LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Owens Valley: Owens Valley Paiute
built 655 days ago
The homeland of the Owens Valley Paiute... known as the Mono Paiute, is a territory with very little rainfall. Many short rivers flow eastward from the Sierra Nevada, but much of the water evaporates soon after reaching the valley floor. Vegetation is scarce in the lowlands and scattered growths of trees in the higher mountains are characteristic.
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The Owens Valley Paiute had no comprehension of the ownership of animals, they saw cattle as wild game. After some of the Indians killed and butchered a few head of livestock, one rancher retaliated by killing a Paiute warrior. As in most other areas on the American frontier, this event led to a small war between the white settlers and the Indians.
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The Owens Valley Paiute relied on abundant water from snow-fed Sierra streams and a diversity of plants and animals for their subsistence. Living in settlements along the waterways, the Paiute created unique irrigation systems to enhance the growth of native plant foods. For more than three thousand years they hunted game, gathered pinon nuts, made baskets and pottery, and traded with other native groups beyond the mountains. The Paiute's rich cultural heritage is evident in the landscape of Manzanar.
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Now fully alarmed, the Owens Valley ranchers gathered at Putnam's Trading Post for mutual protection. Their fears were justified when a band of Paiutes attacked a cabin near where Benton Hot Springs is now located. E. S. Taylor, a local prospector occupied the cabin and defended it for two days, killing ten Indians, until the Paiutes set the cabin on fire and forced Taylor out into the open where he was killed (2,5,6).
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The Owens Valley Paiute were divided into relatively small bands. Of necessity, the bands were migratory, frequently shifting from place to place in search of water and food. The men hunted animals of all sizes, and the women gathered seeds, nuts, and fruits. The Paiute ... developed a distinctive form of agriculture based on communal labor. They constructed ditches and dams to irrigate various wild plants, thus increasing their productivity.
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In 1859 Captain John W. Davidson led an expedition with men from Companies B and K, 1st Dragoons from Fort Tejon to the Owens Valley in search of livestock believed stolen from the San Fernando and. Santa Clara Valleys, by the Paiutes. Davidson found a peaceful and industrious people that he considered deserving the protection and watchful care of the United States Government (7). He further proposed that the area be set aside for an Indian reservation, and in fact, promised the Paiutes that their valley would be set aside, thereby forbidding whites from settling there. The Indians would allow free travel through the valley and would maintain honest and, peaceful habits (3,7).
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Owens Valley Paiute