The History Hunter Hideaway

Just to show how things could be worse and how we've come a long way. In 1844 when Los Angeles was still part of Mexico they suffered an epidemic. The situation was made worse by the fact that there were no physicians in the area at that time. Without a Board of Health the Town Council acted by issuing the following regulations: NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC 1) Refrain from eating peppers or spices which can stimulate the blood. 2) Make sure to wash all salted meat before ingesting it.... 3) All residents in good health are to bathe and cleanse at least once in eight days 4) All residents are to burn sulfur on a hot iron to fumigate your homes 5) Saloon keepers shall not allow gatherings of inebriates in their establishments. 6) All travelers on inland roads must hold at a distance of four leagues from town and wash their clothing. I'm very new to Facebook so I'm plotting and scheming my next moves. Good stuff planned ahead. You won't want to miss it! Stay tuned....

On April 11, 2020 I was scheduled to deliver a historical presentation at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga, California as one of their monthy 2nd Saturday Programs. The Museum is closed of course during the current COVID-19 guidelines so I decided to re-vamp my presentation into this video. After putting this out just days ago I have thought of numerous things I wished I had thought to say. Two things I would like to add is that I refer to the inhabitants of this ancient village... as the Tongva people and there is a modern controversy over this name. My personal belief is that these native peoples had NO name for themselves as an overall tribe. I think that today in our modern way of thinking need to assign a name because we are so driven by the concept of ownership, to assign borders or make claims. Even if they did have a name for themselves I believe it has been lost to time, at least in a way that we can be certain. I use the name Tongva for one simple reason. I like it. I think it's a cool name that reflects well on these special people. I have a great admiration for them. The way they lived (as we can best decern) was amazing and I do wish I could somehow go back in time to save them from what I know would come. The name Tongva goes back to 1905 when a still living native at the San Gabriel Mission was said to proclaim the name to a researcher. Today there are many reasons for the naming controversy but some of those involve the possible future dispursement of a great number of dollars from the instatement of gambling rights. Once money and politics becomes a part of the equation all reasonable historical inferences go out the window. So I apologize to anyone who might be offended but Tongva is the name for me. (Not to mention that it seems like 80 to 90% of all texts you can find both in books and the internet use the name Tongva). The other thing I wanted to mention is that the re-burials that took place at the 1945 Dig Site during the Tongva Mourning Ceremonys was reserved for important members of the village. A Chief or the Chief's wife for instance or perhaps the medicine woman or their greatest hunter. Just a couple things I wished to make clear. Thank you for watching. See more