Southwestern Idaho, Class I Cultural Resources Overview, Vol. 1
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BLM LIBRARY 88000243 SOUTHWESTERN IDAHO CULTURAL RESOURCES OVERVIEW Boise and Shoshone Districts 1982 Jfc Wtfte SOUTHWESTERN IDAHO CLASS I CULTURAL RESOURCES OVERVIEW for the BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT BOISE AND SHOSHONE DISTRICT, IDAHO Contract No. YA-553-CT1-1095 VOLUME 1 By Dr. Elliott A. Gehr Evelyn Lee Gretchen Johnson J. Donald Merritt Steven Nelson Submitted by: Professional Analysts 743 Country Club Road Eugene, Oregon 97401 (503485-6877 December 1982 BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LIBRARY Denver , Co I orado Bur Ubr 88066243 BIcL Denver, CO 8US» 121 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Numbers LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF FIGURES V PART 1 - CULTURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SUMMARY 1 1 . Introduction 1 1 . Orientation 1 1.3 Cultural Resource Investigations and Research Background 1 1-3-1 Summary of Past and Current Work 1 1.3.2 Collections 1 -5 1-3-3 Present Research Orientations 1--5 1 -4 Cultural Resource Narrative 1--6 1-4-1 Native Americans in Southwest Idaho 1 -6 1 -4-2 History 1--7 1 . 5 Cultural Resource Synthesis 1--14 1.5-1 Prehistoric Use of the Study Area 1--14 1-5-2 Historic Use of the Study Area 1--15 1.6 Research Directions, Management Options, Data Base, Values 1--17 1.6.1 Research Directions 1--17 1.6.2 Cultural Resource Management Options 1--17 1.6-3 The Cultural Resource Data Base 1--17 1.6.4 Cultural Resource Values 1--19 1.7 Vo lume 2 1-19 PART 2 - ORIENTATION 2-1 2. The Study Area 2-1 2.2 Reasons and Goals for the Study 2-1 2-3 Theoretical Orientation and Underlying Assumptions 2-3 2-4 Methods for Compiling Data 2-3 2-4-1 Methods 2-3 2-4-2 Problems and Resolutions 2-4 2-5 Tasks and Level of Effort 2-5 2.5-1 Research Staff and the Division of Labor... 2-5 2.5-2 Task-Specific Level of Effort 2-6 PART 3 - ENVIRONMENTAL OVERVIEW BOISE AND SHOSHONE DISTRICT 3-1 Introduction 3-1 3 • 1 Phys iography 3-1 3 • 1 • 1 Snake River Plain 3-1 3.1.2 Basin and Range Province 3-4 3-1.3 The Owyhee Uplands 3-5 3-2 Climate 3-5 3.2.1 Present 3-5 3.2.2 Prehistoric 3-6 3.3 Geologic History 3-19 3.3.1 Precambrian Era to Recent Times 3-19 3-3.2 Sources of Geologic Material Useful to Prehistoric 3-21 3.3.3 Historic Mining Geology in the Study Area... 3-21 3-4 Soils 3-21 3.5 Vegetation 3-21 3.5.1 Prehistoric Vegetation 3-24 3.5.2 Present Vegetation 3-24 3.5.3 Camas 3-24 3.6 Fauna 3-26 3.6.1 Prehistoric 3-26 3.6.2 Historic Fauna 3-26 3 • 7 Summa ry 3-27 PART 4 - CULTURAL RESOURCE INVESTIGATIONS AND RESEARCH BACKGROUND 4-1 4-1 Summary of Past and Current Work 4-1 4.1.1 Discussion 4-1 4.1.2 Cultural Resource Research and Investi- gation - Project Summaries 4-7 4.2 Collections 4-71 4.2.1 Discussion 4-71 4.2.2 Catalogues - Historic Sites 4-71 4.2.3 Maps 4-71 4.2.4 Photographs 4-72 4.2.5 News pa pe rs 4-72 4.2.6 Collections 4-72 4.3 Present Research Orientations 4-74 4.3.1 Research Questions and Orientations 4-74 ^^ 11 7 PART 5 - CULTURAL RESOURCE NARRATIVE 5-1 5.1 Native Americans in Southwest Idaho 5-1 5« 1 • 1 Introduction 5-1 5.1-2 Cultural Chronology 5-1 5.1.3 Lifeways 5-17 5.2 History 5-62 5-2.1 Historic Themes 5-62 5.2.2 Historic Lifeways 5-73 5.2.3 Contemporary Culture 5-74 5.2.4 Federal Government in the West 5-75 PART 6 - CULTURAL CHRONOLOGY SUMMARY 6-1 6. Outline of Prehistory 6-1 6.2 Historic Timeline 6-3 PART 7 - CULTURAL RESOURCE SYNTHESIS 7-1 7-1 Prehistoric Use and Occupation 7-1 7.1.1 Settlement Patterns and Land Use 7-2 7.1.2 Prehistoric Material Culture 7-8 7.2 Historic Use and Occupation of the Study Area 7-13 7.2.1 Contact History 7-13 7.2.2 Settlement Patterns and Land Use 7-14 7.2.3 Contemporary Land Use 7-14 PART 8 - SUGGESTED MANAGEMENT OPTIONS AND RESEARCH DIRECTIONS 8-1 8. Research Directions 8-1 8.1.1 Prehistory 8-1 8.1.2 History 8-14 8.2 Cultural Resource Management Options 8-1 8.2.1 Impacts to Cultural Resources from Multiple Land Use 8-17 8.2.2 Cultural Resource Preservation and Preservation Issues 8-20 8.2.3 General Issues and Options for Resource Managers 8-21 8.2.4 Options from Existing Management Framework Plans 8-23 BIBLIOGRAPHY B-1 ^^^ LIST OF TABLES Page Numbers Table 1 - Number of Recorded Historic and Prehistoric Sites for Each District 1-18 Table 2 - Direct Level of Effort 2-7 Table 3 - Selected Weather Recording Stations in the Study Area 3-7 Table 4 - Inches of Precipitation: Median, Monthly and Annual Totals, 1931-1965 3-8 Table 5 - Inches of Snowfall: Mean, Median, Greatest, Least Monthly and Seasonal Totals 1931-1965 3-9 Table 6 - Average Monthly Maximum and Minimum Temperature in °F 1964-1977 3-10 Table 7 - Geologic Sequences and Paleoenvironments of Southeastern Oregon 3-1 2 Table 8 - Prehistoric Environments in the Study Area 3-16 Table 9 - Geologic Time Scale (From McKee 1972) 3-20 tv ) LIST OF FIGURES Page Numbers Figure 1 - Study Area Boundaries 2-2 Figure 2 - Physiographic Features of the Study Area 3-2 Figure 3 - Physiography of the Study Area (Raisz 1941).. 3-3 Figure 4 - Representative Climate Stations for the Study Area (NOAA) 3-11 Figure 5 - Worldwide Climate Change 3-14 Figure 6 - Approximate Limits of Mazama Ash in the Study Area (Fryxell 1965) 3-17 Figure 7 - Sites of Historic Mining Activity in the Study Area (ISHS 1970) 3-22 Figure 8 - General Soil Types in the Study Area (Ross and Savage 1967) 3-23 Figure 9 - Generalized Vegetation Zones in the Study Area (Ross and Savage 1967) 3-25 Figure 10 - Major Sites Discussed in Text 5-2 Figure 11 - Named Cultural Sequences 5-4 Figure 12 - Projectile Point Sequences 5-6 Figure 13 - Site Types by Physiographic Area 5-9 Figure 14 - Site Assemblages by Physiographic Area 5-10 Figure 15 - Inventory of Major Site Types by Time Period 5-12 Figure 16 - Site Assemblages Over Time 5-13 Figure 17 - Site Types in Each Physiographic Region.... 5-15 Figure 18 - Ethnographic Distribution per Steward (1937) and Stewart ( 1 939 5-22 Figure 19 - Linguistic Groups in the Great Basin and Surrounding Areas 5-24 v ) Figure 20 - Portion of the Basin Plateau Area (Steward 1938) 5-27 Figure 21 - Faunal Resource Distribution after Steward (1938) 5-43 Figure 22 - Prehistoric Resources and Transhumance Pattern (Steward 1938) 5-46 Figure 23 - Shoshoni-Bannock Subsistence Areas (Murphy and Murphy 1 960) 5-47 Figure 24 - Cross-section View of Typical Upland Canyon Showing Distribution of Sites Plew ( 1 980c) 5-54 Figure 25 - Routes of the Oregon Trail in the Study Area 5-71 Figure 26 - Prehistoric Timeline.... 6-11 Figure 27 - Historic Timeline 6-12 Figure 28 - Worldwide Climate and Local Environmental Change ( Gehr et al. 1 978 7-3 Figure 29 - Evolution of Projectile Point Form and Weight in the Study Area 7-4 Figure 30 - Chronology, Climate, Cultural Characteristics 7-5 Figure 31 - Inventory of Major Site Types by Time Period 7-6 Figure 32 - The Relationship Between Site Types and Physiographic Units (Plew 1980) 7-7 Figure 33 - Site Assemblages over Time 7-9 Figure 34 - Site Assemblages by Physiographic Area.... 7-11 V% PART 1 - CULTURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SUMMARY 1 .1 Introduction This Class I Inventory Report provides an overview of the cultural resource data base for the Boise and the Shoshone Bureau of Land Management Districts in southwest Idaho. Volume 1 contains summary descriptions of present-day and prehistoric environments, past and ongoing research in archaeology, ethno- graphy, and history, and provides discussions of the prehistory, ethnography, and history of the study area. There are 3209 prehistoric and 244 historic sites recorded in the Boise District; and, 491 prehistoric and 29 historic sites recorded in the Shoshone District. The prehistoric record begins 15,000 years ago; archaeological data continuous from this time to the first Euro- American visits in AD 1811 may exist at some sites. Recommendations for the management of the cultural resources and for future research are included in Volume 1 . Volume 2 exists as a separate document for each of the two districts, and accompanies site summary tables, which describe the recorded sites in each. Volume 2 describes the extant site record systems, site classifications and definitions, and significant sites formally listed on national, state, and local registers. The reader is encouraged to consult the basic report for detail beyond that offered in this summary. 1 .2 Orientatio n The study area includes all lands within the Shoshone District and all lands, public and private, within the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Boise District with the exception of the Cascade Resource Area (see Figure 1). In the Boise District, the Resource Areas discussed in the study are Bruneau, Jarbidge, and Owyhee; in the Shoshone District they are the Bennett Hills and Monument Resource Areas.