OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. 241 



characteristics, they contain snfficicnt to prove that the Athapascan nations, tlio 

 remainder of whom presumptively possess the same system, cUissify their kindred 

 in the same manner, and in accordance with the same elaborate plan which prevails 

 amongst the Algonkin and Dakotan nations. The evidence of unity of systems 

 seems to be sufficient for their admission into the Ganowanian family. 



2. Apache Nations. 1. Jicarillo. 2. MescalcTOs. 3. Mimbres. 4. I.ipans. 

 5. Gila Apaches (Coyotes, Tontos, and Garrotes). 6. Navajoes. 7. Pinal Lenos. 



The Apaches held a very considerable, though much less extensive, area than 

 their northern congeners. With the exception of the narrow strips of country 

 occupied by the Village or Pueblo Indians, along the Rio Grande and its tribu- 

 taries and the Colorado, the Apache nations hold the greater part of New Mexico, 

 the southwestern part of Texas, and the eastern part of Arizona; and range south- 

 ward into the Mexican State of Chihuahua, and from thence eastward to the Gulf. 

 Those Avithin the United States were estimated, in 1855, to number between eight 

 and nine thousand.' The Navajoes and Pinal Lenos cultivate, and are considerably 

 advanced in civilization ; but the remaining nations are the wildest of the American 

 Indians. 



After repeated and persevering efforts continued through several years, I was 

 unable to procure the Apache system of relationship. It Avas sought with the 

 more interest for comparison with the Athapascan, with which, presumptively, it 

 agrees. 



Nations of the Columbia River and its tributaries. 



In natural resources for human subsistence, the region watered by the Columbia 

 and its tributaries is the most remarkable portion of North America. This area 

 draws to itself a sea coast line upon the Pacific of considerable extent. If from 

 a station upon the most inland margin of Puget's Sound a semicirc.le is described, 

 with a radius four hundred miles long, and the line, at each end, is protracted 

 until it intersects the sea coast, the area referred to will be inclosed. It will 

 include the greater part of the drainage both of the Columbia and Frazer's Rivers. 

 The section of country thus defined can scarcely be paralleled on the face of the 

 earth in the advantages which it afi"orded to a people living without agriculture, 

 and depending exclusively upon natural subsistence. It contains a mixture of 

 forest and prairie, of mountains, of valleys, of sea coasts, of great rivers, and of 

 inland lakes, to which are superadded the important advantages of a mild and 

 healthful climate. This striking combination of features made it an excellent 

 game country. Its sea coasts, indented with numerous bays, one of which, Puget's 

 Sound, has a shore-line fifteen hundred miles in length, afforded perpetual supplies 

 of shell-fish ; and its soil, teeming with bread-roots of various kinds, still further 

 increased the aggregate of available subsistence. But the crowning advantage of 

 this favored area was found in the inexhaustible salmon fisheries of the Columbia 

 River, which, at stated seasons, filled the land with superabundance of food. If 

 the current representations with reference to these fisheries may be credited, they 



' Schoolcraft's Hist. Con. and Pros. yi. 104. 



March, 1870. 



