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were baked in earth ovens and dried for winter
storage. Along the upper reaches of streams and rivers the people fished
the annual runs and prepared fish for winter consumption. Platforms and
fish trap walls constructed of networks of
sticks or stone were employed. Fish were also gathered in scoop nets and
taken with harpoon spears. Important fishing and plant gathering areas
for the .Indians included Pine Valley where camas was abundant, Eagle
Creek, and the upper reaches of the Powder River. In late summer and
early fall the people moved as small groups into higher country to
gather berries, late roots and to hunt game.
Some of the hunters traveled to the subalpine heights
of the mountain ridges overlooking the Powder River Valley. The use of the
bow and arrow for hunting was well established, as indicated by the
presence of small arrowpoints in archaeological sites. Ignimbrite, similar
in appearance to obsidian, was available for tool manufacture from the
Dooley Mountain area. Native bison, mountain sheep, bear, elk, deer, and
antelope were hunted. Throughout the year, the diet consisted of
approximately 50% fish, 30% plant foods (particularly roots and berries),
and 20% game animals. As the year progressed, people began to return to
the lower elevation winter villages.
Although there is no documented evidence of pithouses
in Baker Valley during this period of time, based upon the known
archaeological evidence, it is certain that the Powder River valley was
occupied and used by Native Americans through the last 10,000 years. The
people may not have lived in the Baker Valley during the winter, and so
perhaps did not leave evidence of their pithouse lodges; but they camped
along the edge of the valley to hunt game and waterfowl and to gather
plants.
About 1730 the people of the Blue Mountains, Columbia
and Snake Rivers acquired the horse from the Shoshone, which led to some
dramatic changes in their lifeways. The southern Plateau people became
well known for their fine horse herds. In the 1700's the native bison of
the Baker County area were probably hunted until they disappeared. The
horse enabled the people to travel to the eastern plains to hunt buffalo
and acquire some of the cultural trappings of the Plains Indians; and to
travel to rendezvous during the fur trade years. Groups also traveled to
important salmon fishing locations along the Columbia River, where they
traded well made basketry and bags, camas, and biscuitroot for items they
wished to acquire from more western groups.
The arrival of the emigrant wagon trains in Baker
County in the decades between 18401860 brought many new changes to the
native peoples who had lived here so successfully for thousands of years.
Euro-American diseases brought by the settlers ravaged the native
populations; and European concepts of land ownership and social customs
were alien to the native people. Conflicts with the new settlers, and the
deaths of those at the Whitman Mission, led to the 1855 treaty which
established the first reservations for these Plateau peoples. Most of the
land in Baker County is included within the area where the people retained
treaty rights to hunt, fish, gather plants and graze stock.
Oregon Trail pioneer diaries contain only a few
references to Indian groups living in Baker County. A small group of
Indians was noted living along Alder Creek near Durkee, in an 1850's
pioneer record. When pioneers traveled through Baker County during the
late summer - early fall, most of the Indian groups were probably hunting
and gathering in the mountain foothills, avoiding the emigrant route, and
were thus not seen by the pioneers.
The rush for gold in Northeast Oregon increased the
intensity of difficulties between the Native Americans and the immigrants,
leading to treaty violations by gold seekers and settlers. Many local
histories record brief conflicts with small Indian groups during the years
following gold discovery in Baker County. Escalating troubles led to the
Nez Perce War of 1877. The Bannock-Paiute War of 1878, in which some
Cayuse were involved, spilling over from Idaho and southeast Oregon into
Baker County. After these wars, most of the Native Americans were confined
to smaller reservations or moved from their traditional areas. As late as
1882, land surveyors noted the presence of a small cluster of Indian
lodges along Daly Creek, a tributary of the Powder River. Local family
histories indicate that small groups of Indians continued to travel about
in Baker County after the establishment of reservations, but they never
regained control of their ancient homelands. (B : Mary Oman,
Archaeologist, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Baker, Oregon.)
Baker County Soil and Drainage Description
The Powder Basin comprises more than 2 million
acres, including almost all of Baker County and a small part of Union
County. The basin is bounded on the west by the Elkhorn and Blue
mountains, on the north by the Wallowa Mountains, and on the east by the
Snake River Canyon. The divide between Burnt River and Willow Creek of the
Malheur River Basin forms the southern boundary.
Valley Lands
Valley lands are scattered throughout the
basin and vary a great deal in precipitation and temperature. Even within
Baker Valley itself, the mean annual precipitation ranges from 18 inches
on the west side to 9 inches on the east. Pine Valley receives about 21
inches. Valleys within the forested uplands have more precipitation and
colder temperatures than those within the grassland uplands. The soils are
formed from alluvium on stream flood plains, fans, and terraces. Most
flood plains and terraces are nearly level with the youngest alluvium on
the lowest surfaces, close to the stream. Older terraces may have steeper
slopes cut by erosion.
The original vegetation has been destroyed in most of
the valleys. It ranged from forest in some of the highest and most humid
valleys to grassland. The kind of grass and shrub vegetation varied with
soil drainage and degree of sodium saturation. Some of the well-drained
soils had bluebunch wheatgrass and sagebrush as did the adjacent upland
soils. With increasing wetness, giant wildrye and rushes became more
important. Greasewood and salt grass were the characteristic plants on
alkali soils.
Grassland Uplands
The grassland upland are in the central,
eastern and southern parts of the basin. The mean annual precipitation
ranges from 9 to 17 inches. The growing season ranges from 100 to 200 days
and the mean annual air temperature from 46° to 531/8 F. The
main rocks are basalt, and esite, greenstone, tuff, shale, diorite,
limestone, argillite, and stratified, unconsolidated sediments. Deep
canyons have been cut by the Snake River and its tributaries, producing
steep to very steep side slopes with gently sloping to sloping ridge tops.
Vegetation consists of grasses and shrubs, primarily
sagebrush. The dominant grass on south slopes, especially in areas with
lower rainfall, is bluebunch wheatgrass. Idaho fescue tends to be on north
slopes, especially in areas with higher rainfall.
Forested Uplands
The forested uplands are in the
northern and western parts of the basin. Mean annual precipitation ranges
from 15 to 40 inches, mostly in the form of snow. The growing season is
from less then-90 to 120 days, with warm temperatures in the summer months
and September. The main rocks are basalt, andesite, quartz diorite, and
argillite. The areas have steep and very steep side slopes, cut by
dissecting streams, and gently sloping ridge tops.
The vegetation varies with slope aspect, precipitation,
soil depth, and ash content of the soil. North slopes, where volcanic ash
from the eruption of Mt. Mazama many years ago is concentrated, produce a
mixed forest of Douglas-fir, fir, larch and lodgepole pine. The south
slopes at lower elevations and lower precipitation produce stands of
ponderosa pine with grass understory. Douglas-fir increases and grass
decreases with elevation and precipitation. Very shallow soils have grass
and shrub vegetation without trees.
The ashy soils, mostly on north slopes and some ridge
tops is from 15 to 40 inches thick. Soils without a distinct ashy layer in
areas of basalt or andesite bedrock are in the Klicker, Hall Ranch, or
Rock Creek series, and are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock, stony, and
commonly forested. Rock Creek soils are very stony, shallow, and lack
forest cover.
Partial Soil Descriptions
Clayey soils are derived mostly
from shale, argillite, tuff and greenstone materials, and are formed in
Durkee, Brownlee, North Powder, and Keating soils. The Salisbury, Keating,
Brownlee, and Nagle soils have darker surface layers and lower lime
content than other soils of the grassland uplands.
Soils of the Virtue, Hibbare, Baker, Hutchinson, and
Applegate series occur on older fans and terraces and have silica-cemented
hardpans. (Virtue soils are near Keating and Applegate soils are found in
Pine Valley.) Fan terraces of glacial origin form good soils along
the west side of Baker Valley. Haines and Baldock areas are found to be of
variable alkali conditions. (Grant Lindsay. Retired, Soil specialist)
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