This is part of the continuing series of historical articles to highlight the Mendocino Heritage Days from May 5 through May 14.

Indians lived throughout Mendocino County for as long as 8000 years before the first Europeans set foot there. They are called the Pomo Indians, although there were no such Indians as Pomos. The word "Pomo" meant "people" in the language of the Indian,s so when the first white men came into the area and heard the different groups' name - all ending in "Pomo" - they generalized and called all the Indians "Pomos" as if there was a Pomo tribe or Pomo culture. These people lived throughout the county in several dozen independent tribal groups (not tribes), almost like small nations. Each group had its own territory usually limited to one or two creeks, spoke a distinct language, had their won customs and beliefs, had its own leader and had a distinctive group name plus the word, "pomo."

The Indians in the Mendocino area "camped" along a coastal strip from the Navarro River to just a few miles inland near the redwood forests but most lived miles inland in the valleys - beyond the redwood belt. The Me-tum'mah, or Mitom Pomo, lived in the area of Little Lake Valley near Willits and claimed the coast from south of the Noyo River at what is now Fort Bragg, to just north of the Navarro River, eighteen miles south.

The area was prolific. Near Willits were abundant oaks producing the Mitom's dietary staple, acorns. There were berries, fruits, other nuts, fungi and herbs growing in the area. To the west was Big River and the Pacific teeming with wildlife - fish and shell fish - and importantly, kelp, a source of salt. Just as important, the area was a source of the grasses, roots and wood that the Pomo used to weave their baskets. Many researchers believe that basketry reached its greatest peak of achievement in America among the Pomos. They used willow branches, the root of the sedge, redbud bark, bulrush roots and Digger Pine root fibers as the raw materials for these magnificent baskets. The baskets were used for gathering, transportation, storage, grinding of vegetable products, cooking and serving foods and for ceremonial and mortuary purposes. No two were ever alike.

To make tools, the Mitom traded with another Pomo group, the Mato who made their coastal encampment north of the Noyo River. The Mato had direct access to obsidian, a volcanic glass, used to make points (arrow and spear heads) scrapers and other tools. Bits of obsidian can still be found throughout the Mendocino area.

The Mitom called their coastal camp "Bool-dam"or Buldam, signifying "big holes" for the blowholes on the headlands at Mendocino and Russian Gulch. The name "Big River" is believed to have been derived from the Pomo name, rather than a direct reference to its size, although one might suppose that Little River received its name in relation to "Big" River. Buldam was not a permanent home for the Mitom until they sought to escape the influx of Europeans settling Little Lake Valley. They permanently moved to Buldam in approximately 1850.

Households were set up near freshwater springs and occasionally artifact remnants can be found, including pieces of worked obsidian, broken pestles used for grinding, and worked pieces of chert.

The fate of the Mitom is not clearly known. On June 11, 1857, the government opened a reservation and named it Fort Bragg. It was located near what is now the center of the town of Fort Bragg and named for Lt. Col. Braxton Bragg, hero of the Mexican War and the same man for whom Fort Bragg, North Carolina is named. The reservation lasted less than 10 years. Poor crops, suspected fraud, evidence of misappropriation of funds and especially white encroachment onto the land led to its eventual abandonment. During the last years, relocation, dispersal, disease and genocide combined dramatically and tragically to reduce the Indian population.

The source of information for this article is a combination of "Big River - A History - The Story of Two Villages - Buldam and Mendocino" written by Jeff Stanford, Stanford Inn by the Sea, and "Mendocino - From the Beginning" written by Wilma and Don Tucker, and available at Kelley House Museum.