cutthroat trout indeed delights the angler, but more important is its role in the wildlife community. The cutthroat consumes aquatic insects, invertebrates, and small fish, helping to keep these populations in check naturally. This trout is also consumed, providing food for bears, eagles, ospreys, and otters. If the fish population declines, so will the animals that depend on it for food. As fishing pressure continues to grow, park managers may have to protect this natural population of Snake River cutthroat to maintain the national park’s wildlife community. [Illustration: _Mule deer, named for their large ears, occur in surprisingly small numbers in the park. Competition with the large elk herd and deep winter snows may be limiting factors._] Wildlife and Wildflowers When the Shoshone Indians sat down with government officials at Fort Bridger in 1863 to conclude a treaty that would define their lands, the parcel that the parties arrived at totaled 30,000 square miles. A very small part of that was Jackson Hole, but this was such rich hunting ground in summer and fall that even the Shoshone dared not lay sole claim to it. Blackfeet, Bannock, Crow, Gros Ventre, and probably other tribes were drawn here to hunt. What would you have seen on a hunting trip in those days? Bison, pronghorns, and at least three times as many elk as exist here now, but far fewer deer. Near wall-to-wall beaver along the waterways, but nary a moose. And bighorn sheep peering down at you from nearly every crag and butte. When settlement in the late 1800s at the south end of the valley eliminated about two-thirds of their winter range, as many as 500 elk sometimes ended up on the streets of Jackson on frigid nights. Winter starvation and poaching pressures took many elk. The fur trade decimated beaver populations. But what of moose, deer, and bighorn? Moose and mule deer probably benefited from white settlement. Moose increased because of the suppression of fire, which permitted the increase of sub-alpine fir, a winter food source. Moose graze but little grass, mostly browsing coarser plants. Likewise mule deer. Livestock overgrazing hindered elk but favored moose and mule deer. The latter evidently usurped bighorn wintering range, reducing the sheep population. Wolves were extirpated and grizzly bears nearly so. That favored—within range support limits—every four-footed vegetarian not beset with other insurmountable problems.