The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1911-05-31
.SAVAGES ARE
YET AT LARGE
In California, on Isolated
Tract.
BURROWS UNDER BRUSH LEAD
To Their Domain-They Care
fully Keep Their Where.
abOutS Hidden.
REMNANT OF AN ANCIENT RACE

Inc discovery or the remnant OF
tribe of Indians, hiding in a wild
and unsettled portion of Tehama
county, by scientists from the Uni
versity of California, has led to the
keenest interest among anthropolog-
lists, and an effort is being made to
have the Government of the United
States take charge of the remaining
members.
The sensation of the discovery is
intensified by the peculiar condi-
lions surrounding 1t. A dramatic
page is added to the history of CAL
ifornia by the following account of
the unique event in the San Fran
cisco Chronicle by Prof. A. L. Kroe-
Der, of the department of anthropol-
ogy of the University Of California:
That there should be a tribe of
entirely wild Indians at this date
in so thickly settled a State as Cal
ifornia, seems absolutely Incredible.
The last Indians at large in the
United States were the famous &C.
ronimo band of Apaches, who sur
rendered and were put on a reser-
walton twenty-five years ago.
When tine first rumor of the I'M
| tanned aborigines in Tehama coun-
ty reached the University of Cali
fornia a year ago, it seemed to pos
sess no likelihood of truth.
1t was known at once who the
Indians must be. if they existed at
all, for the so-called Kombo or Mill
Creek tribe of this region had long
been regarded as one of the small
est, and also one of the most unique
tribes in California. But as this
band was last seen in 1870, the pos
sibility of their having been able to
keep themselves entirely hidden for
forty years was so remote as to
preclude belief in their reported ex-
istence.
When other corroborating &C
counts were received, all of them
tallying exactly with the descrip-
tions of the Indians frequenting the
same locality two generations ago,
it was decided that the university
ought to investigate, as the result,
if true. would be of startling inter-
est and value.
In Inn N1I To-,
petition, headed by r. T. Waterman,
an instructor in the department of
anthropology, and including ]. w.
Hunt, of Berkeley, and NJ erie APP
person, of Vina. This party was out
a month, and while after the most |
strenuous kind of work and most |
vigilant care they were unable to |
meet any of the Indians in person,
they brought back evidence which |
indisputably proves their existence.
They discovered how the Indians |
were able to seclude themselvs so
completely for so many years. The
tract which they inhabit is only a
few miles square and an easy days |
journey from Vina on the Shasta
route of the Southern Pacific rail-
road.
1t is without question the rough
est and most impenetrable stretch
of country in California, being
strewn with a disintegrated mass of
rock and every square foot of soil
between the powders covered with
a growth of scrub oak so thick that
progress of mile a day is all that
can be made through it.
The Indians know every inch of |
this territory. AS soon as one of
their trails becomes we'll worn, they
abandon 1t for less visible paths.
The trails go under the brush in
stead of through it, so that the In
dams do most of their travelling on
hands and knees. This prevents the
stock which occasionally strays into
the region from following the trails
and beating them out.
If limbs have to be removed, the
Indians cut them with old saws or
knives that they have stolen from
ranchers, so as to avoid
the sound of chopping with an ak,
which might lead to their being To-