250 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 179 



Sandstone shaft smoothers were found in every region except the 

 Yakinia valley. Bone beads and polished celts were recovered in 

 every region except The Dalles. Hobo Cave did not give a rounded 

 sample of material culture, but did have a large collection of projectile 

 points. Side-notched points did not appear in the cave but were 

 present elsewhere in the Plateau. 



PLATEAU CULTURE IN THE EARLY HISTORICAL 



PERIOD 



A survey of historical references to Plateau Indian culture is essen- 

 tial for several reasons. First, it establishes that certain items of ma- 

 terial culture were used in certain ways, and, second, it gives a trait 

 list for the historical period which can be compared with that of the 

 prehistoric period. In view of changes that take place in material 

 culture through time, it is vital that the culture described for the his- 

 torical period be limited in its time span. 



When the Plateau is spoken of as a culture area, reference is made 

 not to present-day culture, but to culture of the period prior to Euro- 

 pean acculturation. Knowledge of the Plateau Area was first available 

 when Lewis and Clark returned from their expedition in 1806. For- 

 tunately, they were careful observers, and were not primarily inter- 

 ested in trade or religious conversion. Other travelers followed in 

 rapid succession, and more tlian a few of them wrote of their experi- 

 ences. It is difficult to determine just when the early contact period 

 ended in the Plateau. Ray, in reference to the middle Columbia 

 Basin, wrote: 



A few villages in the area had been abandoned as the result of white encroach- 

 ment as early as 1880, but major displacements did not occur until after the 

 turn of the century. [Ray, 1936, p. 99.] 



This, however, has little bearing on the problem of acculturation. The 

 disturbance of aboriginal Plateau culture began even before Lewis and 

 Clark, at the time that European trade goods began to appear in 

 quantity. 



The earliest trade goods of European origin were glass beads and 

 bits of copper. They were probably traded into the Plateau by other 

 Indians who obtained them from eastern fur traders. The earliest 

 post nearby was established at Nootka on Vancouver Island by John 

 Meares in 1787 (Winther, 1947, p. 25). This would have given Pla- 

 teau Indians a source of trade goods only 350 miles away. In 1791, 

 Robert Gray entered the Columbia River in a ship named Oolum- 

 hia. He named the river after his ship, and traded extensively with 

 the Indians (ibid, p. 25). Among the things he carried were copper 

 sheets, iron bars, and buttons. It was about 1811 to 1812, when trade 



