IOLM I\4ARGOLIN haswritren a number of books on Calfornia i naruralhlstory, and Indianlife. He is publisherof HeydayBooks, THEOHLONE \A/\Y he foundedin 1974,and publisheroftwo quarterlymagazines: -l/rzas ,latiueCalifornia, devored to California lndian history and ongoing :, and Ba1 Nature, which exploresthe natural history of the San Indian Life in tlte scoBay Area. SanFrancisco- of relatedinterest from HeydayBooks: MontereyBay Area

' Vay \Y'eLiued: Califtrnia Indian Stories,Songs and Retniniscences Edited wirh Commenraryby Malcolm Margolin) , in a CaliforniaMision: Monterelin 1786 Jean Frangoisde La Pirouse) the American ]ndian: Reminiscencesof a Yuroh lfl'oman iLucy Thompson) t Maidu Indian Mytbs and Storiesof Hanc'ibiim (Ediredand Translatedby lfilliam Shipley) Vill Liue Foreuer:Traditional YosemiteAcorn PrEaration (BeverlyR. Ortiz, as rold by Julia F. Parker) lian Surnmer:Tiaditional Life Amongtbe Choi umneIndiarc of Californiai SanJoaquin Vall4 (ThomasJefferson Maydeld) ies ofFire: Essayson California Indian Languages (LeanneHinton) taplhua: TraditionaLKarak Indian Literatureforn Nortbwestern California(Edited and Translatedby Julian Lang) 'opted BY MALCOLNI MARGOUN by Indians:A TiueStory (Thomas Jefferson Mayfield, Editedby MalcolmMargolin) tiue Ways:California Indian Storiesand Memories Illustratedby MichaelHarney (Editedby MalcolmMargoJin and Yolanda Montijo)

rcrlv m"orzrncc' ws fom Natiue California: An Inside View of the California Indian \)l/'orLl ''t Nature: An Ex,loration of Natare in the San FranciscoBay Area Heyday BooAs:Berkeley I"IND AND ANIMAIS

Modem residents would hardly recognize the Bay Area as it was in rhe days of rhe Ohlones. Tall, sometimes shoulder-high stands of native bunch- grasses (now almost entirely replaced by rhe shoner European annuals) covered rhe vast meadowlands and the tree-dotted savannahs. Marshes that spread out for thousands ofacres fringed the shores ofthe Bay. Thick oal<-bay forests and redwood forests covered much of the hills. The inrermingling of grasslands, savannahs, salt- and freshwarer marshes, and foresrs creared wildlife habitats of almost unirnaginable richness and variety- The early explorers ald advenrurers, no maner how well-travelled in orher parts of the globe, were invariably suuck by the plendful animal life here . ' 'There is not any country in the world which more abounds in fish and game of elcry description, " noted the French sea capain, Ia Perowe. Flocks of geese, ducks, and seabirds were so elormous tlat when alarmed by a rifle shot they were said to rise "in a dense cloud with a noise like rhar of a hurricane. " Herds of elk-"monsters wirh tremendous homs, ' ' as one of the eaily missioruries described them-grazed the meadowlands in such numbers drat they were often compared with great herds ofcattle. Pronghom anrelopes, in herds of one or lwo hundred, or wen more, doned the grassy slopes. Packsofwolves hunted the elk, antelope, deer, rabbits, ard other game. Bald eagles and giaat condors glided through the air. Mountah lions, bobcas, and coyotes-now seen only rarely- were a conunon sight. And of coursethere vas the gizzly bear. "He was horible, fierce, large, and fat," wrore Father Pedro Font, an early misSionary, and a most apt description ir was. These enormous bears were everywhere, feeding on berries, lumbering along the beaches, congregadng beneath oak trees during the acorn seasoo, and smtioned along nearly every stream artd creek during the annual runs of salmon ard steelhead. It is rmpossible to esdmare how many thousands of bears might have lived in the Bay Area at the dme of the Otrlones. Early Spanish senlers captured them readily for their famous bear-and-bull fights, ranchers shot them by the dozen to protect their herds of cattle and sheep, and the early THE OHLONE TSAY LAND AND ANINIAIS

Californiarrs chose the gt;zzly as the emblem for their flag aod fieir The San Francisco Bay, in the days before landfill, was much laJger th4n sratehood. The histories ofmany California rowoships tell how bears collected it is roday. Rivers and streams emprying inro it often farned our .inro esruancs in roops around the slaughterhouses and sometirnes wandered out onro the which supponed extensive n:le marshes. The low, salry margins of rhe Bay main srreets of towns to terrorize the inhabitaats. To the Ohlones the grizzly held vast pickleweed and cordgrass swamps. Cordgrass provided what many bear musr have bcen omnipresent, yet roday there is not a single wild grizzly biologisrs now consider to be the richesr wildlife habitat in all Nonh America. bear left in all of Califomia. Today only Suisun Marsh and a few other smaller areas give a hinr of the extraordinary bird and animal life rhat rhe fresh- and saltwater swamps of the Ufe in the ocea! and in the unspoiled bays of San Francisco aod Bay Area once sup;roned. Ducks were so thick thar an early European hunter Monterey was Iikewise plentifi.rl beyond modem conception, There were rold how "several were frequently killed with one shor." Channeb mussels, clam, oysters, abalones, seabirds, and sea ofters in profusion. Sea crisscrossed rhe Bayshore swamps---coyote,according ro one visitor, was "so daring aad dexterous, that it ma-kes Vater was vimrally everywhere, especially where the land was flar. The no scruple of entering humar habitation in the nighr, and rarely fails ro explorers suffered far more from mosquiroes, spongy eanh, and hard-to-ford appropriate whatever happeos to suit it. " rivers than they did from thirst-even irt rhe heat of surnrner- Places thar are "Arimals seem m have losr their fear and become familiar with mar," now dry were then described as having springs, brooks, ponds----even fairly noted Captain Beechey. As one reads rhe old joumals and diaries, one finds large lakes. In the days before chaonelizations, all the maior rivers-rhe the same observation repeared by one visror after another- Quail, said Carmel, Salinas,Pajaro, Coyote Creek, and Alameda Creek-as well as many Beeclrey,were "so tame thar lhev would often not srart from a stone directed minor streams, spread out each wilter ald spring ro form wide, marshy at them." Rabbits "can sometimes be caughr with rhe haad," darmed a vallevs. LAND AND ANIMAIS

Spamsh shrp captain. Geese, according to aoother visitor, were "so impudenr that they can scarcely be frightened away by hring upon them. " \ii, Likewise, Orto von Kotzebue, an avid hunter, found that "geese, ducks, and snipes were so tarne that we might have killed great numbers with our sdcks." \X4ren he and his men acquired horses from the rnissionaries they chased"herds ofsmall stags, so fearlessthat they suffered us to ride into the midst of them. " Voo Korzebue delighted in what he ca.lledthe "superfluiry of ga.me.'' But one of his hunting expeditions nearly ended in disaster. He had brought with him a crew of Aleutian Eskimos to help hurrr sea oners for the fur rade. ?l : "They had never seen game in such abundance," he wrote, "and being rl.i j passionarcly fond of the chase they fued away without ceasing. " Then one " man made the mistal

The village is located along the eastem shores of the San Francisco Ba1 at tie mouti of a freshwater creek. An immense , sprawling pile of shells earth, ald ashes eleratss the site above the surounding marshland- On to1 of this mound stand some fifteen dome-shaped nrle houses arranged around : plaza-tke clearing. Scanered among them are smaller strucrures dnt lool like huge baskets on stilts-granaries irr which the year's supply of acoms ar< stored. Beyood the houses and granaries lies another deared area that servet as a bail freld, although it is not now n use. It is rnid-aftemoon ofa dear, wa.im day- In several places throughout th( village steam is rising from undergrouod pit ovens where mussels, clams rabbit meat, fish, and various roots are being roasted for the evening meal People are chuteted near the doors of the houses. Tlree men sit together repairing a fishing net. A group of chil&en are playing an Ohlone version o hide-and-seek: one chid hrdes and all the rest are seekers. Here and there ar older person is lying face down on a woven nrle mat, napping in the warmth o the aftemoon sun. At the edge of the vil.lage a group of women sit together grinding acoms Holding the monars betweeo their outsrretched legs, they sway back anc fonh, raising the pestles and letting them fall again. The women are singing