When the Spanish colonizers of Southern California arrived here in 1769,
they found a land that already had about a quarter of a million
occupants.
The indigenous tribes, the Shoshonean Indians, were spread out across the
San Gabriel and Santa Ana valleys and the Los Angeles plains. Father Juan
Crespi, who wrote the first history of the tribe, called the Indians
"Gabrielinos."
Local Gabrielino settlements included Moyo, which was north of the
Newport Bay estuary, and Lukup, which was near the Santa Ana River.
There, the Indians had access to a rich food supply and developed an
advanced culture.
The Gabrielinos didn't fare particularly well at the hands of the
Spanish, but there are still descendants of the tribe throughout Southern
California.
* MILLENNIUM MOMENT celebrates the people who have made a major
contribution to the Newport-Mesa community during this century.
