ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS :5:4 -WIND RIVER SHOSHONE ETHNOGEOGRAPHY o BY D. B. SHIMKIN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES 1947 WIND RIVER SHOSHONE ETHNOGEOGRAPHY BY D. B. SHIMKIN ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Vol. 5, No. 4 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS EDITORS: A. L. KROEBER, E. W GIFFORD, R. H. LOWIE, R. L OLSON Volume 5, No. 4, pp. 245-288,2 plates, Ifigure in text, 9 maps Submitted by editors April lo, 1942 Issued November 20, 1947 Price, 75 cents UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON, ENGLAND MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONTENTS ,ce . . . . . . a . . a a . . . . . . a . . . duction . ification of the people . River Shoshone territory . o a * . . . . raphy . . * * * * * . . . . . . . . . onment. ation: means of livelihood. ation: detailed ethnobotany and ethnozoology gy * - - * 0 - - - - - - - - - - - ography . . . . . . . . . . . . nation of plates . . . . . . . . . . a * * * * * * * * * * a * * * * * * 0 a * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 0 * . * . *. * e . . * . . . . . . . FIGURE IN TEXT iperature and precipitation for type stations in western Wyoming . . . . . . . . . PLATES ?ical ecological zones, Upper Sonoran to Canadian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dical ecological zones, Canadian to Arctic-Alpine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MAPS ils and foci . . . . .- . .. . . . . ice names and travels, 1825-1875 ) Wind River Shoshone world, 1825-1875 kce names .............. )files . . . . . . mSiography and soils ..... xmtes . . . . . . . . . . . . . !e zones (after Cary) .. . ..... lization of natural areas. [iii] Page V 245 246 247 254 256 265 271 279 282 286 261 287 288 249 250 250 253 257 258 259 263 267 0 0 0 0 . .. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 * 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 & 0 0 a a 0 a 'O PREFACE The present paper is part of a series dealing with the cul- ture of the Wind River Shoshone of Wyoming. It is based on researches by the author in 1937 and 1938 which were financed by the Board of Research of the University of California through the Department of Anthropology. I am indebted to Miss Alice Eastwood of the California Academy of Sciences for the botanical identifications, and to Mr. Carlos Garcia for much of the clerical work. Assistance in the preparation of these materials was fur- nished by the personnel of Work Projects Administration Official Project No. 665-08-3-30, Unit A-15. The orthography of native words in this paper follows strictly that recommended by Franz Boas et al. (SI-MO, vol. 66, no. 6), 1916, and modified by George Herzog et al. (AA 36: 629-631), 1934. [vI IND RIVER SHOSHONE ETHNOGEOGRAPHY BY D. B. SHIMKIN INTRODUCTION isent essay sketches the habitat of the t Shoshone between 1825 and 1875, approx- t regionalizes this habitat according niations of several geographic factors: r physiography and soils, climates, P It studies Shoshone adaptation to this b in considerable detail, and attempts eh, in general terms, the nature of -onditioning within this culture. The sof ethnogeographic analysis which my Lows simply exemplifies that set forth rin his fundamental work, Cultural d Areas of Native North America.' ipral lriits of this essay should be fully, for the history of the Wind i-one has been complicated. As I have Iwhere,2 they began moving on to the X the West at the beginning of the (century, or shortly before. They were ist, in most of the northern Plains, to ree. As a result, their power extended, >, into Saskatchewan and South Dakota. iition of guns by their enemies and forced them to retreat west once more. 7O they resided largely west of the laring massacre at the hands of eastern ay during seasonal bison hunts. The ssistance furnished by frien&ly white iestablished the Shoshones' eastern ter- ifter 1825, however. Reservation life otively about 1875; the events trans3ir- that date form part of other papers. 1, 1941a. , MS. a; b. Wind River Shoshone culture has been essen- tially that of the Plains for a good two hun- dred years; pioneer ethnographers have vastly overemphasized the Basin affiliations. Con- sequently, the data contained in the pages which follow will, I believe, be of interest to most specialists on the Plains Indians. They illus- trate a phase of life which is very little known for this part of America, despite the fact that many able scholars have concentrated their atten- tion upon study of the area. Lowie, for instance, has given us superlative materials upon the social organization, mythology, and many other aspects of Crow culture. Yet he has nowhere pub- lished even a map of Crow territory, or its political or ecological divisions. Furthermore, the data underscore the cyclical abundance and scarcity of Plains subsistence, an observation made by other recent studies for the Plains Cree and Sarsi.4 They give some basis for questioning the theory ably expounded by Wissler, on the in- fluence of the horse on Plains culture.5 Did the horse raise Plains culture to its zenith? Archae- ological materials prove that it did not do so in the southern Plains; it merely intensified some specialties, wiped out many others.' My ethnogeographical materials suggest that this process too took place in the northern Plains. UlAtimate decision of the problem must await fur- ther ethnogeographical research, particularly among the Arapaho and Western Dakota, as well as extensive digging. 4Jenness, 1938; Mandelbaum, 1940. 5Wissler, 1914. B Strong, 1935. [245] IDENTIFICATION OF THE PEOPLE Study of Shoshone ethnogeography includes consideration of three main factors: the iden- tification of the people and their area, assess- ment of the environmental opportunities, and investigation of the degree of utilization of those opportunities, or ecological adaptation. The identification of the Wind River Shoshone and their territory is not a simple matter. It is complicated by several facts.7 These people had no developed national or tribal sense; affil- iation was fluid. Nor did they distinguish them- selves by a special name. They merely knew that others called them p'h)in? (Sage-Brushers), p)'h)ganhit (Sage-Brush Homes),8 or ku'6nd!k1n! (Buffalo-Eating People).9 Furthermore, they felt no clear-cut distinctions of private or tribal territories. A part of them went each year through admittedly Crow territory to reach the Yellowstone River and Powder River hunting grounds. Virtually all of them crossed du'kurka (Sheep Eater Shoshone) 7See also Shimkin, 1938. 8Hoebel, 1938. 9Hoebel, 1938; the name ko'hogole was unknown to the Wind River themselves. See Steward, 1937, fig. 1. lands on their summer trip to Green River. obverse of this may be noted: The Popo Agi (River) and the Seeds-ke-deagie10 or Green both in the heart of the Wind River Shosho range, were known to white travelers by Cr names"1--Owl River (po:'pate owl; a:'se ri and Prairie-Chicken River (ci:'cga prairie- a:'s river), respectively. In spite of these difficulties, contemp travelers recognized the basic unity of th shone of Wyoming. Thus Granville Stuart W? "The 'Green-River' Snakes (Shoshones) 4 the country drained by Green River and itZ branches. They are known also as 'Wash'-a. band,' and their principal hunting ground1 the Wind River mountains and on Wind Rivei is a main branch of the Big Horn River) a* tributaries, where they meet and have numq battles with the Crow Indians, who also oX that country.n 10 Fr6mont, 1853:163. 1 I owe analyses of the Crow names to kindness of Professor R. H. Lowie. 12 Stuart, 1865:80. [246] WIND RIVER SHOSHONE TERRITORY lver Shoshone territory may be defined if three basic zones: the core, in which and its subdivisions had their regular .; territory known and encompassed by s once or twice in their lives; the imits of the known world. t of this people's land was approx- e following. Its boundary stretched orthern slope of the Uintah Mountains Desert and the Green Mountains, thence ,:Sweetwater Divide to the southern tip Horn Mountains. Then, having cut diag- Thermopolis, it went down the Big Horn ar north as the Shoshone River. It fol- stream over the Absaroka Range, then llowstone Lake and the Tetons. From here ost due south to its starting point. p Eaters occupied a semiautonomous en- in this area, which included Yellowstone ^Absaroka Range, and the upper slopes of liver Mountains.) Storical evidence gives some weight to tion that in 1835-40 the Shoshone were t of the Wind River Mountains. Ashley13 noted that: try east and a considerable distance these lakes [Great Salt Lake, Bear Lake], ,the headwaters of the Rio Colorado of 8d down the same to Mary's river, is r the Shoshone Indians." ten years later Farnham'4 said: s, or Shoshonies, are a wandering tribe W who inhabit that part of the Rocky ,which-lies on the Grand and Green River if the Colorado of the West, the valley gbar River, the habitable shores of the . Lake, a considerable portion of country kiver above and below Fort Hall, and a nding two or three hundred miles to the Wat part." contemporaneous is Russel's statement:15 try comprises all the regions drained Ld branches of Green and Bear Rivers and md southern head branches of the Snake [e year, howeNer, Hamilton16 met Washakie ilage camped at Wind River. The latter un that the Shoshone he country to the Elk River [Yellowstone] ie so as far back as they and their fa- recollect. He said the Crows, Flatheads, ces hunted upon their land. In fact, it ,1918:155 . ham, 1906:261. ssel, 1921: 144-146. iton, 1905:63, 187. was held by other tribes as neutral ground, claim- ing the right to hunt thereon." Again the outbreak of hostilities between the Shoshone and Crow, after an earlier period of al- liance,17 shifted their movements to the west in the 1850's. The itinerary of Wilson,18 who trav- eled with Washakie's band at that time, included Salt Lake City, Bear River, Soda Springs (Idaho), Snake River, Big Hole Basin (Montana), and Deer Lodge Valley (Montana). Ethnographical materials give a more stable picture. The concentration of known places and place names is thickest within the boundaries described above. Thus, even the minor affluents of the Big Horn and Green rivers were well known to most of my informants. The internal organization of the Wind River country can be examined from the viewpoint of ei- ther the political subdivisions or the economic units. The former, in the period 1842-1875, were organized as follows. All the bands would gather each spring in Wind River Valley under the general leadership of Washakie. They would then cross the Wind River Mountains by following Trout Creek to Mosquito Park, then going to Washakie Pass. From there, they would descend the Big Sandy, crossing it near the Lombard Ferry. After this, they would go across Black's Fork to Fort Bridger. In this neighborhood, more especially near the headwaters of the creeks, they would stay for the summer. Early in the fall, they would return to Wind River, and separate for the buffalo hunt. The band led by Ta'wunasia would go down the Sweetwater to the upper North Platte. That led by Di'ka4d1mp went straight east to the Powder River Valley; that led by No oki skirted the base of the Big Horn Moun- -tains, passing through Crow territory, then swung south again to the Powder River Valley. Washakie ascended Big Wind River, and then crossed the di- vide to winter near the headwaters of the Greybull. Certain modifications took place at times. Ta'wunasia's band occasionally stayed completely by itself, omitting the trip to Wind River.19 On the other hand, non-Wind River bands, such as Pocatello's,20 might join the main body for the fall hunts. After 1867,21 the Wind River Mountains were usually crossed by way of South Pass and the mining settlements. 22 The exact arrangements before 1842 are uncertain; doubtless they were similar, for Russel wrote at that time:23 17 Fremont, 1853:189. 18 Wilson, 1926:68-73. 19 Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff. for 1877-78:150. 20 Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff. for 1866:122. 21 Lindsay, 1930:71-72. 22 Williams, 1928:103-106. 23 0. Russel, 1921:114-115. [247] AN19ROPOLOGICAL RECORDS "One remarked that the Snake chief Pah-da- hawakunda, was becoming very unpopular, and it was the opinion of the Snakes in general that Moh-woom-hah, his brother, would be at the bead of affairs before twelve months, as his village already amounted to more than three hundred lodges, and, moreover he was supported by the bravest men in the naiion, among whom were Ink-a- tpsh-a-pop, Fibe-bo-un-to-wat-see and Who-sha-kik, who were the pillars of the nation and at whose names the Blackfeet quaked with fear. "... In the winter of 1842 the principal chief of the Snakes died in an apoplectic fit and on the following year his brother, but from what disease I could not learn. These being the two principal pillars that up held the nation the loss of them was and is to this day deeply deplored-. Imme- diately after the death of the latter the tribe scattered in smaller villages over the country in consequence of having no chief who could control and keep them together." Functionally, the entire Shoshone territory fell into (At foci, (B) routes, and (C) hinter- lands. The actual exploitation of these will be discussed later. Here we shall enumerate these places. X Foci: (1) nda'unawisua, a pocket valley near the head of Owl Creek; (2) Wind River Valley; (3) ya'handai, near Willow Lake; (4) Fort Bridger and ha:'nir)timb1ngan', a valley in the upper course of Black's Fork. 4L. Routee-,,these were noted in large part by landmarks such as Washakie's Needle (i'5awj, Coy- ote's penis). They followed rivers (usually named after peaks) and crossed passes (wi'yar). Lakes were of little importance: only Bull lake, feared for its magical potency, bore a name other than ba:'garir (water seat). _ The principal routes were carefully noted by Jones., 1. From Camp Brown (Fort Washakie) up Wind River Valley nearly ta its head and across the divide to tbs Gros Ventre Fork of Snake River. (See map 1.) Here it forks, sending one branch (1A) down the stream as far as Jackson's Hole, where it forks in turn, one portion leading down the Snake River to Fort Hall, and the other (1B), bending sharp around to the northeast, follows up Pacific and down Atlantic creeks to the Yellowstone River, down which it follows, passing to the east of Yellowstone Lake, to the Crow country in Montana-- a branch of it (lC) following Lewis- ork and the west side of the lake and river; the other branch (1D) leaves the Grod Ventres near its head, and, bending to the south, crosses a low pass in the Wyoming Mountains to the headwaters of the Green River, which it follows down to the open country and thence to Fort Bridger. 2. From Camp Brown to the North Fork of Wind River (Dunoir River?), which is followed up, and two divides--one to the headwaters of Snake River-- 2 4 Jones, 1875:54-55. crossed to reach the headwaters of Yello River, which is followed down to Yellowst where it joins the trail previously descr The divides crossed are extremely diffic 3. From the "big bend" of Wind River left bank to Dry Fork, which is followed head, and a low divide crossed to the of Owl Creek near Washakie Needles, when passes up this stream to its source, pa through a remarkably fine hunting ground tain sheep. There is here one of those 1 mountain parks which nature seems occasic throw off in the very midst of her most works. Its existence would never be sus without... 4. From Camp Brown northward over the Mountains and still further north to the grounds of the Big Horn Valley and the St Water River (Shoshone River), near Heart Mountain, thence up the North Fork of the and over the divide to the trail along Ye Lake. 5. From the "big bend" of Wind River e along the northern face of the Sweetwater by the head of Powder River to the Sioux east of the Big Horn Mountains. 6. From the "big bend" of Wind River n into the Big Horn Valley. 7. From Camp Brown to the head of Wind thence through Togwotee Pass, and norther the drainage of Snake River, striking at Creek, a previously described trail from to the east side of Yellowstone Iake. 8. From the Wind River Valley across t River Mountains, above Union Peak, to the, waters of Green River. In addition to these trails, my info of the following: 9. From Wind River Valley up Trout Cre quito Park, then by way of Hobb's Peak an Lake to Washakie Pass and the source of Bi Creek. Here it forks, one branch (9A) goir to the head of Little Sandy Creek, which it to its junction with Green River at Lombard It crosses here and then passes along Black where it splits into a route (9B) going to Bridger, then east to the source of the Bea Soda Springs and the Snake River; and a rot skirting the west shore at Green River intc The other branch at Big Sandy Creek (9D) cx over to the East Fork of Green River, and I to a series of lakes and valleys around pro Pinedale and Daniel, all loosely called yae (rockchuck holQ). 10. From the big bend of Wind River to, ity of Thermopolis, then up Kirby (?) Cr source; over the pass to the head of Bri Thence east and northeast along the edge? mountains to the headwaters of the Powder, C. The main exploited hinterlands wer (1) the western half of the Big Horn Ba&s Owl Creek Mountains and adjacent plains;a Powder River Valley (especially south of . boundary); (4) the lower drainage of the River and the upper North Platte; (5) the' Desert; (6) the hill country west of Fort, to the Great Salt Lake; (7) Jackson Hole e surrounding intermontane country. 248 r B TRAIL FOCUS E PP. 24.8 ANID ZS50 FOR KEY S SCALE I MLES l 90 20 30 40 SC Map 1. Trails and foci. ANTHROPOLGICAL RECORDS Map 2. Place names and travels, 1825-1875. -.-, travels of Pivo (man);- I-, travels of Panianduk (woman); 1, Wind River Valley (yu:"warai ng8'mOhtrt, warm valley); 2 Three Forks of the Missouri (go'nodUna a'gwe); 3, Yel- lowstone River at Billings (ge'te )gwe, fast river); 4, Devil's Tower (w6'A0eT)gar, gourd-its- butte); 5, Black Hills (e'r) gakwO'Ihegarnd 'yapi, red-fir?-its-place its-mountain-range); 6, Great Salt Lake (di dipa:, bad water); 7, Medicine Bow Mountains (w'"hznd,za ndz'yap). Most of the land within a radius of some 250 miles from Wind River was more or less known by most of these people. Nearly everyone knew of the Black Hills, or of the Three Forks of the Missouri As a matter of fact, virtually every man and woman would travel sometime during his life. Panianduk's mother with her small children came alone all the way from the Comnche. Pivo, as a member of a small party under Tu:'nkunt (rope), journeyed east of Standing Rock, South Da- kota. In all, even though there was now no evidenc Map 3. The Wind River Shoshone world *"*..' tribal boundary (after Kroebe state boundary; N.P., Nez Perc6; S.3.,. ers; P., Pine-Nut 3aters; CO.,4 Comanche band). Tribes underlined are well known names in text. of the extremely long journeys of a prei (to the Mandan, or to Arizona),'" the a, Shoshone still knew personally a sizeab3 tory. Typical were Pivo's and Panianduk' riences: the former had been to the conf of the Powder and Yellowstone rivers, tt Missouri at Standing Rock, to northern 4 latter was born in Utah, and had visitej Bannock country and the Iemhi before 8e down around Wind River. 25Shimkin, 1941a; MS a. 250 SHIMKIN: WIMD RIVER SHOSHONE ETHNOGEOGRAPHY2 y, the absolute limits of the known r world constituted a much larger area map 3.) Roughly, they formed a north- ipse with a vertical radius of 450 miles, J one of 250; an area of 700,000 to {uare miles. I estimated these limits by khe locations of people with whom the ke known historically to have had con- i as the Navaho,26 or of people whose Luformants recognized. These names may be divided into those derived from a widespread vocabulary (e.g., the sign language), as shown in the upper part of the following tabulation, and those peculiarly Shoshone, as shown in the lower part. The heavy concentration of well-known peoples in the far north (Cree, Blackfoot, etc.) gives additional support to the theory of a previous northern residence of the Plains Shoshone elab- orated elsewhere.2 7 ,ibe Name Analysi s Remarks ba'na'ite Unanalyzable $6.0 0O... Jiyuta:'ni Unanalyzable . pa:i'yut Unanalyzable pai'wik Unanalyzable pa'ganawo:ni Arrow-many-colored-people Sign-language name28 ......... ....bambY4;'i'mina (He)-cuts-off-a-head Sign-language name ........... ta'tasiwa:nl (?) "They're all kind of flat" Sign-language name (folk etymology?) re (AtBina). s:ap Paunch Sign- language name du kurkanY d:ya' "hi a'gaidika' piat 'badika ya 'mpadikan'i yampa hi sa: 'idika a:'ni dua: 'ni a: noni pa'kianY cantnai 'and ha:'nidika co: 'wiya Sheep-eating-people (He )-eats-salmon (He)-eats-many-pine-nuts Yamp-eating-people Yamp-people (He )-eats-dog Horn-people (Black-horn-people) (Black-Crow-Indians) Horn-packing-people 34 Hardrclothes(?armor)-people: Piegan? Pretty-girls (He )-eats-corn (He)-drags-a-root Northern Comanche division32 Either assimilated from (sari, dog, or else folk etymology33 Also used by Crow35 ton, 1905:97; for 1826, Pattie, 1906. .a, 1941a. , 1885--see Cheyenne, etc. Leir territory see Shimkin, 1938; 58--also includes his "Elk-Eaters." L, 1938; Steward, 1937. 31 Cooke, 1938. 32mThomas, 1932:57 f f 33Cf. Steward, 1938:208. 34A,rmor of buckskin is known traditionally for the Blackfoot; see Wissler, 1910:163. 35Lowie, 1922:267. ghone.... $oshone i Utah)30.. (near L r)31 , ... 0........ 251 , 0 0 . 0 . . . 0 . . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . . * 0 11 0 * 6 * 6 e . 0 0 . 0 0 0 a 0 0 . . . . . . ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS TABLE 1 Place Names (Wlmn'h,-rs% IfInsal 4 .4a AA va aitta-PAd nn 'rnm- L } English name Shoshone name Analysis Yellowstone Geyser basins....... Shoshone River .................. Tongue River.................... Big Horn Mountains............ Needle Mountain (?) ............. Greybull River.................. Dry Cottonwood Creek........... Gooseberry Creek............... South Fork, Greybull River...... Grass Creek.................... Big Horn River................. Grand Teton.................... Snake River ......... ...... (Valley below Washakie Needles). Cottonwood Creek ................ Washakie Needles ................ North Fork, Owl Creek.......... Owl Creek...................... South Fork, Owl Creek.......... Owl Creek Mountains ............. Thermopolis Hot Springs ......... Red Cayon. (Ridge on east of Bridger Moun- tains) ........................ Crow Creek..................... (Peak on west of Bridger Moun- tains) ........................ Dry Creek...................... Crowheart Butte................ Muddy Creek..................... Bridger Creek.................. Bull Lake....................... Five-Mile Creek. sage Creek ... Wind River Valley.............. Big Wind River.................. South Fork...................... Little Wind River.............. Willow Lake Region............. Mosquito Park................... Trout Creek.................... Bald Mountain ............ e Popo Agie River............... Washakie Pass................ Wind River Peak........... Big Sandy Creek. Split Rock..................... Sweetwater River. Little Sandy Creek............. South Pass..................... Green Mountains.............. Smith's Fork................... Morrow Creek.................... Bear River. .......... Alkali Lakes, Red Desert..... Red Desert...................... Ham's and Black's forks......... Rook Springs. (Cliffs near Bear River Divide). Medicine Butte (?............. Albert Creek (?)............... Blaok's Pork.................. Little Muddy Creek.............. Fort Bridger................... (Valley in upper course of Blackc's Fork?)............... (Bear River Divide and west to dreat Salt Lake). King's Peaks (?)O.... ........ Uintah Mountains................ pa:' nd ':i uInt di "Cipa:' 5'gwe e:'kwto'gwe nagatu'sia' 'gwe nd 'yapi gwp'iagarir pa:'wakarand 'yapD'gwe pa' sasoni'3 'gwe e: PI ita'z)'gwo i'fawe )'gwe pa:'wipI':' 'gwe pi'a' ) 'gwe tI'*w6n6r; m,ba-'i w8'n76rin 'gwepi nda'wnawisua cV'nara' I'gwe toawe si hl' )gwe; nda'wawlsua' 'gwe mumbi' gwe tI'amumbiE' 'gwe mumbic' sgw ndVoya,i pa : gusowandr erj1gahonopita' 6gwepi p 'h)wiyar p )'guna ' ) 'gwe tu'nangarlt ba'kiagi ' 'gwe hai"mbi s)'ha3asagit 'gwe sI'hh' Igwe pa' :gucina ya'gait sipa' I 'gwe p )'h' gwe yu: ' warai T)ge 'wahert pi'a' 'gwe timbana ' Z 'gwe ti'a' *'gwe ya' handdi so'nidai 'Int; hu: capaguxia sVohi' ,gwre wa:'n igarlr wa: n igiarln 3 gwre Pi d Y yawiyap du' kugarlr p6'ngana' zgwe ki 'nyatIlwene r; ti z iwri "aLtV 'w?ntr pi'ha 5'gwe; pawundo'iha''gwe du'kugara' gwepi mu'3a w9gg'yigwind,'yap sI hl' )'gwe sI 'narandin )gwe gu'y'' gwe; hu: "'gwe t'T)ga bagarlr e rlga sogup tu' r: ' ' gwe ti'mbipa: ralope pi' aya Ihan Jaga' n' wa' liplngarlt co' igara' o 'gwe o'lTgo' 'lgwe kuhi' 'g'we; w1ga' ' gwe. ha: 'ni 4ti'mbingan' ga, sogup ti'agAi w,T '3 'gwe ndV'y&Pi vu'tatni ud;'.va3 Water-keeps-on-oa Bad-water-river Tongue-river Powder-river Its-d Bird-seat (butte) - Water-oedar-its- o Dry-grass-river White-olay's river^ Coyote-penis-river.., Water-bog-river Big-river Rock-stand; Elder-bq (when in sight of Standing-one river-A (He) -packs-the-dry4 "Parsnip"-river Coyote-penis Cottonwood-river; (I dry-meat-river Owl-river Little-owl-river Owl-river Its-mounti Water-hot-stand Red-gulch' s-rier-oil Sage-brush-ridge Currant's-river Thunder-sitter (?) Piegan's-peak-river Crow's-heart (This bird: the popular shakie's eating a heart here is ab Willow-creek Water-buffalo's-ari Brush-river Sage-river : Warm-valley (? Big-river Canyon' s-river Little-river Woodchuck (or Rockc Grass-hole; (He)-sa Cottonwood-river Buck-antelope-seat * Buck-antelope-seat rl# Mountain-pass Mountain-sheep-ram- ? Hawk-rock-stand; Tc Sweet-river; Crysta Mountain-sheep-ram-p (Archaic Mountain-d mu' 5ambia, Mountaim Pines-sitting-mount Cottonwood-river ?- ?; Wood-river Red-lake Red-land Black-paint-river Rock-spring Big-woodchuck (rockkow Mountain-goat (?)-sitt "Root"-river Pine-river Gray-river; Red-river Beaver its-rock-house Good-land Small-peak Pine-river it s-mounta* Utes Their-mountain.' 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 32. 33. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 25 o,2 S3_' 54 1081 2 RIVER A MOUNTAIN PEAK ~~--- MOUNTAINS -- )(--* MOUNTAIN PASS l ) LOCALITY PLACE OUTSIDE MAP FOR KEY SEE TABLE SCALE IN MILES Map 4. Place names. DEMOGRAPHY The main demographic materials available for the Shoshone are on the population profile, reproductivity and epidemiology, total numbers, and blood admixtures. All of these data are quite orude--modern census and genealogical records, contemporary estimates--and naturally subject to a high degree of error. Study of the significance of such data and their changes in the Shoshone culture occupies another work;36 here, only the basic figures for 1842-1875 are. presented. The population profile has two main axes, age and sex. At the present time, the extreme age limit is about 90 years; two-thirds of the popula- tion, however, is less than 30, one-fourth, less than 10.37 Ailost certainly, the population in aboriginal times was at least as greatly skewed toward youthfulness. Although some authentic records of great age--Munhavey, Washakie 38__ do exist for these days, it must be held in mind that, of the average Shoshone woman's six full- term pregnancies, less than three lived to a marriageable age.39 Counteracting this,and making for a greater relative number of adults, was the great number of childless women: it may have been as high as 20 per cent. All of these, of course, were not truly childless; nome had short-lived infants forgotten by others. Yet this assumption cannot explain away the majority of instances. Probable factors for a low birth rate were the impotence of the man (pubescent girls were gen- erally given away to mature, established warriors), venereal diseases,40 and organic disorders occa- sioned by chronic malnutrition (calcium deficiency especially). 41 The most satisfactory data for establishing the proportion between men and-women is given by the census of 1874,42 taken at a time when both aboriginal economic conditions and war were still active. In all, 369 men, 422 women, and 250 children (certainly too low) were recorded. This would give a proportion of 87 men to 100 women. 36Shimkin, MS b. 37Shimkin, MS a. 38 Washakie was prominent by 1842, lived to 1900: a minimum span of 85 years; Munhavey was already mature at that time, yet took part in the Ghost Dance of 1890--indicating a life of 90 years or more. See Hamilton, 1905; Shimkin, MS.a. 39 Case records of informants; genealogies covering 337 persons. 40 Syphilis was noted by Lewis and Clark; gonorrhea is well known, mentioned in mythology. Neither is very prevalent at the present time, according to Dr. D. W. Gunn, the government physician. See also Thwaites, 2:373. 41 For instance, Humfreville, 1899:207, noted much goiter. 42 Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff. for 1874:270; for 1877-78:150. Reproductivity was fairly low. On the ave: each woman bore somewhat less than three chii who reached maturity. But occasional severe ics of smallpox, in 1781, around 1805, 1837, 1850, did great damage. According to Clark,' half of the Shoshone died in the last epidae Native informants give a similar picture. In tion, less noteworthy but equally disastrous demics of measles and whooping cough undoubti took their toll. In short, it seems probable the Shoshone population remained stable over long run, rising slowly at times, dropping a at others. The total population figures present some culties. Most of the sources counted assembi at rendezvous, when many other tribesmen weA ent. In addition, some counted by lodges or riors, not souls. My best estimate on the be all such materials is an average of 1500, Wh might reach 2000 or decline to 1000 at times We may assume that there was one warrior over 15) to every 4.2 persons; a household i 5 souls, or a few more,45 on the average, all in one account 153 persons had but 11 lodges Wislizenus47 counted "some thousands" ati rendezvous in 1839; these included many tribi Russel, including both Idaho and Wyomin shone, estimated them at 5000-6000, about ha them living in large villages and ranging e the buffalo. As these would be nearly equall divided among the Idaho (mixed Bannock and and Wind River contingents, we arrive at a f: of 1500 for the latter. The same author saw lage of 300 lodges (or 1500 people?), and mex another of the same size. In Cache Valley be 20 lodges (100 persons?) of Snakes. DeSmet49 at Green River, in 1841, saw "tI hundred of their warriors in a military para~ He also encouxtered a mixed village of Kalisq Snake, etc., near Livingstone, Montana, whio numbered 250 huts (or 1250 persons?). Hamilton50 mentioned three war parties of each in Washakie's village in 1842; this givi minimum of 105. Wilson5l figured that 6000 Indians (not i 43 Tyrell, 1916:327 ff.; Thwaites, 2:373; 1 ham, 1906:266, n. 156. 44 Clark, 1885:350. 45Based on the analysis of the household arrangements of 160 homes. See also Shimkin MS a, Appendix I. All the evidence points to famTly group of this size as a persistence a aboriginal conditions. 46Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff. for 1877-78:150. 47Wislizenus, 1912:88. 48 0. Russel, 1921:17, 113, 114-115, 144-1 49DeSmet, 1906:163, 392. 50Hamilton, 1905:71. 51Wilson, 1926:23, 69. [254] SHIMXIN: WIND RIVER SHOSHONE ETENOGEOGRAPHY ) were camped at Deer Lodge Valley Mon- en they scattered, only 25 tipis 125 remained wMth Washakie. the Mormon troubles Moorehead52 met rand 2000-3000 Indians. tr" relates that 300 Bannock and Sho- rriors (Wind River people) were defeated River in 1863; this yields 1300 in the ge. Pok54 described Washakie's band as num- prely 300 warriors (1300 souls?). arlier Reports of the Commissioner of gYairs included Idaho Shoshone in their But in 1878 that agent wrote 55 D) is the exact number belonging to '8 band of Shoshones, and is all'that 'J.aimed for it hereafter. Their number tofore been computed at 1,800, by includ- smll bands of Western Shoshones, who never really belonged at this agency. 8stimate of population is considerably Fi previous ones. Kroeber56 figures 2500. Nepancy is even greater if density is to consideration, as his Wind River area sq. km. against my 96,000 sq. km. Thus ,-persons per 100 sq. km., I have 1.5 i. to a person). This is no higher than 'e for the Great Basin arrived at by Yet, as we shall see, Wind River Sho- anomy was definitely much more Plains oau than Basin in type. (These data may 'ing upon theories of the relative effi- ,-of the two modes of life, and the impe- ato Plains culture by the horse.)57 izes of local groups among these people Ly be guessed, for figures are exces- ,r. Tawunasia's band was counted as 153 ey, 1907:607. pler, 1924. took, "Geological Report," in Jones, 1875 Comm. Ind. Aff. for 1877-78:150. ber, 1939, table 18; see also Steward, Stewart, 1939: 146-147. Kroeber, 1939:76-84, and references gouls; Russel met an isolated group of 23 Sheep Eaters, men, women,and children; others cited settlements of from 20-25 tipis. However, the four main groups into which the Shoshone broke annually probably numbered at least 200 persons each. Population admixture has long been operative among this people. White traders had their influ- ence from the beginning of the nineteenth cen- tury; the numerous one-eighth and seven-eighths bloods attest to that. Even more, there has always been much intermarriage with the Bannock, Ute, Flathead,and Crow (virtually none with Arap- aho until quite recently). Washakie was half Flathead; one of his wives was Crow; another, Ute. At the present time the composition of blood on the Shoshone reservation is approximately as follows: 43.3 per cent -full-blood Indian, 19.9 per cent one-half or more Indian blood, 36.8 per cent less than one-half Indian blood (many of the last not in residence on the reservation).58 The Indian admixture cutting across this is about 85 per cent Shoshone, 10 per cent Bannock (including Lemhi Shoshone), 5 per cent others (Navaho, Flat- head, Paiute, recent Comanche, Arapaho, Crow). A few are exotic, having Yakima, Klamath, Cherokee, and even Seminole-Wyandotte-white blood. Very close to this picture is Russel's descrip- tion for 1837.59 "On arriving at the village I found several French- men and half-breed trappers encamped with the Snakes. One Frenchman, having an Indian wife and child, invited me to pass the winter in his lodge, and as he had a small family and large lodge, I accepted the invitation and had my baggage arranged by his wife, who was a Flathead. "... The inmates of the next lodge were a half- breed Iowa, a Nez Perce wife and two children his wife's brother and another halfbreed; next lodge was a halfbreed Cree, his wife (a Nez Perce) two children and a Snake Indian. The inmates of {he third lodge was [sic] a halfbreed Snake, his wife (a Nez Perce) and two children. The remainder were fifteen lodges of Snake Indians." 58Census data: see Shimkin, MS a, Appendix I. 590. Russel, 1921:113, 114. 255 ENVIRONMENT The most significant aspects of the environ- ment from the viewpoint of a hunting, fishing, and gathering people like the Shoshone are the topography, physiography and soils, climates and biota. The first two serve to direct routes of travel by means of barriers and gateways; the others combine to determine the economic possi- bilities of any locality. In this section we shall describe the various aspects of geography and their relations to each other. The adaptation of the Shoshone themselves will be dealt with in later pages. The topography of western Wyoming60 is best characterized as a series of basins: the Big Horn, Wind River, Red Desert, Green River, Jack- son Hole, and Yellowstone. All of these, except the Red Desert Basin, are broken through by a river. This does not aid exit and ingress, for the channel at this point is always a deep can- yon, but prevents the formation of extensive lakes and marshes (Yellowstone Lake is but a remnant of an ancient glacier; the only marshes are found in the Red Desert area). The Sweet- water River alone forms a clear way across this country to the east, a way whose importance was evident in the routing of the pioneer Califomia and Oregon trails. The boundaries of the basins are barriers of varying difficulty. Those of the Red Desert are insignificant swells. The Owl Creek and Bridger mountains and the Bear River Divide have scarcely more importance. The others increase sharply in difficulty. All except the Absarokas-Sierra Sho- shone are anticlines of the Rocky Mountain sys- tem which rise, on the whole, to the peneplain level of 10,500 feet. Monadnocks of considerable size, particularly in the Wind River, Teton, and Big Horn mountains, rise above the peneplain to nearly 14,000 feet. Two processes, glaciation and faulting, have modified conditions locally. In general, the first process has greatly increased barriers by sharpening the slopes, leaving inter- mediate obstacles (lateral and terminal moraines), as well as some residual glaciers and many lakes. The second has caused sharp breaks on the fault- lines, with resultant precipices on one side, gradual slopes on the other. This phenomenon has, for instance, made the climb out of Wind River Valley to the northwest gentle; but, on the other hand, cut off the northern limit of Green River Valley by a steep wall. The Absarokas form the most difficult barrier in western Wyoming. They 60Topographic maps (scale, 1:125,000) have been drawn for about a quarter of western Wyoming; these are based on spirit-leveling, as no accurate surveys exist as yet. For the list of maps and the base data see Marshall, 1914:7. The U. S. Forest Service map of Washakie National Forest, 1926, and the U. S. Bureau of Biological Survey map of Wyoming (scale, 1:500,000) are also useful. Other maps are secondary and often highly inaccurate. consist of lava and volcanic breccia piled O of the Rocky Mountains. Glaciation has weati them into an Alpine country of fantastic sha great grandeur, and equally great inaccessibi Fortunately, gaps exist in most of ther The Big Horn Mountains break at the head of Canyon; the Wind River Range is passable at W Pass, and separated from its northern neighboi Togwotee Pass. The northern fork of the Sho River leads across the Absarokas. Teton Pass vides the Tetons from the Snake Range. The drainage within the basins is largelyi ture, consisting of relatively straight, preo itous streams with shallow channels. They be mountain parks as lakes. By and large they serious barriers, except where they have cut through lower ranges to form canyons (like the Horn and Snake rivers) although their speed i makes them dangerous. Intermittent streams ei mainly in the poorly watered area to the east, partial exception to this picture of immaturit formed by the Green River and its lower tribut which are meandering streams, considerably old than the others. Elevations within the basins are unimportan They are either rolling hills or, where eroded the wind, local abrupt bluffs and buttes. The physiography and soils parallel topogra This entire area falls into three major region the Central Rocky Mountains, the Wyoming Basin and the northermost tips of the Southern Rocky Mountains. The first region is further subdivi the Uintah Mountains are an anticline running west with the fault lying on the northern edge Their core is pre-Cambrian quartzite, overlaid the southern slopes especially) by later sedi tion. The Wyoming, Salt, and related ranges ar series of sedimentary ridges running north-sout created by extensive lateral shocks from the M The intervening valleys mark the fault-liies ofi the weakest rocks. The Wind River, Gros Ventre, and Big Horn say are elevations created in the fundamental orop etic processes of the Rockies. They all consist* granite or crystalline cores overlaid by ancient sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The direction of -the Owl Creek Mountains-Big Horn rise has cau it to be linked by some with the Southern Rocky Mountains System. The Teton Range is similar in structure to these mountains, but is asymmetrica with its fault on the east. The Absaroka-Shoshone Mountains consist of de layers of volcanic breccia on top of the Rocky Mountains uplift- (which reappears in the north the Beartooth Range). Yellowstone Basin is a str tural syncline almost filled by lava (which is8 feet deep in places). 61The analysis follows Schmieder, 1933:242-24 and Loomis, 1937:227-240, Fenneman map in rear. [256] D rairc9ge Divides 3cc&le .1?111) m c cr Lr) --9. (r) m Qb (E 9 elevao.-on in f ee a long 109oQ30'A! Qlonr 43 N. 0 a., PROFI LE5. Map 5. Profiles. *YELLOWSTONE ::: BAMSIN *0@* l r W \\\\\\\\ ( g X | UNDARY OF WOMING AI SIERRA\\\<\< | CREEN R BSIN ABSUNARYOFA LAVA G AS s 0\\ DIVISION OF\\L G R EY LOESS }SOILS GREEN RVOC NOSI SCAWNLEOINMILS slo EIE GREY LOESS SOILS______________ / ~ ~~~ 0 EC0N-T VOLCANOE Map 6. Physiography and soils. COLD DESERT RIVER VALLEY DESERT COLD DESERT STEPPE VALLEY _~~ AFTER THORNTHWAITE - * ~ - AAFTER ERJ aELL P L P SCALE IN WE& O oo 20 30 40 S0 FORt CONCODAWXE 3EE R 2EO Map 7. Climates. YELLOWSTONE PARK I, I i 4" 4" I, ANlTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS The Wyoming Basin is a structural basin orig- inating at the time of the Post-Cretaceous Lara- mide Revolution (cf. the Wyoming Range). Later it was repeatedly filled and refolded. In its western portion it has been largely excavated and leveled by the Green River. In the east, the low precipitation and interior drainage of the Red Desert have preserved a more primitive con- dition. Between the two are the Leucite Hills, which are young volcanoes. The Southern Rocky Mountains are unimportant in this area. True soils do not exist in most of western Wyoming, as the land is too rough and mountain- ous.62 They occur only in the western part of Green River Valley, the Sweetwater and Wind River valleys, the Big Horn Basin, and south of the Red Desert. Except for the Big Horn Basin east of the Big Horn River, these soils are chiefly brown loams. They are surface soils grad- ing at a depth of from one to two feet into a whitish calcareous horizon. (The profile is de- veloped in a temperate to cool, semiarid climate, under short grasses, bunch grasses, and shrubs and on unconsolidated sands, silts,and clays1 The exceptional instance is made up of gray and grayish-brown soil of variable texture, closely underlain by calcareous material. (It develops in an arid climate under short-grass and desert plants, and on loess and alluvial fan material.) The classification of climates presents some difficulties. Representation of all of the fac- tors involved would necessitate numerous, con- fusing mappings. To avoid this, climatologists have attempted to combine these factors into indices of biological importance. The most widely used of these, the K-oppen classification, groups climates according to mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, and "precipitation regime" (several maxima and minima of precipita- tion). The precise definitions (as used by Rus- sell)63 for the pertinent groups in Wyoming are as follows: "Dry Climate (B): centimeters of precipita- tion = mean annual temperature, CO, +22 (wet winters) to 44 (wet summers), but a classifica- tion recognizing nine types of effective precip- itation regimes based on consideration of two out of three months of opposite seasons precedes the application of climatic definitions. Desert (W); classification as for B, but pre- cipitation values, in centimeters - mean annual temperature, CO, +11 (wet winters) to 22 (wet summers). Steppe (S), dry climates more humid than des- ert, as just defined. Cold type (K), with mean January temperature below 320 F. Taiga is cold and wet." 62Baker, 1937:16-18. 63R. J. Russell, 1931:esp. 41. An important modification of the Ksppen s3 has been developed by Thornthwaite.64 He has tempted to compute the "temperature efficienc that is, the relation between temperature an8 cipitation utilizable by plants. His formula rather complicated, so that only the pertinsi provinces and their normal correlates will b given here. C l imat e F loral climax Climate ~~(see beliow) Taiga (DD) .......... Picea-Abies forma- Musi tion (Spruce- alpine fir) Cold Steppe (DC d).. Atriplex-Artemisia (Salt bush- Cold Desert (EC'd).. Sagebrush) al Cold Subhumid (CC d). Stipa-Bouteloua Bla (Feather grass- Grama grass) Russell's and Thornthwaite's maps for Wyoi coincide in large degree. Both recognize thre visions: a cold, wet taiga; a cold steppe, de cient in moisture at all seasons; and a cold deficient in moisutre at all seasons. Their t and Big Horn Basin desert areas coincide clos Russell is guided somewhat more by drainage-b divides, Thornthwaite by altitude. But Russel ognizes a second taiga region in the Big Horn tains, which Thornthwaite does not, while him insisting upon a cold desert in the Red Deser area, a subhumid region west of the Bear Rive vide. A concrete picture of the actual weather i three major zones of western Wyoming is yield hythergraphs (temperature-precipitation chart for three stations: Moran (in the taiga) Riu (in the steppe), Basin (in the desert). (Sae 1.) From them we see that all three have two of precipitation, although at Moran they coWe March and May; in the others, in May and Octo Moran is consistently wetter and colder than- other two, which differ between themselves ch in the heavy rainfall received by Riverton ig Even the hythergraphs do not give a compJl presentation of all the factors important to] and animal. The means are far from the minima maxima, which are -660 F in Yellowstone Natio: Park65 and above 1000 F in the Big Horn Basit do they show the yearly fluctuation. In Fortl 64Thornthwaite, 1931. 65At Riverside Ranger Station, February 9, The average depth of unmelted snow on the grc in the elevated regions of Wyoming by the en March is 38 inches, with a maximum of 122 inc See "Climatological Data,i" Wyoming Section, 4 and 45:13 (U. S. Department of Agriculture We Bureau, Washington,) 1933 and 1936. 260 rs<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- C / ~~~~~~~c~~~~~~~~~~~N ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~c Co I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~c / I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~t I I~~~~~~~~~~~~Al 4 '-4~~~~~~~ 00 ~~~~~~~~I A - P4, -4.- . ,/U i/ 5aaldoI6/ 1/ "OawyOkd( UdM I Jk ANTEROPOLOGICAL RECORDS (somewhat east of the area under consideration),66 the rain in June has varied from 0.0 to 4.8 inches. In addition, such factors as wind (attain- ing 75 miles per hour on the plains), sunshine, humidity, and evaporation play their roles. Fi- nally, even the nature of precipitation is highly important. Snow protects growing plants from bit- ter cold, but cannot be directly utilized until it is melted. Showers of less than 0.15 inches actually decrease the moisture of porous soils, in cases of low humidity, by increasing capil- larity. Cloudbursts on barren, desert land are not as helpful as their precipitation would indi- cate because of the heavy run-off, and do actual damage by washing away precious soil. All these factors sharpen the contrast between taiga, steppe, and desert. The floral and faunal areas of Wyoming have been intensively studied by Merritt Cary.67 The divisions which he has set up are those of Merriam, and are based fundamentally upon the type plants and animals associated with the cumu- lative or effective heat of a given area (cf. Thornthwaite's climatic provinces). Those which he finds in western Wyoming are, in order of in- creasing altitude, the following (Shelford's approximate synonyms follow in brackets):68 Upper Sonoran-Great Basin Division (Semidesert: mixed grass and sagebrush); Transitional (Steppe: grasses in oren sod, chaparral, mountain mahog any); Canadian (Rocky Mountains Montane Forest: Western yellow pine, Douglas fir, etc.); Hud- sonian (Rocky Mountains Forest: Engelmann's spruce and alpine fir); and Arctic-Alpine (Tundra and Alpine Summits: lichens, herbs, grasses, etc.). An important subclassification runs across these, the "association" or specific physiography, for example, meadow, rock slope, etc. 69 The characterizations of these zones and their principal associations are briefly as follows: 1. U p per Sonoran zone (up to 5000 feet, roughly). Mammals: antelope, buffalo (formerly), Great Plains muskrat, Wyoming kangaroo rat, black-tailed jack rabbit, Bailey cottontail, plains coyote, kit fox, raccoon, badger, Great Basin spotted skunk, black-footed ferret, north- ern plains mole; various species of chipmunks, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, mice, gophers, bats. Birds: great blue heron, Virginia rail, mourning ove, burrowing owls, western mocking- bird, etc. Snakes: prairie bull snake, plains rattlesnake, etc. Plants: (a) stream association-- 66Given in the excellent discussion by Visher, 1925:esp. 75. 67 Cary, 1917. 68 Shelford, 1926:75-76. 69Two detailed studies of assocfations have been made in this general region, one from the viewpoint of botany, the other from that of zoology. See Hanna, 1934, and Davis, 1939:esp. 21-63. broad-leafed cottonwood.willow, skunkb sh flo ering currant, buffalo berry, etc.; (b) aik 4i flat association--greasewood and glasswort; o sandy and adobe plains association--saltbush Eriogonum, cactus (Opuntia), wheat grass, gia rye grass rabbit brush, greasewood, yucca; '(d ridges, slopes, and canyons--juniper, p1Ofp mountain mahogany, shadscale, syringa, cacti, skunkbush. 2. Transitional zone (5000-7500 feet, rough Mammals: plains white-tailed deer, Black Hills red squirrel, Wyoming and Uintah ground squirr white-tailed prairie dog, bushy-tailed wood ral Uintah pocket mouse, prairie jumping mouse, wbi tailed jack rabbit, Black Hills cottontail, no] ern plains skunk, long-legged bat; various micl pocket gophers, etc. Birds: sage hen, sharp-gh. hawk, saw-whet owl, magpie, pi2on jay, mountain song sparrow, Rocky Mountain and pygmy nuthat?l willow thrush, etc. Reptiles: western garter Si a toad, and a frog. PIants: (a) foothill and ol plains association--R`-ky Mountain and creepini junipers, Bebb-willow, barberry, wild red cur't mountain and large-toothed maples; various berl sagebrushes, rabbit brushes; many herbaceous p (b) stream association--narrow-leaved cottonwo( diamond willow; shrubbery of birch, haws, corn4 wild gooseberry, currant, serviceberry, silverl 3. Canadian zone (7500-9500 feet, approxiain Mammals: elk, Shiras moose, Fremont Spruce squi Rocky Mountain flying squirrel, beaver, yellow. haired porcupine, snowshoe rabbit? mountain lic Canada lynx, mountain red fox, Arizona weasel, Rocky Mountain marten, otter, wolverine, black grizzly bear; various chipmunks, ground squirre marmots (rockchucks), shrews, and bats. Birds: pelican, Canada goose, grouse, various sapsuoke blackheaded jay, Rocky Mountain jay, water ouze ern winter wren, mountain chickadee, etc. P (a) upper-hill association--Douglas fir, loge1 pine,fngelmaim's spruce; (b) lower-hill assoc (in addition)--birch, aspen, willow, various ou rants, buffalo berry, blueberry, elderberry, et (c) wet-meadow association--willows and grassee shrubby cinquefoil, larkspur, lupine, geranium, iris, etc.; (d) dry-meadow as,ociation--sagebrA Frasera, Balsamorrhiza. 4. Hudsonian zone (peripheral to the Canadia 9500-10 500 feet roughly). Mammals: mountain sheep, timberline chipmunk, several marmots, th pika or coney (also visitors from the Canadian zone). Birds (most species also in the Canadian zone): alpine three-toed woodpecker, Rocky Moun pine grosbeak, Rocky Mountain creeper, etc. Ple (a) deep-soiled association--white-barked pine, Engelmann's spruce, alpine fir low juniper, g leafed willow, red raspberry; (b) shallow-soile ciation--spring beauty, alpine bitterroot, colu larkspur, buttercup, anemone, phlox, painted ct 5. Arctic-Alpine zone (above 10,500 feet). Mammals: only visitors from lower zones. B white-tailed ptarmigan, brown-capped rosy finch black rosy finch, titlark, desert horned lark. Plants: (a) wet gulches and basins--thickets of willow, shrubby cinquefoil; (b) rocky slopes an ridges--mountain heath and alpine avens; (c) sl rock--spring red currant and dwarfed raspberry; (d) high slopes (annuals)--buttercups, alpine meadow rue, locoweed, alpine forget-me-not, gol rod, fleabane, alpine yarrow, alpine bluegrass, sedges, etc. 262 * * * 0 * * * * * * 0 0 0 0 I* 0 * 0 * * 0 * * 0 * * 0 * .t . 0 * * * 0 0 0. * * P 0 0 0 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 0 * * . 0 * 0 0 * * * * * * * t. .~~~~ . * *. * * * * * * * * ~~~* . * t t * * * * * * * * * . 0 * * * * * * * * 0 * * 0 * 0 * 0 0 0 * * 0 0 0 * * 0 * * * 0 0 0 * * * * * * * * * 0 * * * * 0 0 * * * * * 0 * A 0 0 0 *- * S * .* .. t h@-@ S *0 S * t. .r * i; * 0 * 0 * * * 0 0 * 0 * * 0 0 * 0 * * * 0 * * 0 * 0 * 0 * * ** 0 * 0 0 0 * 0 * * 0 0 p * * * * 0 * 0 0 S * * * * * * * 0 * * * 0 * * * * * * * * * 0 * . 0 * 0 * * 0 * * * * 0 * * 0 * * S 0 * 0 * L2$j WUPPER SONORAN ZONE pIZ~ *|-TRANSITION ZONE 1 CANADIAN ZONE - IHUDSONIAN ZONE ARCTIC-ALPINE ZONE SCALE IN MILES O lb 2o do 40 3O Map 8. Life zones (after Cary). -3 ANTEIROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Geor hcalconcordanices. --Comparison of the distributions of topography, physiography and soils, climates,and biota in the pages above reveals a number of concordances which seem to delimit natural areas: (a) The Central Rocky Mountains Area. It con- sists of the Yellowstone Basin, the Absaroka Mountains, the Tetons, the Wind River Mountains, the Wyoming Range, and intervening areas. It is unifonaly over 7500 feet, belongs to the Rocky Mountains physiographic area, and is heavily glaciated. It has no true soils. It has a taiga climate, Canadian, Hudsonian, and Arctic-Alpine wildlife. (b) The West-Central Big Horn Basin. This is all less than 5000 feet in elevation, is a strui tural syncline of the Rocky Mountains System an has brcwn loam soils. The climate is that of a cold desert; the biota belong to the Upper Sono zone. (c) The Upper Green River-Sweetwater valley These are between 5000 and 7500 feet high. TX belong to the Wyoming Basin, and have brown 1 soils. They have a cold steppe climate, a Tri tional flora and fauna. The other districts, such as the Big Horn Mountains, Wind River Valley, and the Red De, present a much more complex picture. 264 ADAPTATION: MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD economy of the Wind River Shoshone was upon four pursuits: hunting and fishing, gathering, trade, and mineral exploitation. animals, birds, and fish utilized may be d into three categories according to rela- iportance (a function of the numbers of imal, its size and its market value in Staples were the bison, fish (especially 7elk, beaver, and mule deer. Major but Dnal supplies were the antelope, jack rab- Duntain sheep, marmot (woodchuck, rock- and sage hen. Accessories were the la deer, moose, bear, duck, goose, cotton- badger, snowshoe rabbit, ground squirrel, Dd rat. The bobcat or lynx, mink, otter, sel had value as fur, but were not eaten. 1ersons (in the Green River country partic- rate lampreys, ants, locusts, crickets, Ls. bison was easily most vital, numbering ,000 on the Plains; and a bull weighed 1800 a cow 1200.70 At best, the animal and its Ls yielded virtually a complete existence. rk elaborates :71 . Of the skin they [the Plains Indians] )bes, lodges, lariats, ropes, trunks or che sacks, saddles, saddle-covers, saddle- t8, whips, quivers, knife-scabbards, cra- ihirts, decorations for saddles, beds i, boots, a kind of sled for hauling {he rer the snow, and from the thick part of in of the neck a glue is made by boiling unming. ?es and lariats are made from the scalp- )r long tuft on the forehead, and pillows ae hair. From the horns, spoons, cups, I-powder-horns, arrow-heads, bows by split- le longer horns, and the tips are fastened Lder poles which are used in certain games. m the fascia (thin tendonous covering mpports the muscles, and called by the eters sinew), found under the shoulder- the abdominal fascia, the two strips on Ae over the hump, and the strip on each the back, they made thread, bow-strings, , softening robes by rubbing, fasten !-guides to arrows, and stiffen and make Ire elastic by placing on back. From the igament of the upper portion of the nape neck is made a pipe. An instrument used aghten arrows is fashioned from the center *the hump by cutting a hole in it, and me of the smaller kones, arrow-heads are nd an instrument for 'flushing', or scrap- >meat from hides. From shoulder-blades, gives, arrow-points, instruments for dress- Os and smoothing down porcupine-work. I.trachea is used as a sack for paints, etc. ,g papillae of the tongue for hair-brushes. i1n, liver, and fat for tanning skins. In- tts for shaping bows and small dog-sleds bton, 3:652 and elsewhere. lark, 1885:84-86. from ribs. From the paunch, water-pipes or sacks, in which meat and blood are sometimes cooked by boiling with heated stones, the latter being dropped into the sacks. "From the thigh-bones, traps similar to our deadfalls. From the tail, knife-scabbards, handles to war-clubs, and medicine-rattles. The udder, dried, becomes stiff and hard, and is used for dishes, tobacco-bags, medicine-rattles, etc. The pericardium for sacks. The gall is sometimes used as a drink, and produces intoxication; there is also sometimes found in the gall a hard yellow substance, and this is highly valued as a paint for the face. "The amniotic fluid, in which the foetus floats, is used by them to quench thirst when water cannot be obtained, and is also generally used to cook or boil the foetus in, the latter being specially prized as a dainty and delicate morsel of food. The marrow is eaten both raw and cooked, being roasted in the larger bones by laying them on the coals. "The teeth are used for necklaces, and are also used in medicine-rattles. "They consider the contents of the paunch an excellent remedy for skin-diseases, and in case of frost-bite, if the afflicted member is thrust into the paunch of a freshly-killed buffalo, relief ob- tains without evil after-effects. A very little buffalo-fat is sometimes mixed with the tobacco and red-willow bark for smoking. The liver is often eaten raw and while still warm with animal heat, the gall-juice being sprinkled over it as a sauce. The kidneys are eaten both raw and cooked. The meat, fat, and most of the intestines are staple articles of food, and are kept for months by simply being dried in the sun; the hump is considered par- ticularly fine for drying. The contents of the paunch furnish food for ponies, and the liquid in the same, cleared by the gall, is prized for drink- ing as cool and tasteless; i.e. devoid of any un- pleasant taste. "The'buffalo-chips' are used for fuel, and be- fore the days of flint and steel and matches, were particularly good when dry for making a fire by the friction of wood. These 'chips', pounded fine and kept dry, are used to keep the small children warm, they being partially buried in the powdered material. The value of these chips can scarcely be appreciated by those who have not suffered for the want of fuel on our treeless prairies. "The tanned buffalo skin without the hair fur- nishes the best material for tepees." When to this lengthy list is added the fact that the Wind River Shoshone annually killed enough bison to sell at least 2000 skins 72 their economic wor- ries seem (at first sight) io have all been solved. Unfortunately, a series of important limiting circumstances prevented full utilization of this re- source. These revolved around three factors: the mi- gratory habits and gregariousness of the buffalo, the food requirements and carrying capacity of the horse, and the military potency needed with constant warfare. 72Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff. for 1884:183; for 1885:211 (extrapolated). [265] ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Two main herds of bison wandered in reach of the Shoshoqe.73 One wintered between the Missouri and Red rivers in North Dakota and Minnesota, the other on the upper Saskatchewan River in Canada. In the spring the animal went in enormous, close- packed droves west and south, respectively, to feed on the luscious plains of the Yellowstone, Powder, and adjacent rivers. By summer, the large herds had split up into small groups that spread widely over plains and mountains, reaching even such inaccessible spots as Jackson Hole.74 As fall came, however, the animals reunited for their return journeys. These migrations consequently restri-cted ef- fective, large-scale hunting of the buffalo to a short period in the spring, a longer one in the fall. At other times the beasts were too scat- tered pr tpp far in enemy territory for major ex- ploitation. These habits, combined with the buffalo's wariness and keen hearing, made hunting necessarily collective, organized. It was a case of sudden mass slaughter or virtually none at all. Once the animals were scared--even by a single careless individual--they would flee long distances, possibly completely out of the tribe's range. In assembling people for large hunts, and in following the migrations of the bison, the horse was a considerable asset. Yet it was also a major liability: it had to have fodder. This fact made long stays in any one locality impos- sible, as may be seen from a few simple calcula- tions. The Wind River Shoshone had about two horses per person7 --3000 horses to 1500 people. The virgin range capacity of the Wyoming plains was abou-t 3 acres per cow (or horse) per month76 (say, twice that in spring; half, in the winter). In a.radius of two miles from e.amp (about the limit because of the danger of theft, raids, etc.), 2700 cow/months of fodder were availab16. These would have been appreciably cut down (25 per cent seems a low estimate) by the grazing and trampling of tens of thousands of buffalo. There- fore, six weeks in the spring, three weeks in the winter would have been the absolute limit of a stay for 1500 people. Two processes were set in motion by the fact above. First, a strong motive was created toward breaking up the camp into smaller units in the fall and winter. This was checked by the mili- tary weakness of a small party and the smaller area in which it could guard its horses. (Small parties of Shoshone, 25-50 people, did at times wander by themselves on the Plains for two years 73 Seton, 3:652; Rep. Secy. War (41st Cong., 2nd Sess.), Washington, 1870:64. 74Fryxell, 1928. 7 5Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff. for 1872:101, 407 (1037 persons; 1800 horses); for 1874:52 (1800 persons); for 1874-75:133 (3300 horses); for 1876-77:208, 304 (1800 people, 3800 horses). 76 McArdle, 1936:96. or more in a stretch.) Secondly, nomadi inescapable. Once travel started most of the meat left behind, wasted since the Shoshone d use underground caches of the eastern P This is clear: an average family of 5 ha Of these, at least one would be a colt, wise incapacitated; one, the precious b reserved exclusively for buffalo hunting, racing. Three animals would be needed mi saddle purposes; three others, to drag t carry the household goods. This would lej than two animals that could carry meat TheirT capacity would scarcely exceed 400 for Indian ponies were small. Half of th needed for packing skins for trade. Two pounds of meat--and this is a maximal es would scarcely last 5 persons more than In addition, warfare took its toll. the herds was often endangered, sometime Attacks frequently caused flight and pre abandonment of supplies. Raids meant los fear of raids restricted grazing range, b large encampments the safest. Lastly, cr white traders could be obtained only by many skins. In that way the Shoshone coul guns for warfare (the bow and lance were efficient against the bison). In all, the efficiency of bison econ almost incredibly low. With all their s the Shoshone could scarcely have lived ml six months a year on bison meat. Figuring age weight per bison of 1500 pounds, and ber slaughtered at 2000, we can see that available 3,000,000 pounds gross weight, bly 2,500,000 pounds net weight. More th good kills a year were improbable: if lSI could stay at the site of these kills 42 twice and 21 days twice, gorging on six p meat a day, then could carry away an ave 40 pounds per person, for 20 days' ration time, an absolutely maximal efficiency of" cent and subsistence for 200 days would 1 The norm was unquestionably less than ha: And it is hard to see how, with their ava technical means, they could have increase eff iciency of their economy. More horsesi have meant closer pursuit of the buffalo, defense in war, greater carrying capacity' also less fodder per head, consequently, quent moving; temptation to horse raiders. 77How much such caches might add to the food supply is open to doubt, for return t spot would often be infeasible in wintertim and the caches might be robbed by beasts ot or their locations forgotten. Only semisedi people could use caches effectively. 78The concentrated reserve ration, at le efficient as pemmican, used by modern armie weighs three pounds; the normal field ratic five. Thus my estimate of dietary requireme absolutely minimal. 266 )t o:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~st C ~~~~~~~~!b SHOSHONE HABITATION FOCUS RADATiION TO tESOURCES -BOUNDARY OF NATURAL AREAS * / bxis 5 > COMFRE MAPS I & 2 SCALE IN MILES 6 10 20 30 4'0 50 Map 9. Utilization of natural areas. ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS horses would have meant longer stays, but poorer defense, less close pursuit of the buffalo, smaller carrying capacity. Wheeled vehicles would have been an incredible boon. An account of endless slaughter merely for skins and tongues is much closer to the norm than Clark's effusion. The principal food fishes of western Wyoming are cutthroat trout, mountain grayling, and Rocky Mountains whitefish. 79 They are largely residents of cold mountain streams. Unfortunately, no quan- titative data exist concerning them. Fish played, and continue to play, an impor- tant role in Wind River economy. Methods of tak- ing fish were relatively efficient: weirs, dams, and fishtraps were the major devices. The fish were dried or smoked on a large scale. However, no private ownership of good fishing places existed, and dam* and weirs were not maintained from year to yea . Furthermore, the lack of boats other than the bullboat in historic times pre- vented exploitation of such rich lakes as Yellow- stone Lake. In general, fish were taken principally in the spring, when the stores of bison meat were run- ning low. At other times, they were regarded as an auxiliary food, eaten when other supplies were lacking. In such instances less efficient tech- niques came into play, such as fishing through a hole in the ice, angling, spearing, etc. The yield then could not have been very great. Elk are animals of limited migratory habits. Their range--from the high mountains in summer to the low valleys in winter--varies considerably with climatic conditions. A severe winter of deep snow may bring many thousands into a restricted valley, while a mild one might leave them scat- tered throughout the higher valleys and slopes. They are, furthermore, gregarious, although not to the same degree as the bison. Their original numbers are a little difficult to estimate. In 191280 the authorities estimated that 50,000 elk lived in the vicinity of Yellowstone Park. Con- sequently, 150,000 does not seem excessive as an original figure for all of western Wyoming. (It, however, scarcely could have exceeded this very greatly, because of the competition of beavers and elk in food, and the early great number of beavers. ) 81 Elk hunting seems to have been an important auxiliary to Shoshone economy at all seasons of the year. It involved merely tracking and shoot- ing by a single man; snowshoes aided in overtak- ing herds in the deep winter snows. Inasmuch as the elk weighs about 600 pounds and bands together in groups of from 3 to 75 animals, it must be hunted continuously. No reserve to be transported or cached, especially for any sizeable number of 799Evermann, 1892; Locke, 1929. 80Balley, 1930:43 and elsewhere. 81Bailey, 1930:114. people, can be built up: the smaller the huntiu group, the better. Consequently, elk hunting wa most common in the winter and summer when the S shone had divided into minimal groups. Seemingly, the elk could be used as a substi tute for all the functions of the buffalo (makit allowance, of course, for his smaller weight ax thinner skin). Thus, in the 1880's, elk hides! replaced the vanishing buffalo hides as a marke} able product.82 Also, because of the greater sto ness of supply, use could be fuller, less waste than in the case of the bison. In all, the elk exceeded only by bison and fish in its contril to Shoshone life. The mule deer and the Virginia deer83 reseb the elk in the use made of them by the Shoshone Their smaller size, fewer numbers, and greater wariness made them much less important, howeve Mule deer were most common in the Bear River a try, and seem to have been hunted most there. As a sedentary, sizeable (often over 50 pO and well-nourished animal, the beaver furnishe important food and fur supply for isolated, groups.8' Originally, he could not be killed o will, but the introduction of steel traps and axes made his defenses of water, mud house, an quite vain. The value of his fur was so great trappers, both white and Shoshone, virtually d mated the beast in the 1830's. Thereafter, the ver declined in significance. Use of the antelope, jack rabbit, mountain marmot, sage hen, and waxwings85 was character by irregular peaks and long periods of nonocc All of these are gregarious and somewhat migra none are large enough or numerous enough to al any considerable reserve to be built up from a slaughter. Thus the antelope could be caught e tively only in surrounds, as it was too fast e for horses. But a single killing would cut d population for years. The jack rabbit waxed waned in numbers, increasing a dozen-fold one over the other. This undependability, plus the ficulty of preserving rabbit meat, made the an only casually valuable. Mountain sheep necessi arduous and dangerous climbs in summer; in wiD however, snowshoed hunters could trap them in, deep snow (this was the Sheep Eater specialty) Marmots were a prized tidbit in the sumirr anr early fall. Hibernation in inaccessible rock ters made year-round use impossible. Finally,, value of the sage hen and waxwings came about, through the ease with which these birds could killed, either by sticks or bird-arrows; they. served for occasional feasts, particularly in ter. 82Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff. for 1884:183. 83Bailey, 1930:16 ft., 1918:26 ff.; Stewa 1938:33-41; Davis, 1939. 84Bailey, 1930:11-115. 85Davis, 1939; Bailey, 1930:188 ff. 268 S1INKIN: WIND RIV SHOSHONE ETENOGEOGRAPHY casiial use of the other animals may read- explained on the basis of danger (bears), ;y and inaccessibility (moose), small size 3k of detailed knowledge by the Shoshone habits of different species and even races isquirrels, wood rats, etc.). Two excep- xist, ducks and geese. Here the reason was 1. Although their flyways cross western C, the major breeding groundc of these in the Bear River marshes,86 are somewhat r'Wind River territory. Secondly, bird- Xwere simply futile against high-flying ud geese; shotguns were not, so far as I [E common use. iuseful plants of the Wind River Shoshone -grouped as foods, manufacturing materials Licines.87 In the first category four sub- gis existed, depending upon the use of the brry, pistil and leaf, or seeds. The first ond were gathered by individual women, or 1 of them, in the late suimmer and fall. )ots, camass, and wild onions, especially, ig with digging sticks; and women picked lb, rose berries, hawthorns, and goose- s. The returns were dried and boiled in )r mixed with pemmican. Greens, in the if pistils and leaves, came as welcome eChanges from a monotonous winter diet. The ;content of honey plants, gilia, cinque- md others was highly prized by children, al. Thistles and some kinds of sunflowers as the only sources of seeds. Even they thered amateurishly. The gathering baskets Basin were lunknown; ordinary sticks were ient beaters. In all, while plants bal- iet, they were quantitatively of no great 'ials for manufacture included such plants an hemp for rope, prickly pear for glue, or weaving baskets, etc. In addition, all f larger trees and bushes were used for Id and lodge construction. Here, especially ier times, an abundance of easily broken B was much appreciated, for the women, or axes, or none at all, could not cope rger timber. A limitation in regard to the ttimber that could be easily cut down or L$left useless most of the larger trees. ,rning medicinal plants, my identifica- re poorest. Sagebrush infusions relieved rye grass scraped trachon:atous eyes. Tragu- Od a treasured fragrance. But I have no the nature of many pain killers, perfumes, tplants, etc. establishment of regular rendezvous and ft exploitation by trappers in western after 1825 quickly modified the habits of neighboring tribes. Previously, white oods could be obtained only by long and lus trips to the Mandan villages or the incoln, 1935. table 2. Comanche country.88 Those they could get, served only to whet appetites. Now, with easy accessi- bility and large volume possible, an active trade arose, changing much of the aboriginal economy, as an excess of buffalo, deer, and beaver skins had to be gathered every year to achieve credits in buying guns and ammunition, cloth, flour, cof- fee, etc. The historical accounts speak for themselves. Pattie, in 1826, met a company of Shoshone in Arizona.89 "They were warmly clad with buffalo robes, and they had muskets... they had recently destroyed a company of French hunters on the headwaters of the Platte., . We took from them all the beaver skins which they had taken from the slain French, and five of their mules...n In 1832 Wyeth wrote, 90 "We were surprised to find the Indians in the vicinity, of the mountains and all around Pierre's Valley, and the Blackfoot tribe, and the Shoshones, or Snake-tribe so well provided with muskets, powder and bali, woollen cloth, and many other ar- ticles, until we were informed that Mr. MacKenzie, an established and wealthy Indian trader, had long supplied them with every article they desired." Farnham gives a less rosy picture.91 "Beaver, otter, bear and buffalo skins, and horses are exchanged by them with the Arrapahoes, and the Americans, and British traders, for some few articles of wearing apparel; such as woollen blankets and hats. But as their stock of skins is always very limited, they find it necessary to husband it with much care, to obtain therewith a supply of tobacco, arms and ammunition." Wislizenus' long account deserves full quota- tion because of its liveliness and the wealth of incidental facts brought in concerning customs, attitudes, and games.92 "From the agents we learned that this year's [1839] meeting place had been fixed on the right bank of the Green River at the angle formed by its junction with Horse Creek... It was the Fourth of July... The next morning we started early, and reached toward noon the Green River, so long de- sired... "We reached the camping place. What first struck our eye was several long rows of Indian tents (lodges), eztending along the Green River for at least a mile. Indians and white were mingled here in varied groups. Of the Indians there had come chiefly Snakes, Flatheads and Nezperces, peaceful tribes, living beyond the Rocky Mountains... "A pint of meal, for instance, costs from half a dollar to a dollar; a pint of coffee-beans, cocoa beans or sugar, two dollars each; a pint of dilute alcohol (the only spirituous liquar to be 88See Shimkin, 1941a; MS a. 89Pattie, 1905. 90Wyeth, 1905:83. 91 Farnham, 1906:261. 92Wislizenus, 1912:84, 86-88. 269 ANTBROPOLOGICAL RECORDS had), four dollars; a piece of chewing tobacco of the commonest sort, which is usually smoked, Indian fashion, mixed with herbs one to two dol- lars. Guns and ammunition bear {raps, blankets, kerchiefs and gaudy finery for the squaws, are also sold at enormous profit... "The Indians who had come to the meeting were no less interesting than the trappers. There must have been some thousands of them. Their tents are made of buffalo hides, tanned on both sides and sewed toether stretched in cone shape over a dozen poles, tAat are leaned against each other, their tops crossing. In front and on top this leather can be thrown back, to fcrm door and chimney. The tents are about twelve feet high and twenty feet in circumference at the ground, and give sufficient protection in any kind of weather. I visited many tents, partly out of curiosity, partly to barter for trifles, and sought to make myself intelligible in the language of signs as far as possible. An army of Indian dogs very much resembling the wolf, usually beset the entrance. From some tents comes the sound of music. A vir- tuoso beats a sort of kettle drum with bells around with all his might, and the chorus accom- panies him with strange monotone untrained sounds that showed strong tendency to the minor chords. A similar heart rending song ,drew me to a troop of squaws that were engrossed in the game of "the hand," so popular with the Indians. Some small object, a bit of wood, for instance, is passed from hand to hand among the players seated in a circle; and it is some one's part to guess in whose hands the object is. During the game the chorus steadily sings some song as monotonous as those to which bears dance. But the real object is to gamble in this way for some designated prize. It is a game of hazard. In this case, for example, a pile of beads and corals [sic], which lay in the midst of the circle, was the object in question. Men and women are so carried away by the game, that they often spend a whole day and night at it. Other groups of whites and In- dians were engaged in barter. The Indians had for the trade chiefly tanned skins, moccasins, thongs of buffalo leather or braided buffalo hair, and fresh or dried buffalo meat. They have no beaver skins. The articles that attracted them most in exchange were powder and lead, knives, tobacco, cinnabar, gaily colored kerchiefs, pocket mirrors and all sorts of ornaments. Before the Indian be- gins to trade he demands sight of everything that may be offered by the other party to the trade. If there is something there that attracts him, he, too, will produce his wares, but discovers very quickly how much or how little they are coveted. If he himself is not willed to dispose of some particular thing he obstinately adheres to his refusal, though ten times the value be offered him. The peltry bought from the Indians must be carefully beaten and aired, at peril of having objectionable troops billeted on you. The Indians, accustomed to every kind of uncleanliness, seem to have a special predilection for a certain kind of domestic animal, and even consider it a delicacy. So, for instance, I have repeatedly seen an o; granddam summering before the tent with her g -haired spouse, and busily picking the "Heavy alry" from his head. But the fingers that def caught the prisoner with equal deftness carri him to the mouth, where the unhappy creature buried alive. Chacun a son gout! "The rendezvous usually lasts a week." After 1843, when the fur business had dead the trading post established by Bridger93 beo the meeting place. A decade later, the estabi ment of the Mormons at Salt Lake City created major competitor, who was eager for the India trade for political and religious as well as mercial purposes. Consequently it is not surp ing to read that: "It was the custom of the tribe to make a ney almost every fall to Salt Lake City, and white settlements, and swap their buckskin an buffalo robes for red blankets beads, ammuni and other things they needed."64 The 1860's marked the beginning of treaty tions with the United States government, and first white settlements in Wind River Valley. may note that $10,000 worth of skins and furs got in the winter of '66.95 This income doubl through later grants resulting from treaties; consequences are discussed in another public. Trade with other Indian tribes was general, inconsequential. The Wind River people often i a fat profit reselling furs bought from the S Eaters or Mountain Shoshone. Otherwise, howem barter was largely a ceremonial exchange of e alent goods between close friends, blood-brot3 of different localities. It had no true econoa function. The final means of livelihood among the Wil River Shoshone, and the least, was mineral e:4 tation. This consisted of the minor quarrying obsidian and various pipestones in several plh on the west slope of the Wind River Range (ui4 tunately, unlocated); the obtaining of salt, cipally from Soda Springs, Idaho; and the g]j of sea shells and agates from the fossil bedq Black's Fork. Obsidian was the most important; ticle on this list, although sea shells were for ornament. (In addition, natural hot sprinI were much appreciated in the treatment of rhei matism.) Most of these mineral products were direct: used. Only in recent days have Shoshone sold'l ates to white people near Evanston. And they selves--so far as I know--paid, and were pai nothing for usage rights in the favored Jco 93Beard, 1925:134. 94Wiison, 1926:68. 95 Shimkin, MS a. 270 ADAPTATION: DETAILED ETHNOBOTANY AND ETHNOZOOLOGY table 2 below there are listed all the land animals of which I have a record, with common and (probable) scientific names, 8hoshone terms, their life-zone distribu- -their Shoshone uses, and, for "useless" , their applications among other tribes. some explanatory remarks are in order. plants classified as "Identified" were ted by me in May and June, 1937, along a h-mile line from Fort Washakie (Upper Sono- D the top of Hobbs Peak (Arctic-Alpine). ~upplementary collections were made in the wl Creek range. All of these plants were Rentified by either Pivo Brown or Dick ie (assisted by Marshall Washakie and his Miss Alice Eastwood, of the California r of Sciences, kindly made the scientific fications. sde a number of other, tentative identifica- by comparing the plant names with cognates iute9f and other Basin Shoshone97 groups. .. . .l If I" In all, I believe that the plants with simple linguistic stem names are the most satisfactorily and the most certainly classed. They are those which everyone probably knew; examples are: wo/'gwe'ip (Opuntia), kun' (Allium), wD'TgDpi (Pseudotsuga), 5i'hipi (Salix). Other plant names are derivatives of pok (thistle), so'nip (grass), ak' (sunflower), wa'ra (grass), etc. These are modified according to color: er'ga- (red), c'xa- (yellow), e:'Pi- blue or green), ku'si- (gray), du:- (black), etc. Other characteristics may also stand out: dc'ya- (mountain), 5i- (pointed), s)'go(3i- (ground), te:- (some sort of), etc. Some names I cannot analyze. Although Shoshone and our categories are more or less parallel, it should be borne in mind that they are not identical. For instance, ya'naweci, a: sia, and to'nSiap all apply to Gaura coccinea. On the other hand, mo'hagwanat includes the dis- tinct genera Sophia and Cupinus. Table 2 Plants Identified i |name Scientific name Shoshone name Distribution Shoshone use Use by other tribes n maple Acer glabrum Torr. d-)'yasihi Trans.-Can. Plains Ind.: A. sache- rum, etc., for sugar yarrow Achillea millefo- hane:'enge A. alpicola, Basin Sho.:applied to lium Arct.-Alp. sores, for indiges- tion.--Plains Ind. (Winnebago): for swellings Achillea millefo- Ku6iarjgar)g6 A. alpicola, Basin Sho.: applied to lium L. Arct.-Alp. sores, for indiges- tion Actinella simplex eajgator}3iap Allium reticulatum )xsarton3iap hemp Apocynum hyperfo- xicogi or A. androsae mi- Bark of last Kiowa: chewing gum lium hypro folium,oTrans. year's plant liu5 3itogi folium) dried for rope, etc. Arabis retropacta yu:'went A. lyalli, Arct.-Alp. ish Artemisia frigida pD'h) Trans. For infusions Basin Sho.: seeds Willd. in fever; for eaten adornment Itch Astragalus yafga)gia Trans. Plains Ind.: boy's rattle, febrifuge (Omaha-Ponca) beans Astragalus shor- sD'g5Pihura All zones tianus Astragalus tri- ku"Sipa3oh) All zones I dactalicus G. . berlin, 1911. 97Steward, 1938:21-32, 306-314. [271] ANTHRCPOLOGICAL RECORDS TABtE 2 (Continued) Plants Identified Common name Scientific name J_Shoshone name Distribution Shoshone use [ Use by other t Balsam root Rocky Mt. birch Mariposa lily Harebell Arctic or Parry harebell Wild root Painted cup Thistle Purple Virginia bower Red cleome or honey plant larkspur Willow cress Giant rye grass Fleabane Eriogonum Balzamorriza Hookeri N. Betula fentinalis Sargt. Calochortus nuttali Campanula rotundi- folia Campanula rotundi- folia L. Carum gairdineri B. Castilleja angua- tifolia Castilleja lira- riaefolia Cirsium Parryi Cirsium undulatum Clematis douglasii H. Cleome serrulata Cleome serrulata Crepis acuminata Nutt. Crepis acuminata Nutt. Crepis acuminata Nutt. Cupinus argentaus P. Delphinium scapu- lorum Gray Descuriana Descuriana Draba andina (Nutt.) Nelson Elymus condensatus Preal. Erigeron concinus Erigeron radicatus Hook. Eriogonum do'ya )'xaya'hane ta'ne't'lgwai s;gopi tontiap do'5YtYTnBgap du'ci wampi yamp e'rjga ya'han eT)ga ya'hait dj'ya bokw ku6ibag da'-ip kinganton5iap e:'Piton5iap ta:p3ip yambawu:ra dDyarlpa (hanixend) mo'xagwana du:'pohi ton5iap po'hiye :' hartawi1we"p pa:'bahop pi'a on'ip gapon3lnl pa&,o hoa6 B. sagitata, Trans. B. incana, Trans. Trans. C. gunnisoni, Trans. Trans.-Can. C. uniflora, Arctic C. parryi, Hud. Hud. Can. Can. ? Trans. ? Trans. Upp. Son. Upp. Son. D. subalpinum, Hud. Several sp., Arct.-Alp. Upp. Son.- Trans. Several sp., Hud. E. pina- tisecus, Arct.-Alp. Arct.-Alp.- Hud. Many species, all growing in Upp. Son. Whips, firewood, shades Roots like onions, eaten Eaten istil as chil- dren's sweets aten in summer "Wild onions, n used in summer Seeds eaten; soup Only animals eat it or sore eyes; scraping Basin Sho.: see eaten (kukiak Plains Ind.: ve Dakota,also A Basin Sho.: not E.A.: leaves mi eaten. Kiowa:- and sores; fo eaten Hopi: boiledI Gosiute: medic Hopi: D. scap? emetic Basin Sho.: a eaten :; Gosiute: seed food Basin Sho.: 5 disorders. eaten. Hop. medicine J ____________________ J. J. 1.~~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~ ___________ 272 273 SHIMKIN: WIND RIVER SHOSHONE ETHNOGEOGRAPHY TABLE 2 (Cont inued) Plants Identified Scientific name _[Shoshone name |jDistribution |JShoshone use J_Use by other tribes Eriogonum subalpi- num Pursh. Eriogonum concinnum Etrichium argenteum wight Fragaria Gaillardia arii P. Gaura coccinea Gilia aggregata (Pursh) Gnaphalium Grindelia squarrosa P. Hedysarum cineras- cens Ryd. Helianthus petio- laris Nutt. Holodiscus dumosus Hordeum jubatum L. Iris missoriensis Nutt. gu6egi 6a:tun3iaxand e:'Piyapuci I d'sayahe:d statal d'yaz'hayap ya'na weci a: '8a to'n;iap tambi xarYkai pa'wDhY do'yakw!6m6baga pe:'anadikap dD'yaba:k doyawogonap kwek5'igat 5e:gikigin Juniperus sabina L. w'ngohiifonla Lepidium apetalum W Melilotus off ic- inalis Mertensia alpina Oenethera tricho- calix N. Opuntia polyacan- tha Haw. Oreocarya Oreocarya virgata Phacelia sericea (Graham) Grey Phlox canescens Pinus albicaulis Populus augusti- folia Populus tremu- loides IPotentilla glandu- losa wo 'T.gThi')gwDia . ku'sidot wanawunt di'repDhapi e:'Piyahe:d e:gupi wo'gwe'ip ya: '`ggnS d z' ae:guPi pia5o:na 6ogopaca' cawagiu te:wapl s)'hop si ynagp d Dya e'TgaparaT Arct.-Alp. Can.-Trans. Upp. Son. Upp. Son. Upp. Son. Trans.-Upp. Son. Upp. Son. Trans. Upp. Son. Trans. Trans. Trans. Trans.-Upp. Son. Arct.-Alp.-Hud, Upp. Son. 0. flava, Upp. Son. Trans. Hud.-Arct. Alp. Hud.-Can. Hud. Trans. Can. Trans. -Hud.- Can. Ends sweet; sucked by children (In Sun Dance) Bees' food For smoking oneself Inside burned, for glue and paint Firewood, Sweets Firewood, posts, etc. Like strawber- ries; eaten Plains Sho.: eaten widely Gosiute: Ute cough medic nme Basin Sho.: seeds eaten Basin Sho.: tea from roots I. versicolor: pul- verized for eye water (Omaha Ponca), P1. Ind. (Red cedar) not used Basin Sho.: seeds eaten Gosiute: formerly eaten. Basin Sho.: eaten. P1. Ind.: eaten; glue. Kiowa: glue. Hopi: eaten Basin Sho.: not used Gosiute: poultice Ipn name Mium Ltinued) k forget- lot itrawberry JAnt r Lag juni- r trail- avin juni- pear ya celia rk pine ood il Juniperus lorum scopu- I I I ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS TABLE 2 (Continued) Plants Identified Common name Scientific name Shoshone name Distribution __Shoshone use Use by othe Douglas spruce Currant Rose Sand dock Willow Paint brush Stanleya Rabbit bush Pseudotsuga taxi- fo2ia Rhustridobattum Nutt. Eriogonum Ribes cereum Ribes congiflorum Rosa californica Rosa fendleri crepin Rumex venosus P. Salix Sedum stenopetalum Senecio Senelis perplexans N. Sophia ochroleucia wooton Sphaeralcea cocci- nea Sphaeralcea cocci- nea Stanleya pinnata- (Pursh) Tetradymia spinosa Tragupogon porrfo- lius wo'ngDpi eqga wu'uwunt ho'a t e'flgwip Dgp i 'amp D'hapa5iwe dDya: '6u Thayap oxakaeonYinikid neVwiSaiw9'HT'gnge mo'hagwanat d)'ya5o:na tu'Mig up d.ya6a we':kai tono:3i )'harlawikiwap Trans.-Can. Can.-Trans.- Hud. Can.-Trans. Can.-Trans. Upp. Son. Many sp.; all zones Hud.-Arct.- Alp. Upp. Son. Upp. Son. Wood for tipi poles Soup out of ber- ries; and for arrows Berries, reli- gion, etc. Boiled and drunk for stomach- ache Shades, wood, etc. Not eaten Not eaten Arrow points Put in ears, pleasant smell Basin Sho.: I eaten. Kioi Hopi: dyeii Plains Ind.: basketry 4 Gosiute: leal merly smo Gosiute: ch Hopi: sap i on sores Basin Sho.: eaten Hopi: for cc tion Hopi: eaten greens Basin Sho.: Hopi: toa ine contra in birth Identification Doubtful Wild onion? Alder Camassia? Black hawthorn Mountain mahog- any Wild potato? Dog-tooth violet Sunflower Gooseberry Allium acunimatum Alnus tenuifolia I? Crataegus rivularis Cercocarpus ledi- folius Cleytonia carolin- iana? Erythronium parvi- florum Helianthus Grosularia inermis kun' hugutap pa: 'sigo wi:'yam tu: 'namb sgu5i'na d 'yawitombak ak'; ku6iak; hi'ump; pia':ak' we'sibogun Can. Trans. Trans. Trans.? Can.-Hud. H. annuus; H. peticolaris, Upp. Son. Trans. Eaten Bows, weaving Eaten Eaten For clubs, etc. Painkiller in birth Seeds for soup Eaten Basin Sho.: .. Basin Sho.: Gosiute: ea, Basin Sho. :s Kiowa: ea4 . J6- A:L. Oll I I I I I I a I t 2q4 SBIMIIN: WIND RIVER SHOSHONE ETHNOGEOGRAPHY Table 2 (Continued) Plants Identification Doubtful Ron name Scientific name Shoshone name Distribution Shoshone use Used by other tribes Juniperus wa:Vpi Many sp., all Smoking self, siute: J. califor- zones fire, bldg. nia used? rroot Lewisia rediviva kan Trans. Eaten DO Nicotiana quadri- pu'hiba'u valvus Pachistima myrsi- da'cip For rope mitas Pinus edulis er)gati'3anahup Upp. Son. Little importance ese Primula parryi dY'yaratuwara Hud. For magic oherry Prunus melanocarpa dY'ngisap or Trans. For bows, quivers to:namp "8 spruce Pseudotsuga wongogwa-na Can.-Trans. Pitching baskets mucronata 4ose Rosa ultramontanum? 5o'nip R. sayi Rose berries Can.-Trans. eaten with grease i sumac Schmaltzia glabra kusesi Trans.-Upp. Pipestems, bows ergahump (Rhus glabra) Son. eaten? kts Ribes sp. b)gunap Many species in all zones twood Sarcobatus vermi- to:'napi Upp. Son. For arrowheads _ | culatus Unidentified eTIgakwenaga All zones d)'sawar' Seeds ground, eaten d"sawoga For rope dakamb:)3 Small cherry, dakamb~~~~~~ eaten arsnip ku:'wi;ap Vegetable kind of ku6ibehup .ow paro:'-a Painkiller Hopi: Tetradymia cones- in birth cens to aid uterine contractiors pi'yigwabwa Weed, rubbed Hopi: Ptiloria pauci- on breasts to flora for same pur- promote milk pose pine na'gwadayilrgwi Pitch tu:66hup Willow without berries, for firewood tu'yabonip Grass with black seeds wi:'tew Nuts on it; eaten by children yagwa5acYhup "Very crooked" willows 275 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS The distribution of the plants used coincides fairly well with the relative importance of each life zone in terms of plant variety, area, and accessibility. The Transitional zone is easily first, followed by the Upper Sonoran, Canadian, and Hudsonian zones. The Arctic-Alpine zone was useless. Some index of the relative efficiency of Wind River botany may be gained by examining the rec- ords of neighboring tribes98 for uses not found locally. The data are not particularly flatter- ing, for the Wind River Shoshone could have added some 40 per cent utility qualitatively; certainly far more (in comparison with the Hopi, or Gosiute), quantitatively. A later section will discuss this degree of utilization at greater length. I made no scientific check of the animals oti than to compare the common names with those gito in the various zoological works for northwesters Wyoming. However, I doubt whether any important animals have been grossly misclassified. Shoshone animal names are of three basic so: simple stems (usually Uto-Aztecan), descriptio and onomatopoeic words. A number of animals wil the first type of name are further differentia according to sex: we're (male bear), a'gwai (f bear); wa: nf (buck antelope), kwa'hari (doe an lope). Examples of the second class are: bat, h(n43i6 (Gulch-being); jay, di'6iwasip (Bad-E huimmingbird, dV'3ibi m) t)xa (Buzzes-much). Fi 6u'akwakwa, for robin, and ka:k (modern), for have an understandable basis of onomatopoeia. TABLE 3 Animals Common name I_scientific name Shoshone name I Distribution Shoshone use Remarks Ant Antelope Badger Bat Bear Beaver Bee Blue jay Bobcat Buffalo Bullhead Bull snake Buzzard Coyote Cricket Crow Chicken hawk Deer Deerfly Dog Duck Eagle Eagle (bald) Elk Fox (kit) Antilocapra amer- icana Taxidea taxus taxus Ursus americanus Castor canadenses Cyanocefalus cyanocefalus Bison bison Pituophis say' Canis lestes; C. nebracensis Corvus brachy- rhyncos hesperis Falco sp. Halaectus leucoce- phalus leucoce- phalus Cervus canadensis canadensis Vulpex velox a' nTrjgwMi6p Buck: wa: n5;doe: kwa hari hu: 'n Male: wdWre; female: a' gwai ha: 'ni pe: ana di - 6iwasip si 'rukuPi6 Bull: pogin'; cow: kwiH pi 'aper)kw 6u: 'iyo do' gwarYka i'"ap:6 meow ka:k gu'ia rika t' hia )Ahapit p 'i3it sari pu: 'y'i pi'agwea pa'sia pa: R'hi wa:'N' Upp. Son.- Trans. Trans.-Upp. Son. Trans.-Can. Trans.-Can. Upp. Son.- Trans. Can. Upp. Son. Upp. Son. Trans.-Upp. Son. Upp. Son.- Trans. Trans.-Can.- Hud. Trans.-Upp. Son. Eaten Eaten; hunted Sometimes eaten; feared Used for fur Usually not hunted Eaten Not eaten; feathers for arrows Not eaten Eaten Feathers, pets Not hunted; not eaten Many species; zones See: wildcat Cow is also n kud Vulture Archaic name: Also used f occasiona In summer Arct.-AlpS 98Basin Shoshone after Steward, 1938; Gosiute after Chamberlin, 1911; Hopi after Whiting, 1939; Kiowa after Vestal and Schultes, 1939; vam Plains tribes after Gilmore, 1912. I - I I 276 SHBIKIN: WIND RIVER SHOSHONE ETHNOGEOGRAPHY TABLE 3 (Continued) Animals wm sciename name Shoshone name JDistribution I_Shoshone use__ Remarks Vulpex macrouros Rana pipiens Branta canadensis Callospermophilus lateralis lateralis Ordea herodias Nyctocorax nicti- corax naev-ius Selas phorus platycercus Pica Pica hudso- nian Stunnella neglecta Mustela vision energumenus bu'ipengwi Alces americanus shirasi Felis hippolestes Ovis canadenses canadenses Zenaidura macro- rura Carolinensis Microtus? Odocoileus hemionus Lutra canadenses canadenses Speatyto cunicu- laria hypogaea Erethizon epixan- thum Cynomys leucurus Lepus townsendi campanius Lepus bairdii bhna i, i wa: N' ya'gwa3a nigunt clp gwandata gwandata buTrk pi6i pipit tu'hupit pipit kusiget p ipit a: 'niwui di'p3Hi m)t)xa pe: d) gwa3enk kea kwi'dap3i hi:to pa: 'TIux bu'ipeT)gwi du:'paR'hi m'p'.) pipit d)' yaruku Ram: duk; ewe: mu' ambia he: 'wc ba'mbune du:'tThi du'pasawY numbic po'ko d/'6a3it mumbic si 'Iako wigaPeqkW yin t'i'niant taw' dD'sakam w)1]guraf Can. Upp. Son. Can. -Trans. Trans.-Gan. Trans.-Upp. Son. Trans.-Upp. Son. Can. -Trans. Trans. Upp. Son. Trans. Can. Trans.-Can. Arct.-Alp. Upp. Son. All zones Trans.-Can.- Upp. Son. Can.-Trans. All zones Upp. Son. Trans.-Can. Trans.-Upp. Son. All zones Trans. Hud. Not hunted; not eaten Not eaten; might be used for bait Eaten Hunted Eaten Tails for dances Not eaten: not killed Prized for fur Eaten Eaten I? Killed but never eaten Eaten Fur prized Very exception- ally eaten Eaten Not eaten; feared Eaten Eaten Eaten 'Great blue heron Crowned night heron Very few mD"pr ) .mbepi Also named hai'w- Loathed Iany species "Prairie dog's brother- in- law" Smallest of the owls "Calf of leg fish" Yellow haired Also named ta'wun ountain leopard) squirrel ly (big) Dk) ly (gray) ly gbird lark to n lion Ln sheep g dove ier i'rowing) ste) me dog '(jack) (snow- I_ I Utl1U --- 277 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS TABLE 3 (Continued) Animals Common name scifProbable | Shoshone name 1 Distribution | Shoshone use 1 Remal Rattlesnake Robin Rocky Mt. whitefish Sagehen Salmon Skunk Sparrow hawk Small hawk Squirrel (pine Sucker Swallow Trout Water snake Waxwings Weasel (Arizona) Weasel (dwarf) Wlldcat Wood rat Wolf (buffalo) Worm Yellow throat? Crotalus confluentus Planesticus migra- torius propinquus Centrocercus urophasianus Nephitis hudsonica Falco sp. Falco sp. )ISciurus sp.? Tachycineta thalesina lepida Bombycilla garrula pallidiceps Mustela arizonensi s Mustela sicognianni leptus Lynx uinta Netoma cinerea cinerea Canis nubilus Geothlypis trichos? do'gwa su'akwakwa ..,' .. . 5 me jewl a hu:' a a' gai p)N'yN c gV ni da'PeT) wasa3a w) ngorao a:'wuk pa sokombe 5a: peTkW pa sunuwiyo wi'dThc pa: '1ii pa: 'i;i? 'si'hFiru kupi6 ka or ka'i - pi'ai';ap:6 wo: ap a'ni,gwakwa Upp. Son. Can.-Trans. Trans. Trans. Trans.-Can Can. -Trans. Can. Trans. Trans.-Upp. Son. Upp. Son.- Trans. Upp. Son. Not eaten; not hunted Eaten Not eaten; not hunted Not hunted, nor eaten Eaten Fur in men's hair Fur in men's hair Fur for babies; sometimes eaten Hunted; eaten Not hunted Small I head Not found c tic drair gu'i; see c hawk Brown, spec breasted; on nuts Many specie all zones "Because tb lots of b D.W. D.W. I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I . I I A count of animal species alone would assign first place to the Transitional zone in economic value. Actually, however, the numbers of the bison alone throw the weight heavily toward Upper Sonoran. Canadian, Hudsonian, and Arct Alpine follow the first two. .u _ . I.-I- . I - I I I I I 278 ECOLOGY ilogy and economy in the broadest sense are tous. Both describe the total relation u culture and environment. For the Wind Shoshone, we are able to discuss briefly llowing vectors of the subject: (1) the 'of subsistence, the ideal economic cycle, Le exploited areas; (2) the relation of the 41 to natural areas; (3) economic condi- g in the culture; (4) the efficiency of ion. The source material has been pre- ,in previous pages. As soon as the storms abated sufficiently to allow movement, and the snow had melted, the tribe gathered once more for the spring bison hunt. This was usually much shorter than that in the fall. Fish and greens were welcome additions to the diet. The horses soon recovered in the lush spring pastures. With suiqmer coming on, and a variety of food available, ambitions would flaunt themselves. Young men would go raiding; or enemies would at- tack. Now came the time for the Sun Dance. After TABLE 4 The Ideal Cycle of Wind River Shoshone Economy ti Jan. Fe b. Moa r iy Ju ne Jul . Sept. Oct Nov Dec. Ri er rn r Rivr River, tfns Powdei. R. B~~c iu~jiigd ov-3rt aiaek' iui albe eet4v'A(oy Jai MMrk alyFor k. Va'le'y Ripe rIi .Valley iol ~~~~~~~~~~~~~In 4rib.1 Favnily Boc A in | q Ty iTbe I Re dez, Farlp +-VTri e and Ejriend& Banck- Rlo XBs<_w iso n n (Petn icOfW F _ish ipqI m2e tr- ou t. 5he-e- M MaWmt s ~~~~~ i! rds Lo5.Per RooAs_ s Iestlesotc) ( Hoaws att) |dldroot, etc) ds. ~~~~~~~~~jac k Rabb tc elpi r. C RAWo l llcl Eee,1 o 5e_3L erD Lck oe, Wool R at. bin) ~~~~~~~aMoc. or *ec aE r Slitel | |e|Fatten, n5 G etnc Trc&de Geltin Prextrin PRepari 9 $ oSy vytlng Horee wna rDc bsobidic n 6oit Wet[p015 |ki H ideetc| ae oV S rva v.rion Ilk clPeesi 4 IGamul' eashe e Io~ IN1v1i c{ I et se people were essentially meat and fish ! In the fall, the entire tribe gathered early bison hunt on the Shoshone River or elsewhere. Later, the four bands split r the travel to their wintering places. DUld subsist upon occasional bison, elk, and pemmican of dried bison meat and sometimes mixed with berries. If food was at, this would be a happy time, with the ent in tobogganing or spinning rocks on the de evening, in storytelling. Alternative rim pursuits of mountain sheep or elk on es, and starvation. that, when the mountain passes became traversible, the entire tribe would travel to the west. On the way, they would kill marmots still sleepy from winter hibernation, or catch large, ravenous fish that bit at every moving thing. Mountain sheep fur- nished exciting sport. Having crossed the divide, they would get obsid- ian from volcanic cliffs, as well as the steatite necessary for shamans' pipes. Eventually, they would arrive at the rendezvous. Here, their hard- won treasures of pelts and hides would be sold, sometimes at a fair bargain, sometimes for a song. But they were eager to get gems, cloth, flour, [279] ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS whisky. That these were soon gone did not matter: an abundance of animals and plants provided a varied and easy life at this time. Now the Shoshone would scatter, going about their private business in this safe country. Visits to poor western relatives would be in order, for wife-getting or other purposes. Or they might get salt from Soda Springs, or sea shells from fossil beds near Fort Bridger to adorn the ears of fops. Marmots, mule deer, roots, berries, and other foods nourished them. As the leaves turned color and the first snows fell in the highest mountains, hunger for bison meat became strong. In full strength, often with Bannocks or others accompanying them, they would cross the Wind River Range to return to the social life, travel, war, feast- ing, and starvation of the Plains. Areally, we may also visualize the constant contrast between concentration and dispersion typical of Wind River life. Fort Bridger, ya'handai, Wind River Valley, and nda'wnawisua were the foci; connecting them and the hinter- lands were the main routes. The most important of the last were the Big Horn Basin, the Powder River Valley, the Rocky Mountains, and the Bear River Divide. The relation with the natural areas of west- ern Wyoming is highly interesting. The Shoshone lived principally in Green River-Wind River valleys area (steppe climate, loam soils, transi- tional fauna, 5000-7500 feet in elevation). This, they used most carefully and thoroughly. The Rocky Mountains area (taiga climate, no soils, Canadian-Arctic Alpine fauna, above 7500 feet in elevation) and the Big Horn Basin (desert cli- mate, loam soils, Upper Sonoran fauna, below 5000 feet) were regions of widespread but super- ficial exploitation. Curiously, the situation has changed in reservation days. Now, they live in and use carefully the Upper Sonoran zone in lower Wind River Valley, while the Transitional zone has become marginal, along with the high mountains.99 These changes have resulted from the adoption of agriculture and sedentary life. Insistence upon the economic conditioning of culture is, as Steward points out,100 far from rigid economic or ecological determinism. It is simply an attempt to elucidate the adjustments that exist once both environment and general culture patterns are given. In this tribe the following seem to represent the more important of such adjustments. The routes of travel coincided with economic resources. The alternation between concentrated bison provisions and diffuse elk, deer, fish, etc., made for a like alternation in social groups: the tribe in the spring and fall, the band in the winter.101 This also led to increased 993himkin, MS a. 100 Steward, 1938:260-262. 101 Cf. Mauss, 1906; Shimkin, 1939. emphasis upon two types of leadership: the di inating warrier (or war chief), and the wise man who could lead his people to food (prini chief).102 It also strengthened the cross oi of individualism and collective discipline:; vidual prestige in war honors and hunting v united military societies and collective bi hunts. Travel on a large scale threw out pottery, Furthermore, it made the curing of grasses f basketry difficult; loving care of seed patel impossible. The horse, furthermore, was cari by men; women, when horses were few, had to4 in order to save the animals' strength. TheA had to be fresh- for hunting. These factors u the economic and social balance between sexei hear nothing more of the casual polygyny anda andry of the Basin.103 Probably, only the id ence of the matrilineal Crow104 prevented at approach among the Wind River Shoshone to t fratnkly patriarchal Comanche.105 Private property was both hindered and abe On the one hand, private riahts in hunting, f ing, or gathering localities became impossibl a widely traveling people. On the other, hors meant more movable goods, more wives, more pu chased fineries. War, climatic uncertainties, strong pressure toward generosity combined tc vent the development of a pastoral wealth-gra society. Consideration of the efficiency of Wind Ri Shoshone economy has some weight upon theorie the influence of the horse upon Plains cultu As I see it, the horse did not at all impr the total sum of Wind River economy. Bison sl with the horse was, as noted before, incredib wasteful. Furthermore, the wide migrations of people lost them their intimate kiowledge of' country, vital for the gaining of small game: ness the great variety of habitats chosen by ferent races of ground squirrels.106 The sae true for gathering. The conservation of resou typical, for example, of the Ojibwa,107 was E! evidence at all. Beavers, decimated in one lo after another, died out; killing a surplus w6 have continued the supply indefinitely. The X nical specialization and simplification of P} life were other limiting factors. Horsemansh tactics, and other such learning allowed no for knowledge of even such simple devices as falls for deer, or effective traps for other, mals. Finally, the strongest evidence of all the population figures: as many people lived each square mile cf the desolte Basin as in t far richer country of western Wyoming. 102 Also Comanche--see Hoebel, 1940. 103 Steward, 1938:241-246. 104 Shimkin, 1941a. 105Hoebel, 1938; 1939. 106 Davis, 1939. 107Landes, 1937:89 ff.; Speck, 1915. 280 SHfIMKIN: WIND RIVER SHOSHONE ETENOGEOGRAPHY s I see it, the principal effect of the horse to create a life of extreme cyclicity, of ups downs to an incredible degree: there were ing and starvation, great assemblies and com- e solitude, elaborate ermine tippets and the Lest of basketry.108 To what extent the same '8Also see Steward's important discussion of influence of the horse on Basin culture. In north, possession of this animal allowed was true for the rest of the Plains only further research can tell-. greater and more permanent assemblages than before, increased the range of travel, and allowed exploi- tation of the buffalo. 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AA 41:440-457. 1940. The Political Organization and la: of the Comanche Indians. AAA-M 5 Menasha, Wisconsin. Humfreville, J. L. 1899. Twenty Years Among Our Hostile Ind" Jenness, D. 1938. The Sarcee Indians of Alberta. NatK seum of Canada, Bull. 90. Ottawa,i Jones, W. A. 1875. Report upon the Reconnaissance of western Wyoming including Yellow National Park made in the Summer 1873. 43d Congress, 1st Session, Exec. Doc. 285. Washington. Kroeber, A. L. 1939. Cultural and Natural Areas of Natil America. UC-PAAE 38. Berkeley, Ca Landes, R. 1937. Ojibwa Sociology. Columbia Univ. Cc Anthrop., vol. 29. New York. [282] SHIMKIN: WIND RIVER SHOSHONE ETHNOGEOGRAPHY n, F. C. 35. The Waterfowl Flyways of North America. Transactions of the 21st. Amer. Game Conference, pp. 264-275. Washington. N6.0The Big Horn Basin. Lincoln, Nebraska. S. B. 29. Whitefish Grayling, Trout and Salmon of the intermountain Region. Appen- dix V, Rep. Comm. Fisheries for 1929. Bureau of Fisheries Doc. 1062. Wash- ington. F. B. 07. Physiography of the United States. New York. R. H. 122. The Material Culture of the Crow In- dians. AMNH-AP 21:201-270. New York. Lbaum D 40. The Plains Cree. AMNH-AP 37:155-316. New York. 1ll, R. B. )14. Results of Spirit Levelling in Wyoming, 1896 to 1912. U. S. Geological Sur- vey Bull. 558. Washington. M. 06. Essai sur les variations saissoniAres des soci6t6s Eskimo. L'Anne6 socio- logique 9: 9-132. Paris. LB R E. (et al.) J The White Man's Toll. In The Western Range. 74th Cong., 2d Sess. Senate Doc. 199. Washington. 3J. O 66. Personal Narrative. In R. G. Thwaites, Early Western Travels 1748-1846, vol. 18. Cleveland, OfLio. tof the Commissioner for Indian Affairs. Washington, 1873-78, 1886-87. of the Secretary of War. 41st Congress, 2d Session, 1870:64. Washington. 121. Journal of a Trapper, er Nike Years in the Rocky Mountains, 1834-1843. Boise, Idaho. Ll, R. J. 31. Dry Climates of the United States. I Climatic Map. UC-PG 5:1-41. Berkeley, California. der, 0. 03. Inderkunde Nordamerikas. Enzyklopadie der Erdkunde, v. 27. Leipzig. E. To 129. Lives of Game Animals. 3 vols. New York. md, V., E. (ed.) 26. Naturalist's Guide to the Americas. Baltimore, Md. i D. B. '8. Wind River Shoshone Geography. AA 4A:413-415. Menasha, Wisconsin. 39. A Sketch of the Ket, or Yenisei 'Ostyak'. Ethnos, 4:147-176. Stock- holm. 41k. Shoshone-Comanche Origins and Migra- tions. Proc. 6th Pacific Sci.. Congr. 4:17-25, Berkeley California. 41b. The Uto-Aztecan System of Kinship Ter- minology. AA 43:223-245. Menasha, Wisconsin. 5a. Some Interactions of Culture, Needs and Personalities among the Wind River Shoshone (Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Calif. Library, Berkeley, California, 1939). MS b. Psychological Studies of Wind River Shoshone Children. Speck, F. Go 1915. Family Hunting Territories and Social Life of Various Algonkian Bands of the Ottawa Valley. Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 70, no. 8. Ottawa. Steward, J. H. 1937. 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Vestal, P. A., and Schultes, R. E. 1939. The Economic Botany of the Kiowa Indians. Cambridge, Mass. Visher S. S. 19L5. Regional Geography of Southeastern Wyoming from the Viewpoint of Land Classifica- tion. Annals of the Assoc. of Amer. Geog- raphers 15:65-85. Nashville, Tenn. Wheeler, H. W. 1924. Reminiscences of Old Fort Washakie. Quar- terly Bull. of the Historical Dept. of the State of Wyoming, 1:1-4. Cheyenne, Wyo. Whiting, A. F. 1939. Ethno-Botany of the Hopi. Museum of Northern Arizona, Bull. 15. Flagstaff, Arizona. Williams, P. L. 1928. Personal Recollections of Wash-A-Kie Chief of the Shoshones. Utah Historical Quar- terly 1:101-106. Salt Lake City, Utah. Wilson, E. N. 1926. The White Indian Boy. Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York. Wislizenus, F. A. 1912. A Journey to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1839. Missouri Historical Society. St. Louis, Mo. Wissler C 1916. Material Culture of the Blackfoot Indians. AMNH-AP 5:5-175. New York. 1914. The Influence of the Horse in the Develop- ment of Plains Culture. AA 16:1-25. Lancaster, Pa. 283 ANTHROPOLOGICI 1936a. Changes in Population Profiles among the Northern Plains Indians. AMIH- AP 36:1-67. New York. 1936t. Population Changes among the Northern Plains Indians. YU-PA 1:1-20. New Haven, Conn. AL RECOBRS Wyeth J. B. lB05. Oregon; or a Short History of a Journey...By and... .in 1832. In R. G. Thwaites Early Western- Travels 1748-i846 vol. 21, Pp 1-105. 6leveland, 6hio. 284 PLATES EXPLANATION OF PLATES PLATE 1 a. An alkali flat near Fort Washakie. Grass and scattered greasewood. Upper Sonoran life zone; steppe. About 5500 feet. b. Sagebrush plain at Sage Creek. Wind River Mountains in the distance. Transitional zone; steppe. About 7000 feet, c. South Fork Canyon, looking east. This shows the basic importance of topography and exposure in plant associations. The glacial and river deposits at right, with more adequate conservation of moisture, maintain a lush stream vegetation. Tran- sitional zone (cf. also pl. 1, bi); taiga. About 7000 feet. d. Hoback Canyon. Loei edge of the Canadian zone: mixed vegetation, aspen, pine, grasses, and sagebrush. Around 8000 feet. e. South Pass. Lower edge of. the Canadian zone, but almost barr Climatically, it is not recognized as a desert. PLATE 2 a. Mosquito Park in Wind River Range; upper hill and west, meadow association8 of the Canadian zone: Douglas fir, lodgepole pine opposed to grasses, shrubs, and the like. The protection of a glacial valley from wind and the accumulation of s make this vegetation possible (see pl. 2, b). Near 9000 feet. b. Muddy Pass in tb Big Horn Mountains. Dry-meadow association of the Canadian zone. Its poverty is d to the openness of the range and its lack of protecting elevations. Sagebrush at 9500 feet. c. Hudsonian zone, below Hobbs Peak in the Wind River Mountains. Soili a struggling tree growth has accumulated in scattered depressions. Note the evens of the Rocky Mountains peneplain (10,500 feet). d. Canadian to Arctic-Alpine zonel in the Teton Range. Steep slopes prevent much development of a Hudsonian zone. e, The Grand Teton from Jenny Lake. Here the asymmetrical anticline of the Tetons. V their sheer rise on the east of over 7000 feet, is clearly seen. [286] W: ) - t:; : iX k t-: t:\t +: f X ,iCb l ? a o o o U) : cn o ? _ o v ? _ I . ? [287] [288]