PREPARATORY NOTES FOR SAN BENITO MOUNTAIN REGION – CHALON/ZULA LOCAL GROUP

By Randall Milliken

This small, high Coast Range region, on the Fresno-San Benito County border, contains no modern towns. The people of this area were among the hundreds who went to Mission Soledad under the names of scores of small groups affiliated under the "Chalon Rancheria" umbrella. Chalon also included the San Benito and Upper San Benito River regions, and probably the Bear Valley and Cantua Creek regions as well. It is impossible to separate out which Chalon individuals at Soledad came from which of those regions. Chalon people were baptized at Soledad from the mid-1790s until 1815. A few of the San Benito Mountain people seem to have moved to Mission San Antonio under the name Zula during the same period.

Environment

This mountainous region includes 5,241-foot-high San Benito Mountain and the small valleys to its west and south, down to the 2,800-foot elevation. This rugged area forms the headwaters of the San Benito River (flowing to the northwest) and Los Gatos Creek (flowing to the southeast). Vegetation is predominately chaparral with grey pine or blue oak woodland. Coulter pine stands dominate extensive areas on San Benito Mountain itself. Coast live oak and interior live oak inhabit gullies and north slopes. One small, open, grassy valley exists where Wildass Road meets Coalinga Road, along the upper San Benito River.

Early Expedition References

No documented Spanish- or Mexican-period expeditions entered the San Benito Mountain region.

Mission Registers

Zula at San Antonio, which ties to Lisoli to the east, Questspoy to the southeast, and Atsnil to the west. Many of these people re-aggregated at Soledad, suggesting their native language was Chalon Costanoan. Some also were tied to Nacion Zoltanel, which seems to be a San Antonio reference to Costanoan speakers.

1840-1900 Historical References

To be developed.

Classic Ethnographic References

None of the classic ethnographers obtained specific information about the contact-era people of the San Benito Mountain region.

Recent Ethnogeographic References

To be developed.