A smallpox epidemic in 1862 took the lives of 129 Juaneño people in one month alone of a population now "of only some 227 Indians." The remaining Juaneños established themselves among the Luiseño, who they "shared linguistic and cultural similarities, family ties, and colonial histories." Even after their relocation to various Luiseño villages, "San Juan remained an important town for Juaneños and other Indians connected to it" so that by the "latter part of the nineteenth century individuals and families often moved back and forth between these villages and San Juan for work, residence, family events, and festivals."
A smallpox epidemic in 1862 took the lives of 129 Juaneño people in one month alone of a population now "of only some 227 Indians." The remaining Juaneños established themselves among the Luiseño, who they "shared linguistic and cultural similarities, family ties, and colonial histories." Even after their relocation to various Luiseño villages, "San Juan remained an important town for Juaneños and other Indians connected to it" so that by the "latter part of the nineteenth century individuals and families often moved back and forth between these villages and San Juan for work, residence, family events, and festivals."