L. Daniel Myers EPOCHS PAST
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An Archival Review and Ethnographic Study for the Relicensing of the Hells Canyon Complex Hydroelectrical Plants Hells Canyon, Idaho−Oregon L. Daniel Myers EPOCHS PAST Technical Report Appendix E.4-12 July 2001 Hells Canyon Complex FERC No. 1971 AN ARCHIVAL REVIEW AND ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY FOR THE RELICENSING OF THE HELLS CANYON COMPLEX HYDROELECTRICAL PLANTS (FERC. No. 1971) HELLS CANYON, IDAHO-OREGON For IDAHO POWER COMPANY BOISE, IDAHO By L. Daniel Myers EPOCHS PAST 339 Fairhaven Road Tracys Landing, Maryland July, 2001 FINAL REPORT AN ARCHIVAL REVIEW AND ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY FOR THE RELICENSING OF THE HELLS CANYON COMPLEX HYDROELECTRICAL PLANTS (FERC. 1971) HELLS CANYON, IDAHO-OREGON For IDAHO POWER COMPANY BOISE, IDAHO By L. Daniel Myers EPOCHS PAST 339 Fairhaven Road Tracys Landing, Maryland July, 2001 ii FINAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents iii List of Figures vii List of Tables ix Acknowledgments x Abstract xi 1.0. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. INTENT 1 1.2. STUDY AREA 2 1.3. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING 2 1.3.1. Geology and Physiography 2 1.3.2. Hydrology 8 1.3.3. Topography 8 1.3.4. Climate 8 1.3.5. Flora and Fauna 9 1.4. NATIVE POPULATIONS 10 2.0. ANTHROPOLOGICAL OVERVIEW 13 2.1. INTENT 13 2.2. NUMIC AND SAHAPTIAN CULTURES 14 2.2.1. Tribal Distributions 16 2.2.2. Settlement Systems 25 2.2.3. Subsistence 30 iii FINAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) 2.0. ANTHROPOLOGICAL OVERVIEW (cont.) 2.2.4. Material 36 2.2.5. Social 42 3.0. HELLS CANYON HISTORY 56 3.1. INTENT 56 3.2. PREHISTORY 57 3.3. HISTORY AND ETHNOHISTORY 57 3.3.1. Fur Trappers and Traders 58 3.3.2. Explorers, Missionaries, and Oregon Trail Emigrants 77 3.3.3. Military, Miners, and the Indian Commission 97 4.0. REPOSITORIES AND COLLECTIONS 119 4.1. INTENT 119 4.2. NATIONAL ARCHIVES 119 4.2.1. Civilian Agency Records 120 4.2.2. Military Records 122 4.2.3. War of the Rebellion 124 iv FINAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) 4.0. REPOSITORIES AND COLLECTIONS (cont.) 4.2.4. U.S. Congressional Serial Set 129 4.2.5. Homestead Entry Surveys 130 4.3. SUMMARY 130 5.0. EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT 130 5.1. INTENT 130 5.2. THE NUMIC AND SAHAPTIAN CULTURES 131 5.3. HELLS CANYON HISTORY 134 5.3.1. Fur Trappers and Traders 134 5.3.2. Explorers, Missionaries, and Emigrants 135 5.3.3. Military, Miners, and the Indian Commission 137 5.4. REPOSITORIES AND COLLECTIONS 138 5.5. DISCUSSION 138 5.6. RECOMMENDATIONS 140 5.7. CONCLUSION 142 v FINAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) 6.0. REFERENCES 143 7.0. APPENDIX A 215 vi FINAL REPORT LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. The Hells Canyon Complex (Brownlee, Oxbow, and Hells Canyon Hydroelectrical Plants) (FERC. No. 1971) Study Area. 3 Figure 2. Great Basin Physiographic Province 4 Figure 3. Columbia Plateau Physiographic Province 5 Figure 4. Great Basin Culture Area 11 Figure 5. Plateau Culture Area 12 Figure 6. Map of Settlement and Subsistence Systems of Southern Idaho 15 Figure 7. Map of Villages and Subsistence Areas of Idaho 16 Figure 8. Shoshone-Bannock Subsistence Areas 20 vii FINAL REPORT LIST OF FIGURES (cont.) Figure 9. Nez Perce Country 31 Figure 10. Nez Perce Country with Modern Landmarks 32 Figure 11. Territories occupied by Nez Perce Bands 113 Figure 12. Route of Bannock War Party for 1878 117 viii FINAL REPORT LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Major Creeks from Brownlee Dam to the Confluence of the Snake and Salmon River, Hells Canyon, Idaho/Oregon 6 ix FINAL REPORT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincere thanks go to Mr. Rodney A. Ross and staff of the National Archives, Washington, D.C.; the staff of the Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.; and Jan Townsend and staff at the Bureau of Land Management, Washington, D.C., for their assistance with this study. To Dr. Ken Reid, Idaho State Archaeologist, Mrs. Susan Neitzel, Deputy S.H.P.O. Office, and Dr. James Chatters, Project Archaeologist for Hells Canyon, go my thanks for their assistance and support. I owe deep gratitude to Dr. Mark Druss and Ms. Robyn Johnson, Idaho Power Archaeologists, for their assistance and support. To Dr. Druss and Dr. Deborah Gangloff go my thanks for editing this volume. I take full responsibility for the content of the report. x FINAL REPORT ABSTRACT This report is part of a multi-faceted anthropological investigation into the cultural resources, ethnographic resources, and traditional cultural properties contained in the Hells Canyon Complex (FERC. No. 1971) study area (Chapter One). The main purpose of this report is to document an in-depth survey and review of various selected collections at the National Archives and other repositories (e.g., Smithsonian’s Anthropological Archives and the Bureau of Land Management’s Archives). Extensive use of microfilm collections at the National Archives yielded very little ethnographic information about the Numic and Sahaptian-speaking cultures occupying the study area. While there is ample evidence of aboriginal occupation to the north, south, east, and west of the study area, substantial ethnographic data on the Hells Canyon area is essentially non-existent. What ethnographic information is available (e.g., encampments, transportation routes, meetings, etc.) is so general as to have little value for an assessment of the traditional cultural properties as well as cultural and ethnographic resources of the Hells Canyon area (Chapter 4.0.). xi FINAL REPORT ABSTRACT (cont.) An exhaustive survey of the above collections yielded only cursory data of an ethnographic nature. So superficial was this information that such things as group identification, composition, or size are rarely mentioned or hinted at. The organization of this report is designed to compliment and expand the archival collections search by providing a summary of known anthropological research for the Native groups (Chapter 2.0.) as well as specific historical accounts of the 19th century (e.g., fur trapper, explorers, missionaries, Oregon Trail emigrants, miners, soldiers, and government representatives)(Chapter 3.0.), as they pertain to the study area. Precise boundaries and land-use patterns of these two groups vary with a specific time period. Fluctuations or shifts in land-tenure, based on land-use rights, occurred for many reasons. No one people had territorial control over the land in question, but each of these two groups used it for specific periods of time. An evaluation and assessment (Chapter 5.0.) of these anthropological, historical, and archival materials are xii FINAL REPORT ABSTRACT (cont.) appraised and recommendations made. Due to the paucity of the anthropological, historical, and archival data associated with the ethnographic populations within the study area, the need for oral history interviews from members of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes at Duck Valley, Idaho/Nevada and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes at Fort Hall, Idaho, is, by necessity, imperative to the over-all completion of this investigation. xiii FINAL REPORT 1.0. INTRODUCTION 1.1. INTENT In the Fall of 1999, the Idaho Power Company contracted with Epochs Past for an Archival Study for the Relicensing the Hells Canyon Complex (FERC. 1971)-- Brownlee, Oxbow, and the Hells Canyon dams -- Hells Canyon, Idaho-Oregon. The intent of this study is to survey, review, and assess the ethnographic information held in archival repositories of the Washington, D.C., area that relate to the American Indian populations occupying the Hells Canyon area. A previous search of the anthropological literature on Hells Canyon was made and found to be meager (Myers 1999); ethnographic data is all but lacking for the aboriginal people of this area. To rectify this situation, a thorough archival review was conducted. This study examines and reviews the existing archival references for the Native American peoples that inhabited or regularly visited the study area. Unfortunately, there are no detailed ethnographic descriptions or accounts that deal with the native groups of the area, and secondary or tertiary sources are few and superficial. The primary aim of this report is to assess the existing archival records, as well as published and unpublished anthropological, ethnohistorical, and historical data regarding the Native populations of the Hells Canyon area. The traditional and contemporary cultural customs, beliefs, activities, practices, and events will be reviewed. Relevant archival data will be substantiated and verified. An evaluation of these data will assist in identifying and assessing cultural areas of historical or sacred significance in and around the study area. This report will also provide recommendations as to the identity, distribution, and nature of significant areas within Hells Canyon and for a course of study for future anthropological research (e.g., oral history interviews). The organization of this report is predicated on the objectives of this study, and for expedience is outlined as follows. Chapter 1.0. presents the main objectives of this study and describes the study area, the environmental setting, and the aboriginal populations with territorial prerogatives or tacit ownership in the Hells Canyon area. Chapter 2.0. reviews the 1 FINAL REPORT culture of the Numic-speakers (Shoshone and Northern Paiute groups) and the Sahaptic-speakers (Nez Perce tribe) as they relate the Hells Canyon area. Chapter 3.0. examines the more significant historical facts, events, activities, and individuals that figure prominently in the Hells Canyon area. Chapter 4.0. examines various archival collections held at the National Archives and other repositories in the Washington, D.C., area. Chapter 5.0. provides recommendations for future anthropological research based on an evaluation and assessment of this archival study. Chapter 6.0. is a detailed bibliography for this study. 1.2. STUDY AREA The Hells Canyon Complex study area consists of the Brownlee, Oxbow, and Hells Canyon Reservoirs and the area upstream (south) of Brownlee Dam to Weiser and below Hells Canyon Dam downstream (north) to the Salmon River and Snake River confluence.