Explore the rich culture and traditions of the Native American tribe that once thrived in the harsh desert landscape of Panamint Valley, California. This pioneering ethnographic study delves into all aspects of the Panamint way of life, from their beliefs and rituals to their tools and clothing. Enhanced with historic photographs and illustrations, this book is a valuable resource for anthropologists, archaeologists, and anyone interested in California history and indigenous peoples. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Beautifully crafted, high quality, sewn, 4 color guidebook. Part of a multiple book series of books on travel through America's beautiful and historic backcountry. Directions and maps to 2,970 miles of routes that travel through the beautiful mountain regions of Big Sur, across the arid Mojave Desert, and straight into the heart of the aptly named Death Valley. Trail history comes alive through the accounts of Spanish Missionaries; eager prospectors looking to cash in during California's gold rush; and legends of lost mines. Includes wildlife information and photographs to help readers identify the great variety of native birds, plants, and animal they are likely to see. Contains 153 trails, 640 pages, and 645 photos.

This new, expanded edition of The California Indians is a more comprehensive and thus more useful book than its predecessor, which first appeared in 1951 and was reprinted seven times. The editors have combined the selections, eighteen of which are new, into a general survey of California Indian native cultures. They have avoided highly technical studies because they intend their book for the general reading public rather than for scholars. The editors discuss the present-day Indians of California in a chapter written especially for this volume, and provide a new, extensive classified bibliography listing hundreds of published works arranged by culture areas and subjects. This list of references should prove useful to the nonprofessional who wishes to read further on a particular tribal culture or topic, such as Indian basketry or place-names or prehistoric rock art.

The Panamint, or the Koso, numbered only two or three hundred and lived in California's Death Valley through the early history of the state. Panamint Shoshone Basketry is the product of years of Slater's research on an art largely ignored in the fields of art history and cultural studies. Before the creation of this book, the Panamint people and their art form have only a scattered page or paragraph allotted to them in literature. Here, Eva Slater fills that gap, exploring a people who have survived in the harsh conditions of California's Death Valley and showcasing their significant art form that celebrates California's northern desert. Illustrated with photographs taken over the past one hundred and fifty years, this work cultivates a respect for Panamint basketry and what it reflects about the culture.

A comprehensive survey of California Indian native cultures, discussing their origins, traditions, beliefs, daily life, struggles, and culture.

A major ethnographic work by a distinguished anthropologist contains detailed information on the social structures, homes, foods, crafts, religious beliefs, and folkways of California's diverse tribes

"Philip Fradkin's work is full of foresight, good sense, and an understanding of the ties between social and environmental dilemmas. Taking Fradkin's writing seriously is an important step in figuring out the American West today."—Patricia Nelson Limerick

This is the history of Death Valley, where that bitter stream the Amargosa dies. It embraces the whole basin of the Amargosa from the Panamints to the Spring Mountains, from the Palmettos to the Avawatz. And it spans a century from the earliest recollections and the oldest records to that day in 1933 when much of the valley was finally set aside as a National Monument. This is the story of an illusory land, of the people it attracted and of the dreams and delusions they pursued-the story of the metals in its mountains and the salts in its sinks, of its desiccating heat and its revitalizing springs, and of all the riches of its scenery and lore-the story of Indians and horse thieves, lost argonauts and lost mine hunters, prospectors and promoters, miners and millionaires, stockholders and stock sharps, homesteaders and hermits, writers and tourists. But mostly this is the story of the illusions-the illusions of a shortcut to the gold diggings that lured the forty-niners, of inescapable deadliness that hung in the name they left behind, of lost bonanzas that grew out of the few nuggets they found, of immeasurable riches spread by hopeful prospectors and calculating con men, and of impenetrable mysteries concocted by the likes of Scotty. These and many lesser illusions are the heart of its history.