his
horizon. The estimates cited by Taylor refer rather ambiguously to the
period between 1827 and 1834, let us say roughly 1830. The earliest
Pomo conversions which are recognizable from the mission records were
at San Rafael in 1820. These Pomo had therefore been subjected to
intense missionization for at least ten years prior to Cooper's
appearance. The population consequently must have been seriously
depleted when he first saw the Santa Rosa Valley.

If we disregard entirely the factor of depletion and accept Cooper's
1834 estimate of 2,000 Canimares around Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, we
may allow an equivalent population for the other three Southern Pomo
provinces. This yields a total of 5,000. If we attempt to make any
correction for depletion, we very quickly reach the figure already
arrived at by other methods, viz., 6,000.

That a comprehensive population reduction was in progress throughout
the era of 1820 to 1850 and later is attested by the report of Major
Heintzelman. His figure for the Northern Pomo, it will be recollected,
was definitely within the range of the population determined from
ethnographic data. His value for the Central Pomo was only one-third of
that computed by other methods, and the discrepancy was accounted for
on the basis of the decline in numbers from the first white contact to
1855, the year of Heintzelman's trip. At the end of his report he makes
the statement that "south of the Canyon of the Russian River there are
about eight hundred indians." In other words, the Southern Pomo (which
all lie south of the canyon) had dwindled to no more than 800. The
converse may also be maintained. Since Heintzelman had a very good
check on the population of the well-settled south and since, according
to all known testimony, the attrition among the Indians of this area
had been appalling during the preceding 30 to 40 years, it follows that
the original population must have been very much greater than that
conceded by Heintzelman. Hence a level of several thousand may be
accepted.

_Southern Pomo ... 6,000_

NORTHEASTERN POMO

This little tribe, living on the border of the Sacramento Valley, has
never been investigated thoroughly. Barrett (1908) listed 13 rancherias
but Merriam's informants (manuscript entitled "Sho-te-ah or Northeastern
Pomo Tribe and Villages") allowed only 7. At 50 persons per village
this would indicate a population of about 350.

_Northeastern Pomo ... 350_