The 1900 Invasion of Alien Plants Into Southern Idaho

Great Basin Naturalist

Volume 41 Number 2 Article 2

6-30-1981

The 1900 invasion of alien plants into southern Idaho

Dana L. Yensen University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho

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Recommended Citation Yensen, Dana L. (1981) "The 1900 invasion of alien plants into southern Idaho," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 41 : No. 2 , Article 2. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol41/iss2/2

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. THE 1900 INVASION OF ALIEN PLANTS INTO SOUTHERN IDAHO

Dana L. Yensen'

.Vbstract.— The European annual plants Salsola ibcrica. SisyinbritiDi altissimitm, Descuniinia sophia, and Bromiis tectorum invaded southern Idaho about 1900 and spread very rapidly into native plant communities damaged or eliminated by binning, abusive grazing, and agricultmal clearing. Historic photographs reveal that the sites of initial invasion were waterway margins, railroad rights-of-way, road shoulders, city streets, agricultural areas, and construction sites. By 1915, these plants were widespread and abundant. Burning and grazing fostered their spread and do- minance on millions of acres in southern Idaho.

Several European annual plants invaded 1946, Blaisdell 1953, Root 1955, Shirk 1956, southern Idaho during the few years preced- Fulton 1965, Ellison 1960, Vale 1975, Gibbs ing and following the turn of the century. 1976, Hironaka and Fosberg 1979, Meacham The spread of these alien plants, especially 1979, Young et al. 1979). The perennial cheatgrass, was so rapid that it often escaped grasses and several of the shrubs, notably recording (Leopold 1941). Four important winterfat, saltbushes, and bitterbrush, are plants— So/.so/« iberico Sennen and Pau, Si- highly palatable and nutritious to grazing an- symbrium altissimum L., Descurainia sophia imals (Kennedy 1903, Hodgeson 1948, (L.) Webb., and Bromus tectorum L.— Hutchings and Stewart 1953, Ellison 1960). changed the ecology and the very appear- Originally, if sagebnish grasslands were ance of southern Idaho. This paper presents burned, trampled, or otherwise severely dis- some new information on documenting the turbed and left wholly or partially bare of invasion of these plants into southern Idaho, vegetation, snakeweed {Gutierrezia sarothrae) and the means by which they came to domi- would appear on the disturbed areas within a nate millions of acres of desert rangeland. year or two (Stewart and Hull 1949). Estab- lishment of snakeweed was followed by the Presettlement Vegetation appearance of the short-lived perennial The presettlement vegetation of southern grasses bottlebrush squirreltail (Sitanion hys- Idaho consisted largely of open-canopied trix) and Sandberg's bluegrass {Poa sand- commimities of low-growing shrubs, espe- bergii), along with big sagebrush seedlings. cially big sagebrush {Artemisia tridentata), as Finally, the large-culmed perennial grasses well as winterfat {Ceratoides lanata), bitter- and the perennial broadleaved herbs would brush (Purshia tridentata), rabbit brushes appear (Ellison 1960, Young et al. 1972). iChnjsothamnus sp.), and shadscale {Atriplex Revegetation occupied about a decade, and confetiifolia) and other salt-desert shrubs. only occurred if the area was not significant- Most of the Snake River Plain was dominated ly disturbed. In southern Idaho at the turn of by communities of big sagebrush with a rich the century, however, continual disturbance imderstory of perennial bunch grasses {Stipa, by fire, abusive grazing, agricultural prac- Ehjmus, Agropyron, Oryzopsis, Pea, and Fes- tices, and construction (railroads, roads, tuca) and herbs {Balsamorhiza, Hydro- towns, canals) created an environment in phyllum, Tragopogon, and Agoseris), or by which presettlement patterns of secondary winterfat or other salt-desert communities succession could not persist unchanged (Ken- (Townsend 1839, Fremont 1845, Irving 1907, nedy 1903, Piemeisel 1938, 1951). The stage Elliot 1913, Ferrin 1935, Keith 1938, Stover was set for the invasion of alien plants 1940, Vahlberry 1940, Piatt and Jackman (Young et al. 1979).

'Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83843.

176 June 1981 Yensen: Idaho Plants 177

Conditions Leading to the Invasion thousands of acres of big sagebrush remained, OF Exotic Plants virtually bare of understory (Sweetser 1935, Chapline 1936, Stewart 1936, Taylor 1940, Hodgeson 1948, Reidl et al. 1964,' Young et By 1900, native plant communities had al. 1979). Erosion of the soil became a critical overgrazing been severely damaged by problem, both on the open range and on Pickford (Hodgeson 1948, Piemeisel 1938). abandoned cropland (Clapp 1936, USDI- wrote that in the 30 years after 1880, (1932) BLM 1974). And, with no easing of grazing burning and abusive grazing had resulted in pressure, rehabilitation of the weakened na- an 85 percent reduction in native perennial tive plant communities was not possible grasses and a 40 to 50 percent reduction in (Young et al. 1979). the carrying capacity of the range. By this time, stands of native perennial grasses had been virtually eliminated from southern History and Ecology of Invasion Idaho desert lands (Hodgeson 1948). Burning also caused serious and widespread damage Russian Thistle.— Russian thistle, Salsola to the vegetation. Many stockmen, erro- iberica Sennen and Pau (Beatley 1973), was neously believing that burning the shrublands probably the first important invading plant produced good stands of grasses even when (Hutchings and Stewart 1953). This spiny and grazing pressure following burning was not compact annual herb is a native of the reduced, deliberately set range fires (Griffiths desert-steppe region of Russia. Russian thistle 1902, Pechanec and Hull 1945, Vale 1975). germinates in late spring or early summer, Griffiths (1902), who traveled southwestern grows during the summer, and dies in the Oregon ranges in 1901, reported that such fall. The aboveground part of the plant then range fires were very common, and that breaks off and is tumbled along the ground many of the fires were set by sheepmen. The by the wind, scattering seeds (Piemeisel fact that sheepmen used to set many range 1938). These ball-shaped dead plants are the fires is common southern Idaho lore (Hicks "tumbleweeds" of western cowboy lore. Rus- pers. comm., C. L. Stewart pers. comm.). sian thistle was commonly called "tumble-

From 1900 until the end of World War I, weed" in southern Idaho, but was not present large numbers of prospective farmers settled during the heyday of the cowboy (Piemeisel in southern Idaho (Rinehart 1932, Gibbs 1938, Hicks pers. comm.). Russian thistle 1976). In the words of Hultz (1934), the does not tolerate crowding of stands, and will country was "wheat mad." Railroads offered not continue to grow on an area unless the cheap one-way home seeker fares, and many area is continually disturbed. Therefore, the settlers took advantage of them (Stewart and presence of Russian thistle indicates lands Hull 1949, Gibbs 1976). Large acreages of which have been severely or continually dis- sagebrush lands were settled and cleared for turbed within the past one to three years planting row crops and orchards. However, (Piemeisel 1938). during the 1920s, an agricultural depression Russian thistle invaded the western United began in Idaho. Many farmers went bankrupt States just before 1900 (Hutchings and Stew- and abandoned their homestead claims (Stew- art 1953). In Idaho, the seeds of Russian art and Hull 1949, Gibbs 1976). Thousands of thistle were probably distributed via the acres of plowed farmland, many acres of Snake River and were further disseminated which had been dry-farm wheatfields, were by irrigation canals and field ditches, the left unattended (Warg 1938, Piemeisel 1938, bare margins of the newly constructed water- Stewart and Hull 1949, Young et al. 1979). ways being excellent sites for colonization thistle Sever al decades of burning, trampling, (Dewey 1896). Also, seeds of Russian overstocking, and abusive grazing not only may have been distributed in alfalfa and severely damaged the perennial grass and other crop seeds (Piemeisel 1938). herb understory of the big sagebrush lands, Because of its large size and distinctive ap- but also greatly reduced the acreage domi- pearance, Russian thistle is easily identified nated by the most valuable forage shrub, in photographs. Photographs on file in the winterfat. By 1900 many hundreds of collection of the Idaho Historical Society 178 Great Basin Naturalist Vol. 41, No. 2

(Boise, Idaho), document the early estab- sagebrush lands is illustrated by IHS photo- lishment of Russian thistle in southern Idaho. graph 73-221.810, taken in 1909 near Twin

Figure 1 is an example. The earliest photo- Falls, which shows a newly constructed graphs of Russian thistle in Idaho are IHS church surrounded by a big sagebrush com- 64044.3, showing the plants growing on a munity with only a small cleared space in railroad embankment in southeastern Idaho front of the building. The cleared area sup- in 1890; IHS 73-230.23, an 1897 photograph ports hundreds of Russian thistle plants, and showing plants growing in Nampa at the foot the photograph is labeled "Three months of a speaking platform on which William from sagebrush." Jennings Bryan was standing; and IHS 74- In addition to mechanical disturbance 194.4a, taken in Roswell in 1898, showing (construction, grazing), fire also helped to es- Russian thistle growing near a newly con- tablish Russian thistle in southern Idaho. Fol- structed farmhouse. Other Idaho Historical lowing burning, Russian thistle became the Society photographs reveal that Russian first plant to colonize newly burned lands, thistle first became established on railroad rapidly invading burned big sagebrush- rights-of-way; on the edges of (dirt) city perennial grass areas before snakeweed or streets and in vacant city lots; at construction other native plants could gain a foothold sites of buildings, bridges, and roads; in agri- (Piemeisel 1938, Stewart and Hull 1949). cultural waste places and on field margins; Russian thistle, though inferior in pal- and near waterways. At least 50 early photo- atability and nutritional value to native graphs taken in southern Idaho show that grasses, can be used as forage by livestock.

Russian thistle was well established and wide- When it first appeared in abundance on the ly distributed in southern Idaho by 1905, and southern Idaho range, it was hailed by stock- was abundant by 1915. The fact that Russian men as a valuable new forage plant (Leopold thistle rapidly invaded severely disturbed big 1941). Russian thistle can only be used by

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Fig. 1. Sahola ihcrica and Sisymbrium altissimum (foreground). "Green's ranch," 24 August 1909, near Nampa, Canyon County, Idaho. Photograph courtesy of the Idaho Historical Society. June 1981 Yensen: Idaho Plants 179 livestock, however, in the summer, before it same places as did tumblemustard. The first dries into a spiny skeleton (Murray and reliable photograph evidence of tan-

Klemmedson 1968). symustard in southern Idaho is IHS photo- Mustards.— Several European members graph 68-05.45, taken at Massacre Rocks of the miLstard family also invaded disturbed State Park along the Snake River in 1916. southern Idaho lands. The most important of The mustards were widespread in Idaho by these were tansymustard (Descurainia sophia 1915. Weaver (1917:110) wrote that at that (L.) Webb.) (Detting 1939) and tumblemus- time tumblemustard or "Jim Hill mustard," tard {Sisymbrium altissimwn L.). These an- as it was then called, was "present to a de- nual mustards bloom from early spring to gree almost unbelievable." He stated that it early summer, after which they dry and die. has been introduced into the Pacific North- Like Russian thistle, they have short taproots west along railroad rights-of-way. Piemeisel and do not protect the soil from erosion (Hull (1938) reported that seeds of pinnate tan- and Pechanec 1947). Tumblemustard may symustard and tumblemustard were dis- also break off and scatter seeds in the fall. tributed in alfalfa seed. These mustards also Tumblemustard was also called "tumble- invaded depleted rangeland. They are un- weed" in southern Idaho, but not as com- palatable to livestock, a fact that favored monly as was Russian thistle (Hicks, pers. their establishment and spread (Kennedy and comm.). Mustards can tolerate more crowded Doten 1901). conditions than Russian thistle and can per- Cheatgrass.— The most important exotic sist in very dense stands for a few years, but annual to invade Idaho was the Mediterra- not indefinitely. Peak demands by these nean winter annual grass Bromus tectonim L., plants on upper soil moisture occur before which in the West has been called cheatgrass, Russian thistle begins to grow. These charac- cheatgrass brome, downy brome, downy teristics enable the mustards to invade Rus- chess, Junegrass, bronco grass, and Mormon sian thistle stands and replace the Russian oats. Cheatgrass now occurs in every state ex- thistle within one to three years, if not se- cept Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and verely disturbed. However, if a mustard stand Florida. In the eastern states it is a roadside is heavily trampled or otherwise disturbed, weed, but in the West it has invaded millions Russian thistle will replace the mustards. of acres of rangeland and cropland (Hull and Mustard stands become extremely crowded Pechanec 1947, Stewart and Hull 1949, in a few years and cannot persist. If not dis- Klemmedson and Smith 1964). turbed, mustards will soon be invaded and re- Cheatgrass germinates during fall rains and placed by other plants (usually cheatgrass) maintains small, dormant leaves during the (Piemeisel 1951, Hironaka and Tisdale 1963). winter. In spring, it grows rapidly and begins The mustards, less distinctive in habit than to form seed heads in April. In May, the Russian thistle, are much more difficult to seeds mature, and the plants turn purplish as identify with certainty in photographs. The they dry in the early summer heat. In June first evidence of tumblemustard growing in and July the seeds mature and fall to the

Idaho is Idaho Historical Society photograph ground, and the plants die. The dry plants, by IHS 73-230.23, showing tumblemustard (with then straw colored, persist upright in place Russian thistle) in Nampa in 1897. Four 1906 for months (Stewart and Hull 1949, Klem- Idaho Historical Society photographs show medson and Smith 1964). timiblemustard present along man-made wa- Stewart and Young (1949) noted that terways near Jerome and Twin Falls (IHS 73- cheatgrass was collected in Pennsylvania in 221.781c, IHS 60-176.103, IHS 60-176.104, 1861, in Washington in 1893, in Utah in IHS 60-176.106). Tumblemustard also ap- 1894, in Colorado in 1895, in Wyoming in peared between 1900 and 1917 along rail- 1900, and was present in nearly all of its cur- road tracks, on roadsides, at construction rent range by 1900, though it was not as

sites, and in agricultural areas (Fig. 1). Tan- abundant as it was later to become. Stewart

symustard is even more difficult to recognize and Young implied that the spread of cheat-

in photographs; it probably became estab- grass was from east to west. However, there lished at about the same times and in the is a strong possibility that the first cheatgrass 180 Great Basin Naturalist Vol. 41, No. 2 to arrive in Idaho came from awns carried in be positively identified only in uncommon in- the coats of sheep trailed from California stances. It is undoubtably present in many through Nevada to southern Idaho. photographs where reliable identification is

Cheatgrass awns catch in the coats of live- not possible. (Cheatgrass is a relatively small, stock and may be carried for miles before fine-textured plant, and its delicate heads are dropping out (Piemeisel 1938). The first in- stirred by a slight breeze, often blurring the stances of cheatgrass invasion in Nevada photographic image.) Idaho Historical So- were in areas where California sheep had ciety photographs in which cheatgrass can be grazed (Kennedy 1903). Since bands of Cali- positively identified show cheatgrass to have fornia sheep were trailed through Nevada been present in southern Idaho by 1910 in and into Idaho (Wentworth 1948, Hanley areas along railroad rights-of-way, on road- and Lucia 1973), it seems reasonable to as- sides, and in vacant, disturbed areas within sume that cheatgrass awns could have been towns. Severely damaged rangeland was also carried into Idaho by these sheep. Piemeisel invaded about this time (Stewart and Hull (1938) notes that, as with other exotic an- 1949). nuals, cheatgrass seeds were often present in Cheatgrass has been called an aggressive alfalfa seeds, and cheatgrass was also dis- invader of big sagebrush lands (Piatt and tributed in that way. An Idaho Historical So- Jackman 1946), but Piemeisel (1938), who did ciety photograph (IHS 503-F), taken at the classic successional studies in southern Idaho mouth of Kuna Cave in southern Ada County beginning in the 1920s, concluded that in- in 1898, shows a dense stand of cheatgrass vasions of big sagebrush lands by cheatgrass growing mider a sparse cover of big sage- were largely limited to voids in native vege- brush. This is the earliest photographic evi- tation. Warg (1938) concluded that cheat- dence of cheatgrass occurrence in Idaho, and grass could not invade pristine native vegeta- even at the time of the photograph it appears tion and that invasion by cheatgrass was an to have been well established. Klemmedson indication of disturbed range. Young et al. and Smith (1964) note that cheatgrass is in- (1979) also felt that exotic annuals, including cluded in Piper and Beattie's 1907 Flora of cheatgrass, did not invade stands of healthy the Palouse, Howell's 1903 Flora of North- native vegetation. west America, and Piper's 1906 Flora of Many stockmen were enthusiastic about Washington. Cheatgrass, however, is not the appearance of the abundant new grass, mentioned in Weaver's (1917) Flora of South- and erroneously believed it to be superior to eastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho. the native perennials it had replaced (Stab- O. R. Hicks (pers. comm.) remembered lein 1940, Piatt and Jackman 1946). Even that, just prior to 1906, cheatgrass occurred though cheatgrass was a poor substitute for in south central Idaho between the towns of the native grasses, at the time of its rapid es- Glenns Ferry and King Hill in what was tablishment and spread it was a blessing for called a "railroad line"— a line of cheatgrass the range because it did afford quantities of invasion originating on the railroad right-of- forage for livestock held on depleted ranges, way and extending about 300 yards into the and afforded some protection from soil ero- native vegetation on either side of the rail- sion when much of the range was overgrazed road tracks. Hicks believed that cheatgrass and denuded of soil cover (Piatt and Jackman was fed to the sheep in the stock cars and 1946). that seed heads fell from the cars to ground Cheatgrass burns. Because cheatgrass is the along the tracks. most inflammable of the range forage plants, In the first few years after 1900, cheatgrass range fires in southern Idaho became more gained a foothold on disturbed areas such as frequent. Cheatgrass range is 500 times more railroad rights-of-way, road shoulders, or- likely to burn than any other rangeland type chards, fallow fields, and especially in dry- (Piatt and Jackman 1946, Stewart and Hull land alfalfa fields which were grazed after 1949). Leopold (1941) wrote that it is in fact having been harvested (Stewart and Hull impossible to protect cheatgrass ranges from

1949). In photographs, cheatgrass is not dis- fire. Burning is very damaging to big sage- tinctive in appearance at a distance and can brush-grass communities (Pechanec et al. June 1981 Yensen: Idaho Plants 181

1954, Vale 1974). The presence of cheatgrass In the years immediately following World

in tliese communities can carry fires into War I, cheatgrass made its most rapid ad- areas that would normally not burn (Stewart vances, colonizing millions of acres of aban- and Hull 1949, Hull 1965, Pechanec et al. doned farmland and disturbed range (Piemei- 1954). sel 1938, Wentworth 1948, Stewart and Hull Many early stockmen believed that fire did 1949). By the late 1920s cheatgrass was abun- not damage cheatgrass stands (Stablein 1940, dant in southern Idaho. An Idaho Statesman Pechanec and Hull 1945), since, once estab- article dated 1 May 1928 reported that the lished on an area, cheatgrass will be present desert bunchgrass had been replaced by grass that "grows in a day, ripens in a day, and the year after it has been burned because blows away in a day." By 1932, the most im- cheatgrass seeds are not usually all destroyed portant plant on Idaho desert ranges was by fire (Warg 1938, Leopold 1941). Many cheatgrass (Rinehart 1932). By 1949, about southern Idaho stockmen regularly set range 4,000,000 acres in Idaho were dominated by fires, because the following year the burned cheatgrass, and cheatgrass was an important areas were not camouflaged by shrubs or by component of the vegetation on 10,000,000 the previous year's dried growth and so ap- to 15,000,000 additional Idaho acres (Stewart peared greener (Hicks pers. comm.). Cheat- and Hull 1949). This plant is now the most grass on the range increased very rapidly important forage plant in Idaho (Klemmed when fire was combined with overgrazing, son and Smith 1964). The impact of cheat- which was often the case (Stewart and Young grass is difficult to comprehend, for it has lit- 1939, Leopold 1941, Ellison 1960, Hironaka erally changed the appearance of southern

and Fosberg 1979). Cheatgrass replaced Idaho (Young et al. 1979). much vegetation on burned areas and came

to dominate millions of acres, aided by its Summary own flammability (Stewart and Hull 1949, Klemmedson and Smith 1964, Hironaka and At the turn of the century, the alien annual Fosberg 1979). plants Russian thistle, tansymustard, tvunble- well established After cheatgrass became mustard, and cheatgrass invaded the native in Idaho, pattern of secondary southern the plant communities of southern Idaho after succession was changed. longer was an in- No having first become established on canal itial disturbance necessarily followed by the banks, city streets, construction sites, road eventual appearance of native shrubs and shoulders, abandoned farmlands, and railroad grasses. After the invasion of the exotic an- rights-of-way. Abusive grazing and burning nuals, the secondary succession pattern be- weakened the native plant communities and came Russian thistle invasion initially, fol- opened the vegetation to invasion by these lowed by mustard invasion, and finally by plants. The alien plants changed the patterns cheatgrass establishment. Russian thistle of secondary succession in southern Idaho dominated for a year or two, mustards for and also altered the carrying capacity of the two or three years, and then cheatgrass be- range, the amount of soil erosion, and the fre- came the dominant species (Piemeisel 1951, quency of fires. Continued burning and ex- Hironaka and Tisdale 1963). If undisturbed, cessive grazing allowed these annuals to be- cheatgrass stands were in turn invaded by come dominant on millions of acres of land in bottlebnish squirreltail and subsequently by southern Idaho. The face of southern Idaho other native plants (Hironaka and Tisdale has been changed by the invasion of these

1963). However, if cheatgrass were burned or exotic plants.

grazed, it was able to maintain itself indefinitely (Piemeisel 1938, 1951). Over- Acknowledgments grazing combined with burning helped to in-

sure a continuous stand of cheatgrass and to I thank Graham Smith for his guidance and prevent reestablishment of native plants support during the course of this research. (Piemeisel 1938, 1951, Leopold 1941, Stew- Tom Kucera, Robert Smith, and Karen Steen- art and Hull 1949). hof critically read the manuscript and offered 182 Great Basin Naturalist Vol. 41, No. 2

useful suggestions. The assistance of Kath- Hanley, M., and E. Lucia. 1973. Owyhee trails: the West's forgotten corner. Caxton Printers, Cald- erine Bettis, Jane Houston, Ann Joslin, and well, Idaho. 314 others of the Idaho State Library was of great pp. Hironaka, M., and M. a. Fosberg. 1979. Non-fore.st value in locating sources. of John Lamborn habitat types of southern Idaho. Interim report. the Merrill Library, Utah State University, Coll. of For., Wildl. and Range Sci. Univ. of aided me in using the Works Progress Ad- Idaho, Moscow. In fascicles. Hironaka, ministration History of Grazing files and M., and E. W. Tisdale. 1963. Secondarv succession in annual vegetation in southern Idaho. gave me access to the Stoddart literature col- Ecol., 44:810-812. lection. The Idaho Historical Society allowed Hicks, O. R. 1979. Idaho pioneer. Pars. comm. me to use their extensive photograph file and Hodgeson, C. W. 1948. Idaho range cattle industry: to reprint the photograph that appears here- early cattle days in Idaho. A manuscript pre- in. This research was supported by USDI- pared for classes in animal husbandry. Univ. of BLM Contract 52500-CT5-1002, Dr. Donald Idaho, Moscow. .33 pp. Pechanec, F., and a. C. Hull, Jr. 1945. Spring for- R. Johnson, principal investigator. Depart- J. age lost through cheatgrass fires. Nat'l Wool of ment Biology, University of Idaho, Grower, .35:13. Moscow. F., Pechanec, J. J. D. Pickford, and G. Stewart. 1937. Effects of the 19.34 drought on the native vegeta- Literature Cited tion of the upper Snake River Plains, Idaho. Ecol. 18:490-505.

Hull, A. C, Jr. 1965. Cheatgrass— a persistent home- Beatley, J. C. 1973. Russian thistle (Salsola) species in the western United States. steader. Pages 20-26 in Proceedings of the cheat- J. Range Manage. 26:225-226. grass symposium, USDI-BLM, Oregon-Washing- ton state offices. 27-.30 July, Vale, Oregon. Blaisdell. J. p. 1953. Ecological effects of planned Hull, A. F. burning of sagebnish-grass range on the upper C, Jr., and J. Pechanec. 1947. Cheat- grass— a challenge to range research. Forestry Snake River Plains. USDA Tech. Bull. 1075. 39 J. 45:555-564. pp. Hull, A. 1966. of Chapline, W. R. 1936. Excessive stocking. Pages C, Jr., and G. J. Klomp. Longevity 151-172 in USDA Forest Service. The western crested wheatgrass in the sagebrush-grass type in southern Idaho. Manage. 19:5-11. range. 74th Congress, 2d session. Senate docu- J. Range ment 199. 1974. Yield of crested wheatgrass under four den- Cl.\pp, E. H. 19.36. The major range problems and their sities of big sagebrush in .southern Idaho. USDA solutions. Pages 1-80 in USDA Forest Service. Agr. Res. Serv. Tech. Bull. No. 1483. 11 pp. The western range. 74th Congress, 2d session. HuLTZ, F. S. 1934. Development of the range sheep in- Senate document 199. dustry. Amer. Cattle Prod. 14:3-7. Detting, L. E. 19.39. A revision of North American spe- HuTCHiNGS, S. S., AND G. Stewart. 1953. Increasing for- cies of Desctirainia. Amer. Midi. Nat. age yields and sheep production on inter- 22:481-519. mountain winter ranges. USDA Forest Serv. Circ. Dewey, L. H. 1896. Migration of weeds. USDA Year- No. 925. 63 pp. book, 1896. Pages 26.3-286. Idaho Statesman. Anon. May 1, 1928. Mustang finds Ellison, L. 1960. Influence of grazing on plant .succes- champion in veteran range rider. sion of rangelands. Bot. Rev., 26:1-66. Irving, W. 1907. The works of Washington Irving, Vol. Elliott, T. C, ed. 1913. Journal of John Work's snake 10: Bonneville. Jenson Soc, Portland, Oregon. country expedition of 1830-31. Second Half. 524 pp. Keith, R. 1938. the long horned cattle of Texas Quarterly of the Ore. Hist. Soc, 14:280-314. J. When Ferrin, T. M. 19.35. Typed statement, October 21. In came to Idaho territory. Idaho St. Hist. Soc. 16th Works Progress Administration, Historv of graz- Rep. 1937-.38:41-49. ing. xManuscript Files. Utah State Univ., Logan. Kennedy, P. B. 190.3. Summer ranges of eastern Nevada Fremo.nt, sheep. Nev. St. Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. No. 55, J. C. 1845. Report on the exploring expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the year 1842 and to Reno. 55 pp. Oregon and north California in the years Kennedy, P. B., and S. B. Dote.n. 1901. A preliminary report on the summer ranges of western Nevada 184.3-44. Gales and Seaton, Washington. 69.3 pp. St. Univ. Fulton, A. C. 1965. Tales of the trail. Pavette Radio sheep. Nev. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. No. 51, Reno. 57 Ltd. .378 pp. pp. O., 1964. Cheatgrass GiBBS, R. 1976. Beckoning the bold, story of the dawn- Klemmedson, J. AND J. G. Smith. ing of Idaho. Univ. Press of Idaho, Moscow. 267 {Bro7mi.s tectorum L.). Bot. Rev., Apr.-June:226-262. pp. G. 1965. Studies in rehabilitation of cheatgrass Griffiths, D. 1902. Forage conditions on the western Klomp, J. border of the Great Basin, being a report upon ranges. Pages 51-54 in Proceedings of the cheatgrass investigations made during July and August 1901, svmposium, USDI-BLM, Oregon-Washing- in the region between Winnemucca, Nevada, and ton state offices, July 27-30, Vale, Oregon. Ontario, Oregon. U.S. Bureau of Plant Industrv. Leopold, A. 1941. Cheat takes over. The Land 1:310-313. Bull. 38. 52 pp. June 1981 Yensen: Idaho Plants 183

R. E. 1936. The virgin range. Pages 75-116 in McVrdle, SwEETSER, L. H. 1935. Narrative of the livestock history Service. Congress, 2d session. USD.\ Forest 74th and range conditions of that area siuroimding Senate document 199. and within the Minidoka National Forest. Type- Meacham, C. M. 1979. The south alternate of the Ore- written statement. In Works Progress Adminis-

gon Trail, in the Snake River birds of prey study tration, History of grazing. Manuscript files. Utah area. Unpublished report. Boise District, Bureau State Univ., Logan. of Land Management. .30 pp. Taylor, R. C. 1940. Idaho Statesman, Febmary 4. Nam- B., 1968. Murray, R. and J. O. Klemmedso.n. Cheat- pas white sage fed cattle for Boise Basin's miners grass range in southern Idaho: seasonal cattle in 1864.

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F., A. C. 1945. Spring for- in range management. Idaho Agric. Expt. Sta. Pecha.nec, J. AND Hull, Jr. age lost through cheatgrass fires. Nat'l Wool Bull. 512. 15 pp. 1839. Narrative of a across the Grower, 35:13. TowNSEND, J. journev F., Stewart. 1937. Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, reprint- Pechanec, J. J. D. PicKFORD, AND G. Effects of the 1934 drought on the native vegeta- ed. Pages 107-639 in Thwaites, R., ed., 1906. tion of the upper Snake River plains, Idaho. Ecol. Early western travels. Vol. 2. Arthur H. Clarke 18:490-505. Co., Cleveland, Ohio. USDA Forest Service. 1936. The western range. 74th F., P. Blaisdell. 1954. Pechanec, J. G. Stewart, and J. Congress, 2nd Session. Senate Document # 199. Sagebrush burning good and bad. USD.\ Farm- 620 pp. ers' Bull. No. 1948. .34 pp. USDI, Bureau of Land Ma.nageme.nt. 1965. Pro- PiEMiESEL, R. L. 19.38. Changes in weedy plant cover on ceedings of the cheatgrass .symposium. Oregon- cleared sagebrush land and their probable causes. Washington state offices. July 27-30, Vale, U.S. Dept. of Agric, Washington, D.C. Tech. Oregon. Bull. 654. 1947. Idaho range management program report. 1951. Causes affecting change and rate of change In fascicles. of in Ecol. on a vegetation annuals Idaho. Vahlberry, E. C. 1940. Special range, report R-4. State- 32:53-72. ment of E. C. Vahlberry concerning range and PiCKFORD, G. D. 19.32. The influence of continued heavy game conditions and range use on the public do- grazing and of promiscuous burning on spring-fall main adjacent to the Boise, Payette and Wei.ser ranges in Utah. Ecol. 13:159-171. National forests. In Works Progress Adminis- Platt, K., and E. R. Jackman. 1946. The cheatgrass tration, History of grazing. Manuscript files. Utah problem in Oregon. Oregon St. Fed. Coop. Ext. State Univ., Logan.

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