22 ETHNO-BOTANY OF THE COAHUILLA INDIANS 



of this being an early Coahuillan migration from the Mojave into the 

 San Joaquin valley. 



Southward from the Mojave they passed through the Cajon pass 

 into the region around San Bernadino, and thence spread to the coast 

 through the valleys of the San Luis Rey, Santa Ana, and San Gabriel 

 rivers. Those who settled farther north about San Fernando may have 

 gone there from the San Gabriel valley or entered this region directly 

 from the Mojave, by way of Antelope valley. 



Mr. Alexander Taylor, writing in 1862, says of the Saticoy valley, 

 west of San Fernando : 



This valley at the upper end communicates with the Tejon and Los 

 Angeles roads, and for the last forty years has been a gate for the entrance 

 of Utahs, Paiutes, Yutes, Mojaves, and other desert and mountain Indians 

 who possess horses. Their visits were always made to run off the mules and 

 horses of the Padres and latterly the rancheros up to 1850. In this way 

 probably the Shoshone affile&quot;s entered these parts of California. 1 



An examination and comparison of all the vocabularies above noted 

 proves without question the linguistic affinity of the tribes who formerly 

 occupied southern California from San Fernando and contiguous terri 

 tory south to the country of the Diegefios or the Quemaya, below 

 Palomar mountain, and the San Luis Rey valley. It is impossible, 

 within the limits of this paper, to print the evidences of this relation 

 ship. It must suffice to say that I have examined carefully all of these 

 vocabularies mentioned, and find that of the languages spoken at San 

 Fernando, San Gabriel, and about Los Angeles, San Juan Capistrano, and 

 San Luis Rey, all possess a general similarity to the present speech of 

 the Luisenos and of the Coahuillas. Many words are identical, or very 

 nearly so, in all ; and a great many others show slight or recognizable 

 variations. The similarity between the languages spoken at San Juan 

 Capistrano and San Luis Rey and the languages of the Luisenos and 

 Coahuillas is much greater than the resemblance that connects these 

 with the tongues of San Gabriel and San Fernando. The Coahuillas 

 hunted and settled almost up the San Gabriel river, and yet the lin 

 guistic differences, as well as the relations between themselves and the 

 Gabrielefios are decided, but a sufficient similarity exists to connect 

 them all in one family. 



I suggest for the designation of this great group of Shoshonean 

 Indians and tongues the term &quot; Coahuillan linguistic family,&quot; following 

 Major Powell s method of adding an or ian to the name of the most 



i California Farmer, Vol. XVI, No. 15. 



