Esselen

Esselen Indians. A tribe of Californian Indians, constituting the Esselenian family, most of the members of which on the founding of Carmelo mission, near Monterey, in 1770, were brought under civilizing influences, resulting, as was the case with the Indians at all the Californian missions, their rapid decrease . A portion of the tribe seems to have been taken, to the mission at Soledad, for Arroyo de la Cuesta in 1821 says of an Esselen vocabulary obtained by himself, “Huelel language of Soledad; it is from the Esselenes, who are already few.” The original territory of the Esselen lay along … Read more