Thomas Jefferson Mayfield facts for kids

Thomas Jefferson Mayfield (1843–1928) lived a very interesting life in early California. He spent his childhood as part of the Choinumni, a branch of the Yokuts tribe, in the San Joaquin Valley. Later, as an adult, he rejoined the Anglo-American community. His story gives us a special look into California's past.

Thomas Mayfield's Childhood

Thomas Jefferson Mayfield was born in 1843 in Brazos County, Texas. He was the youngest of three sons. When he was six, his family traveled to California. They sailed around Cape Horn because the land route was too dangerous. There was fighting between Texas settlers and Apaches.

After arriving in San Francisco, they traveled south. Thomas's mother died shortly after they reached California. His father left young Thomas, known as Jeff, with the local Choinumni, Kings River Yokuts people. These Native Americans had become friends with his family.

For about ten years, Jeff lived in a Choinumni village. It was across from where his family had lived. He had almost no contact with white people. He learned their language and fully became part of their culture. Around the age of eighteen, Mayfield rejoined his family. After 1862, he no longer had close ties with the Choinumni.

What He Did Later

For the rest of his long life, Mayfield worked as a sheepherder and a prospector. When he was older, he settled in a mining town called Tailholt. This town is now a ghost town in Tulare County.

Mayfield was known as Uncle Jeff. He was a pioneer with many stories. An oral historian and ethnographer named Frank F. Latta (1892–1981) heard about him. Shortly before Mayfield died, Latta convinced him to share his memories. Latta published these stories in newspapers. After Mayfield's death in 1928, Latta published them as a book called San Joaquin Primeval: Uncle Jeff’s Story.

This book helps us understand a world that was quickly disappearing. Mayfield estimated that the Choinumni people numbered about three hundred in 1850. But after 1862, there were no more than forty. His stories help us learn about their traditional way of life.