Richald N. Mack, Departmenlof Botany Washngton StateUn versty, Pulman, Washngton 99164.4230

First ComprehensiveBotanical Survey of the ColumbiaPlateau, :The Sandbergand LeibergExpedition of 1893

Abstract

In 1893two field agents of tbe U.S. Departn€nt of Asriculture, John H. Sandbergand John B. Leibers, made the firsr com prehensivebotsnical survey of the Columbia Plateau.Leiberg's never'publishedreporr of rheir expedition provides a generat accountof lhe dislribulion of nuch of the region's flora and irs early agricuhure. ln addirion, he identified the compararively few native sp€ciesthat were becoming nore prominent lhrough disru.bancele.g., Deschanpsia d.anthonioides,Descuruinia richa sonii, aadFestuca at.rosld.4s)and nembers of tbe enlargingalien flora (e.g.,Ama.anthus retrcfleau, Arteniis &taati:, B.onus mo is,Bronus secalinus,Ercdiun cicutdiun, an

Introduction earlyexplorers seldom mentioned the region's vegetationand physicalenvironments except in The naturalgrasslands or steppein the Pacific referenceto their own hardships.For example, Northwesthave been drasticallyaltered since in l84l Brackenridgetrekked along the northem Europeansettlementi the frequencyof fire, the rim of the ColumbiaPlateau (McKelvey 1955). magnitudeof erosion,the cyclingof minerals,the Neitherhis notesnor thoseof Ceyer(1846) are compositionand productivityof the biota have little beyonda diaryof the plantsseen each day. all been changedirrevocably. The steppein Residentplant collectorssuch as Suksdorf(1892) Washingtonexemplifies these changes (Dauben- compiledmuch of the regional flora but provid- mire 1970, Rickard er aL. 1977, Busaccaet al. ed little ecologicalinformation. No detailedcom- 1985,Mack I986).Although this region wasonce mentarywas prepared of unplowedgrasslands dismissedas the "Creat ColumbiaDesert," a until Criffiths (1902)and Cotton(1904) examined land rush was sparked by the discoveryin the the 0kanogan Valley and no hern half of the late 1870'sthat much of thesegrasslands was ColumbiaBasin, respectively. The first ecological eminently suitablefor growing winter wheat.By investigationthat included quanlification was nol 1890almost 25,000 km'? was in privateownership conducteduntil l9l3 andwas restricted to Whit- as farms or pasturage (Meinig 1968). These man County(Weaver t9l7). Shantz'scommen- grasslandsdisplay low resiliencyto disturbance tary on the regional vegetationwas basedon a (Mack and Thompson I982, Harris et al. 1987), rapid trip that waslargely restricted to railways and the introduction of wheat agriculture, (Shantzand Zon 1924).Comprehensive study of livestockand alien plantstransformed the region the steppevegetation in Washingtondid not by 1920 into arable fields and rangelands begin until 1937,culminating in Daubenmire dominatedby alienspecies suchas Bromus tec- (1970). torum, Poa pratensis, and Sa/solakali' (Mack l986). Civen this paucity of information from the l9th century,the recentdiscovery of a heretofore This levelof destructionis particularlyun- unknownrnanuscript based on a botanicalsurvey foltunate because the record of the natural on the ColumbiaPlateau in lB93 providesthe vegetationcompiled before 1940is almosten- earliestknown account of the originaldistribu- tirely anecdotal.Each collectorbeginning tion of much of the steppeflora. Unlike other with the Lewisand Clark expeditionof 1805-1806 accountswritten before 1940, many of the includednotes on vegetationalong with his her- botanicalobservations in the manuscriptcan be barium specimens(Thwaites 1905). But these verifiedbecause the field notesand mostof the cataloguedspecimens to which it refershave 'Nomenclatnre follo{s Hitchcocl et ol. (1955.69). been preserved.The report was apparently

ll8 NorthwestScience, Vol. 62, No. 3, 1988 "Catalogue writtenby JohnB. Leibergbased on the expedi- of plantscollected by J. H. Sandberg tion heand J. H. Sandbergundertook as U.S.D.A. and J. B. Leibergin Washingtonduring 1893" field agentsin the springand summerof 1893. (Anonymousn.d.), Leiberg's list of plantscol- The timing of their trip wasfortuitous because lectedon this trip (unpublishednotes in the Ar- they wouldhave seen the ColumbiaPlateau in chivesof the Universityof ),and the ex- transitionfrom native steppeto agro-ecosystems. aminationof 613 of their 837 vascularplant As early as 1893, it was becoming widely specimensthat are depositedat Washington recognizedthat the region's original bunch- StateUniversity (WS) and the National Museum grasses(particularly Agropyron spicatum and of Natural History (US).(They also made44 col- Festuca idahoensis)were severelyover-grazed lections of bryophytesand hepaticsthat I have and were being rapidly destroyed(e.g., An Il- not examined.)I will refer throughoutthis paper lustrated History of Whitman County 1901, to Leiberg'sreport, thereby acknowledging his Shear l90l). The Union Pacific Railroadhad authorshipof the manuscript. alreadyended the openrange policy on its land in a futile attempt to reducethe damageby Leiberg'sRepon of the 1893Trip "Acting itinerant herders(Brodie 1898),and feeble and und€r orders fron the Hon. Sefietary of often misguidedattempts were being launched Agriculrure, J. Sterling Morton and the chief of the to find substitute forage grasses(Mack l98l). Botanical Division, Irederick V. Coville to make a colleclion of the flora o{ the Plains of the Colunbia, Despitethe potentialscientific value of an ac- to determine its east and wesl linits and to make count of the 1893expedition, it was not pub- observationson the climate,pasture, and agricuhural lished.Much of the manuscripthad beencom- areasof the reeion, and later in the season10 asc€.d pleted by early 1896 becauseLeiberg then in- the easternslopes of the Cascadesto the sunmit of formed C.V. Piper, a botanist at what is now sone of the higher elevarions, {e proceeded lo "I WashingronState University that, think the Spokane, Washington, this city having been reportof the Washingtoncollection of '93 will designatedas th€ outfitting and starting point." appearnext spring, possiblyalso that of the '94 Oregontrip of and the onein Idahoof'95, Upon leaving Spokane, Sandberg and but am not sure." (papersof C. V. Piper, in Leiberg'sfirst campwas established on May l5 Manuscripts,Archives, Special Collections, on HangmanCreek south of the city; while based WashingtonStare University).In the annual at this site theycollected in northernWhitman Report of the Botanist (U.S.D.A.)for 1897, Countyand southernLincoln County. The rest Leiberg's report is noted as forthcoming, of the trek proceededin a generallywestward ". . .but its publicationhas been postponed in direction:at Coal Creek(Carnp 4), alongCrab orderto permitthe incorporationof the databy Creek(Camp 5,6, & 7),to WilsonCreek (Camp nowbeing se,"ured br loi^albotanists in remote B),and arriving at Egbert Spring (near Ephrata) portionsof the area." Further delayprobably on June30. They carnpedon the ColumbiaRiver resultedfrom Leiberg'stransfer to the U. S. nearRock Island, and thenfollowed the Colum- Geological Survey. Leiberg continued his bia to its confluencewith the WenatcheeRiver. botanicalwork in the Pacific Northwest(Leiberg The rest of the surveywas conducted along the 1900),but neitherthe report for the lB93 trip WenatcheeRiver or its tributariesuntil they in Washingtonnor for his lB94 trip to eastern campedat the summit of StevensPass on 9 Oregonwas completed before his deathin I9l t. August.They stayedup to two weeksat each The appearanceof Piper'smore comprehensive campsiteand made daily collectingtrips (Figure Flora of Washingtonin 1906probably signalled l). Ar the end of AugustLeiberg recrossed the the end of anv need for further U.S.D.A. ColumbiaPlateau to Spokanealong a more botanical surveys. Fortunately, the 122 page northerlyroute so as to ensurethat no taxawere typedmanuscript of the I893 trip waspreserved overlooked.By Leiberg'saccount they travelled in the archivesof the now defunctDivision of 413km from Spokaneto the summitof Stevens Botany in the NationalArchives and Records Passin the CascadeRange in about four months. Service. Including the side trips and daily forays,he My paper is based on this unpublished estimatedthat the expeditiontravelled a totalof manuscript(Sandberg and Leiberg n.d.), the 2000 km.

The Sandbergand LeibergExpedition of lB93 I l9 j PEND FERRY' RE/LL E OKANOGAN

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Figure L The westward trek of Sandberg and Leiberg's expedition across the Colunbia Plateau in 1893 generally folloned the roedray of the Creat Northern Railroad. The circled nurnbers indicare Sandberg and Leiberg's designation of their campsites as welJ as the campsites' locations and the chronology in nhich the carnps l,ere established. Ronan numerals refer to their four najor bolanical districtq the Columbia River is the boundary between Districrs II and IIL

Comparedto earlier collectorsSandberg and to C. V. Piper,Leiberg described plant collect- Leibergwere more mobile because their ragons ing in the regionas a slowand arduousprocess could follow the newly-completedroadway of the becauseof the rough terrain and the necessity GreatNorthern Railway in easternWashington. of carryingsupplies to dealwith anyemergency Nevertheless,the trek as not easy.In a letter (papersof C.V. Piper,in Manuscripts,Archives, t20 Mack Special Collections,Washington State Univer- changesthey sawas they travelled.Nevenheless, siry).Having Sandbergin nominal chargeof the their delineationof four floristic"districts" ad- ventureprobably did not help.In 1893Sandberg jacent to or wirhin the Columbia Basin reveals wasdescribed by a colleagueat the University the generaldistribution and compositionof the of Minnesotaas, " . . . actuallythe mostdisputory natural communitiesthey traversed.Proceeding botanist I ever had any thing to do with" (E. P. westwardfrom Spokane,their District I (Figure Sheldon letter to C. V. Piper, 1893, in Manu- l) was a 16-35km wide belt of open forest, cor- scripts,Archives, Special Collections,Wash- responding to the Pinus pond,erosa,/Festuca ington StateUniversity). Sandberg also seems to id,ahoensiszone (Daubenmire and Daubenmire have been carelessin his note taking. Leiberg 1968). reportedto Piper that Sandberg'sreport of 1892 They included in Dist ct II much of the (Holzinger 1895)erred by as much as 240 km in treelessplain in a 135 to 170 km swath across the locationof specimens(papers of C. V. Piper, the northern half of the ColumbiaPlateau to the in Manuscripts, Archives, Special Collections, Columbia River. This large area encompassed Washington State University). three yegetation zones dominated by shrubby Despirethese difficulties the expedition ac- speciesof : lhe Artpmisia tripor. complishedits first goal of collecringrhe flora tita/Festuca idahoensis, the Artem;sia trid,en- of the Plainsof the Columbia.Even though other tato/F- id,ahoensis,and lbe mrchlarger Artemisin botanistshad collectedin the region, thesecol- tridentata/Agropyronspicatum zone (Dauben- lectionsfrom lB93yielded at least20 holotypes mire 1970).District III delineatedthe vegetation or isotypes.Leiberg describedseyeral of these from the ColumbiaRiver on the Douslas-Chelan new forms, including Crepls barbigera Leiberg Countyborder to continuousforest aLout 30 km ex Coville and Delphinium uiridescensLeiberg. further west;a combinationof thel. trid,entata,/A. spicatum zone and stands Severaltaxa were eventually named after Leiberg dominated by Pizzs ponderosa(Daubenmire (e.g., Erigeron leibergii Piper, Astragalus lei- and Daubenmirel968) (Figure 2). A fourth district included the meso- 6ergaJones). Other taxafor which Sandbergand phytic forestson the eastside of the Cascade Leiberg'scollections provided type specimens in- Rangeto its summitat StevensPass. clrr.deAntennaria tomentellaE. Nels. lA. alpina (L.) Gaertn.'], Arenaria congesta.iar, prolifera DistrictI Maqrie, Carex nebrascensisvar. uhriformis Bailey lCarex nebrascensis Deweylf, Carer The forest-steppeboundary in eastern neurophoraMackenzie, Crepts rostrata Coville Washingtonstill retains the major featuresthat fC. modocensisssp, rostrata.(Coville) Babc. & Sandbergand Leiberg saw: open stands ofPinrs Stebb.r],Disllcilis dentata Rydberg lD. stricta ponderosawith understorydominants of either yar. dentata (Rydb.) C. L. Hitchc.ll, E gerotu xerophyticgrasses on zonalsoils or mesicshrubs poliospermust ar,cereus Cronq., Hynenopappus alongthe streamcourses. They found that l6ies co I umb ianu s Rydb er g lHyme no p app usfilfo liu s grandis and Pseudotsugamenziesii were common Hook.'rar. fi,lifulius1l, Lomatium suksdorfi.i var. associatesalong with Betula occidentalis, Populus thompsonii Math. [2. thompsonii (Mathias) trichocarpa, Populus tremuloides and Salixkrsiandravar. Cronq.t), Mertens;a brachycalyr. Piper [M coadato.Shrubs in thesecom- paniculata (Ait.\ G. Don'1,Oreocarya spiculifera munities,especially near the streamedge, includ, ed Ribesaureum, Salix Piper lCryptantha ituterrupta(Greene) Parp.'], spp.,Sambucus cerulea, alrd Sympho ricarp os alb us. Cratae g u s d,ou glas ii Poa brachyglossaPiper lP. juncifolia Scribn.tl, wasalso presenl. but Leibergdid not mention Satifragap lantagineaSmall [S integr{olia,t ars. columbianaar'd leptopetala (Piper) C. L. Hitchc.t] the extensiveCrataegus thickets that Dauben- mire (1968)reports occupying the streamcourses ard Viola oerbasculaCreene lV. adunca Sm. in Rees']. further south in Whitrnan County.Perhaps wild fires set by the settlers had already eliminated The NaturalVegetation ot the Steppe these stands by 1893. Leiberg viewed the understoryin thesestands as a mixture of mon- Sandbergand Leiberg were taxonomists,and tane speciesat their westernlimits (Arnica coL their geographicdivisions of the ColumbiaBasin difuLia.Ranunculus uncinatus, Smilacina stellata) werebased on floristic, rather than vegetational, and steppespecies more prevalentto the west

The Sandbergand LeibergExpedition of 1893 121 (e.g., Eriogonum corLpositum, Eriogonum nne' of coulees, talus slopes, and pond margins. um, Polemonium pecrizatarn). Sandberg and Lei' Juniperus occid,entalis was confined to the berg found alkaline ponds invariably fringed by shoreline on the east bank of the Columbia River. Hesperorhiron pumilut it wa5 somelimes so These stream communities also containedmany ". abundant that in flower it appeared . to shrubs, including Ribes aureum, Rosa uoodsii, whiten the ground as with a fall of snow." In con' and,Salix scouLeriana. Alnus incana, Crataegus trast, Hitchcock e, r/. (1959) state that .FLpzmilzs dougLasii and. Cornus stolonifera were present seldom if ever occurs on alkaline soil. only in the eastern portion of the dlstrtct. Siteswith high salt content in valley bottoms Districtll supported a unique flora that could tolerate these Thisfloristic unit includedthe bulk of the Co' alkaline and often waterJoggedsoils. Ileliolrop- lumbiaPlaleau and conlained communilies on ium curassaricum,a borage, was widely distrib' zonal soils dominatedby Purshia tridentata and uted arnong these sites. Other speciesfound were Artcmisiatridpnlota with rerophyticgrassPs in Atriplet dryentea, Disttchlis str;cta, Eurotia the understory.Leiberg found these tvo shrubs lanata, Iua axillaris, Myosurus minimus, Scirpus "immenselyabundant, especially in the middle americanus, Scirpus neuadensis, ar.rJSpergularia andrestern portions ofthis section."0ther arid moriaa.Although Daubenmire(19?0) recognized shrubsincluded lrtemisia cana,Artemisia frigida several associations on alkaline soils (e.g., Ely- and,Artetuisia rigida. Chrysothamnusoiscidi mus cinereus/DistichLis stricta; Sarcobatus uer' Leiberg made no florus wasconfined to the middle and western miculatus/Disti.chlis slricta), portionsof the district,while Sarcobatusuermic distinction betweenthe communitiesthe expedi- ulatus occnrredaround the margin of alkaline tion sarr on these azonal soils. ponds.Grasses were clearly the co'dorninantsin Sandberg and Leiberg encountered sand all thesecommunities. Aside from statingthat dunes at three locations. One dune set at the Agropyronspiralum was lhe most prominenl soulhern end of Moses Lake was approximately grassin this district,Leiberg gave no indication 50 km south of the expedition's main route. Fot of the role of other grasses.Grasses he simply this site and the other dune sets they visited listed as occurring within District II include Leiberg merely listed the flora without com- Aristida longiseta,Bromus secalinus, Deschamp' menting on relative abundance or distribution. siadanthonioides, Festuca microstachys, Festuca The flora at the Moses Lake dunes included lgro- ooina,Koeleria cristata, Oryzopsishymenoid.es, pyron dasystaclq,um, Arenaria franklinii, Oeno- Poasandbergii. Sitanion hystrix and Slipa romola- thera pallida, Orobanche fascicuLata, Oryzopsis Leiberg also listed a diverse herbaceous hymenoides, Phacelia glnnduliferu, Psoralea understoryin the upland communitieson the lanceolata, Rumex oenosus ar.d Coldenia nut northernColumbia Plateau. Prominent or fre' tallii. The species lists Sandberg and Leiberg quently encounteredspecies were Antentuaria compiled largely agree with the results of a recon- d,imorpha, stenophylla,Astragalus naissanceDaubenrnire (19?0) made on a similar collinus,Crepi.s atrabarba .var. atrabarba, Crepis dune set in southern Franklin County. occid,e ntalis, E rigero n fiLifolius, E riogonum t hy- Despite detailed floristic lists, Leiberg ap- mokles, E riophyllum lanatum,Lagop hylla ramo' parently did not detect the sharp E-W boundaries sissima and Leptodactylon purLgens. among communities that Daubenmire (1970) rec- Balsamorhizasagittdtc rs replaced.b,t B. carey' ognized.For example,in moving from their sec- ana.Marry other speciesare listed but without ond to third campsite he apparently failed to anyinformation on their abundanceor distribu- notice a major change in the vegetation fiom the tion in the district. mesic sites supporting the S1'mphoricarpos Rhusglabra wascommon on the rocky slopes albus/Festuca idahoensir association to the more of the ColumbiaRiver in DouglasCounty as well arid sites dominated by the Artemisia tripartita/ as alongthe SpokaneRiver. These records sug- F. id.ahoensisassociation. He also took no ap- gest that standswith R. glabra were once more parenl noticeof crorsingfrom the ,"ommunities eitensivethan reportedb-v Daubenmire (1970). in Lincoln County dominated by l. tr;parlita inlo Abiesgrandis, Pinus ponderosa ar'd Pseudotsuga the much larger zone to the lrest dominated by menziesiiwere rare and confinedto the bottom Artemisi.a tridentdta (Figure 2).

r22 Mack VEGETATIONZONES I ITI Artemisiatridentata - Asropyron f77t/ZZ Artemisiatridentata - Festuca flilI]l'[Nn Asropyron- Poa f--_]-l Agropyron- Festuca

[ :: : i : ! : : : : i : : : : ] ! ! Festuca- symphoricarpos f ..-l..-il ArtemisiatriDartita - Festuca ffiJFg purshia- Festuca

Figure 2 The {eslsard nek ofSandbergand Leiberg's erpedition aooss the Columbia Plateau in relation to rhe sieDoezones accordins to Daubennirc (1970).

The Sandbergand LeibergExpedition of 1893 t23 Districtlll oftendisplayed poor tree regeneration for years after a fire and were Entering the Columbia River Valley at the instead dominatedby grasses Douglas-ChelanCounty boundary the expedition or shrubs.If the prominenceof fire along Sandbergand Leiberg's encounteredoutliers of the foreststhat coverthe route wasrepresentative of the extentof l9th century CascadeRange. The flora in their District III burning on the easternslope of the reflectsthe transitionbetween steppe and con- CascadeRange, this area would have suppofied iferous forest: open forests of Abies grandis, few rnatureforest stands even before wholesale logging in the Pinusponderosa awJ Pseudotsuga menziesii oe. 20th century. cupiedthe north and westfacing slopes, while steppecommunities dominated by Artemisia The Agricultural tridentata and Purshia tridentata occupied the Setting southand eastslopes in a I l-13 km wideswath. Much of the ColumbiaPlateau is in the rain Shrubs (e.g., Acer glabrum var, douglasii, shadowof the CascadeRange. As a result,an- Ceanothusuelutinus. Ccanolhus ianguincus, nual precipitationis lowestat the easternbase Spiraea d,ouglasii)extended from rhe stream of thesemountains but riseseastward. In an era coursesinto these open foresrs.Although this in which irrigation wasconfined to smallsystems distdct includedextensive overlap in the distribu- of ditchesin river valleys,the Basin'sagriculture tion of speciesmore typical of the steppeor was dictated almost completelyby this forest,Sandberg and Leibergrecognized some orographic influence. Within the area they characteristicherbaceous species. These includ- rrekked,Sandberg and Leibergfound the mosr ed Aster conspicuus, Erigeron dioergens, extensiveagricultural areas in northern Douglas Lomatium nud,icaule,Madia satiuo"Phacelia pro- Countyand northern and eastern Lincoln Coun- cera, Solidogo missouriensis and Stachys ty. West of southernLincoln Countywheat fields mexlcana, were confined to the valleys,and they saw only one small irrigated field west of Camp 7. DistrictlV Throughout the region, wheat was the main cerealgrown, followed by oats, This districtencompassed most of the forestsin barley and corn. Rye was locally prominent the CascadeRange, a diversearray of forestcom- in easternWashing- ton. munitiesthat Sandbergand Leibergdid not dif- ferentiatein detail.Their generaldescription of The flanksof the Columbiaand Wenatchee the elevationaldistribution of major conifers Riverswere primarily devoted to orchardsand agreeshowever with the moderndistribution of gardens.In 1893most of the Plateauhad been the forestcommunities and requires no elabora- farmed lessthan 20 years,and Sandbergand tion: Pinusponderosa and Pseudotsuga menziesii Leiberg'slist of the cropsthey sawreflects the dominatingcommunities at the Iowerelevations; newly-arrivedfarmers' wholesaleexperimenta- Abies lasiocarpa arLdPinus albicaulis at higher tion. Orchard crops included apples,pears, elevations.Tsuga mertensiana ar'd Thujaplicata plums, cherries,peaches, grapes, raspberries, occurredalong streamcourses. gooseberries,currants, blackberries, strawberries, and mulberries,The list of row cropswas even Leibergwas much impressed with the extent more extensive:peas, beans, carrots, turnips, to whichthe forestson the easternslope of the parsnips, onions, beets, cabbage, celery, CascadeRange were being destroyedby fire. He asparagus,lettuce, potatoes, parsley, squash, remarkedthat theseforests, " . . . are in a much melons, pumpkins, cucumbers, cauliflowers, morerapid and thoroughprocess of extermina- tomatoes,radish, and mustard.Hops were also tion than in any other portion of the Pacific being grown,but as Leiberg assiduouslypointed Northwest."So extensivewere the fires set by out their role was "as ornamentalplant prospectorsthat onecould, "Climb anypeak in [an] only." a supposedor provedmineral district during the summer,and you will seethe cloudsof smoke Altemplswere also being made to raisetrpps "tree from the burning forests roll up fron rnany a in claims,"i.e., small trials of ornamental valley or mountainside." Fires werealso started trees,on the largelytreeless Columbia Plateau. accidentallyby trainsand settlers.Burned sites Acer negundo,followed by Robiniapseudoacacia"

124 Mack and cultivated Pop&l&sspp. were the most com- ColumbiaRiver Valley becauseof grazing.In ad- monly planted species.Almost all the Box elders dition, D escurainiacalifo rnica and CnaphaLium Sandberg and Leiberg examined in these trials palustre had also become prominent with were dead or dving, while the locust and the livestockgrazing and trampling.The rolesLei- poplars appeared much more successful. berg attributed to A. intermedia and D. cali- fornica are surprisingbecause Hitchcock et al. Alterationof the Steppe (1959,1964) consider both speciesrare in the Pacific Northwest. Lupinus sericeus became Evenby 1893,the combinedeffects of livestock, weedyand robust in abandonedor uncultivated cerealagriculture and the importationof alien fields.Matricaria matricarioides,one of the few plantswere causirlg extensive alteration of the nativesof lhe Pacific Nodhwestthat hasbecome steppe(Mack l98l). Sandbergand Leiberg were naturalizedelsewhere (Baker 1972),was also parr in the uniqueposition to assessthe effectof these of this native weed flora. alien speciesas well as the responseof the native flora to recuring disturbance.Much of the graz- Despiteapparent increases in the abundance ing area in eastern Washington was already or distribution of a few species,the overall prominenceof the native flora already seemed fencedand overgrazed.The pattern of overgraz- "The ing wasmore localizedin the centraland rryestern to be diminishing: native plains flora is parts of the ColumbiaBasin because livestock rapidly disappearingaround the cultivatedareas, could not venture far from the few water holes. very much more rapidly and thoroughly than As a result, large tracts still remained largely seemsto be the caseeasr of rhe Rockies.It does ungrazed. not asa wholeappear to possessmuch resisting powerand whenbrought into competitionwith In Leiberg'.opinion. fer natirespecies even easterninvaders generally succumbs." Among toleratedgrazing; fewer still persisteclon a slte the naturalizedspecies were Amaranthus aLbus, afterit wasplowed even once. Lacking thorns or Amaranthus retroflexus, Anthemis cotula, other protectivestructures, many were Artemisia aulga s, Bromus secalinus,Bromus destroyedthrough grazing and trampling.Still mollis, I/accaria segetalis,Ilerbascum thapsus, others, such as Lomatium spp. and Camasslo and.Erodium cicutarium, which had arrived on quamashwere rooted up and eatenby hogs.Ex- the ColumbiaPlateau at least50 yearsearlier ceptionswere Ceraniumttiscosissim!/rr, because (Mack l986). The commonsunflowet (Helianthus of theviscous trichomes that cover the plant,and annuus),a commonescape from cultivation,had Balsamorhizasagittata wlth its coarse leaves. alreadybecome established on river banksin the Otherspecies he eonsidered able to resislgraz- ColumbiaValley and occurredlocally on upland ing were Chrysothamnus nauseosus and. sites.0ther alien speciesthey collectedon the Chrysothamnusxiscidiflorzs, both are still prom- ColumbiaPlateau inchd.e Alopecurus pratensis, inentmembers of frequentlygrazed rangelands Barbareao ulgaris, Capse ILa b ur sa-pas to ris,Lac- (Daubenmire1970). tura serriola,Rumex rriipus, Stellaria graninea In contrast,a fewnative species were becom- alad. Xanthium strumarium. Sandberg and ing more prominentas a result of increased Leiberg encounteredless than half the alien disturbance.Among thesespecies were a "few speciesSuksdorf (1892) listed for southcentral Astragali, a Gilia or two, and above all Sisynz- Washington.This differenceprobably reflects the comparativelyrecent settlementof the area bium incisumlD escurainiarichard,soniit), which becomesthe mostubiquitous and pestiferous of through whichthey passedcompared to the lower all in run downpastures and irnpoverishedsoil ColumbiaRiver Valley where Suksdorf resided. generally." Amsinckia intermedia and Lappula Somewhatparadoxically Leiberg did not redouski.iwere both weedyplants and were "ex- foreseea risein the prominenceof alienplants cessivelycommon along roadsidesand around despitethe weakability of the nativespecies to houses,though not at all conspicuousin the un- toleratedisturbance: "In generalthe nativeflora brokensoil of the plains." Deschampsiadan when exterminatedis not abundantlyreplaced thonioides and Festuca microstachyswere "in- by weedsfrom elser,rherp. and such immigrant. variablythe speciesthat replace" more palatable as are presentdo not show any troublesome species;the fescue already occupied much of the featureor appearin sufficientquantities to be

The Sandbergand LeibergExpedition of 1893 125 of economic importance in any locality along our transport from above the Columbia River, route." The situation was soon to change dras- Flooding on the scaleLeiberg envisioneddid oc- tically. By 1929 there rvere about 200 alien spe- cur in the Pleistocene,but the damming was not cies on the Columbia Plateau, and vast areas had confined to the Columbia River. Ice lobes of Cor- already become dominated by alien plants (Mack dilleran ice dammed several rivers in the region, l986). most notably the Clark Fork to the east. The numerous basalt boulders in northwestern Among Sandbergand Leiberg'scollections Douglas County that he believed had been movea wasthe alienspecies most characteristic of this by a stream*ith extremellhigh earrlingcapar"ity regional transformation in the vegetation, are instead Bromustectorum (cheatgrass). Their collection erratics left from the terminal (No. l9l) of cheatgrassnear Ritzville is the moraine on the Okanogan lobe in the late (Richmond earliestrecord of this grassin the PacificNorth- Pleistocene et al. 1965).Despite the ryestsouth of British Columbia.Cheatgrass prob- shortcomings in some of his geological inter- ably arrived by severalmeans, but it rnay have pretations, it is nonetheless remarkable that first enteredthe region as a seedcontamlnant Leiberg envisionedthe major eventsassociated in wheatbecause Ritzville was the centerof an with scabland flooding more than 25 years before early vheat-growingdistrict. This grasswas re, the appearance of the first of Bretz's classic peatedlyintroduced in the region,and by 1930 reports (1923, 1959). it had becomea dominantin the steppeof the IntermountainWest (Mack l98l). Conclusion Any further erection of dams along the Colum- Leiberg'sObservations on the bia River, construction of highways and gaslines, RegionalGeology and the ambitious plans to expand the acreage A plant taxonomists, study of the regional under irrigation in the Columbia Basin will in- geologywas not within Sandbergand Leiberg's evitably increase the value of Sandberg and instructions.Not surprisinglyLeiberg often gave Leiberg's collections and Leiberg's account. The a conlemporar)pxplanation or hi! o!\n inler- biological loss caused by this activity can be dim- pretationfor the origin of muchof the regional ly perceived by realizing how inaccurate our geology.He incorrectlybelieved that muchof the understanding of plant distribution and com- underlyinggranitic rock in the ColumbiaBasin munity organization would be if botanical inquiry had been metamorphosed.In addition,he er- on the Columbia Plateau had begun in the 1980's roneouslyassumed (along with rnostof his con- insteadofalmost one hundred yearsearlier. The temporaries)that the region'sloessal soils were geographical limits to the distribution of derived from the underlying basalt. Artemisid tridentata. the diversity and composi- tion of manyof the lithosolicand riverinecom- Leibergdid howevercorrectly interpret the munities.and the role of nativespecips in suc- easternWashington landscape as havingbeen ex- cession would be virtuallv impossible to decipher tensively,although indirectly, altered by glacia- if based on the modern remnants of the vegeta- tion. "Coulees"-dry waterfalls, obviously tion (Daubenmire 1970,Mack l98l). How many carvedinto basaltby tremendousfluvial action- misconceptionsabout the ecology of any region areconspicuous in easternWashington. Leiberg have been unvittingly introduced in the literature speculatedthat the couleeswere widened and ac- through our failure to realize that the landscapes centuatedalong previously-formed cracks in the we study have often been extensively altered basalt,through which water passed in the "gla- before serious investigation began? To ignore the cial epochs."He hypothesizedthat the Colum- historical record, however fragmentary, is to in- bia River had beendammed temporarily south creaseu n necesiarill the"e miseoneeptions. of its juncturewith the MethowRiver and that the river then overflowedits banks,discharging Acknowledgments waterover the plainswith enormouserosional force. Leiberg correctlyinterpreted the large I thank Rita C. Fisher,J. D. Helms,and G. "boulder amountsof drift" (till) and granitic Russellfor rheir help in locatingthe Leiberg gravels as representingconsiderable water manuscriptand associatedpapers in the U.S.

126 Mack National Archivesand RecordsService and the G. S. Varadarajanfor their assistancein organiz- National Museum of Natural History. D. H. ingand annotating specimens. This project *as Wagnerprovided a copyof Leiberg'splant list supported in part by the Washington Native from the Archives of the University of Oregon. Plant Sociery. I alsothank F. Barrie,J. Mastrogiuseppe,and

LiteratureCited Hitchcock,C. L.,A. Cronquisr,M. Ownbev,and J. W. Thomp- son.1955-1969. Vascular planrs o{the PacificNortb- An Illust.atedHisto.l of Whihan CouDry-1901. Wah Le'er. {esr. (1969) Part l. Vascular Cryptogans, Gym- l'.pl nosperns, and Monocotyledens. (t964) Parl 2. Anonymous,n.d. Catalogueof plants collecredby J. H. Sand- Salicaceaero Saxifragaceae.(1961) Part 3. Sax- berg andJ. B. Leibergin Wnshinsrondu.ing 1893. ifragacea€ ro Ericaceae. (t959) Part 4. Ericaceae Departnent of Botany, Snithsonian Insrirution, through Canparulaceae.(1955) Parr 5. Composirae. Washington,D.C. Univ. Washington Press,Seartle. Baker,H. G. l9?2.Migrations o{ veeds./' D. H. Vale.tine Holzinge., J. M. I895. Reporr on a collecrionof ptantsmade (ed.), Taxonony, Phltogeography snd Evolurion. by J. H. Sandbergand assisranrsin norrhern Acadenic Press,New York. Pp. 32?-347. in rhe year 1892.Cont. U.S. Nat. Herb. 3(4),205297. Bretz,J. H. 1923.Clacial drainageon the Columbia Plareau. Leiberg,J. B. 1900.Bilerroot foresrresene. U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 34:573,608. 20th Report, Parr 5:317410. -. I959. Washington'schanneled scabland. Vash. Mack, R. N. 1981. Invasion ol Btunus tectorum L. i o Div. Mines Ceol. Bull. 45. westernNorth Amenca:An ecologicalchronicte. Asm- Brodie, D. A. 1898.Grasses ofVashingron. In: Manus$ipts, Ecosyst€ns7:145-165. Archives, Special Collections. Vashingron State -. 1986.Alien planl invasioninro rhe Intermoun- Universily, Pullman. Bacc. Honors Thesis. tain Wesr A caseiristory. /z Mooney, H.A., and J. pap€ndick, Busacca,A. S., D. K. McCoot,R. L and D. L. A. Drake (eds.),Ecotosy of Biotosicat In"dsions of Young. 1485.D'namie impact'ofero.ron pro..*es North Anericaand Hauali Springe., New York. Pp. on produciivityofsoils in the Palouse./a Erosionand t91.2t3. Soil P.oductirjty. Anerican Sociel) of Agricultursl Mack, R. N., and J. N. Thompson.1982. Eyolution in steppe Engineers,Sr. Jos€ph,MI. Pp. 152,169. with fev large, hooyed namnals. Am. Nat. Conon, J. S. 1904.A report on the rsnge conditions of cen- I 19:757-713. lral Washingron. Wash. Asric. Exp. St. Bull. 60 McKelrey, S. D. 1955. Bolanical erplorarion of rbe rrans, Daubenmire, R. 1970. Steppe r€gerarion of Washingron. Missilsippi West, 1790-1850.Arnold Arborerum of Wash. Asric. Exp. St. Tech. Bull. 62. Washington HarvardUniversity. Janaics Plain,MA. tt44 pp. StateUnir€rs;ty. Meinis, D. qr. 1968. The Creat Colunbia Plain. Uniy. Daubenmire,R., and J. B. Daubennire. 1968.Foresr vegera, Washington Press,Seartle. tion ofeasternWasbinglon and nodhern ldaho. Wash. Piper, C. V. 1906.Flo.a of rbe srateof Washington.Contr. Agric. Exp. St. Tech. Bull.60. WalhingronState U.S. Nat;onalMuseun rol. I1.637 pri. University. Richrnond,G. M., R. Fryxell,C. f,. Neff, and P. L. Weis. 1985. Geyer,A. 1846.Notes on the legetationand gene.atcharacter The Cordilleranice she€roflhe norlhernRockv Moun- of the Missouri and Oregon Terrilorics, x,aue our- tains and related Quaternary history of rhe Colun- ing a botanical journe! from rhe srate of Missouri, bia Plateau./n H. E. Wrighr and D. C. Frev(eds.), acrossthe South-Passofthe RockyMounrains, ro the The Quaternary of the United States. Princelon Pacific, during rhe years 1813 and 1844. London J. Unive.sity Press,Princeton, New Jersey.Pp. 23t 242. Bot. 5,285310i 509-524. Rickard,V. H., D. W. Uresk,and J. F. Cline.197?. Produc- Criffirhs, D. 1902.Forage condidons on rhe norlhern bo.de. tiyity responseto precipitation by narive and alien of the Crear Basin. U.S. Dep. Agric. Bur. Planr Ind. planl communities.1n AndrewsR. D., R. L. Carr, Bull. 15. F. Cibson,B. Z. Lang,R. A. Solrero,and K. C. Swed- Harris,E., R. N. Mack, and M. S. B. Ku. 1987.Dearh of sreppe berg(eds.)hoce€dings oflhe symposiunon tenest.ial cryptogansunder the ashf.om Mounr Sr. Helens.Am. and aqualic ecologicalstudies oi the Norrhwesr.Easr. J. BoL 74:t249 1253. Wash. State Coll. P.ess,Chene}, Washington.

The Sandbergand LeibergExpedirion of t893 127 Sandberg,J. H., and J. B. Leiberg.n.d. Report upon a Suksdorf,W. N. 1892.Ilora Washington€nsis.A caraiogue boranicalsurrey of port;onsof easternVashington. ofthe Phaenogamiaand Preridophyta ofthe stateof /a Recordsoflhe Bureauof PIant Industry,Soils, and Washington. Agricultural Engineering.Division of Botany,Record Thsaires,R. C. 1905.O.iginal journals of the Lewisand Clark Croup54, U.S. Nal. Archives, Washinston, D.C., 122 erpedirion.v.3. Dodd, Mead & Co.,New York. pp United StatesDepartment of Agriculture.189?. Annual ShanD,H. L. and R. Zon. 192,1.Natural vegetation.ln Adas Repo.rsofthe D€parlmentoiAgricultu.e. Reporr of of AnericanAgriculture, Part. l, Sec.E, Pp. 15.19. the Bolanin. Shear,C. L. I901.Field work ofthe DivisionofAs.ostolo$: Vegyer,J. E. 1917.A studyof thevegetation of sourheastern A reliew and summarv of the work done snce rne Washington and adjacent Idaho. University of organizationof rheDivision, July l, 1895.U.S. Dep. NebraskaStudies l?:1.133. Agric. Dir. Agrost.Bull.25.

Receiued2 Nouemberl9B7 Acceptedfor publication 29 February J988

l2B Mack