Changes to flora and fauna in the Interior Columbia Basin –

where does the horse fit in?

by

Andrea S. Laliberte

June 4, 2001

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for FW 570 Ecology and History: Landscapes of the Columbia Basin

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Introduction

The Columbia River basin is an area shaped by fire, ice and water. Volcanic

eruptions, glaciation and flooding formed the landscape. Even before white explorers and

settlers entered this area, the Native population shaped the land by extracting resources

for their use. This impact is often hard to define.

The objective of this paper is to characterize human influences on vegetation and

wildlife for a time period beginning with the late Holocene until the middle of the 19th

century when white settlers moved into the region. Especially of interest are those

changes that were brought about by the introduction of the horse and the use of fire. Early

accounts of explorers and settlers help us understand what the landscape looked like. It is

up to us to interpret how the landscape evolved to that point, what type of ecological

modifications took place, and how that influence changed over time.

Area and time of interest

The area of interest ranges approximately from the Idaho-Oregon border

downstream along the Snake and Columbia rivers to about Hood River, and some of the

surrounding plateau (Fig.1). The reason for choosing this location is that Lewis and Clark

were the first white people entering this area in 1805, and their journals contain the first

accounts of the landscape and the Natives. Thus the year 1805 represents the beginning

of the written historic record. Other explorers soon took similar routes, followed by white

settlers on the Oregon Trail. This area was also rich in horses.

The time of interest spans a period from the late Holocene, when only Natives

populated this area, up to about the middle of the 19th century, when white settlements

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became more common. This time period represents one of major ecological, cultural and

social changes for the land and people of this area.

The Native Indian population

The tribes in this area share certain characteristics of the so called “Plateau”

culture, such as settlement near rivers, complex fishing technology, a diverse food source

of fish, game and plants, extensive kin ties and intermarriage, extensive trade links, and

limited political integration until after the introduction of the horse (Ames et al. 1998).

Today’s descendants of the tribes in this geographic area include the Nez Perce, Umatilla,

Walla Walla, Cayuse, Wanapum, Yakima and Palouse (Fig.2). However, as Hunn (1990)

indicated, the Indians of the mid-Columbia were not strictly segregated into tribes. People

from different groups would get together at certain locations for the purposes of fishing,

root digging, plant gathering and trade.

In 1811, Alexander Ross traveled to an encampment near the mouth of the Walla

Walla river and found members of the Cayuse, Nez Perce and Walla Walla numbering

upwards of 1500 people (Ross 2000). He believed that this was the second most

important fishing location on the Columbia River after Celilo Falls. It is presumed that

this way of life has remained essentially the same for about ten thousand years before the

first explorers came along, except for changes influenced by climate and innovations in

harvest techniques (Hunn 1990).

The rivers of the Columbia Plateau represented the major travel and trade routes,

and the confluences of the Snake, Yakima, Walla Walla, and Umatilla Rivers were

important geographical locations. After the introduction of the horse in the early 1700s,

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people were able to travel further and carry more trade goods with them, possibly

expanding existing overland trade routes. However, trade and interaction between

different groups is believed to have been in existence for 10,000 years (Ames et al. 1998).

In order to interpret human impacts on their environment, an estimate of

population size is necessary. The first population estimate comes from the journals of

Lewis and Clark, from a time when diseases had already reduced the population size

(Boyd 1998). The impact of introduced diseases on the Native population was dramatic.

From 1774 to 1874, smallpox, measles, fever and ague decimated the Native population,

possibly resulting in a reduced impact of people on the land. According to Samuel Parker

who traveled the area in 1834, seven-eights to nine-tenths of the population had been

killed by disease in the previous five years, and the rate decreased only due to the low

number of people left (Robbins 1997). Accounting for population declines from

introduced diseases, Boyd (1998) estimated the pre-white population of the Columbia

Plateau culture area at 87,000, but suggested that this number “may be much higher”. By

1860, when the first census of reservation Indians was conducted, the Plateau population

was around 20,000 to 25,000. This shows the great fluctuation in population, with a

dramatic decline due to disease, and later a dramatic increase when white settlers moved

into the area.

Human influences on the landscape before white contact

Hunting, fishing, and gathering

The beginning of the Holocene, about 4500 years ago, marked a period when the

Interior Columbia Basin looked “…very much as it did when Europeans first arrived…”

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The archeological record is described as being similar to conditions Europeans

encountered at first contact (Grayson 1993). Semi-subterranean pithouses were common

during this time, possibly indicating a general cooling trend (Fig.3). Archeologist found

remains of large mammals, salmon and mussels in those houses, as well as non-native

stones and shells, indicating trade with tribes from outside the Plateau area (Ames et al.

1998). This period may have been a time of shift from a more nomadic lifestyle to

sedentism due to increased reliance on salmon (Chatters and D.L. Pokotylo 1998).

Storage facilities uncovered at the Miller site near the mouth of the Snake River indicated

large-scale storage of plants and fish. Advanced fishing technology found included

harpoons, barbed bone points and net weights.

Winter villages were usually located at the mouth of rivers. In the summer,

families would follow green-up of the vegetation to upland camps, where they hunted,

picked berries, dug roots and gathered plants (Ames et al. 1998). This semi-nomadic

lifestyle contrasted sharply with the lifestyle of white settlers that entered this area in the

19th century. The lifestyle of the natives gave periods of rest to the land, while the white

settlements became a permanent influence on the landscape.

There is some controversy as to the impacts of early hunters on wildlife and the

contribution of hunting, fishing, and gathering of plant foods. Table 1 shows the

contribution of those activities according to Murdock (1967).

Table 1. Relative dependence of some Columbia basin tribes on hunting, fishing and gathering (after Murdock 1967)

Tribe Hunting Fishing Gathering

Coeur D’Alene 36-45 % 26-35 % 26-35 % Umatilla 26-35 % 36-45 % 26-35 %

Nez Perce 26-35 % 36-45 % 26-35 %

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Hunn (1990) suggested that fishing and plant foods such as camas, bitterroot,

berries, nuts and tree lichen might have contributed as much as 90 % of the caloric intake,

indicating a large reliance on plant foods. This suggests that even at this early period,

these people may have used fire to promote growth of favored plant species.

Although bison were rare east of the Rocky Mountains, Natives hunted this large

mammal, and remains have been found at several sites (Fig.4). In 1989, a bison kill site

dating back 2100 years was discovered near Kennewick, WA (Chatters et al. 1995).

Osborne (1953) also reported several archaeological finds of bison bones from the

Columbia plateau. Butler (2000) described a subsistence change in the Lower Columbia

River over the last 2200 years. Before white contact and before diseases reduced the

Indian population, there was an increased use of small prey (low-ranked resources), while

after white contact the use of larger prey (high-ranked resources) increased. The author

suggested that human foraging pressures were responsible for reducing larger prey. After

diseases reduced the population, higher ranked species were able to rebound, and Butler

(2000) concluded that early descriptions of historical resource abundance might reflect

the effects of the reduced Indian population. Another explanation might be that Indians

became more efficient hunters and killed more large prey after the horse was introduced

(Christman 1971).

The influence of the horse

Horses were common on the North American continent from about 600,000 to

7000 before the present time, when they became extinct in North America. The animal

was re-introduced to this continent in 1519, when Hernando Cortez sailed from Cuba to

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Mexico, bringing with him 16 horses. Six of them were mares and one was heavy in foal

(Haines 1971). Wissler (1914) believed that the Crow and Blackfoot had horses as early

as 150 years before they were first mentioned in 1742 and 1751, since he believed strays

from the Coronado and DeSoto expeditions were picked up by Indians. Others, however,

do not agree due to lack of evidence (Haines 1938b; Roe 1955). The Spaniards were well

known for their preference of riding stallions. Coronado had only 2 mares out of 558

horses on their expedition, reducing the likelihood of further breeding considerably. In

addition, no reports of lost horses could ever be substantiated.

According to Haines (1938b), the Plains Indians began to acquire horses

“sometime after 1600”, starting from Santa Fe. In the Pueblo revolt of 1680, many horses

were captured by rebels and traded for goods, increasing the spread of the animals

(Haines 1938a). Horses then spread northward in two routes: to the northeast by way of

the Great Plains, and to the northwest over the continental divide (Fig.5). The Shoshone

acquired horses between 1690-1700. They were the tribe that introduced the animals to

the Flathead (around 1710), Crow, Blackfoot, Coeur d’Alene, Walla Walla, Yakima,

Palouse, Cayuse and Nez Perce (around 1730) (Haines 1938a).

When Lewis and Clark came to the Columbia region, the horse was already a

dominant part of Plateau culture. The explorers commented on the abundance and

cheapness of the Nez Perce horses, “many as fat as seals”, and mentioned how

advantageous the animals would be for the later fur trade (Moulton 1989). With the horse

came change in many ways. Owning many horses became a sign of wealth, and raiding

horses a way of life. It became possible to trade further and exploit resources over a

broader area. Bison hunting expeditions became more common and the Plateau culture

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adopted some Plains culture items such as feathered war bonnets, buffalo robes and

buffalo tipis. The Nez Perce began to have more in common with the Plains Indians than

with neighboring tribes that relied more on fishing. Their horse-trading area ranged from

The Dalles to the Crow country in southern Montana (Haines 1964).

What is surprising is how easy the horse was assimilated into the Native way of

life. Some Indians even believed that they always had horses as Smohalla, an Indian

prophet, proclaimed (Hunn 1990). However, this is probably associated with the fact that

Indians had horses long before they saw their first white man. Nonetheless, the horse

dramatically increased the Indians’ home range and mobility. This new animal fit

perfectly into their lifestyle of following the seasons and the respective foods they relied

upon, and the horse was often looked upon as a larger dog (Ewers 1955). It also changed

relations between neighboring tribes. Not owning horses became a disadvantage, and

Hunn (1990) even suggested that the horse may have increased violence in some cases,

since more pacifist tribes were more likely to be attacked by well-mounted groups. This

was only made worse by the simultaneous introduction of guns and ammunition.

There are only a few accounts of horse numbers, since it is difficult to estimate

the number present before the arrival of white people and before diseases had reduced the

Indian population. Sherow (1992) calculated horse ownership in the upper Arkansas

based on an 1855 census of several Plains Indian tribes. He reported an average of 6.25

horses per capita for over 11,000 Indians owning 70,000 horses. This author estimated

that in a normal year, 7 acres/horse were required to feed the animal, and in a drought

year this increased to 42 acres/horse.

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Several early accounts of explorers, fur traders and settlers in the Columbia

Plateau mentioned large bands of Indian horses. Lewis and Clark noted the large herds of

horses owned by Indians; some individual might own 50 to 100 head, with some families

owing more than 1500 head of horses (Moulton 1988). Wilson Price Hunt visited a camp

on the Umatilla River in 1811 and reported seeing 2000 horses belonging to 34 families

(Langston 1995). Lawrence Kip, an army officer, reported in 1855 that the Nez Perces

owned large number of horses and that the prairies were covered with these animals.

Some were reportedly wild horses, while others had Spanish brands (Haines 1955). Table

2 shows the number of Indians and horses estimated for some Columbia plateau tribes.

Table 2. Indian and horse population in the Columbia region in 1874 (after Ewers 1955)

Tribe Indian Population Horses Horse-person ratio Cayuse, Walla Walla, Umatilla 682 8000 11.7 Nez Perce 2807 12000 4.3 Yakima, Palouse 3500 13000 3.7

Ewers (1955) summarized these numbers from the 1874 annual report of the

Commissioner of Indian Affairs. This author concluded that the horse numbers of many

tribes stabilized relatively early, around 1825, and possibly even before 1800. This may

be related to environmental constraints due to climate and winter forage conditions and

the associated labor inputs to maintain large horse herds (Osborn 1983). In a severe

winter, forage may have been scarce, and it is possible that the Columbia Plateau Indians

fed cottonwood and willows to their horses just as some Plains Indians did (Osborn 1983;

Roe 1955).

As an interesting comparison, Boyd (1998) estimated the pre-1775 population of

the Nez Perce at 8329. Using the same horse-person ratio as in Table 2, this would allow

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for over 35000 horses for the Nez Perce tribe alone. Maintaining that many horses

requires a large amount of forage. It is quite possible that the pressure of the horses

affected the density of other wildlife, and even displaced native herbivores.

Osborne (1953) reported findings of bison bones in several archaeological digs in

the Plateau. These findings were divided into prehistoric and late sites, the latter

containing bones of horses. This indicates that bison were hunted in the Columbia Plateau

at the same time that horses were present. Antelope bones were more common in the

prehistoric sites, indicating that this species was more numerous than it has been in the

last 200 years. Antelope and horse bones were never found together at those sites. Most

interesting is the fact that in the late sites, fewer bison bones were found together with

more horses remains. This could suggest that the horse became a competitor for the

bison. Horse and bison diets have considerable overlap (Flores 1991), and competition

for forage may have been high as horse numbers increased over time.

Unlike the Plains east of the Rocky Mountains, the Interior Columbia Basin was

never prime bison habitat. In the plains, rhizomatous grass species and summer rains

provided excellent conditions for many large herbivores, while the Columbia Basin had

dry summers and supported mostly bunchgrasses. Bunchgrasses are not very grazing

resistant, especially early in the year, and they go dormant in the hot, dry summer months

(Holechek et al. 1989). In the Columbia basin, riparian corridors with plenty of water for

extended grass growth would have been the preferred bison habitat, the same area chosen

for many Indian villages and grazing locations for their horses. The seasonal movement

of the Indians following plant growth, game and salmon kept the horse herds moving,

possibly preventing overgrazing of areas. However, it is assumed that horse grazing may

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have altered the grasslands to some extent, so that the introduction of cattle and sheep

later in the century only increased those pressures (Langston 1995).

There is also archaeological evidence that elk may have been more common in

the Columbia basin over the last few thousand years than they were during the last 200

years. What is not clear is whether their decline was due to overhunting, climate change

or competition from horses (Dixon and R.L. Lyman 1996).

The horse was also responsible for modified hunting practices. Indian hunters on

horseback were more efficient than they had been on foot, and it is possible that the

combination of an herbivore competitor in conjunction with hunting pressure contributed

to the disappearance of the bison from the Plateau. Christman (1971) suggested that the

extinction of the bison coincided with the time of the acquisition of the horse. Early fur

trappers and Indians provided with guns also contributed to the extermination of the

bison (Robbins 1997).

Another factor to consider are feral horses. Lewis and Clark mentioned wild

horses (Moulton 1989), and although there are no numbers for wild horses in the

Columbia Plateau at that time, Flores (1991) estimated that there were about 2 million

feral horses between south Texas and the Arkansas River in the mid 19th century.

Considering the brief period since horse acquisition, this number is staggering, and it is

assumed that feral horses must have played a role in the Columbia Plateau as well. When

Indians were not able to provide enough forage for their horse herds in a severe winter, it

is assumed that the horses began to roam in search for feed and escaped their owners.

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Use of fire by Natives

Indians used fire for a variety of purposes, including growth promotion of camas,

tarweed, huckleberries and other plants as well as for attraction of wildlife. Explorers’

accounts often mentioned extensive fires and smoky conditions, often to the extent that

travel was delayed (Robbins 1997). Lewis and Clark reported a lack of firewood and

burning of the grasslands along the Columbia for the purpose of encouraging grass

growth for the horse herds (Moulton 1989). John Kirk Townsend talked about the

“…trees blasted by the ravaging fires of the Indians” in 1834 (Townsend 1978).

Likewise, reports by Peter Skene Ogden from 1826 mentioned that the country was

overrun by fire, killing more than 60,000 beavers (Robbins 1997).

We have to remember that those accounts come from a time when the horse was

already an established part of Indian life. After the acquisition of the horse, fire was used

extensively to promote grass growth for the horses and to make hunting on horseback

easier. Langston (1995) argued that those were the two major reasons for Indian-set fires,

and she suggested that this extensive use of fire might have been only present since 1730.

Since we have interpreted our first written accounts as the “natural” fire regime, it is very

difficult to establish how much fire was human-set and how much was due to lightning.

No estimates exist for the time before the acquisition of the horse. Shinn (1980)

examined references to fires in early explorer and settler journals, and he found that 24 of

30 fires could be attributed to native people. Seventy-one percent of those occurred in

late summer and fall. If the use of fire did not increase significantly after the horse

arrived, the possibility exists that fire was more widespread before 1775, before diseases

reduced the Indian population.

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Fire affects the structure and composition of ecosystems and Indians had the most

effect on low-severity fires that occurred every 2-20 years. This affected the grasslands,

sagebrush steppe, Ponderosa pine and mixed forests communities, keeping them open

without much of an understory (Langston 1995). These are the magnificent open forests

of the Blue Mountains that some of the settlers admired so much. Much of the landscapes

the first settlers encountered were shaped to a large part by the local fire regime. By

burning regularly, the build-up of fuel was also avoided, and high intensity fires became

less likely. Initially, settlers also used fire for similar reasons as the Indians had, however,

once fire suppression was initiated, the landscape began to change more rapidly. The

understory became denser and Ponderosa pine forests slowly changed to mixed forest

dominated by Douglas-fir.

Human influences on the landscape after white contact

The first explorers

Our first written records of contact with the Natives in this area come from the

journals of Lewis and Clark, who entered the area in the fall of 1805 (Fig.1) (Moulton

1988). Their accounts tell us what life was like before white settlement, although the

Indians were already influenced by white people indirectly, through the introduction of

diseases, the horse and other items acquired in trade. Lewis and Clark reported seeing

beads, brass, copper and coins among the native population. They reported horses with

Spanish brands and noted the pockmarked faces of some Indians (Moulton 1988). The

journals of Lewis and Clark mention the “rich verdure of grass and herbs from four to

nine inches high”. They also tell us of the large amounts of salmon that Indians

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harvested, preserved and sold to the white people that came to trade in this area.

Alexander Ross of the Pacific Fur Company also wrote about this abundant salmon

fishery (Ross 2000).

Robert Stuart and William Price Hunt of the American Fur Company entered the

area in 1811 (Fig.1), and the fur company established the first trading posts along the

Columbia River. Research by Langston (1995) showed that game was relatively scarce

when Lewis and Clark traveled through the area in 1805, and when Robert Stuart and

Wilson Price Hunt followed in 1810. During Lewis and Clark’s travel in the Columbia

basin, they killed very few deer, most of them in the Clearwater River area. The party

bought and ate many dogs and horses during this part of their journey, partly since they

were not used to a diet of roots and fish (Martin and C.R. Szuter 1998). Around 1830,

deer became abundant again (Langston 1995).

The period from 1811 to 1850 is marked by the fur trade, building on a trading

network based on the one already established by the Plateau people. There was

competition between the British NW Company, the Hudson’s Bay Company and the

Pacific Fur Company. The view of the time is expressed by the Hudson’s Bay Company

that decided to trap heavily in order to create a “fur desert” to keep the Americans out of

the area (Robbins 1997). In 1811, beaver appeared to be numerous in the Blue

Mountains, while only 30-40 years later, only few were left (Langston 1995). This had a

profound effect on riparian areas, since the beaver affected floods and droughts with their

dams and influenced growth and death of trees tremendously. Similar to the settlers that

followed them, the fur traders viewed the land with an eye on potential resource

extraction.

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The first settlers

The first settlers brought with them an entirely new culture. Missionaries came to

the area in 1836, when the first permanent mission was established near Walla Walla in

1836, and in 1843, the first settlers came over the Oregon Trail. Over 12,000 settlers had

traveled over the trail by 1850, and although many were headed for the more fertile

Willamette Valley, their influences affected all of the native population. The first Indian

treaties were signed in 1855, eventually leading to the Indian wars of 1855-1856

(Campbell 1990).

The establishment of reservations ended a way of life for the Indians and changed

their traditional hunting-gathering life. Their semi-nomadic lifestyle changed to a settled

lifestyle. In addition, the introduction of agriculture, exotic plants and animals had a

profound impact on the environment. Native species began to decline, and riparian areas

were affected since both humans and animals preferred those sites. Settlers wanted order

in their landscape and wanted to change it to the familiar agricultural landscape they were

used to. In the process they interfered with the native way of life, often destroying Indian

harvesting areas (Robbins 1997).

Wildlife was reported to be abundant when white settlers arrived around 1860 to

1870, but those wildlife populations decreased dramatically over the next 30 years as the

white population increased (Langston 1995). After arrival of white settlers, the pace of

change began to increase. One area that was changed considerably was the Palouse

region. Originally it supported bunchgrasses, however as soon as settlers discovered the

rich soil, they began to convert the grasslands to farmland. It is estimated that 94 % of the

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native land cover type of the Palouse was converted to grain crops over the last century

(Sisk 1998).

Conclusion

Change and adaptations to a changing environment are part of any culture. The

changes to flora and fauna that occurred from the late Holocene to the middle of the 19th

century in the Columbia Plateau were shaped by a combination of different influences. It

is believed that Indians were using fire to promote vegetation long before the introduction

of the horse. However, after the horse became part of Indian culture, fire may have been

used increasingly due to the horses’ forage requirements. Since it is difficult to ascertain

the historic numbers of horses in the Columbia Plateau, the influence of horse grazing is

hard to define. However, based on explorer accounts, those pressures are assumed to be

moderate compared to the later influences of cattle and sheep grazing.

The fluctuations in human population may have been reflected in wildlife

populations, although the evidence is contradictory. Nevertheless, the decrease in native

population due to disease, followed by an increase when white settlers entered the area,

had a direct influence on the landscape, mostly due to the new agricultural practices of

the settlers.

Often, the Native culture is depicted as unchanged until white people arrived on

the scene. Part of this interpretation is due to the view of early anthropologists who

viewed the natives and their way of life as something that had to be assimilated into white

culture. As Robbins (1997) pointed out, the accounts by explorers, fur trappers and

settlers were skewed towards their own interests and they viewed the landscape and

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people through their own cultural lens. Most of this was based on the potential of

exploiting available resources such as land, timber, grasslands and fur, and improving the

landscape. The nomadic lifestyle of the Indians was considered to be inferior to a settled,

agrarian way of life, although ironically, the greatest landscape changes happened after

the loss of the nomadic lifestyle.

This view has to be kept in mind when reading and interpreting early explorer

and settler journals, and it makes it difficult to create an unbiased account of conditions.

The native culture was not frozen in time until white people came to the area, but the

changes that happened after white contact occurred at a faster pace due to the large influx

of people. Therefore, landscape changes have to be interpreted in conjunction with

cultural, social and demographic changes.

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References

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Wissler, C. 1914. The influence of the horse in the development of Plains culture. American Anthropologist 16(1): 1-25.

Fig. 2. Map of Native American Tribes, Culture Areas, and Linguistic Stocks, William C. Sturtevant, Smithsonian Institution, 1967, Source: Native American History Archive

Fig. 3. Pithouses in a typical Columbia Plateau village (Fagan 2000)

Fig. 4. Range of the Mountain bison in the western United States (Christman 1971)

Fig. 5. Introduction of the horse into North America (Waldman 2000) after (Haines 1938a)