In 1855, the governor of Washington Territory, Isaac Stevens, organized the Walla Walla Council, where he encouraged Indians of the region—the Yakama, Cayuse, UMATILLA, WALLA WALLA, and NEZ PERCE—to give up most of their land for reservations, homes, schools, horses, cattle, and regular payments. He also promised the various bands a period of two to three years to relocate. Most tribal representatives signed. Others distrusted whites because of earlier broken promises.
Those with suspicions were proven right. Twelve days after the signing, rather than the promised two years, Governor Stevens declared Indian lands open to nonIndian settlement. Kamiakin, a Yakama chief, called for an alliance of tribes to resist intruders but not before they were ready to face the military. His nephew, Qualchin, forced events, however. He and five other young Yakama attacked and killed five prospectors. When an Indian agent tried to investigate the incident, he too was killed by angry young warriors.
A reconnaissance force rode out of Fort Dalles to learn the extent of the uprising. Five hundred warriors routed them and drove them back to the fort. Other expeditions also failed against the Indian rebels. Volunteers under Colonel James Kelly tricked a chief of the Walla Walla, Peopeomoxmox, into coming to a parley, where they killed him. This rash act caused Walla Walla, Cayuse, Umatilla, and COLUMBIA (sinkiuse) warriors to join the Yakama cause and to attack non-Indian settlements. Owhi, Kamiakin’s brothers and Qualchin’s father, also participated in the uprising.
A deadly pattern of raid and retaliation followed. The army built new forts. A few indecisive battles were fought, such as the engagement at Grande Ronde Valley in July 1856. But when troops were sent out to fight, the
Yakama corn husk bag
Hostile warriors usually hid among tribes to the east. In some instances, the army had to protect innocent Indians from revenge-seeking settlers.
Other people to the west along the Northwest Coast carried out raids on white settlements. NISQUALLY under Leschi attacked the town of Seattle on Puget Sound, but were driven off by a naval force in the harbor in January 1856. Tribes in what is now southern Oregon near the California border—the TAKELMA, Tututni, and other tribes in the region—rose up against settlers in their midst. The Takelma and Tututni were known to settlers as Rogue Indians because they frequently attacked travelers along the Siskiyou Trail. The river in their territory was also called the Rogue. Their conflict is known as the Rogue River War, or Rogue War. The decisive battle took place in May 1856, at Big Meadows, when a force of regular soldiers routed the rebels, who soon surrendered.
Another outbreak of violence involving more tribes, the COEUR d’alene and the SPOKAN, occurred in 1858. Since Kamiakin, Qualchin, and Owhi played a part in this conflict as well, the Coeur d’Alene War or Spokan War can be thought of as the second phase of the Yakama War. The execution of Owhi and Qualchin in effect put an end to the uprising. Kami-akin managed to escape to British Columbia, returning to the region in 1860 and living out his life among the Palouse.
World History
