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How Was Southern Idaho Different 10,000 Years Ago?

The vegetation around Wilson Butte Cave 10,000 years ago looked similar to today. However, some plants were more common, such as mountain mahogany, which today grows at higher elevations. Sagebrush occurred but was not as common as it is today. Grasses and flowering plants were widespread, and a variety of plants and seeds were used by Native Americans for food and medicine.

Grasses and flowering plants were widespread.

Ten thousand years ago, the landscape near Wilson Butte Cave supported a greater variety and number of large animals than it does today. Animals that flourished during the Ice Age still roamed the Snake River Plain, including horses, camels and giant ground sloths. Their remains have been found in Wilson Butte Cave.

As the climate grew warmer and drier many Ice Age animals perished, while some migrated to Eurasia across the Beringia land bridge. The large Ice Age animals soon became extinct in North America and were replaced by bison, antelope, elk and deer, which were better adapted to the emerging, drier landscape.

Prehistoric Idaho: Climate History and Early Migrations (PRINT version)

Bison were abundant in southern Idaho for thousands of years. They were probably the most important game animal to the inhabitants of Wilson Butte Cave. Eventually, even the bison diminished as the climate of southern Idaho became hotter and the deserts expanded. As the bison declined, people used Wilson Butte Cave less often. Bison were still found on the Snake River Plain until the early 1800’s, but they disappeared soon afterward.

Next Page: Migration- When Did the First People Arrive?

References

Pollen and Macrofloral Analysis from Kelvin’s Cave, South-Central Idaho, Compared to a Local Archeoclimatic Model; Cummings and Puseman; Paleo Research Institute Technical Report 04-97; February 2005.

Snake, The Plain and its People; Todd Shallat, Editor, Boise State University, 1994