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How did horse use expand the territory traveled by Great Basin peoples?

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Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin Kaylei Weed (left) of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe with her two sons and mother, Elaine Ethel Weed, at the Wind River Indian Reservation in 2015.

The adoption of horses significantly transformed the mobility of certain Great Basin groups, allowing them to travel over a much larger area compared to those who remained pedestrian.1

While all Great Basin peoples followed an annual round to exploit seasonal resources, equestrian groups were able to expand their range to participate in broader regional activities. By utilizing horses, these groups could travel to the northern Plains for bison hunts and subsequently return to areas such as the Bridger Basin, the Snake River region, or the mountains of Colorado for the winter.1

This increased mobility facilitated a shift toward a lifestyle more oriented toward the practices of the Great Plains, including intertribal trade and warfare. Consequently, horse-using groups became more integrated into the wider economic and political networks of the region, contrasting with the more localized movements of pedestrian bands who relied on frequent relocation to avoid exhausting local food supplies.12