The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1893-04-19
]N0 ACORNs NO INDIANS!
THE <1oF7DITIo1 TEAT 0oEFRoNTs
THE REROHANoo ABoRIGINES.

TIKI CoE5DIT1o1 TEAT 0oEFRoNTs
THE REncHANoo ABoRIaINES.
FrfoArfous Life OF q Southern Calf
t9rnia Tribc--A Diet of worms
Grade Bread and Queer "Esutter."
N FEW miles from San Jacinto,
CAL, IN the foothills, In the
~ IN Village OF the Perchsngo Inc,
6 dams the acorn-eatihg rem
urnts Of . once formidable tribe. They
eWclt spcn the edge of the Mojave Des-
erts aud when pursued by settlers for
stealipR atock they would escape by rid
ing hu1aisryds ct miles out into the burn
tpg eande. where the pele-face could not
|<olJox tbcfr.k This tribe finally became
tfized uhdsr the c1nibimed N tfuence
Of the settler's rifle aud thef Mission
church. The few that are left are styled
Perchango Indians. Perchaugo Canyon
opens out into the Pereis Valley,
pretty aud fruitful vale, luxuriantly
shaded with live oak aud acorn trees
These latter afford the Indians their
staff Of life; but it has been rather close
picking the past season, and the braves
Of the little village at the mouth of the
canyon are seriously considering the
policy Of l. ,rning their brush wigwams
aud emigrating to where acorns are more
plentiful.
The chief puts It this way: "No more
acorns; no more Indians-Indian must
CO." AT this juncture he pointed over
the mountain range, meaning that acorns
were plentiful there. He meant to be
understood that for three successive sea
sons the acorn crop had been almost a
total failure in this valley, but that it
bad been bountiful during the same sea-
sous on the coast rsnge. 1t always hap
pened that when the acorn crop was
sparse in the valleys it was bouutiful on
the coast range and the reverse. He
could not account for it, but pointed
toward the Great Father. His parchment
looking face was the picture Of disap-
pointmeut. "No acorns, no more In
diansn he said In the most woeful mau-
ner.
The "cacbe" is basket twelve feet
In height by three feet in diameter, rest
Ing on poles three feet in height. This
prevents the dampness Of the earth from
rotting the acorns, and is also safe
guard against the raids OF predatory ani-
mails. The sides Of these baskets are
formed of bushes interlaced with pine
boughs inverted, the needles of which
bar out predatory squirrels and also
conduct the rain downward on the out
side. The roof is Of pine bark, water
tight. The acorns arc stored in these
uins' OF oassssr-<-, -,iD'-rrHCsEluN. x
the woodpecker stores away acorns for
other days in tho holes which he drills
in the trees. Between grunts, the chief
declared that the acorn crop had been
emo good" the past season, but "good
| yonder," pointing TO the coast range.
Strange enough, IL invariably happens
that when the crop is good in tho
valleys 1t is correspondingly bad on the
coast range, and the reverse. Why this
is no one seems to know. The indians
cannot account for it, but they know
that 1t never fails aud this accounts for
their migration and return.
These lazy braves do not like work.
1t is failing with all braves; even some
of the palefaces have it. The young
| gather the acorns in small baskets aud
prepare tho meals. The children are
also made to work, such as to gather
brush for fires aud storing acorns. Acorns
are made into 'corn" bread. II the
acorns are wormeatea so much tho
| better. A woman takes a "lapful"
| Of acorns aud seats herself on the
| ground near a rock. Each acorn is
placed on end upon the rock. 1t is
struck on tha tip end with smooth peb-
BILE, which "opens tho acorn, separating
the hull from the kernel. The acorns
are spread upon the rock to dry, after
| which the woman mashes the acorns into
meal In a stone mortar about the size Of
| a wash basin, using a pestle of rock,
| something like that used by druggists in
mixing compounds for the disorganiza.
tion of the stomach of the palefacs.
While the squaws are thus preparing for
the frugal meal the bucks have built a
fire amid some rocks, which are made q
white heat. The meal Is poured into a
water.tight basket about half filed with
water. The white heated rocks are
dropped into the basket. There Is a
sizztng aud bubbling and spluttering aud
the consistency is stirred with stick un.
til it Is cooked into mushy paste or
| Cruel. Tho water Is not permitted to
boil, as that would cook the bread too
quickly. A hole is then scooped into
the bed of a little stream, the cake is put
In aud then covered with sand and peb-
bles. The water is then turned over il
again for few hours. The water perco.
latos through the sand aud thus removes
the tannin, or bitter taste, from the
acorn bread. Little grains of sand
adhere to the bread, but the Indian has
good digestive organs.
The butter used for this bread i,
rather crude, and perhaps gave rise to
the manufacture of oleomsrgarine,
When q foam forms on tho banks of the
creeks and In the "dead eddies" of q