Chapter 15 



ABOUT THE RANCHERIAS INHABITED BY THESE INDIANS. 



Since the preceding chapter deals with the first settlers of this 

 canyada of San Juan Capistrano and its environs, it will be fitting 

 to give the towns or rancherias that were founded by the above 

 mentioned new comers from the territory of Sejat and their de- 

 scendants, giving in detail the names of the rancherias with their 

 meanings and the name of the first chief of each of them. 



1. The first rancheria or town which was founded in this canyada 

 was the one called Putuidem, as we gave in the preceding chapter 

 together with what the name Putuidem signifies. This was founded 

 by Chief Oyaison and his daughter Coronne, or Putuidem. After 

 what happened to the said Putuidem there entered into rule as chief 

 one named Choqual, which means lift it tip! He was a very near 

 relative of Chief Oyaison. 



2. The second was called Atoum-pumcaxque [or i for c] (which 

 is the place where the Mission is located). This name signifies a 

 kind of little animals which according to W'hat they have told me 

 are similar to yellowjackets, but small, like big ants, which came out 

 from underneath the ground. I have not seen these animals, nor 

 are they seen at present anywhere around, for they say that from 

 the time the Mission was established at this place they disappeared 

 and they have not been seen any more. The reason that these insects 

 came to an end I attribute to this canyada having been a thick 

 growth of willows, cottonwoods, sycamores, fuchsias, beds of reeds, 

 all of it being a marsh of water, and when after the establishment of 

 the Mission the ground was begun to be cleared off for cultivation, 

 these animals may have found themselves deprived of a breeding place 

 and with the cultivation of the ground they may have come to an end. 

 The chief of this rancheria was the same Choqual, [also chief] of 

 the preceding one. 



3. The third was called Ulbe, which signifies California Sage- 

 brush. This is a kind of chamizo similar to rosemary and it has almost 

 the same virtues. The Indians do not fail to use it in certain of 

 their diseases. The chief of this rancheria was called TeniiacJiocot, 

 which signifies place or locality where much willow grows. 



4. The fourth was called Tebone, which signifies an herb which 

 grows in the seashore lagoon at the mouth of the creek estuary at 



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