History of San Mateo County, CaliforniGeneral Books LLC, 2009 - 276 pages This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1883. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... THE GENERAL HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT OF SAN MATEO COUNTY. ABORIGINES. The native tribe which roamed the then valley of San Bernardino, now known as Santa Clara, were the Olhones, sometimes called the Costanes, who were worshipers of the sun, and believed in an evil spirit who took cognizance of their actions, whom they were wont to propitiate. They had some very crude ideas of a future state, while their traditions, if they had any, were of the most meager kind. Superstition wrapped these savages like a cloud, from which they never emerged. The phenomena of nature on every hand, indeed, taught them that there was some unseen cause for all things--some power which they could neither comprehend nor resist. The volcano and the earthquake taught them this, and many accounts of these in past ages are preserved in their legends; but farther than this, their minds could not penetrate. Mr. Hall says: "Nearly all the Indians in this region, and those of Santa Cruz, were in the habit of visiting the hill in which the New Almaden Mine was first opened and worked, to obtain red paint to adorn their faces and bodies. The cinnabar is of a reddish hue, and when moistened and rubbed, easily produces a red pigment, highly esteemed by the savages in the arrangement of their toilet. While the color of their decoration was pleasing to their eyes, its effect on their system was by no means agreeable. It salivated them-- a result as mysterious and unexplained to them as the setting of the sun. Although a little painful, they seemingly forgot their illness as they witnessed the lustre of their skin, and were as resolute in their pride of dress as the proud damsel groaning in tight corsets and tight shoes." Whatever may have been their appearance and character in the sixteenth century, i... |
