of the white population of gold miners and others in 1850, and
the subsequent war, in which the Indians were defeated, and, as
a result, nearly exterminated.


ORIGIN OF THE YOSEMITE INDIANS.

According to statements made by Teneiya _(Ten-eye´-ya)_ [see
footnote] chief of the Yosemites, to Dr. L.H. Bunnell, and
published by him in his book on the "Discovery of the Yosemite",
the original Indian name of the Valley was Ah-wah´-nee, which
has been translated as "deep grassy valley", and the Indians
living there were called Ah-wah-nee´-chees, which signified
"dwellers in Ah-wah´-nee."

[Footnote: The Indian names are usually pronounced exactly as
spelled, with each syllable distinctly sounded, and the principal
accent on the penult, as in Ah-wah´-nee, or the antepenult, as
in Yo-sem´-i-te. Where doubt might exist, the accent will be
indicated, or the pronunciation given in parenthesis.]

[Transcriber's note: The remaining footnotes in the original text are
moved, in the present version, into the line of text and are
marked by square brackets, thus: Ah-wah´-nee [Yosemite Valley].]

Many years ago, the old chief said, the Ah-wah-nee´-chees had
been a large and powerful tribe, but by reason of wars and a
fatal black sickness, nearly all had been destroyed, and the
survivors of the band fled from the Valley and joined other
tribes.