Hunters of the Mountain Sheep

• SHERIDAN COUNTY  
• An isolated tribe of Shoshones

• Nancy Blair, Sheridan Star, newsclipping files public library.

High in the mountains of western  Wyoming the Shoshone Indians left not only their campsites and game traps but an intriguing puzzle. In caves, on boulders and along canyon walls one is apt to see figures and symbols of men and animals. What is their meaning? How old are they? What people left them to be questioned by the 20th Century man?

Contrary to many assumptions these pictures do not represent "Indian writing" for no prehistoric North American Indian group within the confines of the present United States ever developed a written language at that early date. The figures are known as petroglyphs. They are not painted onto the surface, rather they are incised or pecked into the surface of the rocks. Most in Wyoming are of the pecked variety.

The figures may have been made to describe something, to mark a place or perhaps to express an idea or fact. However, there is no symmetry, little composition and a general disregard for proportions and arrangement. They are often crowded into small spaces or placed on top of one another. Because of this, it is doubtful that the figures were done by specialists. Of course, much of this was probably due to the hardness of the rock and the rough tools used. Certainly no metal tools were used. Horn, bone or harder stone pecked those figures into the stone.

The figures represent simplified and conventionalized forms of things like plants, animals, men, heavenly bodies and so on. Often they are realistic representations of animals such as deer, elk, buf-

Hunters of mountain sheep built their culture around the bighorn

Some petroglyphs in Wyoming are incised representations of elk, bear and mountain sheep nearer the color of the original rock than the newer ones. Numerous examples of superimpositions may be found.

Several sites in Wyoming have been worked. One, the Dinwoody site located on the northernmost boundary of the Wind River Reservation, was occupied both in prehistoric and historic times by Shoshone Indians. In all probability this group of Shoshones was part of the groups often referred to as the "Sheepeaters."

Many petroglyphs were found on the walls of the caves. Two large panels of petroglyphs tell stories. One is of the death and mourning of a great medicine man. Another famous panel at the site is concerned with the birth of

falo, antelope, otter, mountain sheep, coyote and bear. The snake appears frequently, and the turtle is also found. In most cases no ready deciphering can be expected since some are probably symbolic and, therefore, of unknown meaning.

So far no accurate means of dating the petroglyphs has been established. Time has weathered many of the petroglyphs until only a vague outline can be seen. Differences in style of the petroglyphs may be indicative of various periods in which the figures were made. Patination, or weathering, often indicates great age. The older petroglyphs have broad, shallow pecks and are darker and more polished. The

Another famous panel at the site is concerned with the birth of twins. Twins were a disgrace to the woman who bore them as is shown by the petroglyphs.

East of Crowheart Butte there is a representation of two Bird Women. Southeast of Lander on Twin Creek one can find petroglyphs of many animals; a few human figures and some forms of unknown meaning can be seen.

Most of these petroglyphs in the Wind River Mountain area are pecked, although a few are incised. They range from quite old and weathered impressions to those that are sharp and fairly recent.

Now for the question: Who were the people who left such fascinating remnants of their culture? Petroglyphs have been found throughout the western United States with considerable frequency. 

Poles from a wickiup which could have been used by the Sheepeater tribe (right) are still found in northwestern Wyoming. Jean Blair rides across V-shaped rock remnants (below) that may have been part of the wings of a sheep trap.

 

THE SHEEP EATERS

By John Bona

"Beware of the white man's small pox!" the terrified cry echoed through what is now Yellowstone Park. It was in the early 1800's that this stark warning came from a shy tribe of small stature Indians known as the Tukuarikas or Sheep-eaters.

Because of their timidness little is known of these ancient people. However it is speculated that the Sheepeaters were originally outcasts of the Shoshone and Bannock Tribes. The poor and underprivileged and the weak banded together for survival. Pushed back into the mountains they developed a culture of their own and became a distinct tribe through their environment and way of life. Due to economic exploitation and fight for survival, succeeding generations became smaller in stature. And through necessity they developed into stalkers of the elusively swift mountain sheep. However elk and deer often supplimented their winter diet. The fresh-clean mountain air at 7000 feet and above attributed much to the beauty of the inhabitants. The men were small but mostly handsome. And the Sheepeater women were said to be beautiful and resembled the short Alaskan Indians of today.

Their extreme shyness so the story goes was attributed to a whiteman trapper who stumbled into the Sheepeater's village. The medicine man never turned anyone away. He gave the white-man many baths. But the man got red and spots came on his face. The illness spread among the tribes and many died. By 1860 there were few of the Sheepeaters left. And in 1887 all had been forced to evacuate their mountain abode by the troops under command of Colonel P. W. Morris by orders of the government. Most of the Indians sought refuge at the Wind River Reservation. One of the most famous of the Sheepeaters was a medicine man named Chief Togwotee. He became the guide of Shoshone Chief Washakie. Togwotee Pass in the Teton National Forest is named in his honor.

It is told that the last known Sheepeater was found in the Big Horn Mountains in 1877. Aggretta was 115 years old. Squaw of Chief Red Eagle she was taken in by the Crow Indians. They called her 'Woman Under the Ground'. For that is where she should have been. Her story was interesting. She said that the Big Horn Sheep was used for food and clothing but never for lodges. Tall and straight lodge pole pines were erected to form a circle. The tops of the poles overlapped. Two layers of bark was secured to the framework with pitch used as an adhesive. Although the outer layer was coarse, the inner layer of bark was worked fine and smooth. Here they had lived a peaceful people and not warlike unless driven to defend themselves. For over 1000 years her people had lived in a perpetual-like Garden of Eden.

And only the Sheep Eaters traveled the rugged heights of the narrow steep trails trodded by the ram of the high country. Except in winter when they moved to lower elevations the Sheep Eaters seldom left their lofty abodes of tents and caves. For in the valley far below evil spirits worked at warlike activities. A few braves ventured down to obtain obsidian rock for arrow making. No one made better arrows than the Sheep Eaters. They were also known as 'The Arrow Makers' by other Indians. Their wares were traded for the Sheep Eater's arrows. And they also excelled in tanning the skin of the dwarf white tail deer. Made into garments the clothes were in demand by other tribes and later by the white mountain men. The clothes were plentiful and were often thrown at the bargainers feet. Anything of value was accepted as payment for them.

Some of the Sheep Eaters were artists and painted pictures on rocks which are still seen today. Others were story-tellers and they told of mythical dwarf animals who would fit in with their own small size.

Such was the case of the tiny deer which weighed thirty pounds and had an antler spread of ten inches. Many of the tales were similar to those told by the Shoshone Indians. Such is the one of the pygmy chipmunk. This swift little striped animal lives in Yellowstone Park today. Birds, and fish were deeply involved in the tales as were the flowers, the fields, and the forest. Then there was the water both hot and cold of Yellowstone playing a big part in the struggle to let the little Sheep Eater survive. Dogs were often mentioned as they were beasts of burden as they had no horses. Some dogs were used for hunting purposes.

YELLOWSTONE PARK
Aggretta made mention of the giant medicine wheel located at 10,000 feet altitude in the Big Horn Mountain range as having deep religious significance. They worshiped the sun on Bald Mountain. The 28 spokes, eighty feet across were supposed to represent the twenty-eight tribes who made an annual pilgrimage to the shrine from near and far coming from the Crazy Mountains in Monana, the Wind River Peaks, and Teton Range.

The alter still stands. At the hub or center there was a house of stone where Chief Red EAgle held sway over all the tribes. On the northeast side was the house of the god of plenty, and on the southeast was the house of the goddess of beauty; due west was the massive granite cave dedicated to the sun god.

The services were directed by the sun god. Along the twenty-eight spokes the worshippers chanted their songs of praise. This sun dial on earth was a replica of the sun in the heavens. And as one watches fluffy white clouds pass over this shrine of the Sheep Eaters the voice of Aggretta comes back to tell of how her people lived among these clouds. She mentions her people were not warriors. They worshipped the sun. The sun was bright and so were her people. The men were good and the women were like the sun.

They chanted their songs to the sun. The Great Spirit was pleased. He gave them sheep, meat and berries and pure water. They were happy in their mountain abode with its cascading streams teeming with game fish. But in later years

an enemy tribe appeared. They killed the elk and the buffalo in the valleys. With swarms of dogs and horses they ran the game until it went far away. They stole horses and were always at war. The Sheep Eaters never stole anything. As they ascended the trail to the Sheep Eaters they were met by Chief Red Eagle on a steep precipice. Ordered down they prepared for battle. The Sheepeaters had stored massive rock for protection. This rock could be let loose down the trail and crush the enemy into the earth. A runner was sent to the enemy begging them to go back. Chief Red Eagle asked to be left alone as they never went into the valleys nor killed the buffalo. The runner was wounded. The time had come for action. With squaws and children hidden among the rocks the braves prepared for battle led by Red Eagle and his six foot long bow. Red Eagle watched the enemy swarm until they reached the most dangerous precipice. A great lever in place years before loosened a great rock. It sped down the canyon like a cyclone. It tore trees from their roots. Rocks started flying down the canyon in its path. The enemy tribe screamed in horror. Dogs howled. Horses neighed. Death and blood spread across the valley. Not a living thing below stired. The battle was over. But now something worse than war had happened. Small pox . . . the curse from the white-man took a toll of almost all of a once proud and happy people. The rest under his orders were assimilated into a different life. The Sheepeaters were gone.

Huntersraised concerning their relationship to those of western Europe. However, their similarity may just be a coincidence resulting from the same level of development among different peoples. Those in the mountains of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho have been suspected of being left by the Basin-Plateau Indians or perhaps their ancient ancestors.

The Basin-Plateau culture area including parts of Idaho, Utah, Nevada and Wyoming was the home of the Shoshone. The Sho-shones themselves referred to the speakers of the different dialects by "folknames." Folknames for each other were based upon the predominate food of a particular group at any specific time. There were "salmon-eaters," "fish-eaters," "seed-eaters," "elk-eaters" and so on. The Tukuarika are commonly known today by the term "mountain sheep-eaters." One group might be referred to as "meat-eaters" during one season and known as "seed-eaters" during another.

With their main subsistence based on mountain sheep, the Tukuarika possessed a characteristic culture apart from other Shoshone groups. They once lived throughout the rugged mountains

of present-day northwestern Wyoming (down to South Pass), southwestern Montana and central Idaho. Nearly all of these mountains rise from an elevation of 5,000 feet to over 11,500 feet and are covered with snow until June or July. As a consequence, the Sheepeaters were for the most part isolated from other Shoshone groups. Scattered reports from early explorers and trappers account for the presence of short-statured Indians who lived in the mountains, secluded from others, distrustful of strangers and seldom seen. General Fremont and William L. Sublette left records of their having seen members of these small, timorous people in the high Wind River Mountains. Even the introduction of the horse—a revolutionary episode indeed—was not assimilated by these people. This was probably due to their mode of living and their isolation from other tribes.

The Plains Shoshone experienced a tremendous transformation during the 1700s after they acquired the horse. Before that time the Shoshone, whether in the mountains or on the plains, had a basically simple and uncomplicated culture. The Plains Shoshone culture took on a new face after the introduction of the horse. They then centered both their economic life and material possessions around the buffalo.

From the buffalo came skins for making leather goods, robes and tents as well as large quantities of food. Family units came together to form larger bands with authority delegated to recognized leaders. Horses represented wealth— and every means, whether honest or not, was put forth to obtain them. And so, what we imagine typical Plains Indians to be came into existence.

Compared to the spectacular Plains Shoshone culture, that of the Sheepeaters was very meager indeed. Some authorities have even gone so far as to claim that the Sheepeater culture was stagnant. Even though they retained the culture typical of all Basin-Plateau Shoshonean-speaking "walkers" (pre-horse Shoshone), culture traits indigneous of the Sheepeaters did occur. The Sheepeaters had to adapt themselves to an unfavorable climate and the rugged mountains. Specialization had to occur. As a result, they became adept at building traps for large game, for using dogs in hunting, for ingeniously making bows from mountain sheep horns and for the tailoring of warm winter clothing.

Summer months were spent following the large game animals on their migrations to the high tim-berline pastures. When the game moved to lower elevations for wintering, the Sheepeaters followed. The use of snowshoes facilitated

Petroglyphs of the pecked variety are the most common of those found in Wyoming. An otter and a bighorn sheep are represented by the figures on the left, while an owl, a man and a turtle can be distinguished from the figures on the right.

However, during this annual cycle, berries, roots, herbs, nuts and insects were gathered; birds and small mammals were eaten. Although fish-eaters other than salmon-eaters were scorned, spawning fish most likely constituted a large portion of their diet. Domesticated dogs were used for hunting purposes. These dogs surrounded the game and held them at bay or drove the game animals into specially built traps. Such traps are plentiful along the southern end of the Absaroka Mountains and in the northern portion of the Wind River Mountains. Several of these have been described in literature. One type was formed by long "V "-shaped wings of logs with a ramp of logs and rocks situated at the tip. Some natural feature of the terrain, such as a steep cliff, was generally utilized. From the wings the mountain sheep were driven down the chute and forced into the pen below, thus preventing an escape by the same route from which they entered. Another variaty consisted of a large excavated pit. Yet another kind of trap required sharpened sticks to be implanted in the ground. As the jre by other Shoshones, the Sheepeaters, nevertheless, must be admired for their ingenuy when it came to building thet raps.

Sheepeater social organization was characterized as that typical prehorse Shoshoneans. One or two nuclear families generally made up the economic and social roups. Seldom, if ever, were there aore than 25 to 30 people in a land.

Marriages were informal and narked by no binding ceremonies. !ven so, they were more likely cian not relatively permanent. larriages between the Sheepeaters nd the Plains Shoshone occurred ot infrequently even though the )rmer tended to maintain their ^eluded life.

Leadership was never limited to one man, for no single man was ever the leader of all activities. Since they relied upon the pursuit of large game, namely the mountain sheep, for their livelihood, the economic pattern required the simplest of social organizations. Campsites were chosen which accommodated only small groups. Travel between these sites was best done in small groups on foot.

Dogs carried a few of the Sheepeaters' possessions on their backs or pulled small travois where the terrain permitted. The main load, however, was carried on back packs by the Sheepeaters themselves. As a consequence, material possessions were necessarily limited. Goods and food were wrapped and carried in woven, sagebrush bark baskets. Clay pots and vessels were too heavy to be moved from camp to camp so they were cached.

The Sheepeaters possessed the familiar rabbit skin blanket of all Shoshone an Plateau peoples. These were made of small strips of tanned rabbit skin sewn or woven together. These and blankets made of wolf skin were prized possessions. As specialists the Sheepeaters excelled all other Shoshone furriers. Animal brains were used to soften hides for tanning. The dressed skins were of better quality and much softer than those of most other Indians because of the practice of repeating the tanning process. Normally the Shoshones considered the job finished after using one animal brain. Sheepeaters carried the process further by using another brain for a second time. Tailored clothing was manufactured from sheepskins for the women and from elk, deer or mountain sheep for the men. The Sheepeaters utilized badger and elk skins for moccasins; coyote skins were used for ear flaps and for leggings; breechcloths and blankets were made from antelope hides.

Instead of skin lodges the usual Sheepeater shelter consisted of wickiups made by bracing poles together at the top, forming a

conical structure. Most were made of aspen poles as they were easier to cut than pine. Pine boughs were thatched onto the outside of the wickiup. A few other mountain tribes may have used this type of shelter during the summer. Some of these conical wickiups are still standing in Yellowstone National Park, but Park Service personnel believe they were put up by the Crows. Caves were also used and in the summer months grass huts may have been utilized. Well supplied with warm clothing, blankets and a wooden shelter in a well-sheltered canyon, even the coldest winter in Wyoming could be endured.

Before the bow and arrow the standard weapons were the spear and the atlatl. Spear points and later arrow points, as well as awls and scrapers, were chipped from agatized wood, flint or obsidian. After acquiring the bow, the Sheepeaters found it to be another specialization in which they could excel. These bows were made of mountain sheep horns secured together with deer or elk sinews and decorated with porcupine quills. In shaping the horn, heat was applied; then it was smoothed and shaped by pounding with a smooth stone. Two duplicate pieces of mountain sheep horn were beveled at their butt ends and fitted together. A separate piece of horn placed at the joint was secured by wrapping wet rawhide around it. Sinew strips from the necks and backs of large animals gave the bow additional strength when glued to the back of the bow. Two months spent in making a bow was not uncommon. Such bows were well-known even among the other Shoshones.

Such is the evidence we presently have of a people from the past. Scatterings of archaeological evidence are beginning to vaguely answer some questions concerning the petroglyphs and the life of their makers. Perhaps the petroglyphs were not left by the Sheep eaters. And even the matter of their existence as a separate group is not clear.

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