index | by subject | by year | biographies | books | SF Activities | shop museum | contact

Mission Indians of Southern California Making Baskets and Hair Ropes
Mission Indians of Southern California Making Baskets and Hair Ropes
From HARPERS WEEKLY, Journal of Civilization, dated October 20, 1877.
It is seldom that American Indians are pictorially represented as otherwise engaged than in scalping, stealing, or hunting. The above sketch forms an interesting exception to the rule. The Mission Indians around Palo and San Diego, in Southern California, are dextrous workers in baskets and. In ropes made of horse-hair. These ropes are generally twisted with hair of several colors, forming a very pretty and even artistic combination. They cost from ten to twelve dollars apiece, and are mostly sold in Texas and Mexico, where they are highly prized. The baskets are manufactured out of reeds and grass, so closely woven as to be completely water-tight. They resemble the finest Japanese wicker-work, and are considered an indispensable article of kitchen furniture in the households of Southern California.
This site and contents ©1995-2021 The Museum of the City of San Francisco