BULL. 30] 



ENVIRONMENT 



429 



ited principally by Salishan, Shahaptian, 

 and Chinookan tribes. In the s. is a 

 coast destitute of islands. At the head- 

 waters of its rivers it communicates with 

 the areas lying to the e. across the moun- 

 tains. Rich lands, a mild climate, good 

 minerals for industries, textile plants, ex- 

 cellent forests, and an abundance of edible 

 roots and fruits, fish, mollusks, and water- 

 fowl ready at hand characterize this en- 

 vironment, with skin and wool for cloth- 

 ing. The manifold resources and varied 

 physical features fostered a great variety 

 of activities. 



(10) Interior basin. — This is embraced 

 between the Rocky mts. and the Sierras 

 of tiie United States, terminating in a 

 regular line in the s., and is the home of 

 the great Shoshonean family. It partly 

 coincides with the arid Sonoran area of 

 Merriam, consisting of partial deserts, 

 with rich wooded patches among the 

 mountains. Good stone for various crafts 

 is present. Timber is scarce, but wild 

 seeds are abundant for food, and excel- 

 lent woods and I'oots for basketry. Ani- 

 mals available were buffalo, rabbit, deer, 

 antelope, wolf, mountain sheep, and birds, 

 but fish were scarce. The environment 

 made necessary the brush shelter and the 

 cave dwelling. Little pottery was made, 

 but the sinew-backed bow was developed. 

 Traveling was necessarily done on foot, 

 and carrying effected by dogs and women, 

 as there was no transportation by water. 



(11) California-Oregon. — This includes 

 s. Oregon and the greater part of Califor- 

 nia — that embraced in the drainage basins 

 of the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and 

 smaller rivers flowing into the Pacific. 

 The temperature is mild, neither cold in 

 winter nor hot- in summer, and the year 

 is divided into wet and dry seasons. The 

 Sierras form a mountain boundary, and 

 mountain groups of some height are ob- 

 structions within, the area, but the Coast 

 range is low and broken and not a barrier. 

 Obsidian, steatite, and other good stones 

 for the arts were plentiful. There was 

 clay, but no pottery. The region was well 

 but not heavily timbered, consisting of 

 open plains, with hillsides and ranges 

 covered more or less with brush and 

 scattered oaks, many species furnishing 

 acorns for food. The open spaces alter- 

 nating with the wooded lands yielded 

 grasses and medicinal herbs. Other use- 

 ful plants were the buckeye, manzanita, 

 nut pine, redwood, and tule in the s. for 

 balsas, baskets, matting, and houses, and 

 edible and textile roots were also found. 

 The animals entering into Indian econ- 

 omy were the deer, rabbit, bear, coyote, 

 squirrel, jaguar, condor, salmon, sturgeon, 

 eel, trout, smelt, mussel, clam, haliotis, 

 and other shellfish whose shells furnished 

 media of exchange. This environment 



was the Caucasus of North America, where 

 25 linguistic families were asseml)led. 

 On JNIerriam's bio-geographic maps, pul)- 

 lished by the Department of Agriculture, 

 a great variety of life is shown, due to ver- 

 tical zones of temperature, only the lower 

 of which were inhabited by Indians. The 

 more elevated of these were just as effec- 

 tual as boundaries as though they were 

 imjiassable. Owing to the peculiar nature 

 of materials, the arts of this environment 

 were well defined. 



(12) Pueblo country. This area in- 

 cludes s. Utah, s. w. Colorado, all of New 

 Mexico and Arizona together with the 

 Mohave desert, and extends southward 

 into Mexico. It embraces the drainage 

 basin of the San Juan in the n. , the Rio 

 Grande and the Pecos in the e., and the 

 Colorado in the w. In physiographic 

 character it ranges from semiarid to desert. 

 There are deep canyons, elevated mesas, 

 narrow fertile valleys, l)road stretches of 

 plains, and isolated mountain masses. 

 The climate demands little clothing in 

 the lowlands, but on the plateaus the 

 nights are cold and the summer tempera- 

 ture that of Maine. Rain is irregular and 

 periodic, being plentiful for weeks, fol- 

 lowed by months of drought; most of the 

 streams are therefore intermittent. Use- 

 ful minerals are gypsum, obsidian, vari- 

 eties of quartz, potter's clay, adobe, 

 ochers, lignite, salt, and tunjuoise. Plant 

 life, except after rains, is comparatively 

 meager, the species giving rise to native 

 industries being chiefly cactus, yucca, 

 Cottonwood, greasewood, willow, scrub 

 oak, conifers, and rushes. Maize, beans, 

 and cotton were cultivated from a very 

 early period. "Wild animals hunted or 

 trapped were the rabbit, deer, bear, 

 turkey, prairie dog, mountain lion, wild- 

 cat, wood-rat, mountain sheep, coyote, 

 and wolf. Dogs were trained, and bur- 

 ros, sheep, goats, and cattle found a con- 

 genial home in this area after their intro- 

 duction by the Spaniards. Travel was 

 formerly done on foot only, and goods 

 had to be carried chiefly on the heads 

 and backs of men and women, there being 

 few navigable waters. This peculiar en- 

 vironment impelled tribes coming into 

 the region to lead the life of the Pueblo. 

 The outskirts of the region were even less 

 favored with resources, hence the Pueblos 

 were brought into conflict with predatory 

 tribes like the Ute, and later the Navaho, 

 the Apache, and the Comanche, who 

 robbed them and constantly threatened 

 to consume what they raised. These con- 

 flicts developed the cliff-dwelling as means 

 of protection. Southwest of the region 

 proper are Piman and Yuman tribes and 

 the Mission Indians, dwelling in oases of 

 the desert that extends into Mexico. 

 Here grow mesquite, ironwood, agave. 



