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Gilbert
Minthorn holding horse with his mother, Modesta Minthorn
and unidentified child at the Pendleton Round-up.
Date unknown. Photo courtesy of the Tamástslikt
Cultural Institute
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Umatilla River > Culture > Horses, Trade, and Travel
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Wild
horses on the Umatilla Reservation, in the foothills
of the Blue Mountains.
Courtesy of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute. |
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Acquisition of the Horse |
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A Strange Dream
Gilbert Minthorn told A. W. Nelson this
story of the Walla Wallas acquiring horses:
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Gilbert Minthorn
Photo courtesy Tamástslikt Cultural Institute
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"hellip;When the Walla Wallas were numerous and
powerful, one of their wise men dreamed a strange dream,
but thought little of it. When the identical dream occurred
with annoying regularity, he took council with his chiefs.
"Continually I see a strange animal, not unlike
an elk but without horns. There is long hair on his
neck and on his rump. Astride this queer spectacle sites
a man dressed in a long, black garment, and on his head
a queer black object, wide and flat. I see it towards
the south. I shall go to it."
"Ignoring expostulations and objections the
dreamer of dreams set forth, going south, always south.
Faith and hope finally deserted him and one night he
collapsed in a state of thorough dejection. He was lonesome
and defeated. But a crow appeared nearby, cawing in
a raucous manner. It circled and darted south only to
return and repeat the maneuvers often. "I have
arrived," cried the wanderer, and fell asleep.
"The next morning he saw in the distance a padre
riding a Mexican mustang-exactly as his dreams had pictured
it. Arguing not with his conscience he slew the padre,
mounted the beast and rode it home. The mustang was
a mare and it was with foal. Soon after the wise man
retuned to his W Ws, very much a hero, a male colt was
born, and from the resultant inbreeding came the cayuse
pony…" (Minthorn; Nelson: 1934).
According to Cayuse tradition…
…sometime in the early 1700s, a war party of Cayuse
and Umatilla camped on the Malheur River, a tributary
of the Snake River. Some spies were dispatched to bluffs
that overlooked the river to watch for their enemy,
the Snakes or Shoshone. They saw something that caused
great bewilderment. The Shoshone appeared to be riding
either elk or large deer. The spies hurried back to
tell their war chief, Ococtuin, of this strange site.
The chief sent other warriors to find out the reason
for what he thought must surely be a trick. They, too,
saw what appeared to be their enemies riding either
elk or large deer. Puzzled, the group crept in for a
closer look. Much to their amazement, they discovered
that the hoofprints were not split but solid and round.
Thoroughly disturbed by this discovery, Ococtuin deserted
the war plan for peace instead. This turned out to be
a very wise decision. They arranged a truce with the
Shoshone and asked to trade for some of these amazing
creatures. The reply was a stern "no!" The
Cayuse and Umatilla warriors laid down all they had
to give. Finally, Shoshone consented and gave a mare
and a stallion. The party went back home with the pair
of Spanish descent horses. The Indians treated these
treasured gifts with great care, and the following year
the mare gave birth to a colt. |
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Lifeways Change and Wealth |
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Many of the Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Cayuse people
became excellent horse breeders, maintaining large herds.
Their homelands in southeastern Washington and Northeastern
Oregon were rich with abundant grass covered hills for
grazing. Lewis and Clark wrote of these great herds
on their journey down the Columbia River.
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Horse
Heaven Hills
Krista Anderson photograph
View
Map |
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"…the river hills are about 250 feet high
and generally abrupt and Craggey in many places faced
with a perpendicular and Solid rock. this rock is black
and hard. leve plains extend themselves from the tops
of the river hills to great distance on either Side
of the river. the Soil is not as fertile as about the
falls, tho' it produces a low grass on which the horses
feed very Conveniently. it astonished me to See the
order of their horses at this Season of the year when
I knew they had wintered on the dry grass of the plains
and at the Same time road with greater Severity than
is Common among ourselves. I did not See a Single horse
which Could be deemed poor and many of them were very
fat. their horses were generally good. [Lewis] Friday
April 25th, 1806"" (Moulton: 1991).Prestige and wealth became partially measured
by the amount of horses an individual or family possessed.
By the 1830s a Cayuse with only 15-20 horses was thought
to be poor, while the wealthy may have owned more than
2,000 head"" (Stern 1998).The horse greatly changed the life-ways of
the Plateau peoples. Horses gave them more mobility,
which allowed them to travel greater distances faster
and expand their territory, improving their already
extensive trade networks. Of the various Plateau groups,
the Cayuse, in particular, became skilled horsemen.
By imposing themselves as middlemen between the trading
companies and their traditional enemies, the Northern
Paiute, Bannock, and Northern Shoshone, the Cayuse were
able to increase their trade goods and obtain more land
to the south"" (Stern 1998).Cayuse teamed with Nez Perce, and to a lesser
extent, Umatilla and Walla Walla people, crossed the
Rocky Mountains and formed intertribal parties with
some Salish groups to hunt buffalo on the Great Plains.
At times they wintered on the Plains, participating
in the customs and practices of Plains life.
"To survive in this environment they adopted Plains-style
clothing, methods of packing and transporting goods
with parfleches and travois, respectively, and integrated
tepees into their housing repertoire. Along with clothing
and containers came new designs in paint and beadwork.
New songs and ceremonies, war honors dances, and the
idea of electing headmen based on warrior skills came
from these associations with people of the Plains" (www.umatilla.nsn.us).
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Intertribal Trade |
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Many new trade goods were exchanged between
the Plateau region and the Plains. Aside from the above
mentioned, horses, pipestone, obsidian points, buffalo
meat and hides were traded for fish, dried roots, basketry,
and ornamental seashells, to cite just a few of the
many items bartered. At the Dalles, people of the Northwest
Coast, Plateau, and Plains cultures intermingled and
exchanged foods, goods, and cultural ideas. |
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K. Furrow
photo |
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Background:Portion
of Maj. Lee Moorhouse. PH 36, Special Collections &
University Archives,
University of Oregon, M5143. |
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