d is generally less favorable than
that of the Chilula or the Mattole. Hence the number may be reduced to
40 per village. The total is then 1,320.

_Whilkut ... 1,300_

THE KATO

There are only two usable ethnographic sources of information
concerning villages among the Kato. The first is the rather casual
treatment given the group by Barrett (1908) in his monograph on the
Pomo. He lists 17 villages as having existed in the area comprising the
modern stretch running from Laytonville to Branscomb and a few miles
north and south thereof. No village sizes are given (pp. 281-283) and
no discussion of community organization. Merriam in his list "Kahto
Tribe and Villages" mentions the 17 villages of Barrett and adds 3
others derived from his own informants, making a total of 20.

Since there is no explicit information regarding village size, we may
adopt the value used for the Whilkut, _i.e._, 40 persons per village.
This would mean a population of 800.

Barrett and Merriam, however, give data only for the southernmost part
of the Kato range, including an area of approximately 150 square miles.
The remainder of the Kato territory extended some distance along the
upper waters of the South Fork of the Eel River and its area may be
reckoned as 100 square miles or 40 per cent of the entire Kato
territory. On the other hand, living conditions were not as good in
this portion of the range and the density was probably less than in the
vicinity of Laytonville and Branscomb. Hence we may add 300 persons
(rather than the full 40 per cent) and consider the total as 1,100.

With the Kato we arrive at an area where it becomes possible to utilize
historical and documentary, as well as ethnographic, sources of
information. For the period 1850-1856 there are three accounts left us
by white men who were direct observers, as distinguished from data
supplied from memory to modern white men by Indian informants. With
respect to the region north of San Francisco Bay these observations by
Americans must be regarded as supplementary to the basic ethnographic
material derived from Indians. Nevertheless they are of considerable
value in confirming, negating, or modifying the ethnographic data.

Two primary sources are pertinent here. The first is the expedition of
Colonel Redick M'Kee, one of the three "commissioners" sent out in 1851
to negotiate treaties with the California Indians. M'Kee went first to
Clear Lake, then up the Russian