The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft Part 41

[Sidenote: THE SHOSHONE FAMILY.]

THE SHOSHONE FAMILY, which forms the fourth and last division of the Californian group, may be said to consist of two great nations, the Snakes, or Shoshones proper, and the Utahs. The former inhabit south-eastern Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, and the northern portions of Utah and Nevada, are subdivided into several small tribes, and include the more considerable nation of the Bannacks. The Utahs occupy nearly the whole of Utah and Nevada, and extend into Arizona and California, on each side of the Colorado. Among the many tribes into which the Utahs are divided may be mentioned the _Utahs_ proper, whose territory covers a great part of Utah and eastern Nevada; the _Washoes_ along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, between Honey Lake and the west fork of Walker River; the _Pah Utes_, or, as they are sometimes called, Piutes, in western and central Nevada, stretching into Arizona and south-eastern California; the _Pah Vants_ in the vicinity of Sevier Lake, the _Pi Edes_ south of them, and the _Gosh Utes_, a mixed tribe of Snakes and Utahs, dwelling in the vicinity of Gosh Ute Lake and Mountains.

The Shoshones[608] are below the medium stature; the Utahs, though more powerfully built than the Snakes, are coa.r.s.er-featured and less agile.

All are of a dark bronze-color when free from paint and dirt, and, as usual, beardless. The women are clumsily made, although some of them have good hands and feet.[609]

On the barren plains of Nevada, where there is no large game, the rabbit furnishes nearly the only clothing. The skins are sewn together in the form of a cloak, which is thrown over the shoulders, or tied about the body with thongs of the same. In warm weather, or when they cannot obtain rabbit-skins, men, women and children are, for the most part, in a state of nudity. The hair is generally allowed to grow long, and to flow loosely over the shoulders; sometimes it is cut straight over the forehead, and among the Utahs of New Mexico it is plaited into two long queues by the men, and worn short by the women. Ornaments are rare; I find mention in two instances[610] of a nose-ornament, worn by the Pah Utes, consisting of a slender piece of bone, several inches in length, thrust through the septum of the nose. Tattooing is not practiced but paint of all colors is used unsparingly.[611]

The Snakes are better dressed than the Utahs, their clothing being made from the skins of larger game, and ornamented with beads, sh.e.l.ls, fringes, feathers, and, since their acquaintance with the whites, with pieces of brilliant-colored cloth. A common costume is a s.h.i.+rt, leggins, and moccasins, all of buck-skin, over which is thrown, in cold weather, a heavy robe, generally of buffalo-skin, but sometimes of wolf, deer, elk, or beaver. The dress of the women differs but little from that of the men, except that it is less ornamented and the s.h.i.+rt is longer.[612]

[Sidenote: DRESS OF THE SNAKES.]

The dress of the Snakes seen by captains Lewis and Clarke was richer than is usually worn by them now; it was composed of a robe, short cloak, s.h.i.+rt, long leggins, and moccasins.

The robe was of buffalo or smaller skins, dressed with the hair on; the collar of the cloak, a strip of skin from the back of the otter, the head being at one end and the tail at the other. From this collar were suspended from one hundred to two hundred and fifty ermine-skins,[613]

or rather strips from the back of the ermine, including the head and tail; each of these strips was sewn round a cord of twisted silk-gra.s.s, which tapered in thickness toward the tail. The seams were concealed with a fringe of ermine-skin; little ta.s.sels of white fur were also attached to each tail, to show off its blackness to advantage. The collar was further ornamented with sh.e.l.ls of the pearl-oyster; the s.h.i.+rt, made of the dressed hides of various kinds of deer, was loose and reached half-way down the thigh; the sleeves were open on the under side as low as the elbow,--the edges being cut into a fringe from the elbow to the wrist,--and they fitted close to the arm. The collar was square, and cut into fringe, or adorned with the tails of the animals which furnished the hide; the s.h.i.+rt was garnished with fringes and stained porcupine-quills; the leggins were made each from nearly an entire antelope-skin, and reached from the ankle to the upper part of the thigh. The hind legs of the skin were worn uppermost, and tucked into the girdle; the neck, highly ornamented with fringes and quills, trailed on the ground behind the heel of the wearer; the side seams were fringed, and for this purpose the scalps of fallen enemies were frequently used.

The moccasins were also of dressed hide, without the hair, except in winter, when buffalo-hide, with the hair inside, answered the purpose.

They were made with a single seam on the outside edge, and were embellished with quills; sometimes they were covered with the skin of a polecat, the tail of which dragged behind on the ground. Ear-ornaments of beads, necklaces of sh.e.l.ls, twisted-gra.s.s, elk-tushes, round bones, like joints of a fish's back-bone, and the claws of the brown bear, were all worn. Eagles' feathers stuck in the hair, or a strip of otter-skin tied round the head, seem to have been the only head-dresses in use.[614] This, or something similar, was the dress only of the wealthy and prosperous tribes. Like the Utahs, the Snakes paint extensively, especially when intent upon war.[615]

[Sidenote: DWELLINGS AND FOOD OF THE SHOSHONES.]

The Snakes also build better dwellings than the Utahs. Long poles are leaned against each other in a circle, and are then covered with skins, thus forming a conical tent. A hole in the top, which can be closed in bad weather, serves as chimney, and an opening at the bottom three or four feet high, admits the occupants on pus.h.i.+ng aside a piece of hide stretched on a stick, which hangs over the aperture as a door. These skin tents, as is necessary to a nomadic people, are struck and pitched with very little labor. When being moved from one place to another, the skins are folded and packed on the ponies, and the poles are hitched to each side of the animal by one end, while the other drags. The habitations of the people of Nevada and the greater part of Utah are very primitive and consist of heaps of brush, under which they crawl, or even of a mere shelter of bushes, semi-circular in shape, roofless, and three or four feet high, which serves only to break the force of the wind. Some of them build absolutely no dwellings, but live in caves and among the rocks, while others burrow like reptiles in the ground.

Farnham gives us a very doleful picture of their condition; he says: "When the lizard, and snail, and wild roots are buried in the snows of winter, they are said to retire to the vicinity of timber, dig holes in the form of ovens in the steep sides of the sand-hills, and, having heated them to a certain degree, deposit themselves in them, and sleep and fast till the weather permits them to go abroad again for food.

Persons who have visited their haunts after a severe winter, have found the ground around these family ovens strewn with the unburied bodies of the dead, and others crawling among them, who had various degrees of strength, from a bare sufficiency to gasp in death, to those that crawled upon their hands and feet, eating gra.s.s like cattle."[616]

Naturally pusillanimous, weak in development, sunk below the common baser pa.s.sions of the savage, more improvident than birds, more beastly than beasts, it may be possible to conceive of a lower phase of humanity, but I confess my inability to do so.

Pine-nuts, roots, berries, reptiles, insects, rats, mice, and occasionally rabbits are the only food of the poorer Shoshone tribes.

Those living in the vicinity of streams or lakes depend more or less for their subsistence upon fish. The Snakes of Idaho and Oregon, and the tribes occupying the more fertile parts of Utah, having abundance of fish and game, live well the year round, but the miserable root-eating people, partly owing to their inherent improvidence, partly to the scantiness of their food-supply, never store sufficient provision for the winter, and consequently before the arrival of spring they are invariably reduced to extreme dest.i.tution. To avoid starvation they will eat dead bodies, and even kill their children for food.[617] A rat or a rabbit is prepared for eating by singeing the hair, pressing the offal from the entrails and cooking body and intestines together. Lizards, snakes, gra.s.shoppers, and ants are thrown alive into a dish containing hot embers, and are tossed about until roasted; they are then eaten dry or used to thicken soup. Gra.s.shoppers, seeds, and roots, are also gathered and cooked in the same manner as by the nations already described. The Gosh Utes take rabbits in nets made of flax-twine, about three feet wide and of considerable length. A fence of sage-brush is erected across the rabbit-paths, and on this the net is hung. The rabbits in running quickly along the trail become entangled in the meshes and are taken before they can escape. Lizards are dragged from their holes by means of a hooked stick. To catch ants a piece of fresh hide or bark is placed upon the ant-hill; this is soon covered by vast swarms of the insects, which are then brushed off into a bag and kept there until dead, when they are dried for future use. Among the hunting tribes antelope are gradually closed in upon by a circle of hors.e.m.e.n and beaten to death with clubs. They are also stalked after the fas.h.i.+on of the Californians proper, the hunter placing the head and horns of an antelope or deer upon his own head and thus disguised approaching within shooting distance.

[Sidenote: NATIVE FISH-WEIR.]

Fish are killed with spears having movable heads, which become detached when the game is struck, and are also taken in nets made of rushes or twigs. In the latter case a place is chosen where the river is crossed by a bar, the net is then floated down the stream and on reaching the bar both ends are drawn together. The fish thus enclosed are taken from the circle by hand, and the Shoshone as he takes each one, puts its head in his mouth and kills it with his teeth. Captain Clarke describes an ingeniously constructed weir on Snake River, where it was divided into four channels by three small islands. Three of these channels were narrow "and stopped by means of trees which were stretched across, and supported by willow stakes, sufficiently near to prevent the pa.s.sage of the fish. About the centre of each was placed a basket formed of willows, eighteen or twenty feet in length, of a cylindrical form, and terminating in a conic shape at its lower extremity; this was situated with its mouth upwards, opposite to an aperture in the weir. The main channel of the water was then conducted to this weir, and as the fish entered it they were so entangled with each other, that they could not move, and were taken out by emptying the small end of the willow basket.

The weir in the main channel was formed in a manner somewhat different; there were, in fact two distinct weirs formed of poles and willow sticks quite across the river, approaching each other obliquely with an aperture in each side of the angle. This is made by tying a number of poles together at the top, in parcels of three, which were then set up in a triangular form at the base, two of the poles being in the range desired for the weir, and the third down the stream. To these poles two ranges of other poles are next lashed horizontally, with willow bark and withes, and willow sticks joined in with these crosswise, so as to form a kind of wicker-work from the bottom of the river to the height of three or four feet above the surface of the water. This is so thick as to prevent the fish from pa.s.sing, and even in some parts with the help of a little gravel and some stone enables them to give any direction which they wish to the water. These two weirs being placed near to each other, one for the purpose of catching the fish as they ascend, the other as they go down the river, are provided with two baskets made in the form already described, and which are placed at the apertures of the weir."

For present consumption the fish are boiled in water-tight baskets by means of red-hot stones, or are broiled on the embers; sometimes the bones are removed before the fish is cooked; great quant.i.ties are also dried for winter. Some few of the Utahs cultivate a little maize, vegetables, and tobacco, and raise stock, but efforts at agriculture are not general. The Snakes sometimes accompany the more northern tribes into the country of the Blackfeet, for the purpose of killing buffalo.[618]

In their persons, dwellings and habits, the Utahs are filthy beyond description. Their bodies swarm with vermin which they catch and eat with relish. Some of the Snakes are of a more cleanly disposition, but, generally speaking, the whole Shoshone family is a remarkably dirty one.[619]

[Sidenote: WEAPONS OF THE SHOSHONES.]

The bow and arrow are universally used by the Shoshones, excepting only some of the most degraded root-eaters, who are said to have no weapon, offensive or defensive, save the club. The bow is made of cedar, pine, or other wood, backed with sinew after the manner already described, or, more rarely, of a piece of elk-horn. The string is of sinew. The length of the bow varies. According to Farnham, that used by the Pi Utes is six feet long, while that of the Shoshones seen by Lewis and Clark was only two and a half feet in length. The arrows are from two to four feet, and are pointed with obsidian, flint, or, among the lower tribes, by merely hardening the tip with fire. Thirty or forty are usually carried in a skin quiver, and two in the hand ready for immediate use. Lances, which are used in some localities, are pointed in the same manner as the arrows when no iron can be procured. The Snakes have a kind of mace or club, which they call a _poggamoggon_. It consists of a heavy stone, sometimes wrapped in leather, attached by a sinew thong about two inches in length, to the end of a stout leather-covered handle, measuring nearly two feet. A loop fastened to the end held in the hand prevents the warrior from losing the weapon in the fight, and allows him to hold the club in readiness while he uses the bow and arrow.[620] They also have a circular s.h.i.+eld about two and a half feet in diameter, which is considered a very important part of a warrior's equipment, not so much from the fact that it is arrow-proof, as from the peculiar virtues supposed to be given it by the medicine-men. The manufacture of a s.h.i.+eld is a season of great rejoicing. It must be made from the entire fresh hide of a male two-year-old buffalo, and the process is as follows. A hole is dug in the ground and filled with red-hot stones; upon these water is poured until a thick steam arises. The hide is then stretched, by as many as can take hold of it, over the hole, until the hair can be removed with the hands and it shrinks to the required size. It is then placed upon a prepared hide, and pounded by the bare feet of all present, until the ceremony is concluded. When the s.h.i.+eld is completed, it is supposed to render the bearer invulnerable. Lewis and Clarke also make mention of a species of defensive armor "something like a coat of mail, which is formed by a great many folds of dressed antelope skins, united by means of a mixture of glue and sand. With this they cover their own bodies and those of their horses, and find it impervious to the arrow." I find mention in one instance only, of a s.h.i.+eld being used by the Utahs. In that case it was small, circular, and worn suspended from the neck. The fis.h.i.+ng spear I have already described as being a long pole with an elk-horn point. When a fish is struck the shaft is loosened from its socket in the head, but remains connected with the latter by a cord.[621] Arrows are occasionally poisoned by plunging them into a liver which has been previously bitten by a rattlesnake.[622]

[Sidenote: MANNER OF MAKING WAR.]

The tribes that possess horses always fight mounted, and manage their animals with considerable address. In war they place their reliance upon strategy and surprise; fires upon the hills give warning of an enemy's approach. Prisoners of war are killed with great tortures, especially female captives, who are given over to the women of the victorious tribe and by them done to death most cruelly; it is said, however, that male prisoners who have distinguished themselves by their prowess in battle, are frequently dismissed unhurt. Scalps are taken, and sometimes portions of the flesh of a brave fallen enemy are eaten that the eater may become endued with the valor of the slain. He who takes the most scalps gains the most glory. Whether the warriors who furnished the trophies fell by the hand of the acc.u.mulator or not, is immaterial; he has but to show the spoils and his fame is established. The Snakes are said to be peculiarly skillful in eluding pursuit. When on foot, they will crouch down in the long gra.s.s and remain motionless while the pursuer pa.s.ses within a few feet of them, or when caught sight of they will double and twist so that it is impossible to catch them. The custom of ratifying a peace treaty by a grand smoke, common to so many of the North American aborigines, is observed by the Shoshones.[623] The pipe, the bowl of which is usually of red stone, painted or carved with various figures and adorned with feathers, is solemnly pa.s.sed from mouth to mouth, each smoker blowing the smoke in certain directions and muttering vows at the same time.

The only tools used before iron and steel were introduced by the whites were of flint, bone, or horn. The flint knife had no regular form, and had a sharp edge about three or four inches long, which was renewed when it became dull. Elk-horn hatchets, or rather wedges, were used to fell trees. They made water-proof baskets of plaited gra.s.s, and others of wicker-work covered with hide. The Snakes and some of the Utahs were versed in the art of pottery, and made very good vessels from baked clay. These were not merely open dishes, but often took the form of jars with narrow necks, having stoppers.[624]

[Sidenote: LAWS AND GOVERNMENT.]

Boats, as a rule, the Shoshones have none. They usually cross rivers by fording; otherwise they swim, or pa.s.s over on a clumsy and dangerous raft made of branches and rushes.[625] By way of compensation they all, except the poorest, have horses, and these const.i.tute their wealth. They have no regular currency, but use for purposes of barter their stock of dried fish, their horses, or whatever skins and furs they may possess.

They are very deliberate traders, and a solemn smoke must invariably precede a bargain.[626] Although each tribe has an ostensible chief, his power is limited to giving advice, and although his opinion may influence the tribe, yet he cannot compel obedience to his wishes. Every man does as he likes. Private revenge, of course, occasionally overtakes the murderer, or, if the sympathies of the tribe be with the murdered man, he may possibly be publicly executed, but there are no fixed laws for such cases. Chieftains.h.i.+p is hereditary in some tribes; in others it is derived from prestige.[627]

The Utahs do not hesitate to sell their wives and children into slavery for a few trinkets. Great numbers of these unfortunates are sold to the Navajos for blankets. An act which pa.s.sed the legislature of Utah in 1852, legalizing slavery, sets forth that from time immemorial, slavery has been a customary traffic among the Indians; that it was a common practice among them to gamble away their wives and children into slavery, to sell them into slavery to other nations, and that slaves thus obtained were most barbarously treated by their masters; that they were packed from place to place on mules; that these unfortunate humans were staked out to gra.s.s and roots like cattle, their limbs mutilated and swollen from being bound with thongs; that they were frozen, starved, and killed by their inhuman owners; that families and tribes living at peace would steal each other's wives and children, and sell them as slaves. In view of these abuses it was made lawful for a probate judge, or selectmen, to bind out native captive women and children to suitable white persons for a term not to exceed twenty years.[628]

Polygamy, though common, is not universal; a wife is generally bought of her parents;[629] girls are frequently betrothed in infancy; a husband will prost.i.tute his wife to a stranger for a trifling present, but should she be unfaithful without his consent, her life must pay the forfeit. The women, as usual, suffer very little from the pains of child-bearing. When the time of a Shoshone woman's confinement draws near, she retires to some secluded place, brings forth una.s.sisted, and remains there for about a month, alone, and procuring her subsistence as best she can. When the appointed time has elapsed she is considered purified and allowed to join her friends again. The weaker s.e.x of course do the hardest labor, and receive more blows than kind words for their pains. These people, in common with most nomadic nations, have the barbarous custom of abandoning the old and infirm the moment they find them an inc.u.mbrance. Lewis and Clarke state that children are never flogged, as it is thought to break their spirit.[630]

[Sidenote: GAMBLING AND DRINKING.]

The games of hazard played by the Shoshones differ little from those of their neighbors; the princ.i.p.al one appears to be the odd-and-even game so often mentioned; but of late years they have nearly abandoned these, and have taken to 'poker,' which they are said to play with such adroitness as to beat a white man. With the voice they imitate with great exactness the cries of birds and beasts, and their concerts of this description, which generally take place at midnight, are discordant beyond measure. Though they manufacture no intoxicating liquor themselves, they will drink the whisky of the whites whenever opportunity offers. They smoke the _kinikkinik_ leaf when no tobacco can be procured from the traders.[631] In connection with their smoking they have many strange observances. When the pipe is pa.s.sed round at the solemnization of a treaty, or the confirmation of a bargain, each smoker, on receiving it from his neighbor, makes different motions with it; one turns the pipe round before placing the stem to his lips; another describes a semicircle with it; a third smokes with the bowl in the air; a fourth with the bowl on the ground, and so on through the whole company. All this is done with a most grave and serious countenance, which makes it the more ludicrous to the looker-on. The Snakes, before smoking with a stranger, always draw off their moccasins as a mark of respect. Any great feat performed by a warrior, which adds to his reputation and renown, such as scalping an enemy, or successfully stealing his horses, is celebrated by a change of name. Killing a grizzly bear also ent.i.tles him to this honor, for it is considered a great feat to slay one of these formidable animals, and only he who has performed it is allowed to wear their highest insignia of glory, the feet or claws of the victim. To bestow his name upon a friend is the highest compliment that one man can offer another.

The Snakes, and some of the Utahs, are skillful riders, and possess good horses. Their horse-furniture is simple. A horse-hair or raw-hide lariat is fastened round the animal's neck; the bight is pa.s.sed with a single half-hitch round his lower jaw, and the other end is held in the rider's hand; this serves as a bridle. When the horse is turned loose, the lariat is loosened from his jaw and allowed to trail from his neck. The old men and the women have saddles similar to those used for packing by the whites; they are a wooden frame made of two pieces of thin board fitting close to the sides of the horse, and held together by two cross-pieces, in shape like the legs of an isosceles triangle. A piece of hide is placed between this and the horse's back, and a robe is thrown over the seat when it is ridden on. The younger men use no saddle, except a small pad, girthed on with a leather thong. When traveling they greatly overload their horses. All the household goods and provisions are packed upon the poor animal's back, and then the women and children seat themselves upon the pile, sometimes as many as four or five on one horse.[632]

[Sidenote: DISEASES AND BURIAL.]

The poorer Utahs are very subject to various diseases, owing to exposure in winter. They have few, if any, efficient remedies. They dress wounds with pine-gum, after squeezing out the blood. The Snakes are much affected by rheumatism and consumption, caused chiefly by their being almost constantly in the water fis.h.i.+ng, and by exposure. Syphilis has, of course, been extensively introduced among all the tribes. A few plants and herbs are used for medicinal purposes, and the medicine-men practice their wonted mummeries, but what particular means of cure they adopt is not stated by the authorities. I find no mention of their having sweat-houses.[633]

Concerning the disposal of the dead usage differs. In some parts the body is burned, in others it is buried. In either case the property of the deceased is destroyed at his burial. His favorite horse, and, in some instances, his favorite wife, are killed over his grave, that he may not be alone in the spirit land. Laceration in token of grief is universal, and the lamentations of the dead person's relatives are heard for weeks after his death, and are renewed at intervals for many months.

Child-like in this, they rush into extremes, and when not actually engaged in shrieking and tearing their flesh, they appear perfectly indifferent to their loss.[634]

[Sidenote: SHOSHONE CHARACTER.]

The character of the better Shoshone tribes is not much worse than that of the surrounding nations; they are thieving, treacherous, cunning, moderately brave after their fas.h.i.+on, fierce when fierceness will avail them anything, and exceedingly cruel. Of the miserable root and gra.s.s eating Shoshones, however, even this much cannot be said. Those who have seen them unanimously agree that they of all men are lowest. Lying in a state of semi-torpor in holes in the ground during the winter, and in spring crawling forth and eating gra.s.s on their hands and knees, until able to regain their feet; having no clothes, scarcely any cooked food, in many instances no weapons, with merely a few vague imaginings for religion, living in the utmost squalor and filth, putting no bridle on their pa.s.sions, there is surely room for no missing link between them and brutes.[635] Yet as in all men there stands out some prominent good, so in these, the lowest of humanity, there is one virtue: they are lovers of their country; lovers, not of fair hills and fertile valleys, but of inhospitable mountains and barren plains; these reptile-like men love their miserable burrowing-places better than all the comforts of civilization; indeed, in many instances, when detained by force among the whites, they have been known to pine away and die.

TRIBAL BOUNDARIES.

[Sidenote: NORTHERN CALIFORNIANS.]

To the NORTHERN CALIFORNIANS, whose territory extends from Rogue River on the north to Eel River south, and from the Pacific Ocean to the Californian boundary east, including the Klamath, and other lakes, are a.s.signed, according to the authorities, the following tribal boundaries: There are 'the Hoopahs, and the Ukiahs of Mendocino;' 'the Umpquas, Kowooses or Cooses, Macanootoony's of the Umpqua river section, Nomee Cults, and Nomee Lacks of Tehama County; the Copahs, Hanags, Yatuckets, Terwars and Tolowas, of the lower Klamath river; the Wylaks and Noobimucks of Trinity county mountains west from Sacramento plains; the Modocs of Klamath Lake, the Ylackas of Pitt River, the Ukas and Shastas of Shasta county.' _Taylor_, in _Cal. Farmer_, _June 8, 1860_.

'The _Tototins_ are divided into twelve bands; eight of them are located on the coast, one on the forks of the Coquille, and three on Rogue river.' 'The Tototins, from whom is derived the generic name of the whole people speaking the language, reside on the north bank of the Tototin river, about four miles from its mouth. Their country extends from the eastern boundary of the Yahshutes, a short distance below their village, up the stream about six miles, where the fis.h.i.+ng-grounds of the Mackanotins commence.' 'The country of the Euquachees commences at the "Three Sisters," and extends along the coast to a point about three miles to the south of their village, which is on a stream which bears their name. The mining town of Elizabeth is about the southern boundary of the Euquachees, and is called thirty miles from Port Orford. Next southward of the Euquachees are the Yahshutes, whose villages occupy both banks of the Tototin or Rogue river, at its mouth. These people claim but about two and a half miles back from the coast, where the Tototin country commences. The Yahshutes claim the coast to some remarkable headlands, about six miles south of Rogue river. South of these headlands are the Chetlessentuns. Their village is north of, but near, the mouth of a stream bearing their name, but better known to the whites as Pistol river. The Chetlessentuns claim but about eight miles of the coast; but as the country east of them is uninhabited, like others similarly situated, their lands are supposed to extend to the summit of the mountains. Next to the Chetlessentuns on the south are the Wishtenatins, whose village is at the mouth of a small creek bearing their name. They claim the country to a small trading-post known as the Whale's Head, about twenty-seven miles south of the mouth of Rogue River. Next in order are the Cheattee or Chitco band, whose villages were situated on each side of the mouth, and about six miles up a small river bearing their name.... The lands of these people extend from Whale's Head to the California line, and back from the coast indefinitely.... The Mackanotin village is about seven miles above that of the Tototins, and is on the same side of the river. They claim about twelve miles of stream. The s.h.i.+stakoostees succeed them (the Mackanotins). Their village is on the north bank of Rogue river, nearly opposite the confluence of the Illinois. These are the most easterly band within my district in the South.' _Parrish_, in _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, pp. 283-9. 'Dr. Hubbard, in his notes (1856) on the Indians of Rogue River and South Oregon, on the ocean, before alluded to, gives the following list of names of Rancherias and clans of the Lototen or Tutatamys tribe. Masonah Band, location, Coquille river; Chockrelatan Band, location, Coquille forks; Quatomah Band, location, Flore's creek; Laguaacha Band, location, Elk river; Cosulhenten Band, location, Port Orford; Yuquache Band, location, Yugua creek; Chetlessenten Band, location, Pistol river; Yah Shutes Band, location, Rogue river; Wishtanatan Band, location, Whale's head; Cheahtoc Band, location, Chetko; Tototen Band, location, six miles above the mouth of Rogue river; Sisticoosta Band, location, above Big Bend, of Rogue river; Maquelnoteer Band, location, fourteen miles above the mouth of Rogue river.' _Cal. Farmer_, _June 18, 1860_. The Tutotens were a large tribe, numbering thirteen clans, inhabiting the southern coast of Oregon.

_Golden Era_, _March, 1856_. 'Toutounis ou Coquins, sur la riviere de ce nom et dans l'interieur des terres.' _Mofras_, _Explor._, tom. ii., p.

335. 'On the lower part of the Clamet River are the Totutune, known by the unfavorable soubriquet of the Rogue, or Rascal Indians.' _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p. 221. The bands of the Tootooton tribe 'are scattered over a great extent of country--along the coast and on the streams from the California line to twenty miles north of the Coquille, and from the ocean to the summit of the coast range of mountains.' _Palmer_, in _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, p. 259. Taylor places the Tutunahs in the northwest corner of Del Norte County. _MS. Map._

The _Hunas_ live in California a little south of Rogue River, on the way north from Crescent City. _Pfeiffer's Second Journ._, p. 314.

_Modoc_, by some _Moadoc_, is a word which originated with the Shasteecas, who applied it indefinitely to all wild Indians or enemies.

'Their proper habitat is on the southern sh.o.r.e of Lower Klamath Lake, on Hot Creek, around Clear Lake, and along Lost River in Oregon.' _Powers_, in _Overland Monthly_, vol. x., p. 535. They own the Klamath River from the lake 'to where it breaks through the Siskiyou range to the westward.' _Id._, vol. xi., p. 21. In the northern part of Siskiyou County. _MS. Map_. 'The Modocs of the Klamath Lake were also called Moahtockna.' _Cal. Farmer_, _June 22, 1860_. East of the Klamaths, whose eastern boundary is twenty-five or thirty miles east of the Cascade Range, along the southern boundary of Oregon, 'and extending some distance into California, is a tribe known as the Modocks. East of these again, but extending farther south, are the Moetwas.' 'The country round Ancoose and Modoc lakes, is claimed and occupied by the Modoc Indians.'

_Palmer_, in _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, pp. 262-3. 'The Modocs (or Moadoc, as the word is p.r.o.nounced) known in their language as the Okkowish, inhabit the Goose lake country, and are mostly within the State of California.... The word Modoc is a Shasta Indian word, and means all distant, stranger, or hostile Indians, and became applied to these Indians by white men in early days from hearing the Shastas speak of them.' See _Steele_, in _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1864, p. 121.

The _Oukskenahs_, in the north-western part of Siskiyou County. _MS.

Map._

[Sidenote: THE TRINITY RIVER TRIBES.]