CARMEL/MONTEREY HISTORY I

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(Excerpt from my book, Our Summer In Carmel, available at Amazon.com)

I like history. I begin my photo/travel journal with a brief amateur overview of the Monterey Peninsula. Providing some historical context helps to better understand a place today. This short historical discourse is divided into three phases. Prehistory, Spanish/Mexican governance, and lastly the arrival of the Yankee.
For thousands of years, anthropologists don't know exactly how long, but well before the first arrival of "modern" man the Spanish, the Monterey area was inhabited by three native tribes. One tribe, The Coastanoan, were named by the Spanish because they resided on the from Carmel to Big Sur and into parts of the Salinas Valley. They were friendly and approachable. The other two tribes, with similar friendly dispositions, were the Esselan, who mainly inhabited the mountains, and the Salinan who occupied the southern reaches of the Salinas Valley. The people of these tribes lived off the land, assembled in villages consisting of small huts made from brush and poles, and would move to a new location, burning their huts, when conditions dictated such as sanitation or food supply demanded they do so. Little is known about these tribes during the thousands of years preceding the Spanish. The Esselan, the smallest were the first to become extinct. The Salinian may have numbered 2,000 and the Coastanoan perhaps 3,000. This last tribe we know most about as they were in close proximity to the Spanish settlements and provided most of the souls and labor to satisfy the needs of the Franciscan Padres.
These peoples believed that at one time the earth was covered with water (Noah?) except for a single mountain that protruded above the water. The mountain was inhabited by an eagle, coyote, and a hummingbird. Together, at the instigation of the coyote, as the waters receded, they agreed to create man and all other living things, an interesting parallel to Noah and the biblical flood. These natives had ceremonial dances, knew how to fashion hunting weapons, and wove baskets. These simple, primitive, and peaceful people were soon overwhelmed by "modern man" who came to save their souls and civilize them. If one looks closely there are sings of the existence today.
Near where the first Spanish explorers landed, on the grounds of the Presidio, is a grinding hole, used by the natives. It would be filled with nuts and seeds and ground into flour with a stick. It was most likely Costanoan.

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Photos

PREHISTORIC GRINDING HOLE
Near Fr. Serra's statue on the presidio.