No one really knows how or when people first came to
Coso. Archeologists believe people came across the Bering Straight during
the last ice age. Coso's Paiute Indians say they emerged from the very
mud of the Coso Hot Springs. In a manner of speaking, they may both be
right. The earliest Americans were likely related to ancient
peoples of western Asia. On the other hand, the basic factors that make
the Coso Indians who they are—their language, beliefs, arts, technologies,
and practices—formed partly in response to the demands of the unforgiving
Coso landscape.
Little is known about Coso's first inhabitants. When they came here is
not entirely clear, but tests show that some of Coso's rock art is at
least 12,000 years old. While archeologists remain skeptical that these
ancient artists were directly related to contemporary Indians, the particular
set of symbols and styles at Coso suggests a very long-lived and continuous
cultural connection.
Coso's paleoindians
were few in number and moved constantly across what was then
a lush landscape in search of large game animals. Over time, their population
increased slightly, though never much beyond a small number of family
bands. With the decline in large game animals, people began to rely less
exclusively on hunting and gathered more plant foods. more
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As a hunter-gatherer society, Coso's people never developed
true agriculture, nor did they ever adopt a true staple food source. Over
time, they learned to take full advantage of the scant resources available
to them. In fact, Coso Indians adopted unique practices involving food
sources that required significant extra work to be made edible. Some archeologists
describe Coso's people as being hunter/gatherer-processors.
This reliance on processing marks Coso Indians as part of the widespread
Numic linguistic and cultural continuum. Numics,
who spread out from eastern California through Nevada and Utah and beyond,
also shared a distinct rock art tradition. In historical times, the local
Indians included the Coso or Panamint Shoshones and the Owens Lake Paiutes.
Other Numic peoples journeyed from the north and east to the Coso Rock
Art District to gather rainmaking power and to find relief in the curative
Coso Hot Springs.
When gold and other minerals were discovered in California,
a handful of Euro-Americans arrived to stake claims or start ranches.
Occasional skirmishes with Coso peoples led the U.S. Army to remove by
force nearly 900 Indians from the area in 1863. However, many people never
left, but simply moved to local towns or took work on outlying ranches.
Descendents of the Coso Indians still live in the region today.