merous villages of the Lassik, Nongatl,
and Sinkyone once did exist but that they were wiped out almost
completely by the white frontiersmen in the early 'fifties before any
observer left a record of them. As an indication of their fate may be
mentioned the tales told by Bledsoe (1885) in his "Indian Wars of the
Northwest" and by various witnesses in the Report to the California
Legislature (1860) on the "Mendocino War."

When we are presented with such an entire lack of direct data, we are
quite justified in falling back on the indirect area-density method.
Thus the densities are tabulated below for the five other Athapascan
tribes (including the Wailaki, considered subsequently) and for the
Coast Yuki, a tribe in the region for which we have very accurate
counts.

Approximate Density in
area in persons per
Tribe sq. mi. Population sq. mi.

Chilula 210 800 3.86
Mattole 210 1,200 5.72
Whilkut 250 1,320 5.28
Kato 270 1,100 4.07
Wailaki 575 3,347 5.82
Coast Yuki 150 756 5.04
----
Mean 4.96

The close correspondence in density of the six tribes listed is
noteworthy, and tends to lend confidence in the reliability of the
ethnographic source material upon which these estimates are based.

The areas with which we are dealing are reasonably large; they are also
relatively homogeneous in the ecological sense. All lie within the
redwood-transition belt (except the Wailaki, which border it on the
east), and all are characterized by small, perennial, salmon-bearing
streams, along which the Indian villages were placed. There is nothing
outstandingly different about the terrain occupied by the Lassik,
Nongatl, and Sinkyone, except that perhaps it lies somewhat higher on
the streams (but the Wailaki are still higher) and contains fewer flats
and open valleys. The three tribes being considered had respectively
325 square miles, 700 square miles, and 615 square miles of territory.
If the density was 4.96 persons per square mile the population would
have been, to correspond, 1,612; 3,472; and 3,050. If we allow for a
somewhat poorer habitat, these values may be reduced a little, say to
1,500; 3,300; and 2,900. It is difficult to see