River, over to the Eel River watershed,
down to Humboldt Bay, and eventually up the Klamath and Trinity rivers.
Two records of this expedition were kept. The first, and far better
known, is the Journal of George Gibbs, which was later published by
Henry R. Schoolcraft (1860). The other is the Minutes of the
expedition, written by John M'Kee, a relative of the Colonel. These
Minutes, together with considerable correspondence, were published in
Senate Executive Document No. 4, 33rd Congress, Special Session (1853).

The second source is a report written by Major H. P. Heintzelman at the
request of Indian Agent Henley, in 1855. Major Heintzelman (1855) made
a survey of the tribes of Sonoma and Mendocino counties which might be
placed upon a reservation at the mouth of the Noyo River. He
interviewed numerous headmen, or chiefs, of community units and
reported on the Indian population. His total, for the territory
extending from the upper Eel River to San Francisco Bay was 21,200, a
figure in excess of the value conceded by ethnographers.

According to George Gibbs (1860, p. 118), the M'Kee expedition, on
August 30, 1852, reached the Batimdakia (spelled also Ba-tim-da-kia)
Valley, which was supposed to be at the head of the South Fork of the
Eel River. John M'Kee implies that this valley was on the Middle Fork
of the river but there is little doubt, judging from the route taken,
that it was actually Long Valley, on the east branch of the South Fork.
He says that the valley was inhabited by the Cabodilapo tribe and that
a careful count showed 497 Indians. Since not all the natives could be
located, John M'Kee estimated the actual population as 500 to 600. In a
letter from Redick M'Kee to the commissioner in Washington, dated
September 12, 1852 (1853, p. 185) it is stated that the population "may
be" 600. M'Kee's counts, particularly in the Clear Lake Region, are
generally regarded as too low. Hence his figure of 600 for Long Valley
must be considered conservative. It should also be borne in mind that
M'Kee saw only the east branch of the South Fork of the Eel River,
which takes its origin in Long Valley. He did not get over to the west
branch, which runs through Kato territory past Branscomb. Now Barrett
shows eleven villages on the east branch and its tributaries, or an
average of 55 persons per village. At the same rate the six villages on
the west branch would add 330 for a total of 930 in the southern range
of the Kato.