No one knew exactly how old the small fishing hamlet of Shilimaqshtush was when Spanish Conquistador Portolá arrived in 1769. A story says that one of the natives “stole” one of the Spaniards swords and ran into the surf. Because of this they named it “Ranchería de la Espada”. The Chumash natives had settled in this region 13,000 years ago and the actual village of Xalam (meaning bundle) was located 8 miles inland near Jualachichi summit (from Xalash’ich meaning scarred). This was a gathering place where they bundled up things for trade.
I walked through the riparian rest along the creek and identified the marsh wren by its fluttering call and the killdeer, pretending it had a broken wing to lure predators. With the help of an old botanical guide and a magnifier I think I identified the Elderberry (Sambucus Mexicana) with which the natives made hunting bows, musical instruments and containers for tobacco. I also found the Giant Nettle (Urtica Dioica subsp. Holdsericea) from which they used the fibers for making fishing lines, nets and dance regalia. What I really wanted to find and explore were the mysterious cave paintings, but the path leading to them was securely fenced.
Then I hiked towards the north a bit, looking for the sea cliffs which I found shortly after. These are sedimentary rocks called shales. They are made of fine silt and mud that sank over12 million years ago and that is part of the group called the Monterrey Formation. It was from this type of rock that the natives made chipped stone tools and flaked knives for trade. Walking back was kind of an ordeal as 15 m.p.h winds blew sand all over me. I kept stepping on chunks of tar. There’s lots of tar on the beach. It occurs naturally here and the natives used it to caulk their canoes called Tomols and to coat their water bottles made of California Bulrush (Scirpus Californicus).
It was almost dark now, but I could still distinguish the mighty Tranquillon Mountain in the distance, beyond the Santa Ines Mountains. Today this place is called Jalama.
Mount Tranquillon
Tarantulas
Towards the caves
The rivermouth
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