Guy Nixon’s grandfather heard many stories from old men at the sawmill and he passed that oral tradition on to Guy. Guy’s father was also a fertile source of stories that he heard from old folks on various ranches. His dad also recorded various stories on a camcorder.  Guy told some of these stories to us last Thursday.

A summary of one of Guy's stories is as follows:  Teleguac, aka Chief Jose Jesus, one of California's native freedom fighters, was born in 1807.  Seven years later, major climate impacts from huge volcanic eruptions around the world led to fights between the tribes because of lack of food.  Slavery of Native Americans was practised by both the missions and the ruling Californio Dons.  In 1826 Teleguac helped lead a revolt and escape of 400 Indians at Mission San Jose (located in what is now Fremont, CA). Eventually, Teleguac and Chief Estanislao brought several tribes together in the Miwok Confederation. 

This growing confederation received training in military tactics from a 6'4" tall Cherokee Abraham La Plant, who had, in turn, learned many of them from white men, such as Jedediah Smith.  After this Indian force started raiding several missions to free Indian slaves, various Spanish/Californio officers led attacks on Teleguac's forces.  These attacks were largely failures and apparently a large Raven that followed Teleguac around helped by attacking the head of charging troops.  This often led to a fall from a horse and subsequent death in the ensuing chaos.

Guy gave a far-ranging talk ranging from the effects of -- climate changes in the 19th century;  sheep, imported by white men; to the destruction of native bunch-grass which was a major food source -- upon the Native Americans of this region.  Guy's talk gave us a new appreciation for the important place of Native Americans in the history of the Western Slope and surrounding region.