Tag: Chowchilla
Chowchilla is a city in Madera County, California, United States. Chowchilla is located 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Madera, at an elevation of 240 feet (73 m). It is a principal city of the Madera–Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 18,720 at the 2010 census, up from 11,127 at the 2000 census. The city is the location of two California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation women’s facilities, the Central California Women’s Facility and Valley State Prison for Women. The name “Chowchilla” is derived from the indigenous American tribe of Chauchila (the spelling is inconsistent in reference guides) Yokut Indians which once lived in the area. The name itself evidently translates as “Murderers” and is apparently a reference to the warlike nature of the Chauchila tribe. The Chauchila Indians were inadvertently responsible for the first white men “discovering” Yosemite Valley, which occurred when they were being pursued by a band of whites. References to the…
