The Aboriginal Population of the San Joaquin Valley, California

by Sherburne Friend Cook

The Kings River sloughs were first described in 1804 by Martin, who mentions the tribe, or rancheria, of Notonto (Nutunutu) but gives no population data. The next visitor was Moraga in 1806. In the diary of the expedition, written by Father Muñoz, no mention is made of Notonto but in the appended "List of rancherias visited in this trip and the one in April" are included Notonto I with 300 persons and Notonto II with 100. Estudillo saw the region in 1819 and said that Notonto (only one village of this name is mentioned) had 303 men "todos gente robusta y de armas." He also saw a few old women and children. Since the men are of the same type ("robust warriors") and were carefully counted in the same way as at Chischa, the same ratio of warriors to total inhabitants may be used. A population of 866 is thus indicated or, in round numbers, 850. Estudillo also says there were four chiefs, one each of the "Notontos," Gumilche, Guchetema, and Tateguy. The Nutunutu are thus clearly segregated from the Wimilchi (Gumilche). The other two names cannot be traced and may indeed have been those of individuals. The "guimilchis," in the meantime, had been seen in 1815 by Pico, who says that they had at least two rancherias.

From the ethnographers we get indication of six villages: of the Apiachi, the village of Wohui (Kroeber, Gayton, Latta); of the Nutunutu, the villages of Chiau (Kroeber, Gayton, Latta), Hibekia (Kroeber), Honotau (Gayton), and Kadestiu (Latta); of the Wimilchi, the village of Ugona (Kroeber, Gayton, Latta). If these villages actually existed in the early years of the nineteenth century, they can scarcely have held less than 250 persons apiece and the population would have been in the vicinity of 1,500.

From the Spanish accounts we find evidence of at least four villages: originally two (perhaps later one) of the Nutunutu and two of the Wimilchi. One of the latter may have been in fact the principal village of the Apiachi. The Nutunutu, whether as a single village or as a tribe, seem to have amounted to fully 850 persons at the time of Estudillo. Since these groups had been exposed to expeditions beginning in 1804, it is very probable that they had undergone considerable attrition before they were observed by Estudillo. This point of view is supported by Estudillo's remark that he requested the warriors of Notonto to meet him without their weapons because this rancheria "es la mas velicosa y terrible de los Tulares." Hence it is quite probable that the aboriginal population reached 1,200. A value of 500 may be assigned arbitrarily to the other villages or tribes, for Estudillo mentions three chiefs apart from the Notontos and Pico says that the Wimilchi had at least two rancherias. The probable aboriginal population for the entire area is therefore 1,700.

By the year 1850 the tribes of the Kings River delta were represented, according to the account of G. H. Derby, only by the rancheria of Notonto which then had 300 inhabitants. The population had thus fallen to 17.6 per cent of its former value. A footnote to the decline of the native inhabitants in this region is the fact that within a year or two after Derby's visit the village of Notonto was attacked by American cattlemen and farmers. The rancheria was devastated and 200 of the 300 people present were massacred in cold blood.

For the second sector of the Kings River we are dependent primarily upon the record of the Moraga expedition. Moraga and Muñoz evidently covered the river from the vicinity of Reedley to, or nearly to, the junction of the main stream and Mill Creek. The villages mentioned by them belonged principally to the Aiticha and the Choinimni. The Wechihit and the Toihicha may have been included but the Chukamina, Michahai, and Emtimbich seem to have been overlooked. Hence the figures given by Moraga are undoubtedly incomplete.

On October 16, 1806, having arrived from the San Joaquin River two days previously, Moraga sent out two scouting parties. One went upstream and found a rancheria of "como de 60 almas," called Ayquiche (or Aycayche). They were no doubt among the Aiticha, above Sanger. Here they heard about, but did not see, six other rancherias "sitas a la orillas del rio por la parte de la sierra." The other party went downstream and found three villages close together on a spacious plain along the banks of the river. They had a total of 400 inhabitants, but most of the people had fled. The "List of rancherias visited in this trip and the one in April" gives the names of these villages: Aycayche, which "according to the Indians" had 200 people, Ecsaa with 100, Chiaja with 100, and Xayuase with 100. In addition there was Capitau, which was very small and a "sugeto" of Xayuase. It had about 10 people. Apparently in October Muñoz and Moraga found only 60 Indians left in Aycayche, whereas in April they learned that it really contained 200. The difference must be ascribed to fugitivism.

The three downstream villages are credited by the "List" with 100 inhabitants apiece, but the diary states that there was a total of 400. The latter figure is more likely to be correct. Thus, with Aycayche, Moraga saw in this sector four villages and 600 persons. The other group of villages, six in number, was farther toward the mountains and no particular information concerning them is given in the diary. The "List," however, is more explicit. Under Aycayche it is stated:

Aqui hay otras 6 rancherias que no se pudieron reconocer y son todos, segun la noticia de los indios de esta rancheria como del porte de almas de Pizcache.

Pizcache is said to contain 200 souls. An aggregate of 1,200 persons is therefore indicated or, for the entire region seen by Moraga, 1,800.

The middle course of the Kings River has been discussed in the preceding section and it has been pointed out that in the middle of the nineteenth century this region was relatively heavily populated. The accounts of several contemporary observers indicate that in 1850 or thereabouts somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 natives were still to be found between the remnants of the Nutunutu on the west and the foothills Mono on the east. The ethnographic data supplied by Kroeber, Gayton, Latta, and Stewart show approximately 25 villages remembered by informants. If we use the fairly conservative average of 150 persons per village, the total is 3,750. To assume 3,500 is merely to stay within the bounds of the existing evidence.