| OCR Text |
Show 48 THE SHORTEST ROUTE TO CALIFORNIA. to believe that they are thus derived, from the fact that he noticed among them several Utes, who, while claiming that they belonged to the Utes proper, had intermarried with the Go- shoots and were living among them. These Go- shoots are few in number, not more, probably, than two or three hundred, and reside principally in the grassy valleys west of Great Salt Lake, along and in the vicinity of Captain Simpson's routes, as far as the Un- go- we- ah Range. In addition to the Indians just mentioned as inha-biting the Great Basin, should be mentioned the Py-ute and the WasJioe tribes, which, not being within Dr. Hurt's jurisdiction, were not included by him. The Py- utes, according to Major Dodge, their Indian agent in 1859, numbered at that date be-tween six thousand and seven thousand souls. They inhabit Western Utah, from Oregon to New Mexico; their locations being generally in the vicinity of the principal rivers and lakes of the Great Basin, viz., Humboldt, Carson, Walker, Truckee, Owen's, Pyra-mid, and Mono. They resemble in appearance, man-ners, and customs the Delawares on our Missouri fron-tier, and with judicious management, and assistance from government, would in three years equal them in agriculture. Their chief in 1859 was Won- a-muc- ca ( the Giver), and it was a portion of this tribe, under this chief, who had been engaged just pre-viously in the massacres in Western Utah. Their language resembles in some words the Sho- sho- ne, yet it differs so much from it that Captain Simpson's guide, Ute Pete, who spoke both Ute and Sho- sho- ne, |
