ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XI 



An extended exploratory trip was made during the 

 autumn of 1900 by Mr McGee. Early in October he 

 proceeded to the field for the purpose of completing 

 researches relating to the aborigines of the Serian stock 

 and at the same time carrying forward studies of neigh- 

 boring tribes. A party was organized at Phoenix, Ari- 

 zona, and moved southwestward to Gila bend and thence 

 southward to the international frontier at Santo Domingo. 

 Here the outfit was admitted to Mexican territory through 

 the courtesy of Sehor Don Fernando Leal, at the obliging 

 instance of Senor Don Manuel de Aspiroz, the ambassa- 

 dor from Mexico to the United States. In this vicinity 

 are several settlements of Papago Indians, including some 

 of the Arenehos of early literature and local tradition, 

 and the opportunities for study were seized. From Santo 

 Domingo the party proceeded southward to Caborca and 

 thence westward to the coast of Gulf of California, where 

 the Tepoka Indians (collinguals of the Seri) were reported 

 to live so late as 1894, subsisting on sea food and finding 

 potable water in the lagoons and sand beds at the em- 

 bouchure of the sand wash variously called Magdalena, 

 Santa Ana, Altar, Asuncion, and San Ignacio. On reach- 

 ing the coast the leader was disappointed to find the 

 tribal remnant entirely gone — probably through extinc- 

 tion, possibly through migTation down the coast to Seri- 

 land. Traces of the Tepoka habitations still remained, 

 together with shell accumulations and minor relics, cor- 

 roborating the reports concerning the tribe current at 

 Caborca in 1894; and the visit served also to clear up 

 doubtful points connected with the geography and history 

 of the region. 



Failing thus to attain the primary object of the expedi- 

 tion, Mr McGee determined to visit the territory of the 

 little -known Cocopa Indians, reputed to live about the 

 head of the gulf, and to this end endeavored to follow 

 the coast northward to the mouth of the Colorado. Find - 

 ing this entirely impracticable, he returned by a new 

 route to Santo Domingo, collecting useful data concerning 

 the Papago Indians on the way ; and from Santo Domingo 



