l6 



burning of the open grass-lands by the Indians was a 

 well recognized custom, and was done to improve the 

 forage. 



Dr A. S. Kroeber states that the Indians did not 

 burn the timberland in northwestern California, in the 

 Coast Region of the Klamath and Western Trinity, They 

 did, However, burn the central Sierra region. The ob- 

 jects of burning by the Indians were (a) to make seed 

 gathering easier and to increase forage (b) to drive 

 game and to make hunting and travelling easier (c) and 

 to increase visibility, thus preventing ambtiscades. 

 The I;^dians had no reason for protecting large timber 

 because they used only small stuff for dwellings, and 

 so forth. They could not fell large trees easily with 

 primitive axes. Canoes were used only in restticted 

 regions like the Klamath and were made from fallen trees. 

 On the other hand, claims are made that the Pi Ute 

 Indians intentionally set the forest floor afire to 

 destroy the accumulated debris and thus protect the 

 standing timber from future fires. 



Be the causes of early fires what they may - either 

 according to Nature's plan or to that of man - the fact 

 remains that many fires have occurred. The thousands 

 upon thousands of huge fire-scarred trees in the Sierra 

 region are living witnesses of the fires that have 

 swept thru the forests in the past. Thus, by felling 

 a number of these f ire-scatrred veterans and counting 

 the rings, it has been determined that particularly 



