Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1884-10-03
THE CHIEFS DAUGHTER.
The Last Stand of the Santa Ynez In
dians-A Secret Trail which Led TO
a Lover, and the Destruction of the
ha

We were deer-hunting OF the head
waters of the Santa Ana creek, rapid
little stream taking its rise in the coast
range in Ventura county, and were
Gamped at point where the stream,
breaking through spur of the main
ridge, hurled itself In eddyIng rapids
between towering walls of naked
sandstone. Before as the foothills
dropped away into the fertile mesas of
the Santa Ana rancho, while above
the gorge, hemmed by the towering
mountains, lay a beautiful valley,
oval IN shape and studded with clumps
of hveoak and lunches of manzanlto.
Close down to the mouth of the pass,
around whose eastern side there ran
narrow trail, beneath the whispering
branches of which we had built our
camp fire. while our horses cropped at
will the juicy bunch-grass upon the
fiat above. Here, one summer even
ing, in the shadow of the rock and
tree, we lay az ease upon our blank
cts.
An old nountaineer who was of the
party, a man who had spent the better
par. of a lifetime in hunting and prog
pecting through the mountains of
California, and was now as care-free
and as far from striking it rich" as
ever he was in the good old days of
40, broke the deep silence which had
fallen upon our little parts in natures
majestic presence.
Did you know" he said, that this
fiat was the last stronghold of the
Santa Ynez Indians that held out
against the Spaniards?"
No" 1 replied, tell US about IT,"
Il will give you the story" he re-
piled, ''as an old Indian squaw told it
to me-"
"A great many years ago, before
even the Franciscan missionaries had
thought of California as a pronaole
field for their laboYs, the Santa Ynez
Indians dominated ali the country
hereaboUt, from Santa Barbara even
to the vicinity Of the San Fernando
valley. This glen at the head Of Santa
| Ana creek was the seat of tnelr auth
orlty, and the site of their largest
village and most impregnable strong
hold. Here was the residence of their
great chiefs, here was built their larg
est counsel-house, and here, when
danger threatened, could be found
ample accommodations for the whole
tribe. Game and berries were abund
ant Ia the neighborlng mountains. d
| boiling sulphur spring was valuable
| for the erection of a sweat house, the
| Santa Ana swarmed with trout, and
100 trusty warriors stationed upon the
cliffs and at the head of the trail lead
ing up the stream could defy unRum-
! bered foes. Ordinarily but the chiefs
and their immediate families and re-
tanners resided in this stronghold, the
tribe being scattered over its broad
domain Ill numerous villages advan
tageously located, and only assem-
bling at the central point in times Of
danger or to participate IN great tribal
religious observances.
But there was another trail lead
ing into the glen Winding up over
yon high cliff upon the western side
of the gorge, it leads down into the
gorge, by long and clrcuitous route,
at It's upper OR western end.
1.-THE Spanlards came into the coun
try and everything was changed,
Gradually the Santa Ynez Indians
were conquered and enslaved or ex
terminated One by one their villages
had been destroyed and their burial
mounds desecrated to make place for
the focks and the herds of their
arrogant masters. At last but few
hundred of them remained, and these,
under the leadership of their last great
chief, Ma-til-l ia, had taken refuge III
this glen at the head of the Santa Ana
creek. Preparations we've begun to
dlsi0dge the rebellious Cd savages.
All of the young vaqQeros IN this
couMtry, all the veteran government
soldiers at the mission, and all the
rancheros were enlisted in the exter-
mlnation of band whose existence
was constant peril to them. The
troops, approached the mouth of the
rocky pass and halted to reconnoiter.
| The Indian scouts had signaled the
approach of the soldiers, and Ma till
ia was prepared. Within the gorge
all Was silent, save the ripping of the
water in the shadows of the rock. A
priest, bareheaded and grown clad,
advanced along the trail into the
darkness, holding aloft a crucifx and
calling upon the Indians for submits
sion. High up upon the cliff tufted
head and bare brown shoulders
caught for an instant the rays of the
san. There was the twang of bow
string and an ossidianpointed AFRO ",
wbizzing down into the shadows,
buried itself to the feathers in the
breast of the priest. For an instant
! he stood still holding aloft the cru
| Il . hn,, h RI II H.
body fell forward into the water, and
the trout below him sported in a Grim
son stream. Quickly dismounting,
the Spaniards charged again and
again into the narrow pass, and were
as often repuIsed.
Sat last they drew off. seeing the
hopeiessneSs of the attack, and camp
ed down upon the mesa below, deter
mined to try the policy of starvation
Meanwhile the Indians strengthened
| their defenses and sent out hunters
upon the hills that they might be pre-
pared TO endure the siege. Ma-til-i ia,
the last of long line of chieftains,
| had no son to whom to transmit his
honors, aud contrary to the usual Gus
tom of his people, had taken TO him
self but one wife. A daughter, WI
mona, was the fruit of their union,
and Ma-til-i ia had csnfded to her the
knowledge OF the secret trail leading
from the glen. Like all the women
of her tribe, Wi-no-na had sOiourned
for time at the mission, and while
there, unknown to her father, the
ceremonies and relig on of the padres
had taken deep hold upon her savage
Imagination. While there. also, she
had conceived a passion, deep and
wild as her own unframed nature, for
one of the young soldiers Of the gar
rison, Jose Arenas, and he had not
been at all derelict in pressing his suit
upon the savage beauty.
'For weeks the siege continued,
interspersed with brave charges which
were aIways repulsed, until at last the
SPani&rds began to chafe at fighting
with an unseen enemy, whose missiles
dealIh death at every blow. At last
the disaffection grew open and there
began to be grave talk of abandoning
the apparently fr6itless siege.
Meanwhile Vino ma stole away
from her fathers lodge each day al
nightfall, and, passing over the secret