They made bows of elk antlers and sheep horns reinforced with elk and deer sinews. Early trappers seldom encountered the Sheep Eaters although they sometimes saw smoke from their fires. The Sheep Eaters stayed near the mountains until joining other Shoshone under Chief Washakie on reservations in Idaho and Wyoming about 1879. Some artifacts and other evidence of their life are still found today in the Tetons. Archeological studies show that various Indian groups migrated through here on a seasonal basis. The Shoshone peoples arose in the semidesert Basin of the upper Southwest. As food became scarce they migrated east of the Rockies, into the plains and mountain parks of Wyoming and Montana, probably in the 1500s or mid-1600s. In part they were escaping slave-trading Ute Indians. By 1730, however, records begin to show the Shoshone as the most important plains tribe. They were walkers until about 1740, when they got Spanish horses from the Comanches to the south. Mounted, they would raid as far as the Saskatchewan River to the north and the Black Hills to the east. During the whites’ overland migrations, the Eastern Shoshone, under Chief Washakie, avoided confrontations. But Chief Washakie knew his people’s nomadic way of life was over. [Illustration: A Sheepeater Indian family.] Cutthroat Trout [Illustration: An osprey landing on its nest.] [Illustration: Trout in shallow water.] The 17 species of fish in Grand Teton National Park include brown, brook, rainbow, and lake (Mackinaw) trout. These introduced species are found in a number of lakes and streams. Perhaps the most impressive fish is the Snake River cutthroat trout, the native trout so dependent on the park’s natural aquatic system. The deep red or orange-red marks under its jaws give the impression of a slashed throat, hence cutthroat. The Snake River cutthroat is a distinct subspecies of the cutthroat trout identified by the hundreds of tiny dark spots on both sides of its body. In spring, particularly May and June, the Snake River cutthroat will travel upstream into tributary waters to spawn. The female digs a nest (called a redd) in the gravel and the male and female lie side by side while simultaneously contributing the sperm and eggs. The fertilized eggs settle to the bottom and hatch into fry within 40 days. The young fish usually remain in the tributary stream until fall but will sometimes wait a full year before migrating to the river. Juveniles, called fingerlings, and sub-adults feed on a variety of aquatic invertebrate larvae such as caddisflies, mayflies, and stoneflies. The older fish become more predaceous and feed on a variety of smaller species of fish living in the river. The cutthroat trout reach sexual maturity at three to four years of age. Few cutthroats live longer than five years. The post-spawning mortality rate is 50 percent. The Snake River