The Jalquin, a Bay Miwok tribelet, controlled the San Leandro Creek watershed from the bayshore to Rocky Ridge. Randall Milliken gives them nearly all of East Oakland southeast of the Sausal Creek watershed to San Leandro Creek and beyond. This was the only Bay Miwok group whose territory included shoreline along San Francisco Bay.
Milliken also claims in A Time of Little Choice that there is evidence the Jalquin and Yrgin were the same people. This is a bit puzzling since he assigns them to different language groups in Native American History Studies for the Los Vaqueros Project: A Synthesis. In that work, as well as in A Time of Little Choice, Milliken unequivocally places the Jalquin among the Bay Miwok. He does not suggest they might have been Ohlone (Coastanoan).
ALA-4812 shallow bedrock mortarsElevation 655 ft.We finally discovered this site after years of looking for it. The mortars are on separate rocks near the creek. We know there’s a circle-within-a-circle petroglyph here somewhere, so we’ll be back..
Camp Confluence1 bedrock mortar on the north fork of Kaiser Creek.There’s supposed to be a petroglyph boulder on the upper reaches of Kaiser Creek, but we’ve never been able to find it. We did find this single mortar and little camp though.
Hematite Processing Site12 bedrock mortars at Holy Names College.Hematite was processed and quarried here. It was often burned, which produced brighter reds, and then leached to remove salts and soften the rock. After that it was ground to a powder.Closeup of a chunk of hematite. Subtle processing differences produced different hues of red ochre.This may […]
Hematite QuarryHematite, the mineral form of iron oxide, was highly prized by the Ohlone and Miwok triblets surrounding San Francisco Bay. It was the principal source of red ochre, used in burials, ceremonies, and pigments. Hematite outcroppings near the intersection of Redwood Road and Mountain Boulevard in Oakland undoubtedly supplied much of the prehistoric Bay […]
MacDonald Trail1 probable bedrock mortarElevation 1118 ft.This probable mortar is just below a rock formation that could have functioned as a hunting blind, in our opinion.
Rocky Ridge10 bedrock mortars along an inspirational ridge line.Rock wall alignment.Elevation 1960 ft.Forget the bedrock mortars and rock wall. Hike up to Rocky Ridge for the views. Sunsets are particularly recommended.Looking south from near the headwaters of Kaiser Creek.A big chunk of the San Leandro Creek watershed spreads out to the west below the ridge.This […]
Upper San Leandro Reservoir8 bedrock mortars, 3-5 cupules. Site may be underwater.This is a beautiful spot now because of the Upper San Leandro Reservoir, but it was probably nice in Jalquin times too. Back then these mortars were on a little hillside terrace above Kaiser Creek, a perennial watercourse. How many mortars here and how […]
Willow Park Golf Course10 bedrock mortars, 9 on one rock.Elevation 210 ft.Joel couldn’t believe we had no sites in Chabot Regional Park except for the single “probable” mortar on MacDonald Trail. So he decided to do something about it.This beautiful kitchen rock sits near the golf course next to a creek.A closer look at the […]