R2025-143 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan Kittitas County, Washington grouped the Kittitas with the larger Yakama Tribe. The Kittitas Valley was one of the few places in Washington where both camas (sweet onion) and kous (a root used to make bread) grew. These were staples that could be dried, made into cakes, and saved for winter consumption. Yakama, Cayous, Nez Perce, and other tribes gathered in the valley to harvest these foods, fish, hold council talks, settle disputes, socialize, trade goods, racehorses, and play games. The west side of the Columbia River, at what would eventually become the eastern border of Kittitas County, was home to some dozen Wanapum villages. Fur trader Alexander Ross was one of the earliest non-Native Americans to describe the Kittitas Valley. Along with a clerk, two (2) French Canadian trappers, and the trappers'wives, Ross entered the Kittitas Valley in 1814 to trade for horses. The abundant bunchgrass and clear streams of the Kittitas Valley gave rise to a prosperous cattle industry. Much of this success was foretold by local lndians who, before the advent of white settlement, grazed horses in the Valley and sold them to neighboring tribes and white explorers and traders who passed through. As early as 1861 , white ranchers from the Yakima Valley grazed their cattle in the Kittitas Valley before continuing on to mine districts in the north central region and British Columbia. The mining towns eventually began raising their own cattle, but Puget Sound demand filled the vacuum; the cattle were herded to the Sound through Snoqualmie or Naches Pass. By the late 1860s, cattle ranchers established land claims in Kittitas itself. Over the next 10 years, especially in the late 1870s, new ranches flourished, and large herds of cattle grazed everywhere. The resulting overproduction led to declining beef prices. Prices, however, rose to earlier levels after the severe winter of 1880-81 killed more than half the herds. Although the number of cattle eventually returned to early levels, overgrazing was beginning to take its toll on the range. As a result, the Federal government began to regulate grazing in 1897. This led to a gradual shiftfrom open grazing to fenced pastures and hay feeding. Better rail transportation around the turn of the century and irrigation projects in the 1930s helped expand the County's cattle industry. The railroads provided more effective transport of cattle to the nation's eastern markets. lrrigation projects enhanced the quality of pastures and spurred the growth of row crops, whose byproducts were converted into inexpensive cattle feed. By the 1960s, the number of Kittitas County cattle had more than doubled, to approximately 70,000. However, price controls and rising feed costs in the early 1970s prompted many ranchers to change from cattle to hay and grain production.e 3.2. TOPOGRAPHY 3.2.1. Geology Kittitas County possesses a diverse topography that is dominated by the Cascade and Wenatchee Mountains. From the high Cascades, the land slopes generally downward to the east and south to the Columbia River. The eastern part of the County consists of low, rolling to moderately steep glacial terraces and long, narrow valleys. The southeast section of the County is characterized by moderately steep to steep glacial terraces and steep, rough, broken mountain foothills. The major geologicalfeatures of Kittitas County are the Cascade and Wenatchee Mountains on the west and north portions, the south central Yakima River Valley, and the Boylston and Saddle Mountains at the e Ochran, J. (n.d.). About the County. Retrieved from https://wr,vur.co.kittitas.wa.us/abouVhistory.aspx. Chapter 3: Community Profile 18