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Trade and Trails in Aboriginal California (September 1950) (32 pages)
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Page: of 32
-2The trails in the sicrra regions followed natural passes. iiany trails
were wide and worn a couple feet dcep from long use. They could he traced
long after the Indians had gone and the paths were abanconed. They seem
to have gone in straight lines--the shortest route to the destination--without
detouring for mountains in the way. Stephen Povers says in speaking of the
Yailaki that time and again he wondered why trails went over the hishest part
of the mountains, He finally decided that the elevated points provided
lookout-stations for observing the movements of enemics.e He describes Indian
trails as runing along streams where the whole face of the country was wooded.
In somewhat open country, they ran along the ridges, a rod or two below the
crest--on the south side of the crest if the ridge trended east arid west,
on the cast sice if it trended north and south, The west or north side of a
hill is more thickly wooded; on open ground the traveling was easier, and
the Indian could not be surprised either by their enemies or by wild aninals.
Trails were marked in various ways. It has often been suggested that
pictographs were used to show the route or mark the way. wMmallery says that
pictograpns are found at or near.the origin of all the trails in the Santa
Barbara region and that a pictograyh in Azusa canyon between San Gabriel
Valley and the iiohave Desert refers to the course of the trail through the
canyon. 2 This explanation of pictogra~hs has never been adequately proved, however. Sometimes piles of twigs or cairns of stone along a trail have been
called markers, Powers says that branches and twigs piled at the junction
of Yurok trails sometimes accumulated in heaps several fect high. Every
Indian passing deposited a twig on tne pile. The Yurok could not explain the
Significance of this custom. It may have been a gesture to luck such as
was the Yurok custom of shooting arrows at certain trees on the trail.“
When Gibbs asked the Indians along the Klamath about stones piled three or
four high beside the trail he was told that they were built only for amusement
of idlers. According to Barrett and Gifford, the Miwok sometimes marked an
obscure trail by throwing sticks dom; in the treeless high Sierra Nevada,
they were supposed to mark the trail over the rocks with pine needles.”
Powers says that the iliwok would also hang up a dead skunk beside a difficuit
trail and let the scent guide the traveler. He maintains he saw tiis hinsoify©