Larry Clinton/Sausalito Historical Society
Before the arrival of Europeans, present-day Sausalito was inhabited by the indigenous Coast
Miwok peoples for thousands of years. According to historic preservation consultant Christopher VerPlanck, Coast Miwok territory in Marin and Sonoma counties encompassed an area measuring approximately 40 miles by 35 miles, extending southward along the Pacific coast from Duncan’s Point to the Golden Gate. Coast Miwok territory was bordered to the north by the lands of the Pomo and Wappo and the Patwin to the east. The Ohlone lived south of the Golden Gate in what are now San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. Here are some lightly edited excerpts from VerPlank’s
draft Historic Context Statement for the city:
Coast Miwok tribelets were politically, socially, and linguistically autonomous, usually numbering between 300 and 500 people. The tribe was divided into two dialectic groups: Western, or Bodega; and Southern, or Marin; with the Southern dialect area further divided into Valley and Coast.
They had a subsistence economy based around hunting, foraging, and fishing. The largest
settlements were located along major waterways and tributary drainages where natural resources were most plentiful. Most food was eaten fresh but some resources, including fish, fish eggs, and mud hens, were dried for future use.
The Coast Miwok called the area encompassing present-day Sausalito Lewan Helowah, meaning “west water.” They occupied at least seven villages in southeastern Marin County, including at least one in what is now Sausalito. Archeological evidence of Coast Miwok occupation in Sausalito is profuse, especially in New Town where a number of shell middens and burial mounds have been discovered. Coast Miwok dwellings, known as kotchas, were round and made of tule or redwood bark. Other structures typically found in a Coast Miwok village included a large roundhouse, where communal activities would occur, and temescals— partially subterranean structures where males would take part in ceremonial cleansing rituals using steam produced by pouring water over hot rocks.
In 1775 Spanish explorers aboard the San Carlos first entered San Francisco Bay and made contact with the Coast Miwok living in what is now Sausalito. The Spanish noted that the local residents were friendly and hospitable and that the terrain was rugged with many freshwater springs.
Additional information on the earliest Californians can be found on the website https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/historyculture/people_coastmiwok.htm:
Coast Miwok life was intricately woven into the changing seasons. In the late spring, fresh new greens of Indian lettuce, young nettle leaves and clover were gathered. Fire-hardened digging sticks were used by the women to reach deep-set roots and bulbs. The ocean provided kelp in large amounts, some to be eaten fresh, the rest dried and stored for the winter. Tule was gathered in the fall for skirts and tule baskets. The summer sun ripened grasses and flower seeds, gathered by hitting the ripened seed with a beater basket and letting them fall directly into a collecting basket.
Fall was the season for collecting a variety of nuts: acorns (stored in a granary for year-round consumption), buckeye, hazel and bay. Tule was cut and dried for kotcas (houses), boats and mats. Gray willow for baskets and traps was abundant. Winter and early spring were times of shortage when stored acorns, seeds and kelp became important food sources.
The ocean provided food year-round. Crab, clams, mussels, abalone, limpets and oysters were some of the seafood gathered by the women in the tidal zones. Cleaned of meat, the shells were also fully utilized. Abalone shells were made into beautiful ornaments. The Washington clam was one of the most important shells; these were ground into circular, flat disk beads with a hole drilled in the middle. Strings of these beads were the main trade item (money) and were used extensively through Northern California.
The men adopted many different techniques for fishing. Dip nets (bags of netting attached to wooden frames on a handle) were used to scoop up fish, and woven surf nets were used along the open beaches. Cone-shaped traps of woven gray willow were set up in creeks and mouths of rivers. With hook and bait, one could successfully catch halibut and rockfish year-round.
Hunting by use of traps and bow and arrow supplied the Coast Miwok with meat, fur and tools. Traps were used to capture such game as quail, acorn woodpeckers and rabbits, which were highly valued for their fur and meat. Deer were usually hunted with bow and arrow and provided many necessary items. Antler tips were used for shaping arrowheads, sinew (muscle tendon) was used to fasten points to arrow shafts and leg bones were made into awls (needles used in basketmaking) and hair pins. In this way, the Coast Miwok wasted little of the animals they hunted.
Julie Durbin says
What a great piece of history Larry! I’m looking forward to seeing a compilation of all of your writing in a book!
Neil Whitelaw says
Do you know anything about the Stone Circle on Mt. Tamalpais? It’s off West Ridgecrest just past the 3rd hanglider location on the way to Bolinas.
Best way to contact me is 415.306.3111 talk or text because I’ll probably miss it here