Porterville Historical Museum

These native American Baskets were handwoven by the women of our local Tule River Yokuts as early as the mid-1800's.  The immense amount of time and concentration it took to soak, prepare, and weave the sedge root into baskets meant that even the smallest of these took a month or more to complete.  The time invested and the artistry of the designs made these baskets valuable trading commodities for local businessmen, including Wilko Mentz (the first mayor of Porterville) whose collection was acquired through trade with Yokut women in exchange for the goods available in his Porterville shop in the late 1800's and early 1900's.