162 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[Bull. 179 



Much of the land away from the Columbia Kiver and in the basin 

 is arid, windswept, and supports little more than cactus and sage- 

 brush. Major tributaries include the Deschutes, just east of The 

 Dalles, the Yakima nearly opposite the mouth of the Snake, and a num- 

 ber of small streams in the northeast. A division of the Plateau could 

 be made on the basis of aridity. The southern and western portion of 

 the area, except for the mountains, is hot in smnmer, dry, treeless, and 

 basalt covered. The northeastern part, on the other hand, is forested 

 and dotted with lakes. Malouf has considered designating the latter 

 region a separate culture area (personal communication, 1953). This 

 point is discussed later. 



In the hills and mountains that are on all sides of the Plateau the 

 size and number of trees are proportional to the elevation. The lower 

 eastern slopes of the Cascades are more or less in a rain shadow but 

 benefit somewhat from the runoff. On the other hand, the western 

 slopes of the eastern ranges receive sufficient direct rainfall to support 

 heavy forests. The most common trees are jack pine, pitch pine, 

 Douglas fir, and maple in the higher elevations. Cedar and oak domi- 

 nate much of the forest edges, which quickly give way to the ubiquitous 

 sagebrush. 



Mean Fahrenheit temperatures for different parts of the Plateau, 

 as well as annual precipitation, are taken from Eay's charts (Ray, 

 1936, p. 105). 



Table 1. — Temperature and precipitation for different parts of the Plateau 



Absolute maximums are not listed but temperatures exceeding 110° F. 

 are not uncommon and temperatures as low as minus 20° are not 

 unusual in the winter. 



PLATEAU ETHNOGEAPHY 



Map 2 gives the location and territory of the major Plateau tribes 

 as of about 1825 to 1850, based on work done by Berreman (1937), 

 Ray (1936), and Osborne.^ The boundaries may not be exact 

 for many reasons ; hunting territories are seldom precise, especially if 

 hunting is not the major economic pursuit. There is also considerable 

 evidence of movement in the period between 1800 and 1850 (Teit, 



' See footnote 3, p. 164. 



