452 INDIANS OF WESTERN NEVADA AND CALIFORNIA. 



show himself near Susanville, for, ou account of their early atrocities, 

 there are a number of men in the town who have taken an oath to shoot 

 a Piute at sight. The Indians near Susanville are nearly related in lan- 

 guage and customs to the tribe living on the Sacramento from Ohico 

 to the Cosumnes River, and do not require further description here. 



Returning to Reno on the lltb, I remained there and in Carson City 

 three days, to collect articles from the Washoes, though I did not have 

 good success, for they are poor in aboriginal objects. They are a lower 

 race in every respect than the Piutes. They are undoubtedly an offshoot 

 from the California Indians, (being related to them in language,) and 

 colonized Western Nevada by crossing the Sierra from California; but 

 were afterward driven back toward the mountains by the Piutes, who 

 seem to be later arrivals. Their habitat is confined to the Upper 

 Truckee and Carson Rivers, and Lake Tahoe, Sierra Valley, and a few 

 smaller summit valleys north of the latter, though these elevated local- 

 ities were occupied only in the summer. They were allowed by the 

 Piutes to descend the two rivers for fishing purposes, for a limited sea- 

 son, to a point below their proper boundaries. Although a race of 

 mountaineers, they are darker than the Piutes, shorter in stature, and 

 feebler in battle. Even in winter they seldom had anything that could 

 be called a house, as they lived in a pile of sage-brush, built up hollow 

 and protected on the windward side with skins and blankets. Along 

 the stream, for fishing purposes, they set willow poles in the ground, bend 

 them over, and covered the frame with thatch. 



As to their relations with the whites, the remarks above made of the 

 Piutes apply here. They have no reservation, and there are not over 

 200 of them, a wretched remnant. 



On the 15th I left Virginia City for Walker River reservation, and 

 reached it on the afternoon of the next day. There are about as many 

 Indians on this as on Pyramid Lake reservation, but as it is only a sub- 

 agency it is under the control of a farmer, Mr. George Frasier, who 

 reports to Rev. C. A. Bateman quarterly. The land on this reserve is 

 almost totally incapable of irrigation ; at least nothing in that line is 

 attempted except a small garden, which is cultivated by the post-trader. 

 Neither are there any cattle belonging to the reservation, though a great 

 part of it is grazed over by stock belonging to citizens. Notwithstand- 

 ing these drawbacks the Indians are in a more satisfactory condition 

 than those at Pyramid Lake ; they are less exposed to corrupting influ- 

 ences, and are less diseased, and more contented. They are good hunt- 

 ers, and every autumn after the pine-nut harvest is ended they have a 

 custom of organizing a grand rabbit-hunt or drive, in which nearly the 

 whole tribe participate, and hundreds of hares are caught or shot ; 

 their flesh is dried for winter consumption, and the pelts are cut into 

 narrow strips and dried to be made into blankets for winter use. This 

 branch of the Piutes is called " Ahgyweif or " Ahgy-tecitteh," (trout- 

 eaters,) from ahgy. This fish is a very important article of their food. 



