Beaver in the Yakima Basin

Introduction

Beaver play an important role in the ecology, hydrology and geomorphology of streams and rivers in the Yakima Basin. This page reviews the history of beaver in the Yakima Basin, their current distribution and ecology, and our efforts to manage beaver and their impacts on the landscape.

History of Beaver in the Yakima Basin

Beaver are presumed to have been widespread in the Yakima Basin prior to European settlement. They play an important role in the culture and mythology of the Yakama people. https://esoterx.com/2013/11/11/beaver-gods-are-jerks-wishpoosh-antediluvian-terror-of-the-pacific-northwest/ More on Yakama beaver use, etc?

The Fur Trade Era

Early fur traders were among the first Europeans to make note of the Yakima River (quote Ross), and beavers were presumable heavily harvested in the Yakima Basin during the height of the Northwestern fur trade, from the 1810s to the 1840s. The Yakima Basin fell within the territory of the North West Fur Company, which merged with the Hudson Bay Company in 1821. Trading stations and forts were established along the Columbia River, and the Yakama and other tribal peoples harvested beavers and sold the pelts to the fur companies at these stations; furs were then transported by boat on the Columbia to be shipped out of Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River or Fort Langley in British Columbia near Victoria. The beaver trade peaked in ??, and largely collapsed by ?? due to reduced demand as European fashions changed. Go to Columbia Boats article to check/cite source

reach out to Museum for more?

There was likely only limited tribal harvest of beaver from the ?? until Europeans settled in the basin starting in the 1850s; McCellan on beaver restablishement?