According to Duran the village had 40 houses, which would mean 360 persons without reckoning possible subsidiary rancherias. The name is mentioned for only one mission, San Jose, at which 428 Ochejamne, or Oocheganes, were baptized between 1829 and 1836. This is prima facie evidence that Duran, who saw them in 1817, was referring, as he implies, only to one rancheria and that the tribe was actually larger. This idea is supported by the account of José Berreyesa in 1830 of severe Indian fighting in the delta (Berryesa, MS, 1830). The Ochejamnes and the Yunisumnes with certain American trappers were arrayed against the Californians, who had gathered together 450 auxiliary fighters from the Cosumnes and other tribes. No value is placed upon the number of Ochejamnes but it must have been considerable. It was probably as a result of this campaign that 428 members of the tribe were baptized at Mission San Jose. Even with a relatively complete conquest many of the natives must have escaped; hence in 1830 their total number must have reached 500. But this was in 1830, after a generation of expeditions and petty warfare. The aboriginal number must have been considerably greater, let us say 750.
(Ochejamnes ... 750)
Guaypem.—This group is thought by Schenck to have been simply a village but Merriam (1907, p. 350) regards them as a tribe called the Wipa, located on Sherman Island near the Sacramento River estuary. Duran in his diary says that Guaypens is 6 leagues south and southeast of the fork of the river below Courtland. Allowing for his usual exaggeration of distances, this puts the rancheria near the mouth of the Mokelumne, in the vicinity of Walnut Grove. He speaks of the rancheria "de los Guaypens" and saw only a few people. Thus neither size nor locality supports the contention that Guaypem was synonymous with Wipa. The tribe was not converted until relatively late, 41 converts being taken to San Jose between 1821 and 1824. By that time the tribe had been subject to severe attrition. Thus the evidence points to an aboriginal group consisting of one village of average size, or close to 300 inhabitants.
(Guaypem ... 300)
Quenemsias.—These people, who lived near the two preceding tribes, are designated a "group" by Schenck (p. 136). They covered, according to him, "the southern part, or perhaps all, of Grand Island." The ecclesiastical diarists make no mention of them save the reference by Duran to the "isla llamada de los Quenemisias." One other citation is worth mentioning, however. In the Bancroft Transcripts is a document dated January 31, 1796, entitled "Informe en el cual el teniente Hermdo Sal manifesta lo que ha adquirido de varios sugetos para comunicarlo al Gobernador de la Provincia," which gives a description of the lower reaches of the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers and the delta and mentions the natives (Sal, MS, 1796). In detail, the account is extremely inaccurate. However, one of the Indians "... dio noticia de las naciones Tulpunes, Quinensiat, Taunantoc, y Quisitoc: los primeros son de la orilla del estero; los 2os estan del otro lado de los rios ..." Although no numerical data are given, the mention of the Quenemsias (Quinensiat) as a "nacion" in the delta region establishes them as a group of more than average importance. The mission books show 185 Quenemsias baptized at Mission San Jose. Roughly double the number of baptisms may be taken as the aboriginal population, i.e., 400.
(Quenemsias ... 400)
Chuppumne, Chucumes.—Schenck places these two settlements, which he calls villages, on the Sacramento River near the mouth of the Cosumnes. Most of our documentary information concerning them is derived from the accounts of Duran and of Luís Argüello. Luís Antonio Argüello accompanied Duran on his expedition and wrote a report to the governor in the form of a letter, dated May 26, 1817, the original of which is preserved in the Bancroft Library (library no. fm-F864A64; also typed copy). The existence of this letter evidently was not known to either Kroeber or Schenck. It is less complete and less detailed than the diary of Duran but it is of value in checking the statements made by the latter.
On May 16 the party reached the foot of Grand Island and on May 17 proceeded up the left-hand (i.e., western) watercourse. The village of Chucumes was found 8 leagues (leguas) upstream, according to Duran, 13 miles (millas) according to Argüello. The latter estimate is probably closer, since Duran is notoriously inaccurate (usually on the side of overestimate) in his computation of distances. Here Duran counted 35 houses whereas Argüello says 36, a sufficiently close correspondence. As indicated previously, a population of 315 persons is probable. Continuing their journey, they went on for 4 miles (Argüello); Duran says approximately 3 leagues. There they stopped at a rancheria, "arruinada" according to Argüello, although Duran makes no mention of this.
On May 18 the party went on upstream, making during the day 4 leagues (Duran) or 16 miles (Argüello). Duran states that after going 1 league they got back into the main stream of the Sacramento. This was clearly at the head of Grand Island, close to Courtland. At 1 league beyond this point, on May 19, they found the rancheria Chuppumne, which was deserted. The location therefore was very close to that shown by Schenck on his map (p. 133) and, if we can put any credence in the Duran-Argüello account, a good many miles north of Chucumes. Near Chuppumne Duran saw three other rancherias in the distance (inland?) but could not get at them. On May 20 the expedition pressed on upstream for 5 miles (Argüello) or 4 leagues (Duran), at which point they turned around and began the return trip. On May 21 Argüello says that they passed "algunas rancherias," all deserted, which may well have been those mentioned by Duran on May 19.