The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley

by Harlan Ingersoll Smith

In the vicinity of Ellensburg, we found no archaeological specimens except the chipped point mentioned on page 163, but this may be due in part to the modern cultivation of the soil and to the fact that the irrigated crops, such as are grown here, hide so much of the surface of the ground. A search along portions of the level country west of the town and even in such places as those where the river cuts the bank, failed to reveal signs of house or village sites. In Ellensburg, I saw a summer lodge, made up of a conical framework of poles covered with cloth and inhabited by an old blind Indian and his wife. East of the city, near the little stream below the City Reservoir was another summer lodge made similarly, but among the covering cloths was some matting of native manufacture. The remains of an underground house, possibly 30 feet in diameter were seen to the east of the Northern Pacific Railway, between Ellensburg and Thrall.

On the little bottom land along the western side of Cherry Creek, near its mouth, at the upper end of Yakima Canon, we found objects which show that the place had been a camping ground. This is immediately south of where an east and west road crosses the creek on the farm of Mr. Bull. On this village site were found the specimens catalogued under numbers 202-8213 to 8222, of which two are shown in [Plate II], [Fig. 12], and [Fig. 52]. The opposite side of this stream strikes one of the foothills of the uplands, the western extension of Saddle Mountains. On the top of this foothill, which overlooks the above mentioned village site, were a number of burials marked by circles of rocks.[15] In the rock-slide on the side of this hill, between these circles and the village site below, were a number of graves which are described in detail under numbers 99-4326-4332 and 202-8223-8258 on pages 164 to 166. Some of the objects found, many of which are recent and show contact with the white race, are shown in Figs. [71a], [72], [74], [78], [80], [82]-[86], [90], [92], [95], and [96].

On the western side of the Yakima, about opposite the above mentioned village site, a rock-slide appears at the head of Yakima Canon. In it are a number of rock-slide graves marked by sticks.

In Selah Canon, on the north side of Selah Creek, about a mile and a half above where it empties into the Yakima are three groups of petroglyphs pecked into the vertical surface of the low basaltic cliffs of the canon wall. Two of these groups ([Plate XII]) are upon eastern faces of the rock, while the one shown in [Fig. 1, Plate XIII], is upon a southern exposure. In the rock-slide on the south side of Selah Canon, about three quarters of a mile above the Yakima or about half way between these petroglyphs and the Yakima, were found a number of graves, one of them marked by a much weathered twig. These were the only archaeological remains seen by us in Selah Canon, although we examined it for at least two miles from its mouth.

On the north slope of Yakima Ridge, near its base, at a point where the Moxee Canal and the river road turn and run west along the base of the ridge or about southeast of the largest ranch there, possibly two miles northeasterly from the Gap, were a number of scattered graves covered with rock-slide material. About one quarter of a mile west from here, a little west of south of the ranch, was a large rock-slide, covering a short northerly spur of the ridge. This is shown from the southwest in [Plate VII]. It is about three quarters of a mile northeast from where the Yakima River, after flowing through bottom lands, strikes the base of the Yakima Ridge. In this slide were a large number of shallow parallel nearly horizontal ditches below each of which is a low ridge or terrace of the angular slide-rock. Among these terraces, as shown in [Fig. 2] of the plate, were a few pits surrounded by a low ridge, made up of jagged slide-rock, apparently from out of the pits. It was naturally larger at the side of the pit towards the bottom of the slide. In none of these did we find human remains or specimens. Some of them are larger than similar pits that we found to be rock-slide graves. Their close resemblance to graves found to have been disturbed, part of their remains being scattered near by and to other graves, as they appeared after our excavations, suggests that these pits are the remains of such rock-slide graves from which the bodies have been removed by the Indians possibly since the land became the property of the United States Government. On the other hand, these pits remind us of rifle pits, though it does not seem probable that they would be built in such a place for that purpose and there is no local account of the site having been used for such pits. This rock-slide is particularly interesting because of the terraces into which most of its surface had been formed. The character of the rock-slide material is such that one may walk over these for some little time without noticing them, but once having been noticed, they always force themselves upon the attention. Standing near the top of the slide, they remind one of rows of seats in a theatre. Each terrace begins at the edge of the slide and runs horizontally out around its convex surface to the opposite side. Some of them are wider than others. They resemble the more or less horizontal and parallel terraces formed by horses and cattle while feeding on steep slopes. The Yakima Ridge has been so terraced by stock in many places and over large areas. However, there is no vegetation on the rock-slide to entice stock and the difficulty of walking over the cruelly sharp rocks as well as the presence of rattlesnakes would seem sufficient to cause both cattle and horses to pass either below or above it. The outer edge of each terrace is probably little lower than the inner edge, but viewed from the slope it seems so, and this suggests that these terraces may have been entrenchments, though it would seem that they would be useless for such a purpose since one can easily reach the land above from either side. Moreover, it would not seem necessary to make parallel entrenchments down the entire slope. That they were made to facilitate the carrying of the dead to the rock-slide graves is possible but not probable. It seems unlikely that they could have been made for the seating of spectators to overlook games or ceremonies; for the sharpness of the rocks would make them very uncomfortable.

There is a much higher rock-slide on the east side of a small steep ravine near where the Yakima River flows close to the base of the ridge, about a mile northeast of the Naches River or Upper Gap. Near the top of this slide, possibly three hundred feet above the river, were similar pits larger than those just described. Two or three of these were bounded along the edge towards the top of the slide by an unusually wide terrace. Near the bottom of this slide were graves[16] (Nos. 1 and 2) which are described in detail on [page 153]. Grave No. 1 was in the base of the rock-slide as shown in the figure and was indicated by a cedar stick projecting from a slight depression in the top of the heap of rock-slide material covering it. It was on a slight terrace about eighty feet above the river, and commanded a view over the valley of the Yakima to the north. The presence of the brass tube shown in [Fig. 75] suggests that this grave is not of great antiquity. Grave No. 2 was in the same rock-slide about fifty feet down the ravine or to the north, and about forty feet above the Moxee flume. It was indicated by a hole in a pile of rock, like an old well. It was found to contain nothing, the remains having been removed. On the south side of the Yakima Ridge, near the bridge over the Yakima, at the Upper Gap, rock-slide graves are said to have been disturbed during the construction of the flume which carries the waters of the Moxee ditch around the western end of the Yakima Ridge, and during the gathering of stone on this point for commercial purposes. Some of these graves are said to have been above the flume.

Here and there, near the base of the ridge from this point easterly for about a mile, were found small pits, such as one shown in [Fig. 1, Plate VIII]. Apparently, these were rock-slide graves from which the human remains had been removed, either by the Indians in early times or more recently by visitors from the neighboring town of North Yakima. Possibly some of them are old cache holes. One of these graves near the top of a small rock-slide above the flume contained a human skeleton and is shown in [Fig. 2, Plate VIII]. Below these graves, on the narrow flat between the base of the ridge and the Yakima River at a point about three quarters of a mile below the Upper Gap at the mouth of the Naches River, were discovered a number of small pits each surrounded by a low ridge of earth which were probably the remains of cache holes made by the Indians during the last twenty years. On this flat, close to the river were two pits surrounded by a circular ridge which indicated ancient semi-subterranean house sites, further described on [page 51].

It is said, that above the flume at a point about a mile and a half below the Upper Gap, rock-slide graves, some of which were marked by pieces of canoes were excavated by school boys. The writer was also informed by small boys that near the top of the ridge immediately above here, they frequently found chipped points for arrows but on examination discovered only chips of stone suitable for such points, the boys either having mistaken the chips for points or having collected so many of the points that they were scarce.

On the west side of the Yakima, at the Upper Gap, there is a raised flat top or terrace that overlooks the mouth of the Naches River to the southeast. Here were a number of circles made up of angular rocks. Within each we found the remains of human cremations. Unburned fragments of the bones of several individuals with shell ornaments were often present in a single circle.[17]