"Wild" Indians

With clear evidence for Indian occupation of the mountainous portions of Esselen territory at least into the mid-1820's, it becomes likely that a few individuals survived long enough to bypass the mission system entirely.  As the missions disbanded, it would have been possible for Indians to return to their original homelands.
Professor Clem Meighan noted that "wild" Indians are reported to have occupied the Esselen territory until 1850 or later.
Anthropologist Arnold Piling heard the same story when he worked in the Carmel area in the late 1940's, noting that there were persistent rumors of a group of Indians still hiding in the hills.
This rumor, echoing down the years, may reflect back to the time a hundred years earlier in the 1840's when there were actually were Indians hiding in these mountains.

From: From: A Gathering of Voices
Picture from: Leor Pantilat's Adventures