snow, and 
 to protect the contents from the depreda 
 tions of squirrels and woodpeckers. When 
 rilled, the top also is securely covered with 
 bark, as a protection from the winter storms. 
 When the acorns are wanted for use, a small 
 hole is made at the bottom of the chuck -ah, 
 and they are taken out from time to time, 
 as required. 
 
 The acorns from the black or Kellogg s 
 oak (Quercus Calif ornica) are considered 
 
FOOD SUPPLY. 41 
 
 much the best and most nutritious by the 
 Indians. This is the oak which is so beau 
 tiful and abundant in the Yosemite Valley. 
 
 These acorns are quite bitter, and are not 
 eaten in their natural condition, as most 
 fruit and nuts are eaten, but have to be 
 quite elaborately prepared and cooked to 
 make them palatable. First, the hull is 
 cracked and removed, and the kernel 
 pounded or ground into a fine meal. In the 
 Yosemite Valley and at other Indian camps 
 in the mountains, this is done by grinding 
 with their stone pestles or metats 
 (may-fat s) in the ho yas or mortars, worn 
 by long usage in large flat-top granite rocks, 
 one of which is near every Indian camp. 
 Lower down in the foothills, where there are 
 no suitable large rocks for these permanent 
 mortars, the Indians used single portable 
 stone mortars for this purpose. 
 
 After the acorns are ground to a fine 
 meal, the next process is to take out the 
 bitter tannin principle. This is done in the 
 following manner: They make large shal 
 low basins in clean washed sand, in the cen 
 ter of which are laid a few flat, fan-like ends 
 of fir branches. A fire is then made near by, 
 
FOOD SUPPLY. 43 
 
 and small stones of four or five pounds in 
 weight are heated, with which they warm 
 water in some of their large cooking baskets, 
 and mix the acorn meal with it to the con 
 sistency of thin gruel. This mixture is 
 poured into the sand basins, and as the 
 water leaches out into the sand it takes with 
 it the bitter quality the warm water being 
 renewed until all the bitter taste is washed 
 out from the meal sediment, or dough. 
 
 This is then taken, and, after being 
 cleansed from the adhering sand, is put into 
 cooking baskets, thinned down with hot 
 water to the desired condition, and cooked 
 by means of hot stones which are held in it 
 with two sticks for tongs. The mush, while 
 cooking, is stirred with a peculiar stirring 
 stick, made of a tough oak sprout, doubled 
 so as to form a round, open loop at one end, 
 which is used in lifting out any loose stones. 
 When the dough is well cooked, it is either 
 left en masse in the baskets or scooped out in 
 rolls and put into cold vater to cool and 
 harden before being eaten. Sometimes the 
 thick paste is made into cakes and baked on 
 hot rocks. One of these cakes, when rolled 
 in paper, will in a short time saturate it with 
 
44 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 oil. This acorn food is probably more nutri 
 tious than any of the cereals. 
 
 INDIAN DOGS. 
 
 The Indian dogs, of which every family 
 had several, are as fond of the acorn food 
 as their owners. These dogs are made use 
 ful in treeing wild-cats, California lions and 
 gray squirrels, and are very expert in catch 
 ing ground squirrels by intercepting them 
 when away from their burrows, and when 
 the Indians drown them out in the early 
 spring by turning water from the flooded 
 streams into their holes. 
 
 As far as can be learned, dogs were 
 about the only domestic animals which the 
 Yosemites, and other adjacent tribes of 
 Indians, kept for use before the country was 
 settled by the white people. 
 
 NUTS AND BARRIES. 
 
 Pine nuts were another important article 
 of food, and were much prized by the In 
 dians. They are very palatable and nutri 
 tious, and are also greatly relished by whtye 
 people whenever they can be obtained. The 
 seeds of the Digger or nut pine (Piniis 
 Sabiniana) were the ones most used on the 
 
FOOD SUPPLY. 45 
 
 western side of the Sierras, although the 
 seeds of the sugar pine (P. Lambertiana) 
 were also sometimes eaten. On account of 
 their soft shell, nuts from the pifion 
 pine (P. monophytla), which grows princi 
 pally on the eastern side of the mountains, 
 were considered superior to either of the 
 other kinds, and were an important article 
 of barter with the tribes of that region. 
 All of these trees are very prolific, and their 
 crop of nuts in fruitful years has been 
 estimated to be even greater than the enor 
 mous wheat crop of California, although of 
 course but a very small portion of it is ever 
 gathered. Many other kinds of nuts and 
 seeds were also eaten. 
 
 The principal berries used by the Indians 
 of Yosemite and tribes lower down in the 
 foothills were those of the manzanita (Arc- 
 tostaphylos glauca). They are about the 
 size of Huckleberries, of a light brown color, 
 and when ripe have the flavor of dried 
 apples. They are used for eating, and also 
 to make a kind of cider for drinking, and 
 for mixing with some food preparations. 
 Manzanita is the Spanish for " little apple," 
 and this shrub, with its rich red bark and 
 
46 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 pale green foliage, is perhaps the most beau 
 tiful and most widely distributed in Cali 
 fornia. Strawberries, black raspberries, 
 elderberries, wild cherries and the fruit 
 of the Sierra plum (Primus sub cor data] are 
 also used by the Indians, but wild edible 
 berries are not as plentiful in California as 
 they are in the Atlantic States. 
 
 GRASSHOPPERS AND WORMS. 
 
 In addition to the staple articles of food 
 already mentioned, many other things were 
 eaten when they could be obtained. These 
 included grasshoppers, certain kinds of 
 large tree worms, the white fungi which 
 grows upon the oak, mushrooms, and the 
 larvae and pupae of ants and other insects. 
 The pupae of a certain kind of fly which 
 breeds extensively on the shores of Mono 
 Lake, about forty miles from Yosemite, was 
 an important article of commerce across,, the 
 mountains, and was made into a kind of 
 paste called ka-cha -vee, which is still much 
 relished by the Indians, and is a prominent 
 dish at their feasts. 
 
 The manner of catching grasshoppers was 
 to dig a large hole, somewhat in the shape 
 
Photograph by Fiske. 
 
 A WOOD GATHERER. 
 As In all Indian tribes, the women do most of the work. 
 
4 8 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 of a fly trap, with the bottom larger than the 
 opening at the top, so that the insects could 
 not readily get out of it. This hole was dug 
 in the center of a meadow, which was then 
 surrounded by Indians armed with small 
 boughs, who beat the grasshoppers towards 
 a common center and drove them into the 
 trap. A fire was then kindled on top of 
 them, and after they had been well roasted 
 they were gathered up and stored for future 
 use. 
 
 Other articles of food were various kinds 
 of roots, grasses and herbage, some of 
 which were cooked, while others were eaten 
 in their natural condition. The lupine 
 (Lupinus bicolor and other species), whose 
 brilliant flowers are such a beautiful feature 
 of all the mountain meadows in the spring 
 and summer, was a favorite plant for mak 
 ing what white people would call " greens," 
 and when eaten was frequently moistened 
 with some of the manzanita cider already re 
 ferred to. Among the roots used for food 
 were those of the wild caraway (Carum), 
 wild hyacinth (Brodicea), sorrel (Oxalis}, 
 and camass (Camassia esculenta). 
 
RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND 
 BELIEFS. 
 
 The Indians of this region, in common 
 with most, if not all, of the North American 
 aborigines, were of a highly religious tem 
 perament, most devout in their beliefs and 
 observances, and easily wrought upon by 
 the priests or medicine men of their tribes. 
 Elaborate ceremonies were carried out, in 
 which all of the details were highly symboli 
 cal, and some of their curious and pictur 
 esque superstitions were responsible for 
 acts of cruelty and vengeance, which in 
 many cases were foreign to their natural 
 disposition. 
 
 DANCES. 
 
 Dancing was an important part of all 
 religious observances, and was practiced 
 purely as a ceremonial, and never for pleas 
 ure or recreation. Both men and women 
 took part, the men executing a peculiar 
 shuffling step which involved a great deal 
 of stamping upon the ground with their bare 
 
50 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 feet, and the women performing a curious, 
 sideways, swaying motion. Some of the 
 dancers carried wands or arrows, and in 
 dulged in wild gesticulations. They usually- 
 circled slowly around a fire, and danced to 
 the point of exhaustion, when others would 
 immediately take their places. The cere 
 mony was accompanied by the beating of 
 rude drums, and by a monotonous chant, 
 which was joined in by all the dancers. 
 
 The great occasions for dancing were 
 before going to war, and when cremating 
 the bodies of their dead. The war dance 
 was probably the most elaborate in costume 
 and other details, and of recent years the 
 Indians have sometimes given public ex 
 hibitions of what purported to be war 
 dances, but these performances, like every 
 thing else which they do from purely mer 
 cenary motives, are very poor imitations of 
 the originals, and it is doubtful if they have 
 ever allowed a genuine war dance to be wit 
 nessed by white men. 
 
 FESTIVALS. 
 
 The various tribes in the vicinity of 
 Yosemite Valley are accustomed to hold a 
 
CEREMONIES AND BELIEFS. 51 
 
 great meeting or festival once a year, each 
 tribe taking its turn as hosts, and the others 
 sometimes coming from considerable dis 
 tances. At these meetings there are dances 
 and other ceremonials, and also a grand 
 feast, for which extensive preparations are 
 made. Another feature of the occasion is 
 the presentation of gifts to the visit 
 ing tribes, consisting of money, blankets, 
 clothing, baskets, bead-work, or other valua 
 ble articles. These presents, or their equiv 
 alent, no matter how small they may be, are 
 always returned to the givers at the next 
 annual festival, together with additional 
 gifts, which, in turn, must be given back the 
 following year, and so on. 
 
 At these gatherings an Indian is ap 
 pointed to secure and keep on hand a good 
 supply of wood for the camp fires, and 
 every day he spreads a blanket on the 
 ground and sits on it, and the other Indians 
 throw money, clothing, or other contribu 
 tions, into the blanket, to pay him and his 
 assistants for their services. At other times 
 this man acts as a messenger or news car 
 rier first spreading his blanket to collect 
 
52 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 his fees, and then starting off on his 
 mission. 
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 Many of the Indians in Mariposa and 
 adjoining counties were polygamists, hav 
 ing two or three, and sometimes more, 
 wives. Some of the chiefs and head men 
 would have wives from several of the adja 
 cent tribes, which had a tendency to estab 
 lish permanent friendly relations among 
 them. 
 
 Every man who took a young woman for 
 his wife had to buy her. Young women 
 were considered by their parents as per 
 sonal chattels, subject to sale to the highest 
 suitable bidder, and the payment of the price 
 constituted the main part of the marriage 
 ceremony. The wife was then the personal 
 property of the husband, which he might sell 
 or gamble away if he wished ; but such in 
 stances were said to be very rare. In case- 
 negotiations for a marriage fell through, 
 the preliminary payments were scrupulously 
 returned to the rejected suitor by the 
 parents. 
 
 Even a widow, independent of control in 
 the matter of marriage, if she consented to 
 
Photograph 1>>/ Dore. 
 
 A YOUNG YOSKMITK. 
 
 The babies are tied to their baskets to make them straight, 
 and keep them out of mischief. 
 
54 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 become a man s wife, received some 
 compensation herself from her intended 
 husband. 
 
 It is said that in their marital relations 
 they were as a rule strictly faithful to each 
 other. If the woman was found to be guilty 
 of unfaithfulness to her husband, the pen 
 alty was death. Such a thing as a man 
 whipping or beating his wife was never 
 known. Whipping under any circumstances 
 was considered a more humiliating and dis 
 graceful punishment than death. 
 
 Even in the management of children, 
 whipping was never resorted to as punish 
 ment for disobedience. In fact, children 
 were always treated in such a kind, patient, 
 loving manner, that disobedience was a 
 fault rarely known. The pre-natal maternal 
 influence, and subsequent treatment after 
 birth, were such that they were naturally 
 patient and readily submissive to kind 
 parental control. 
 
 In recent years, under the influence and 
 examples often seen in what is called civil 
 ized life, Indian husbands have been known 
 to beat their wives, and mothers to whip 
 their children. 
 
Photograph inj Boysen. 
 
 AND VIRGIL. 
 
 The. canopy of the baby Ibasket is called Cho-ko -ni, and the 
 _ Royal Arches, from their resemblance to it, have also 
 received this name from the Indians. 
 
56 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 MEDICINE} MEN. 
 
 At the time of the settlement of California 
 by the whites, every Indian tribe had its 
 professional doctors or medicine men, who 
 also acted as religious leaders. They were 
 the confidential counselors of the chiefs and 
 head-men of the tribes, and had great in 
 fluence and control over the people. They 
 claimed to be spiritual mediums, and to have 
 communication with the departed spirits of 
 some of their old and most revered chief 
 tains and dear friends, now in a much more 
 happy condition than when here in earthly 
 life. They were thought to be endowed 
 with supernatural powers, not only in curing 
 all diseases (except those due to old age), 
 but also in making a well person sick at 
 their pleasure, even at a distance ; but when 
 their sorcery failed to w r ork on their white 
 enemies and exterminate them, they lost the 
 confidence of their followers to a large 
 extent. 
 
 With the invasion of the white settlers 
 came forced changes in their old customs 
 and manner of living, and a new variety of 
 epidemic and other diseases. When a doc 
 tor failed to cure these diseases, and several 
 
CEREMONIES AND BELIEFS. 57 
 
 deaths occurred in quick succession in a 
 camp, they believed the doctor was under 
 the control of some evil spirit, and killed 
 him. 
 
 After the Indians were given their free 
 dom from the reservations in 1855, the old 
 ones, subdued and broken-hearted, sickened 
 and died very fast, and most of the men 
 doctors were killed off in a few years. 
 There are none known who now attempt to 
 act in that capacity. 
 
 There are still some women doctors who 
 continue to practice the magic art, but as 
 there are now but very few Indians, there is 
 not so much sickness, and very few deaths in 
 a year, so that the doctors very rarely for 
 feit their lives by many of their patients 
 dying in quick succession. 
 
 Their most common mode of treatment in 
 cases of sickness was to scarify the painful 
 locality with the sharp edge of a piece of 
 obsidian, and suck out the blood with the 
 mouth. In cases of headache, the forehead 
 was operated on ; in a case of colic the abdo 
 men was treated in the same way, as were 
 also all painful swellings on any part of the 
 body. 
 
58 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 The grand object of the doctor was to 
 make the patient and family firmly believe 
 that his course of treatment was removing 
 the cause of the sickness. To aid in 
 strengthening this belief, after diagnosing 
 the case, and before commencing operations, 
 lie would quietly retire for a short time, 
 ostensibly to get under the influence of the 
 divine healing spirit, but in reality to fill 
 his mouth with several small articles, such 
 as bits of wood or stone ; he was then ready 
 to commence treatment. After sucking and 
 spitting pure blood a few times, he began 
 to spit out with the blood, one after another, 
 the things he had in his mouth, at the sight 
 of which all the attendants would join in a 
 chorus of grunts of astonishment, and the 
 doctor would pretend to be very much 
 nauseated. In most ordinary cases two or 
 three treatments effected a cure. 
 
 The doctors also made use of certain rare 
 medicinal plants in treating some diseases. 
 The Indian women have great faith in 
 charms made of the pungent roots of some 
 rare plants from the high mountain ranges, 
 which they wear on strings around their 
 
CEREMONIES AND BELIEFS. 59 
 
 necks, or on a string- of beads, to protect 
 them from sickness. 
 
 In cases of malignant sores or ulcers on 
 any part of the body, the doctors treated 
 them by applying dirt or earth, and in warm 
 weather would excavate a place in the 
 ground and put the patient in it, either in a 
 sitting or recumbent position, as the nature 
 of the case required, and cover the affected 
 part with earth for several hours daily. 
 Sometimes, by this mode of treatment, won 
 derful cures were made. 
 
 In all cases, if a doctor failed to cure a 
 disease, and the patient died, he was obliged 
 to refund to the relatives any fee which he 
 
 had received for his services. 
 
 NN_ 
 
 DISPOSING OF THE} DEAD. 
 
 In the early days of the settlement of Cali 
 fornia, it seemed to be the universal custom 
 of the Indians along the foothills of the 
 Sierra Nevada range of mountains to burn 
 the bodies of their dead. 
 
 A suitable pile of readily combustible 
 wood was prepared. The body was taken 
 charge of by persons chosen to perform the 
 last sacred rites, and firmly bound in skins 
 
6o INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 or blankets, and then placed upon the 
 funeral pyre, with all the personal effects 
 of the deceased, together with numerous 
 votive offerings from friends and relatives. 
 The chief mourners of the occasion seemed 
 to take but little active part in the cere 
 monies. When all was ready, one of the 
 assistants would light the fire, and the terri 
 ble, wailing, mournful cry would commence, 
 and the professional chanters, with peculiar 
 sidling movements and frantic gestures, 
 would circle round and round about the 
 burning pile. Occasionally, on arriving at 
 the northwest corner of the pile, they would 
 stop, and, pointing to the West, would end 
 a crying refrain by exclaiming " Him-i- 
 la -ya!" When these became exhausted, 
 others would step in and take their places, 
 and thus keep up the mournful ceremony 
 until the whole pile was consumed. 
 
 After the pile had cooled, the charred 
 bones and ashes were gathered up, a few 
 pieces of bone selected, and the remainder 
 buried. Of the pieces retained, some would 
 be sent to distant relatives, and the others 
 pounded to a fine powder, then mixed with 
 pine pitch and plastered on the faces of the 
 
CEREMONIES AND BELIEFS. 61 
 
 nearest female relatives as a badge of 
 mourning, to be kept there until it naturally 
 wore off. Every Indian camp used to have 
 some of these hideous looking old women in 
 it in the " early days." 
 
 One principal reason for burning the 
 bodies of the dead was the belief that there 
 is an evil spirit, waiting and watching for 
 the animating spirit or soul to leave the 
 body, that he may get it to take to his own 
 world of darkness and misery. By burning 
 the perishable body they thought that the 
 immortal soul would be more quickly re 
 leased and set free to speed to the happy 
 spirit world in the El-o -ivin } or far distant 
 West, while with their loud, wailing cries 
 the evil spirit was kept away. 
 
 The young women take great care of their 
 long, shining, black hair, of which they all 
 feel very proud, as adding much to their 
 personal beauty, ami they seldom have it cut 
 before marriage. But upon the death of a 
 husband the wife has her hair all cut off and 
 burned with his body, so that he may still 
 have it in his future spirit home, to love and 
 caress as a memento of his living earth-wife. 
 
CEREMONIES AND BELIEFS. 63 
 
 These Indians believe that everything on 
 earth, both natural and artificial, is endowed 
 with an immortal spirit, which is inde 
 structible, and that whatever personal prop 
 erty or precious gifts are burned, either 
 with the body or in later years for the de 
 parted friend s benefit, will be received and 
 made use of in the spirit world. In recent 
 years the Yosemites and other remnants of 
 tribes closely associated with them, have 
 adopted the custom of the white people, and 
 bury their dead. The fine, expensive 
 blankets, and most beautifully worked 
 baskets, which have been kept sacredly in 
 hiding for many years, to be buried with 
 the owner, are now cut into small frag 
 ments before being deposited in the ground, 
 for fear some white person will desecrate 
 the grave by digging them up and carrying 
 them away. 
 
 There are no people in the world who 
 show more reverence for their dead, or hold 
 their memory more sacred, than these so- 
 called " Digger " Indians. After being re 
 leased from the reservations they kept them 
 selves in abject poverty for many years, by 
 sacrificing their best blankets, baskets and 
 
64 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 clothing in the devouring flames of a fire 
 kindled for that purpose, when holding their 
 annual mourning festivals in memory of 
 their dead friends. 
 
 RLXIGIOUS 
 
 The old Indians are all very reticent 
 regarding their religious beliefs. They hold 
 them too sacred to be exposed to possible 
 ridicule, and it is therefore very diffi 
 cult to get information from them by direct 
 questions. 
 
 They seem, however, to have a vague, in 
 distinct belief or tradition that their orig 
 inal ancestors, in the long forgotten past, 
 dwelt in a better and much more desirable 
 country than this, in the Bl-o -win, or dis 
 tant West, and that by some misfortune or 
 great calamity they were separated from 
 that happy land, and became wanderers in 
 this part of the world. They also believe 
 that the spirits of all good Indians will be 
 permitted, after death, to go back to that 
 happy country of their ancestors origin ; 
 but that the spirits of bad Indians have to 
 serve another earth life in the form of a 
 grizzly bear, as a punishment for their 
 
CEREMONIES AND BELIEFS. 65 
 
 former crimes. Hence, no Indians ever eat 
 bear meat if they know it. 
 
 All the old Indian are spiritualists, and 
 very superstitious in their religious beliefs. 
 One special tenet is that if one of their rela 
 tives or friends has been murdered, he will 
 not receive them on terms of friendship in 
 the spirit world unless they revenge his 
 death, by either killing the murderer or 
 some one of the same blood. This belief 
 sometimes results in an entirely innocent 
 person being put to death. 
 
 They all have a great fear of evil spirits, 
 which they believe have the power to do 
 them much harm and defeat their undertak 
 ings. They also have a fairly distinct idea 
 of a Deity or Great Spirit, who never does 
 them any harm, and whose home is in the 
 happy land of their ancestors in the West. 
 
NATIVE INDUSTRIES. 
 
 The Yosemites and other kindred or adja 
 cent tribes have been branded as " Diggers," 
 and are generally thought to be the lowest 
 class of Indians in America, but in some 
 lines of artistic work they excelled all other 
 tribes. For example, their basketry work, 
 for domestic or sacred purposes, and their 
 bows and arrows, were of very superior 
 workmanship and fine finish. 
 
 BASKETRY AND BEAD WORK. 
 
 Many years ago the chief industry of the 
 Indian women, aside from their other 
 domestic duties, was the making of baskets. 
 They made a great variety of shapes and 
 sizes for their common use, and also many 
 of a more artistic design and finer finish for 
 the sacred purpose of being burned or buried 
 with their bodies, or that of some relative 
 or dear friend, after death. The baskets 
 devoted to this special purpose are the fin 
 est made, but are very seldom seen by any 
 white person, and are not for sale at any 
 
S 
 
 o .s 
 
 IT- os 
 
 M ^ 
 
 < as 
 
 M -S 
 
 u a 
 
 rt _w 
 
 5 
 
NATIVE INDUSTRIES. 69 
 
 price. This finest style of work seems to 
 have been made a specialty by certain of the 
 most artistic workers in each tribe. 
 
 At the present time, in their more mod 
 ern style of living, they do not require so 
 many baskets, and the industry of making 
 them is fast on the decline. Some of the old 
 women, however, still continue to make such 
 as are required for their own use, and a few 
 others for sale. 
 
 Most of the ornamental figures and de 
 signs worked into the finest basketry are 
 symbolical in character, and of so ancient 
 an origin that Indians of the present day 
 do not know what many of them are 
 intended to represent. They have simply 
 been copied from time immemorial, with the 
 idea that they were necessary for the com 
 plete finish and beauty of the article made. 
 
 In recent years they sometimes make use 
 of more modern styles of ornamentation, 
 which they see in print. 
 
 Many of the young women are now giv 
 ing their attention to making fancy bead 
 work, in the form of ornamental belts and 
 hat-bands, but this is an industry of very 
 modern origin. Some of them are employed 
 
Q 
 S 1 
 
NATIVE INDUSTRIES. 71 
 
 by white people to do laundry and other 
 work, and any labor of this kind pays them 
 better than making baskets for sale. Forty 
 years ago a finely made basket could have 
 been bought for less than ten dollars. At 
 present, if the time spent in getting and 
 preparing the necessary materials, and in 
 working them into the basket, were paid for 
 at the same rate per day that a young 
 woman receives for doing washing in the 
 hotel laundry, or for private families, it 
 would amount to over one hundred dollars. 
 Most of the baskets made for domestic 
 use are so closely woven that they are prac 
 tically water-tight, and are used for cooking 
 and similar purposes. Over on the eastern 
 side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, near 
 the dry, desert country, the Indians make 
 some of their baskets in the form of jugs of 
 various sizes. These are smeared over with 
 a pitch composition, which renders them 
 perfectly water-tight, and they are used for 
 carrying water when traveling over those 
 desolate, sandy wastes. 
 
 BOWS AND ARROWS. 
 
 The Indian men showed no less ingenuity 
 and artistic skill in their special lines of 
 
72 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 work than the women, especially in the 
 manufacture of their bows and arrows, in 
 the making of fish lines and coarser twine 
 out of the soft, flexible bark of the milk 
 weed (Asclepias speciosa), and in making 
 other useful implements and utensils with 
 the very limited means at their disposal. 
 
 Their bows were made of a branch of the 
 incense cedar (Libocedrns decurrens), or of 
 the California nutmeg (Tumion Cali- 
 fornicum [Torreya] ), made flat on the outer 
 side, and rounded smooth on the inner or 
 concave side when the bow is strung* for 
 use. The flat, outer side was covered with 
 sinew, usually that from the leg of a deer, 
 steeped in hot water until it became soft and 
 glutinous, and then laid evenly and smoothly 
 over the wood, and so shaped at the ends as 
 to hold the string in place. When thor 
 oughly dry the sinew contracted, so that the 
 bow when not strung was concave on the 
 outer side. 
 
 When not in use the bow was always left 
 unstrung. To string it for use, it was neces 
 sary in cold weather to warm it, thus mak 
 ing it more elastic and easily bent. The best 
 
Photograph by Boy sen. 
 
 A BASKET MAKER. 
 
 She is weaving a burden basket. The one to the left is for 
 cooking, and a baby basket stands against the tent. 
 
74 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 strings were also made of sinew, or of pax- 
 wax cartilage, for their finest bows. 
 
 The arrows were made of reeds and 
 various kinds of wood, including the syringa 
 (Philadelphia Lezvisii) and a small shrub 
 or tree which the Indians called Le-ham -i- 
 tee, or arrow-wood, and which grew quite 
 plentifully in what is now known as Indian 
 Canyon, near the Yosemite Falls. 
 
 The finest arrows were furnished with 
 points made of obsidian, or volcanic glass, 
 which was obtained in the vicinity of Mono 
 Lake on the eastern side of the Sierras. It 
 required great care and delicate skill to 
 work this brittle material into the fine sharp 
 points, and the making of them seemed to be 
 a special business or trade with some of the 
 old men. Arrows furnished with these 
 points were only used in hunting large 
 game, or in hostile combat with enemies ; 
 for common use, in hunting small game, the 
 hard wooden arrow was merely sharpened 
 to a point. 
 
 The butt, or end used on the string, was 
 furnished with three or four short strips of 
 feathers taken from a hawk s wing, and 
 fastened on lengthwise. These strips of 
 
NATIVE INDUSTRIES. 75 
 
 feathers are supposed to aid in the more 
 accurate flight of the arrow when shot from 
 the bow. 
 
 When out on a hunt the Indian carried 
 his bow strung ready for use, and his bundle 
 of assorted arrows in a quiver made of the 
 skin of a small fox, wild-cat or fisher, hung 
 conveniently over his shoulder. 
 
 These primitive weapons, which were in 
 universal use by the Yosemite Indians fifty 
 years ago, are now never seen except in 
 some collection of Indian relics and curios. 
 
 Other articles manufactured by these 
 tribes were stone hammers, and also others 
 made from the points of deer horns mounted 
 on wooden handles, which they used in deli 
 cately chipping the brittle obsidian in form 
 ing arrowheads. Rude musical instru 
 ments, principally drums and flageolets, 
 were also made. 
 
(ttljapfrr 
 
 MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 
 
 The Indians of the Yosemite Valley and 
 vicinity have a great fund of mythological 
 lore, which has been handed down verbally 
 from generation to generation for hundreds 
 of years, but they are very reluctant to 
 speak of these legends to white people, and 
 it is extremely difficult to get reliable in 
 formation on the subject. Moreover, the 
 Indians most familiar with them have 
 not a sufficient knowledge of the English 
 language to be able to express their ideas 
 clearly. 
 
 Many Yosemite legends have been pub 
 lished at different times and in various 
 forms, and it is probable that most of them 
 have had at least a foundation in real Indian 
 myths, but many are obviously fanciful in 
 some particulars, and it is impossible to tell 
 how much is of Indian origin and how much 
 is due to poetic embellishment. When 
 asked about some of these legends, many 
 years ago, one of the old Yosemite Indians 
 
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 77 
 
 remarked contemptuously, " White man too 
 much lie." 
 
 On the other hand, red men as well as 
 white men are sometimes given to romanc 
 ing, and I have known of cases where 
 " legends " would be manufactured on the 
 spur of the moment by some young Indian 
 to satisfy an importunate and credulous 
 questioner, to the keen but suppressed 
 amusement of other Indians present. 
 
 It will therefore be seen that this sub 
 ject is surrounded with some difficulty, and 
 it must not be understood that the legends 
 here given are vouched for as of wholly In 
 dian origin. Some of them, notably those 
 of the Tul-tqk -a-na and the second legend 
 of Tis-sa -ack, have been accepted by emi 
 nent ethnologists, and are believed to be 
 purely aboriginal, while others have doubt 
 less been somewhat idealized in translation 
 and in the course of numerous repetitions. 
 
 The Legend of To-tau-kon-nu -la and 
 Tis-sa -ack is made up of fragments of 
 mythological lore obtained from a number 
 of old Indians at various times during the 
 past fifty years^J It varies somewhat from 
 other legends which have been published 
 
78 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 regarding these same characters, but it is 
 well known that the Indians living in 
 Yosemite in recent years are of mixed tribal 
 origin and do not all agree as to the tradi 
 tional history of the region, nor the names 
 of the prominent scenic features, nor even 
 of the Valley itself. And this largely ac 
 counts for the fact that some of the legends 
 do not harmonize with each other in details 
 or in sentiment. All of them, however, are 
 picturesque, and they certainly give an 
 added interest to the natural beauties and 
 wonders with which they are associated. 
 
 OF TO-TAU-KON-NU-IvA AND TIS- 
 
 SA -ACK. 
 
 Innumerable moons and snows have 
 passed since the Great Spirit guided a little 
 band of his favorite children into the beau 
 tiful vale of Ah-wah -nee,* and bid them 
 stop and rest from their long and weary 
 wanderings, which had lasted ever since 
 they had been separated by the great waters 
 from the happy land of their forefathers in 
 the far distant Bl-o -win (West). 
 
 * Yosemite Valley. 
 
Photograph by Boysen. 
 
 MARY. 
 
 Daughter of Captain John, one of the last Chiefs of the 
 Yosemites. 
 
8o INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 Here they found food in abundance for 
 all. The rivers gave them plenty of la-pe -si 
 (trout). They found in the meadows sweet 
 ha -ker (clover), and sour yu-yu -yu-nmh 
 (oxalis) for spring medicine, and sweet 
 toon -gy and other edible roots in abun 
 dance. The trees and bushes yielded acorns, 
 pine nuts, fruits and berries. In the forests 
 were herds of he -kcr (deer) and other ani 
 mals, which gave meat for food and skins 
 for clothing and beds. And here they lived 
 and multiplied, and, as instructed by their 
 medicine men, worshipped the Great Spirit 
 which gave them life, and the sun which 
 warmed and made them happy. 
 
 They also kept in memory the happy land 
 of their forefathers. The story was told by 
 the old people to the young, and they again 
 told it to their children from generation to 
 generation, and they all believed that after 
 death their spirits would return to dwell 
 forever in that distant country. 
 
 They prospered and built other towns out 
 side of Ah-wah -nee, and became a great 
 nation. They learned wisdom by experience 
 and by observing how the Great Spirit 
 taught the animals and insects to live, and 
 
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 81 
 
 they believed that their children could ab 
 sorb the cunning of the wild creatures. And 
 so the young son of their chieftain was made 
 to sleep in the skins of the beaver and coyote, 
 that he might grow wise in building, and 
 keen of scent in following game. On some 
 days he was fed with la-pc -si that he might 
 become a good swimmer, and on other days 
 the eggs of the great to-tau -kon (crane) 
 were his food, t-hat he might grow tall and 
 keen of sight, and have a clear, ringing 
 voice. He was also fed on the flesh of the 
 hc -kei that he might be fleet of foot, and 
 on that of the great yo-scui -i-tc (grizzly 
 bear) to make him powerful in combat. 
 
 And the little boy grew up and became a 
 great and wise chieftain, and he was also a 
 rain wizard, and brought timely rains for 
 the crops. 
 
 As was the custom in giving names to all 
 Indians, his name was changed from time 
 to time, as his character developed, until he 
 was called Choo -too-se-ka , meaning the 
 Supreme Good. His grand o -chnin 
 (house) was built at the base of the great 
 
82 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 rock called To-tau-kon-nu -la,* because the 
 great to-tau-kons made their nests and 
 raised their young in a meadow at its sum 
 mit, and their loud ringing cries resounded 
 over the whole Valley. 
 
 As the moons and snows passed, this 
 great rock and all the great rocky walls 
 around the Valley grew in height, and the 
 hills became high mountains. 
 
 After a time Choo -too-se-ka built him 
 self a great palace o -chum on the summit of 
 the rock To-tau-kon-nu -la, and had his 
 great chair of state a little west of his pal 
 ace, where on all festival occasions he could 
 overlook and talk to the great multitude 
 below ; and the remains of this chair are still 
 to be seen. 
 
 Choo -too-se-ka was then named To-tau- 
 kon-nu -la, because he had built his o -chum 
 on the summit of the great rock and taken 
 the place of the to-tau -kons. He had no 
 wife, but all the women served him in his 
 domestic needs, as he was their great chief, 
 and his wishes were paramount. The many 
 valuable donations which he received from 
 
 * El Capitan. 
 
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 83 
 
 his people at the great annual festivals made 
 him wealthy beyond all personal wants, and 
 he gave freely to the needy. 
 
 One day, while standing on the top of the 
 great domef above the south wall of the 
 Valley, watching the great herds of deer, he 
 saw some strange people approaching, bear 
 ing heavy burdens. They were fairer of 
 skin, and their clothing was different from 
 that of his people, and when they drew near 
 he asked them who they were and whence 
 they came. 
 
 And a woman replied, " I am Tis-sa -ack, 
 and these are some of my people. We come 
 from cat -tan chu -miich (far South). I 
 have heard of your great wisdom and good 
 ness, and have come to see you and your 
 people. We bring you presents of many 
 fine baskets, and beads of many colors, as 
 tokens of our friendship. When we have 
 rested and seen your people and beautiful 
 valley we will return to our home." 
 
 To-tau-kon-nu -la was much pleased with 
 his fair visitor, and built a large o -chum 
 for her and her companions on the summit 
 
 Sentinel Dome. 
 
Photograph by Foley. 
 
 HALF DOME (TIS-SA -ACK), 
 
 5,000 Feet. 
 
 Named for a woman In Indian mythology who was turned to 
 stone for quarreling with her husband. See "Legend of 
 Tis-sa -ack." 
 
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 85 
 
 of the great dome at the east end of the 
 Valley,* and this dome still retains her 
 name. 
 
 And she tarried there and taught the 
 women of Ah-wah -nee how to make the 
 beautiful baskets which they still make at 
 the present day ; and To-tau-kon-nu -la vis 
 ited her daily, and became charmed with her 
 loveliness, and wanted her to remain and 
 be his wife, but she denied him, saying, " I 
 must return to my people," and, when 
 he still persistedj she left her o -chum in the 
 night and was never seen again. And the 
 love-stricken chieftain forgot his people, and 
 went in search of her, and they waited many 
 moons for his return and mourned his long 
 absence, but they never saw him more. 
 
 This was the beginning of a series of 
 calamities which nearly destroyed the great 
 tribe of Ah-wah-nee -chees. First a great 
 drouth prevailed, and the crops failed, and 
 the streams of water dried up. The deer 
 went wild and wandered away. Then a 
 dark cloud of smoke arose in the East and 
 obscured the sun, so that it gave no heat, 
 
 Half Dome. 
 
86 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 and many of the people perished from cold 
 and hunger. Then the earth shook terribly 
 and groaned with great pain, and enormous 
 rocks fell from the walls around Ah-wah - 
 nee. The great dome called Tis-sa -ack 
 was burst asunder, and half of it fell into 
 the Valley. A fire burst out of the earth 
 in the East, and the ca -lah (snow) on 
 the sky mountains was changed to water, 
 which flowed down and formed the Lake 
 Ah-wei -yah.* And all the streams were 
 filled to overflowing, and still the waters 
 rose, and there was a great flood, so that 
 a large part of the Valley became a 
 lake, and many persons were drowned. 
 
 After a time the Great Spirit took pity on 
 his children, and the dark cloud of smoke 
 disappeared, the sun warmed- the Valley 
 again into new life, and the few people who 
 were left had plenty of food once more. 
 
 Many moons afterwards there appeared 
 on the face of the great rock To-tau-kon- 
 nu -la the figure of a man in a flowing robe, 
 and with one hand extended toward the 
 West, in which direction he appears to be 
 
 * Mirror Lake. 
 
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 87 
 
 traveling. This figure was interpreted to be 
 the picture of the great lost Chieftain, indi 
 cating that he had gone to the " happy hunt 
 ing grounds " of his ancestors, and it is 
 looked upon with great veneration and awe 
 by the few Indians still living in Yosemite. 
 At about the same time the face of the 
 beautiful Tis-sa -ack appeared on the great 
 flat side of the dome which bears her name, 
 and the Indians recognized her by the way 
 in which her dark hair was cut straight 
 across her forehead and fell down at the 
 sides, which was then considered among the 
 Yosemites as the acme of feminine beauty, 
 and is so regarded to this day. 
 
 ANOTHER LEGEND OF TIS-SA -ACK. 
 
 Tis-sa -ack and her husband traveled 
 from a far-off country, and entered the Val 
 ley footsore and weary. She walked ahead, 
 carrying a great conical burden-basket, 
 which was supported by a band across her 
 forehead, and was filled with many things. 
 He followed after, carrying a rude staff in 
 his hand and a roll of woven skin blankets 
 over his shoulder. They had come across 
 the mountains and were very thirsty, and 
 
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 89 
 
 they hurried to reach the Valley, where they 
 knew there was water. The woman was 
 still far in advance when she reached the 
 Lake Ah-wei -yah,* and she dipped up the 
 water in her basket and drank long and 
 deep. She was so thirsty that she even 
 drank up all the water in the lake and 
 drained it dry before her husband arrived. 
 And because the lake was dry there came a 
 terrible drouth in the Valley, and the soil 
 was dried up and nothing grew. 
 
 And the husband was much displeased 
 because the woman had drunk up all the 
 water and left none for him, and he became 
 so angry that he forgot the customs of his 
 people and beat the woman with his staff. 
 She ran away from him, but he followed her 
 and beat her yet more. And she wept, and 
 in her anger she turned and reviled her hus 
 band, and threw her basket at him. And 
 while they were in this attitude, one facing 
 the other, they were turned into stone for 
 their wickedness, and there they still remain. 
 The upturned basket lies beside the husband, 
 where the woman threw it, and the woman s 
 
 * Mirror Lake. 
 
90 INDIANS OF THE YO SEMITE. 
 
 face is tear stained with long dark 
 trailing down. 
 
 Half-Dome is the woman Tis-sa -ack and 
 North Dome is her husband, while beside 
 the latter is a smaller dome which is still 
 called Basket Dome to this day. 
 
 LEGEND OF THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 
 
 The significance and derivation of the 
 name " Yosemite," as given by old Tenei ya, 
 chief of the tribe, have been explained in an 
 other chapter, but there is also a legendary 
 account of its origin, which may be of 
 interest. 
 
 Long, long ago, when the remote ances 
 tors of the Yosemite Indians dwelt peace 
 fully in the valley called Ah-wah -nee,* one 
 of the stalwart young braves of the tribe 
 went early one morning to spear some fish 
 in the lake Ah-wei -yah.f Before reaching 
 his destination he was confronted by a huge 
 grizzly bear, who appeared from behind one 
 of the enormous boulders in that vicinity, 
 and savagely disputed his passage. 
 
 Being attacked in this unexpected mari 
 ner, the Indian defended himself to the best 
 
 * Yosemite Valley, 
 f Mirror Lake. 
 
Photograph by Fiske. 
 
 NORTH DOME (TO-KO -YA), 
 
 3,723 Feet. 
 
 This rock Is believed by the Indians to represent Tis-sa -ack s 
 husband, turned into stone for beating his wife. The lower 
 dome to the right is the basket which she threw at him. 
 See "Legend of Tis-sa -ack." 
 
92 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 of his ability, using for the purpose the dead 
 limb of a tree which was near at hand, and, 
 after a loner and furious struggle, in which 
 he was badly wounded, he at length suc 
 ceeded in killing the bear. 
 
 His exploit was considered so remarka 
 ble by the rest of the tribe that they called 
 him Yo-sem -i-te (meaning a full-grown 
 grizzly bear), in honor of his achievement, 
 and this name was transmitted to his chil 
 dren, and eventually to the whole tribe. 
 
 LEGEND OF THE: TUL-TOK -A-NA. 
 There were once two little boys living in 
 the Valley of Ah-wah -nee, who went down 
 to the river to swim. When thev had finished 
 their bath they went on shore and lay down 
 on a large boulder to dry themselves in the 
 sun. While lying there they fell asleep, and 
 slept so soundly that they never woke up 
 again. Through many moons and many 
 snows they slept, and while they slept the 
 great rock* on which they lay was slowly 
 rising, little by little, until it soon lifted 
 them up out of sight, and their friends 
 searched for them everywhere without suc- 
 
 *E1 Capitan. 
 
Photograph by Foley. 
 
 EL CAPITAN (TO-TAU-KON-NU -LA), 
 
 3,300 Feet. 
 
 The Tndiahs believe that this great rock grew from a small 
 boulder. See "Legend of the Tul-tok -a-nn." 
 
94 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 cess. Thus they were carried up into the 
 blue sky, until they scraped their faces 
 against the moon ; and ctill they slept on. 
 
 Then all the animals assembled to bring 
 down the little boys from the top of the 
 great rock. Each animal sprang up the 
 face of the rock as far as he could. The 
 mouse could only spring a hand s breadth, 
 the rat two hands breadths, the raccoon a 
 little more, and so on. The grizzly bear 
 made a great leap up the wall, but fell back 
 like all the others, without reaching the top. 
 Finally came the lion, who jumped up 
 farther than any of the others, but even he 
 fell back and could not reach the top. 
 
 Then came the tul-tok -a-na, the insignifi 
 cant measuring worm, who was despised by 
 all the other creatures, and began to creep 
 up the face of the rock. Step by step, little 
 by little, he measured his way up until he 
 was soon above the lion s jump, and still 
 farther and farther, until presently he was 
 out of sight ; and still he crawled up and up, 
 day and night, through many moons, and at 
 length he reached the top, and took the little 
 boys and brought them safely down to the 
 ground. And therefore the rock was named 
 
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 95 
 
 for the measuring worm, and was called 
 Tu-tok-a-nu -la. 
 
 OF GROUSE: 
 
 I will here relate a personal experience 
 which occurred in September, 1857, while 
 out with a large party of Indians on a deer 
 hunt in the mountains. 
 
 One day, after a long tramp, I stopped to 
 rest by the side of a small lake about eight 
 miles from the present site of Wawona, and 
 I then named it Grouse Lake on account of 
 the great number of grouse found there. 
 Very soon a party of Indians came along 
 carrying some deer, and stopped on the op 
 posite side of the lake to rest and get some 
 water. Soon after they had started again 
 for their camp I heard a distinct wailing cry, 
 somewhat like the cry of a puppy when lost, 
 and I thought the Indians must have left 
 one of their young dogs behind. 
 
 When I joined the Indians in camp that 
 night I inquired of them about the sound I 
 had heard. They replied that it was not a 
 dog that a long time ago an Indian boy 
 had been drowned in the lake, and that 
 every time any one passed there he always 
 cried after them, and that no one dared to 
 
g6 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 go in the lake, for he would catch them by 
 the legs and pull them down and they would 
 be drowned. I then concluded that it must 
 have been some unseen water-fowl that 
 made the cry, and at that time I thought 
 that the Indians were trying to impose on 
 my credulity, but I am now convinced that 
 they fully believed the story they told me. 
 
 Po-ho -no Lake, the headwaters of the 
 Bridal Veil Creek, was also thought to be 
 haunted by troubled spirits, which affected 
 the stream clear down into the Yosemite 
 Valley; and the Indians believed that an 
 evil wind there had been the cause of some 
 fatal accidents many years ago. The word 
 Po-ho -no means a puffing wind, and has 
 also been translated " Evil Wind," on ac 
 count of the superstition above referred to. 
 
 LEGEND OF THE) LOST ARROW. 
 
 Tee-hee -nay was a beautiful Ah-wah -nee 
 maiden, said to be the most beautiful of her 
 tribe, and she was beloved by Kos-su -kah, 
 a strong and valiant young brave. Valuable 
 presents had been made to the bride s par 
 ents, and they had given their consent to an 
 early marriage, which was to be celebrated 
 by a great feast. 
 
Photograph by Fiske. 
 BRIDAL 
 
 (PO-HO -NO), 
 
 940 Feet. 
 
 The source of this stream Is supposed by the Indians to be 
 haunted by troubled spirits, which affect the water along 
 Its whole course. The word Po-ho -no means a "puffing 
 wind." 
 
98 INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 To provide an abundance of venison and 
 other meat for this banquet, Kos-su kah 
 gathered together his young companions 
 and went into the mountains in search of 
 game. In order that Tee-hee -nay might 
 know of his welfare and the success of the 
 hunt, it was agreed between the lovers that 
 at sunset Kos-su -kah should go to the high 
 rock to the east of Cho -lack,* and should 
 shoot an arrow into the Valley, to which 
 should be attached a number of grouse 
 feathers corresponding to the number of 
 deer that had fallen before the skill of the 
 hunters. 
 
 At the t ; me appointed Tee-hee -nay went 
 near the foot of the great cliff and waited, 
 with her eyes raised to the towering rocks 
 above, hoping with her keen sight to see the 
 form of her lover outlined against the sky, 
 but no form could she see, and no arrow 
 fell into the Valley. As darkness gathered,, 
 gloomy forebodings took possession of her, 
 and she climbed part way up the canyon 
 called Le-ham -i-teet because the arrow- 
 wood grew there, and finally she stood at the 
 
 * Yosemite Falls. 
 
 f Now known as Indian Canyon. 
 
MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 99 
 
 very foot of the rocky wall which rose to 
 dizzy heights above her, and there she 
 waited through the long night. 
 
 With the first streak of dawn she bounded 
 swiftly up the rough canyon, for she was 
 fully convinced that some terrible fate had 
 overtaken the brave Kos-su -kah, and soon 
 she stood upon the lofty summit,* where 
 she found her lover s footsteps leading to 
 wards the edge of the precipice. Drawing 
 nearer she was startled to find that a portion 
 of the cliff had given way, and, upon peer 
 ing over the brink, what was her horror to 
 discover the blood-stained and lifeless body 
 of Kos-su -kah lying on a rocky ledge far 
 beneath. 
 
 Summoning assistance by means of a sig 
 nal fire, which was seen from the Valley 
 below, a rope was made of sapling tama 
 racks lashed firmly together with thongs 
 from one of the deer that was to have 
 furnished the marriage feast, and Tee-hee - 
 nay herself insisted on being lowered over 
 the precipice to recover the body of her 
 lover. This was at last successfully accom 
 plished, and when his ghastly form lay once 
 
 * Yosemite Point. 
 
ioo INDIANS OF THE YOSEMITE. 
 
 more upon the rocky summit, she threw her 
 self on his bosom and gave way to a passion 
 ate outburst of grief. 
 
 Finally she became quiet, but when they 
 stooped to raise her they found that her 
 spirit had fled to join the lost Kos-su -kah, 
 and that the lovers were re-united in death. 
 The fateful arrow that was the cause of 
 so much sorrow could never be found, 
 and the Indians believe that it was taken 
 away by the spirits of Kos-su -kah and 
 Tee-hee -nay. In memory of them, and of 
 this tragedy, the slender spire of rock* that 
 rises heavenward near the top of the cliff at 
 this point is known among the Indians as 
 Hum-mo , or the Lost Arrow. 
 
 * Sometimes called " The Devil s Thumb." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
HINTS TO YOSEMITE VISITORS. 
 
 Secure stage seats in advance. 
 
 Take only hand baggage, unless for a 
 protracted visit. For a short trip, an outing 
 suit and two or three waists, with a change 
 for evening wear, will be found sufficient. 
 The free baggage allowance on the stage 
 lines is fifty pounds. 
 
 Men will find flannel or negligee shirts 
 the most comfortable. 
 
 In April, May and June wear warm cloth 
 ing and take heavy wraps. In July, August 
 and September wear medium clothing, with 
 light wraps. In October and November 
 wear warm clothing, with heavy wraps. The 
 nights are cool at all seasons. 
 
 Dusters are always advisable, and ladies 
 should provide some light head covering to 
 protect the hair from dust. Sun bonnets are 
 frequently worn. 
 
 Short skirts are most convenient. 
 
 Divided skirts are proper for trail trips, 
 as ladies are required to ride astride. Heavy 
 
102 APPENDIX. 
 
 denim for skirt and bloomers is very satis 
 factory. Such skirts can be hired in the 
 Valley. 
 
 Waists of soft material and neutral shades 
 are appropriate. Avoid white. 
 
 Something absolutely soft for neckwear 
 will be found a great comfort, both by men 
 and women. 
 
 Leggings, stout, comfortable shoes and 
 heavy, loose gloves, will be found very 
 serviceable. 
 
 A soft felt hat is preferable to straw. One 
 that will shade the eyes is best. A cloth 
 traveling cap is the worst thing to wear. 
 
 Smoked glasses will sometimes save the 
 wearer a headache. 
 
 Except in April, May and November, an 
 umbrella is apt to be a useless encumbrance. 
 
 If the skin is sensitive, and one wishes to 
 avoid painful sunburn, the use of a pure 
 cream and soft cloth is preferable to water, 
 and far more efficacious. 
 
 A week is the shortest time that should 
 be allowed for a trip to Yosemite. Two 
 weeks are better. The grandeur of the 
 Valley cannot be fully appreciated in a few 
 days. 
 
APPENDIX. 103 
 
 Those not accustomed to staging or moun 
 tain climbing should make some allowance 
 in their itineraries for rest. Many visitors 
 spoil their pleasure by getting too tired. 
 
 Take a little more money than you think 
 will be needed. You may want to prolong 
 your stay. 
 
 Hunting, or the possession of firearms, is 
 not permitted in the Yosemite National 
 Park. Fishing is allowed, and in June and 
 July an expert angler is likely to be well 
 rewarded. Rods and tackle may be hired 
 in the Valley. 
 
 There is no hardship, risk or danger in 
 any part of the Yosemite trip. Many old 
 people and children visit the Valley without 
 difficulty. 
 
 A knowledge of horsemanship is not 
 needed for going on the trails. The most 
 timid people make the trips with enjoyment. 
 Some of the finest views can only be 
 obtained in this way. 
 
 There is a laundry in the Valley. 
 
 There is a barber shop. 
 
 There is a post office, telegraph and ex 
 press. 
 
104 APPENDIX. 
 
 There is a general store and places for the 
 sale of photographs, curios and Indian work. 
 
 Treat the Indians with courtesy and con 
 sideration, if you expect similar treatment 
 from them. Do not expect them to pose for 
 you for nothing. They are asked to do it 
 hundreds of times every summer, and are 
 entitled to payment for their trouble. 
 
 Kodak films and plates can be obtained 
 in the Valley. 
 
 Developing and printing are done in the 
 Valley. 
 
 TAKE YOUR CAMERA. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 105 
 
 OFFICIAL, TABLE: OF DISTANCES AND L,IVRY 
 CHARGES. 
 
 The following rates for the transportation 
 of tourists in and about the Yosemite Valley 
 have been established by the Board of Com 
 missioners to manage the Yosemite Valley 
 and Mariposa Big Tree Grove: 
 
 CARRIAGES. 
 
 
 
 p*> 
 
 
 
 ? 
 
 -0 C 
 
 a 
 
 eu ^ 
 
 II 
 
 FROM HOTELS OR PUBLIC 
 
 V^ 
 
 s 
 
 S H 
 
 CAMPS, AND RETURN. 
 
 cS y*C 
 
 sS 
 
 tJD O 
 
 wsa 
 
 fes 
 
 <u o 
 
 3 fe o 
 PtioS 
 
 feS 
 
 S3 g 
 
 ti ofc 
 
 
 Miles 
 
 Each 
 
 Each 
 
 
 
 Person 
 
 Person 
 
 To Cascades, Yosemite and 
 
 
 
 
 Bridal Veil Falls 
 
 16.00 
 
 $ i-5 
 
 $ 2.00 
 
 To Mirror Lake 
 
 5-82 
 
 i .00 
 
 1 .00 
 
 To River View and Bridal 
 
 
 
 
 Veil Falls 
 
 10.41 
 
 i .00 
 
 I SO 
 
 To New Inspiration Point , . 
 
 14.38 
 
 2.00 
 
 * o 
 
 2.50 
 
 To Happy Isles 
 
 4. OO 
 
 . so 
 
 1 .00 
 
 To Yosemite Falls 
 
 f v *^ v ^ 
 
 3.00 
 
 \J 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 Continued on next page. 
 
io6 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 SADDLE HORSES. 
 
 FROM HOTELS OR PUBLIC 
 CAMPS, AND RETURN. 
 
 Estimated 
 Distance 
 (Round Trip) 
 
 Rate For Party 
 of Four or 
 More 
 
 Rate For Party 
 of Less Than 
 Four 
 
 
 Miles 
 
 Each 
 
 Each 
 
 
 
 Person 
 
 Person 
 
 To Vernal and Nevada Falls 
 
 10.90 
 
 $ 2-50 
 
 $3.00 
 
 To Yosemite Falls and Eagle 
 
 
 
 
 Peak . 
 
 13. 18 
 
 -i QO 
 
 ^.oo 
 
 To Glacier Point and Sen 
 
 
 o w 
 
 o w 
 
 tinel Dome 
 
 II . 14 
 
 3.00 
 
 3.00 
 
 To Yosemite Point 
 
 10.00 
 
 2.50 
 
 3.00 
 
 To Eagle Peak 
 
 13.00 
 
 3.00 
 
 3.00 
 
 To Vernal and Nevada Falls 
 
 
 
 
 and Glacier Point (Con 
 
 
 
 
 tinuous Trip) 
 
 IQ 22 
 
 4.OO 
 
 500 
 . WV-J 
 
 To Glacier Point, Sentinel 
 
 Ay . 4.4 
 
 
 
 Dome and Fissures . 
 
 14.00 
 
 3 50 
 
 3-75 
 
 To Old Inspiration Point and 
 
 
 
 
 Stanford Point 
 
 16.00 
 
 4 OO 
 
 4.00 
 
 To Vernal and Nevada Falls 
 
 
 T- ^ w 
 
 
 and Cloud s Rest (Same 
 
 
 
 
 Day 
 
 22.00 
 
 4.00 
 
 5.00 
 
 Charges For Guide (Includ 
 
 
 
 
 ing Horse) When Furnished 
 
 
 Free 
 
 3.00 
 
 1. Trips other than those above specified shall 
 be subject to special arrangements between the 
 parties and the stables. 
 
 2. Any excess of the above rates, as well as any 
 extortion, incivility, misrepresentation, or riding of 
 unsafe animals, should be reported to the Guar 
 dian s office. 
 
 3. All distances are estimated from the Guar 
 dian s office. 
 
 BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. 
 
APPENDIX. 107 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY TABLE OF DISTANCES. 
 FROM GUARDIAN S OFFICE. 
 
 MILES 
 
 Bridal Veil Fall 4 
 
 Yosemite Falls, base $4 
 
 Upper Yosemite Fall, base 2^4 
 
 Upper Yosemite Fall, top 4/4 
 
 Little Yosemite Valley 8 
 
 Glacier Point (short trail) 4/^ 
 
 Glacier Point (via Nevada Falls) 14^ 
 
 Cascades . 8 
 
 INTERPRETATION OF INDIAN NAMES. 
 
 The Indians had names for all the prom 
 inent features of the Yosemite Valley, and 
 these have been variously translated (some 
 times with considerable poetic license), and 
 variously spelled. The translations given 
 below are as literal as possible, without 
 embellishment, and are believed to be fairly 
 accurate. The spelling adopted is such as 
 best indicates the pronunciation. 
 
 The English names, by which the falls and 
 peaks are commonly known, bear no relation 
 to the Indian names, but were bestowed by 
 
io8 APPENDIX. 
 
 the soldiers of the Mariposa Battalion at the 
 time the Valley was discovered. The appro 
 priateness and good taste of most of them 
 are due to Dr. L. H. Bunnell, the surgeon of 
 the expedition. 
 AH-WAH -NEE (original name of Yosemite 
 
 Valley) " Deep grassy valley." 
 YO-SEM -I-TE " Full-grown grizzly bear." 
 PO-HO -NO (Bridal Veil) "A puffing 
 
 wind." 
 
 LOI -YA (The Sentinel) "A signal station." 
 
 CHO -I.ACK (Yosemite Falls) " The falls." 
 
 CHO-KO -NI (Royal Arches) " Canopy of 
 
 baby basket." Strictly speaking this 
 
 name applies only to a deep alcove near 
 
 the top of this cliff. 
 
 YO-WEI -YEE (Nevada) " Twisting." 
 TO-TAU-KON-NU -LA (El Capitan) Named 
 from the To-tau -kons, or cranes, which 
 used to make their nests in a meadow 
 near the top of this rock. 
 KU-SO -KO (Cathedral Rock) Interpreta 
 tion doubtful. 
 
 PU-SEE -NA CHUCK -AH (Cathedral Spires) 
 " Pu-see-na " means mouse or rat, and 
 might possibly be applied to a squirrel. 
 " Chuek-ah " is a store house or cache. 
 
APPENDIX. 109 
 
 WAW-HAW -KEE (Three Brothers)" Fall 
 ing rocks." Pom-pom-pa -sus, usually 
 given as the Indian name of the Three 
 Brothers, is the name of a smaller rock 
 immediately to the West. 
 
 WEI-YOW (Mt. Watkins) "Juniper 
 Mountain." 
 
 TO-KO -YA (North Dome) " The basket." 
 
 TIS-SA ACK (Half Dome) A character in 
 Indian mythology. 
 
 MAH- -TA (Cap of Liberty) Said to mean 
 " Martyr Mountain." 
 
 PI-WEI -ACK (Vernal Fall) Said to mean 
 "Sparkling Water." 
 
 LE)-HAM -I-TI;IV (Indian Canyon) "The 
 place of the arrow-wood." 
 
 HUM-MO (Devil s Thumb)" The Lost 
 Arrow." 
 
 AH-WEI -YA (Mirror Lake) -"Quiet Water." 
 
 Too-ivOo -LO-wEi-ACK ( Tllillouette Fall) In 
 terpretation doubtful. 
 
 WAH -WO-NAH " Big Tree." (Now com 
 monly spelled and pronounced Wa-wo - 
 na.) 
 
i io APPENDIX. 
 
 HEIGHTS OF YOSEMITF/S WATERFALLS. 
 
 FEET 
 
 Cascades 700 
 
 Bridal Veil 940 
 
 Ribbon 3, 300 
 
 Sentinel 3,270 
 
 Yosemite (Upper 1,600 ft. ; Lower 400 ft.) . . 2,634 
 
 Royal Arch 2,000 
 
 Vernal 350 
 
 Nevada 700 
 
 Illillotiette 500 
 
 YOSEMITE S PEAKS AND DOMES, 
 WITH ALTITUDES ABOVE FLOOR OF VALLEY. 
 
 (The Valley Floor is about 4,000 feet above 
 sea level. } 
 
 FEFT 
 
 Inspiration Point 1,248 
 
 El Capitan 3.3 
 
 Cathedral Rock 2,678 
 
 Cathedral Spires 1,934 
 
 Royal Arches (span) 2.000 
 
 The Sentinel 3.100 
 
 Sentinel Dome -(,122 
 
 Three Brothers 3.900 
 
 Eagle Peak 3,900 
 
 Yosemite Point 3,220 
 
 Glacier Point 3,250 
 
 North Dome 3,7 2 5 
 
 Half Dome 5,000 
 
 Cap of Liberty 3,062 
 
 Union Point 2,350 
 
 Cloud s Rest 5.9 12 
 
 Mt. Starr King SJOO 
 
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 GENERAL LIBRARY -U.C. BERKELEY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY