Chowchilla, California

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Chowchilla is a city in Madera County, California, United States. It is part of the Madera, California Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 11,127 at the 2000 census (this number does not include inmates at Central California Women's Facility and Valley State Prison for Women, which are located just outside of the city).

The name "Chowchilla" is derived from the Native 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 the Chauchila Indians were being pursued by a band of whites. References to the Indian tribe still abound in Chowchilla, and the town's sole high school still retains the moniker of "Redskins" as their local mascot.

1 1976 bus kidnapping
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 References
5 External links

Chowchilla was thrust into national headlines in July 1976 when an entire school bus of children was kidnapped. Twenty-six children and the adult bus driver were taken from the bus, which the kidnappers concealed under brush in a wash, and driven around in two vans for 11 hours before being forced into a moving van which had been buried in a quarry in Livermore, California. Part-time bus driver Ed Ray, a local farmer, enlisted the aid of some of the older children to dig their way out. After 16 hours underground they emerged in the middle of the night and walked to a nearby guard shack at the entrance to the quarry. All were pronounced to be in good condition and returned home to find that mass media had descended on the town. Ray was able to remember the license plate of one van while under hypnosis and this led to the capture of the kidnappers as they attempted to flee to Canada. A rough draft of a ransom note was found at the house of the owner of the quarry; the owner's son, Frederick Woods, and two friends, Richard and James Schoenfeld, were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.^[1] The ordeal was dramatized in the 1993 ABC-TV Movie Vanished Without a Trace starring Karl Malden, which is sometimes shown on the Biography Channel. The drama series Without a Trace also featured an episode called "The Bus," which involved a school bus hijacking incident very similar to the Chowchilla event.

Chowchilla is located at 37°7′5″N, 120°15′42″W (37.117921, -120.261692)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.4 km² (7.1 mi²), all land.

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 11,127 people, 2,562 households, and 1,908 families residing in the city. The population density was 605.1/km² (1,567.4/mi²). There were 2,711 housing units at an average density of 147.4/km² (381.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 63.46% White, 10.26% Black or African American, 2.60% Native American, 1.32% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 16.16% from other races, and 5.94% from two or more races. 28.20% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,562 households out of which 40.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.42.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 42.8% from 25 to 44, 16.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 51.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 39.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,729, and the median income for a family was $35,741. Males had a median income of $32,306 versus $20,538 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,927. About 16.5% of families and 19.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.1% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.