Pomo (

Pomo The Pomo are a Indigenous peoples of California, Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to ...

for "Those who live at red earth hole") is an archaic place name in

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza") is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United S ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It was located southeast of

Potter Valley Potter Valley is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located north-northeast of Ukiah, at an elevation of at the headwaters of the East Fork Russian River. The CDP population was 665 at the 2020 ce ...

, at an elevation of 942 feet (287 m).

History

It is named after a village of the

Pomo people The Pomo are a Indigenous peoples of California, Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to ...

. The village was first described by George Gibbs in 1851 in his ''Journal of the Expedition of Colonel Redick M'Kee, United States Indian Agent, through Northwestern California''. The indigenous people of Potter Valley were labeled the Pomo Pomos, distinguishing them from Castel Pomos, Ki Pomos, Cahto Pomos, Choam Chadela Pomos, Matomey Ki Pomos, Usal Pomos, Shebalue Pomos, et al. This village, spelled pō'mō in a 1908 ethnographic report, stood on the east bank of the Russian River just south of the post office. At the time of the report, the Potter Valley

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

stood on the site. A post office operated at Pomo from 1870 to 1871, from 1872 to 1881, and from 1882 to 1911. A store opened at Pomo in 1874. Circa 1875, there was a school with 34 enrolled students, as well as a Pomo Grange with 75 members and a Templars lodge that met weekly at "the Hall". There was a monthly church meeting at Pomo in the 1880s. In 1881 a pack of timber wolves had been killing domestic sheep near Pomo. There still was a school at Pomo in 1892, but by 1904 it had notably low enrollment. In the 1950s, the Pomo Athletic Club supported a league basketball team.

References

Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in Mendocino County, California {{MendocinoCountyCA-geo-stub