The Flora of Seattle in 1850: Major Species and Landscapes Prior to Urbanization

Raymond J. Larson, M.S. Curator of Living Collections & the Otis Douglas Hyde Herbarium • What did the landscape of Seattle look like just before Euro-Americans arrived? • What determined the plant species that were being used in restoration efforts? • What were the sources for this information? • Were they relevant to Seattle? • Not much known about plant species and community types present in Seattle before Euro- American settlement and urban development • Ambiguity about what plants were native to the city • What resources could provide answers? • What did these sources tell about the character of the landscape? Overview • Introduction • Methods • Results –Highlights from each part of the city • Discussion • Conclusion Introduction

• Seattle has been heavily impacted by urban development since 1851 • Remnant plant communities are of limited value as a guide to historical conditions • Records from the early Euro- American settlement period are available Methods

• Study area – Northern boundary is 145th St. – Southern boundary is Roxbury St. – Divided into 6 parts – General Land Office Township Surveys • 1855-1862 – Seattle in 1850 Methods

• General Land Office (GLO) Surveys – Organized the land into 6 x 6 mile units called Townships – Then further divided it into 36 one square mile units called Sections Methods

• General Land Office (GLO) Surveys – Posts were set at regular intervals and at water boundaries – Trees closest to each post were marked as “witness” trees – Tree species, diameter, bearing and distance from post were noted – Surveyors recorded vegetative and ecological features for each section and sizes of trees directly in their path Methods

• GLO Surveys – Are one of the most reliable data sources of the general vegetation characteristics of the early Euro- American settlement era (Curtis 1959)

– Provide location of distinct boundaries between vegetation types, descriptions of major timber and understory species, general soil conditions and hydrology (Shulte and Mladenoff 2001) Methods

• Geographic Mapping – Routes of the surveyors in each township – Baseline to divide the city into manageable units in which to add other sources of information Methods

• Herbarium Records – Solid evidence of plant species that once grew wild within the present city limits – Also used to exclude other species that are currently growing wild in Seattle – Specimens from 1870- 1935 Methods

• Early Euro-American settler accounts – Founders of city were intimately acquainted with the land – Produced first hand accounts of species and landscapes present in Seattle before urban development – Letters, articles, books are archived in local libraries and museums Methods

• Geological and Soil Maps – Relief maps helped to locate topographical and hydrological features – Soil maps contributed to understanding of specific vegetation types – Data from 1909-2004 • Early 20th Century Research Papers – George Rigg and Göte Turesson Methods

• Study of Relatively Undisturbed Areas with Remnant Vegetation – Schmitz Park, Seward Park, Piper’s Creek in Carkeek Park, Thornton Creek Park #1 • Other Clues to Historical Vegetation – Present day occurrence of individual plants that were growing in historical period – Stumps from initial logging period Methods

• Native American Geographical Place Names – T.T. Waterman, Vi Hilbert, Jay Miller, Zalmai Zahir – Gave clues as to species occurrence • Study of Native American Population Decline Prior to 1850 – Robert Boyd’s The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence: Introduced Infectious Diseases and Population Decline among Northwest Coast Indians, 1774-1874 (1999) Methods

• Findings Compared to – Intact plant communities that had been described elsewhere in the Puget Sound region – Historical plant lists for certain Seattle parks Methods

• Photographs – From 1859-1935 – Helped set the scene – But limited value

• Authors with Similar Research Interests – Arthur Lee Jacobson, David Williams, David Buerge – Dissertations on related subjects Results

• Botanical tour of the city in 1850 – Highlights – Northwest to southeastern neighborhoods Township 26 North, Range 3 East Northwest Seattle

Township 26 North, Range 4 East Northeast Seattle

Storm drenches region; rescuers "overwhelmed" December 5, 2007 By Jack Broom Seattle Times staff reporter Efforts will resume today to rescue people from flood-stricken homes in Southwest Washington after Monday's regionwide storm killed two, severed major highways, isolated communities and closed scores of roads and businesses. A 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 south of Olympia will remain closed until at least late today, and possibly into Wednesday, according to state transportation officials. The initial detour around the flooded highway, through Yakima, also was changed because of flooding on Highway 97. The detour as of late Monday took drivers through the Tri-Cities, turning the usual 165-mile Seattle-to-Portland drive into a 440-mile journey. Snowslides also closed highways across Stevens and Snoqualmie passes, although both were reopened by Monday evening. In Seattle, more than 4 inches of rain -- enough water to fill Green Lake six times, according to Mayor Greg Nickels -- fell in a 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Monday. It swamped streets, intersections and basements and forced the closure of Nathan Hale High School until Thursday. The deluge far exceeded the capacity the city's drainage systems were designed to handle, the mayor said. Firefighters had to use rafts to carry out residents from four Northgate apartment buildings at Midvale Avenue North and North 107th Street because water was as deep as 10 feet, said Helen Fitzpatrick, a Fire Department spokeswoman. She said one of the apartment building's parking garages was completely underwater.

Township 25 North, Range 3 East West Central Seattle

Township 25 North, Range 4 East East Central Seattle

Township 24 North, Range 3 East Southwest Seattle

Township 24 North, Range 4 East Southeast Seattle

Discussion • In 1850, Seattle was a place of great landscape diversity • It was not one unbroken forest • Each part of the city contained a wide variety of species and habitats Discussion • Forests were of many different ages • Many non-forested habitats – Prairie-like areas – Dozens of springs and brooks – Bogs and swamps – Tide “prairies” – Remnant oak savannahs Discussion • Human impacts were already changing by 1850 • Native populations had been decimated by the mid-1800s • First Euro-American settlers chose relatively open lands for settlement – Duwamish Valley farms – Alki Point Conclusion • Species confirmed present in 1850: – Rhododendron macrophyllum (Pacific rhododendron) – Pachistima myrsinites (mountain boxwood) – Aruncus dioicus (goat’s beard) – Castilleja levisecta, C. hispida, C. attenuata (Indian paint brush) – Camassia quamash, C. leichtlinii (camas) – Erythronium oreganum (dog-toothed violet) – Adiantum aleuticum (northern maidenhair fern) – Philadelphus lewisii (western mock orange) – Pinus contorta (shore pine) – Maianthemum (Smilacina) stellatum (star-flowered Solomon’s seal) – Many, many others… Conclusion • Species absent in 1850: – Oxalis oregana (wood sorrel) – Menziesia ferruginea (fool’s huckleberry) – Corydalis scouleri (Scouler’s bleeding heart) – Viburnum spp. (highbush cranberry) – Betula papyrifera (paper birch) – Myrica californica (Pacific wax myrtle) – Cornus unalaschkensis (C. canadensis) (creeping dogwood) – Vancouveria hexandra (white inside-out flower) Conclusion • Historical resources can provide a great deal of useful information • Worth the added effort • Methods are of value where more detailed information is needed • Allow for informed decisions concerning restoration efforts and use of native plants in landscapes

Thank you Raymond J. Larson Curator of Living Collections & the Otis Douglas Hyde Herbarium [email protected]