34 ETHNO-BOTANY OF THE COAHUILLA INDIANS 



by a very old Indian, because it was once a famous place in which to 

 hunt the deer in the moonlight) ; Alamo, La-wil-van or Si-vel (" cotton- 

 wood trees"); Agua Dulce, To-va; Indian Wells, Kd-vi-nish. 



Returning to the mountains once more, among the rocks and pines 

 on the south side of the isolated summit of Torres is a rough little valley, 

 traversed by a small, rapid stream, to which the Indians long ago 

 penetrated. Here is the interesting village of Santa Rosa, We-wut-now-hu 

 ("pines"). These Indians make their homes during the winter months 

 in the Coyote canon, a wide, sandy arm of the desert, thrust in south 

 of Torres. Across this valley is the Coyote range of mountains. Up 

 the "sides of these mountains the Coahuillas found their way and 

 established themselves in a beautiful and remote little glade, now known 

 as the San Ignacio (Pd-cha-wal). Cut off on all sides by the desert 

 and high ridges, rarely visited by whites, this village, as might be 

 expected, presents the greatest appearance of Indian comfort and 

 prosperity. The valley is only a mile or two in length, but a stream 

 of water flows through its center, leaving meadows and garden plots on 

 each side ; oaks crowd the canon at its lower end and, although the 

 surrounding mountains are unwooded except with low, impenetrable 

 chaparral and from every point of vantage one sees nothing but the 

 burning sands of the desert, the glade itself is charming ; a kind of 

 Indian's Happy Valley. 



From San Ignacio there is a steep wagon road leading southward 

 out of the mountains to Warner's ranch. Half-way down the mountain 

 is another pretty valley, San Isidro (Ho-la-kal\ where live a few 

 families of Coahuillas. Warner's ranch is perhaps the dividing terri- 

 tory between the Diegefios and Coahuillas. The two great waves of 

 Indian emigration across the desert, Yuman and Shoshonean, appear 

 to touch here. Agua Caliente, the famous hot springs of Warner's 

 ranch, seems to have a mixed population of Diegefios and Coahuillas. 

 The Coahuillas call the village Ko-pa. 1 



1 6. The Coyote canon, which we noticed above, in spite of its 

 sandy appearance, is exceedingly fertile. It receives the small streams 

 from the mountains on both sides of it and these waters, spreading out 

 and sinking into the sand, occasion subsurface moisture. The agave 

 grows here abundantly and grass springs up luxuriantly after every 

 freshet. It is a veritable harvest field for the Indians. Westward from 

 the Coyote rise the ridges of the San Jacinto mountains rough, barren 



i "At Agua Calienta," says Taylor, "was a very populous rancheria, called Ha-koo-pin." 

 (" Indianalogy of California," California Farmer, Vol. XIII, p. 90.) 



