Cayuse War
Encyclopedia
The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States
from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse
people of the region and the United States Government and local Euro-American settlers. Caused in part by the influx of disease and settlers to the region, the immediate start of the conflict occurred in 1847 when the Whitman Massacre
took place at the Whitman Mission near present day Walla Walla, Washington
when fourteen people were killed in and around the mission. Over the next few years the Provisional Government of Oregon
and later the United States Army
battled the Native American peoples east of the Cascades. This was the first of several wars between the original inhabitants and Euro-American settlers in that region that would lead to the negotiations between the United States and Native people of the Columbia Plateau, creating a number of Indian reservations.
—Marcus
and Narcissa Whitman
—founded the Whitman Mission
among the Cayuse Indians at Waiilatpu, six miles west of present-day Walla Walla, Washington
. In addition to evangelizing, the missionaries established school
s and grist mills and introduced crop irrigation
. Their work advanced slowly until in 1842, Marcus Whitman convinced the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
to provide support. Returning the following year, he joined approximately a thousand settlers traveling to Oregon
Territory.
The sudden influx of white settlers led to an escalation of tension between natives and settlers, which owed much to cultural misunderstandings and mutual hostilities. For instance, the Cayuse believed that to plow the ground was to desecrate the spirit of the Earth. The settlers, as agriculturalists, naturally did not accept this. The Cayuse expected payment from wagon trains passing through their territory and eating the wild food on which the tribes depended; the settlers did not understand this and instead drove away the men sent to exact payment, in the belief that they were merely "beggars".
The new settlers brought diseases with them. In 1847 an epidemic of measles
killed half the Cayuse. The Cayuse suspected that Marcus Whitman
—a practicing physician and religious leader, hence a shaman—was responsible for the deaths of their families, causing the disaster to make way for new immigrants. Seeking revenge, Cayuse tribesmen attacked the Whitman Mission on 29 November 1847. Fourteen settlers were killed, including both of the Whitmans. Most of the buildings at Waiilatpu were destroyed. The site is now a National Historic Site
. For several weeks, 53 women and children were held captive before eventually being released.
This event, which became known as the Whitman Massacre
, started the Cayuse War.
and Governor George Abernethy
called for "immediate and prompt action," and authorized the raising of companies of volunteers to go to war, if necessary, against the Cayuse Tribe. A fifty person unit of volunteers was raised immediately and dispatched to The Dalles
under the command of Henry A. G. Lee
. Called the Oregon Rifles, they were formed on December 8, 1847, and then gathered at Fort Vancouver
on December 10, where they purchased supplies from the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) post. The HBC would not extend credit to the Provisional Government, therefore the volunteer soldiers each pledged their individual credit to purchase supplies with the expectation that the government would repay them at a later time. The group was to protect the Methodist’s Wascopam Mission at The Dalles and prevent any hostile forces from reaching the Willamette Valley. In addition, the Governor appointed a peace commission, consisting of Joel Palmer
, Lee, and Robert Newell
.
The Oregon Rifles marched to The Dalles, arriving on December 21. Upon arriving there, they drove off a band of Native Americans, but not before the Natives stole 300 head of cattle. There the troops built a stockade and named the post Fort Lee
for the commander, though the small fortification was also called Fort Wascopam. In January 1848, a force of over 500 militiamen led by Colonel Cornelius Gilliam
(who did not approve of the peace commission) marched against the Cayuse and other native inhabitants of central Oregon. These troops arrived at Fort Lee in February, and with a larger force, the militia forces pressed east towards the Whitman Mission. By March 4 the forces reached the mission after a battle at Sand Hollows. After reaching the mission, Col. Gilliam set out to return to The Dalles with a small force to supply that settlement, before continuing to Oregon City to report to the governor. However, on the journey Gilliam was accidentally killed in camp, with Lee then continuing on to Oregon City with Gilliam’s body. Lee was then promoted to Colonel, but upon returning to the front resigned as colonel, but remained as an officer, after learning the troops had elected Lieutenant-Colonel James Waters as colonel to lead the troops.
These militia forces were later supported by the United States Army
. Some Cayuse initially refused to make peace and raided isolated settlements while others, considered friendly to the settlers, tried to work with the peace commission. The militia forces, eager for action, provoked both friendly and hostile Indians. Many Cayuse resisted, but they were unable to put up an effective opposition to the firepower of their opponents, and were driven into hiding in the Blue Mountains
.
In 1850, the tribe handed over five members (Tilaukaikt, Tomahas, Klokamas, Isaiachalkis, and Kimasumpkin) to be tried for the murder of the Whitmans. All five Cayuse were convicted by a military commission and hanged on 3 June 1850. The hanging was conducted by U.S. Marshal Joseph L. Meek.
Kimasumpkin's final statement:
This did not end the conflict, though, and sporadic bloodshed continued for another five years until the Cayuse were finally defeated in 1855.
with the Umatilla
and Walla Walla peoples
.
The war had significant long-term consequences for the region. It caused the United States government to pursue a policy of treaty-making with many tribes of the Pacific Northwest.
Northwestern United States
The Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States, and consistently include the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, to which part of southeast Alaska is also sometimes included...
from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse
Cayuse
The Cayuse are a Native American tribe in the state of Oregon in the United States. The Cayuse tribe shares a reservation in northeastern Oregon with the Umatilla and the Walla Walla tribes as part of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation...
people of the region and the United States Government and local Euro-American settlers. Caused in part by the influx of disease and settlers to the region, the immediate start of the conflict occurred in 1847 when the Whitman Massacre
Whitman massacre
The Whitman massacre was the murder in the Oregon Country on November 29, 1847 of U.S. missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa Whitman, along with eleven others. They were killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians. The incident began the Cayuse War...
took place at the Whitman Mission near present day Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,731 at the 2010 census...
when fourteen people were killed in and around the mission. Over the next few years the Provisional Government of Oregon
Provisional Government of Oregon
The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected government created in the Oregon Country, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It existed from May 2, 1843 until March 3, 1849. Created at a time when no country had sovereignty over the region, this independent government...
and later the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
battled the Native American peoples east of the Cascades. This was the first of several wars between the original inhabitants and Euro-American settlers in that region that would lead to the negotiations between the United States and Native people of the Columbia Plateau, creating a number of Indian reservations.
Causes
In 1836, two missionariesMissionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
—Marcus
Marcus Whitman
Marcus Whitman was an American physician and Oregon missionary in the Oregon Country. Along with his wife Narcissa Whitman he started a mission in what is now southeastern Washington state in 1836, which would later become a stop along the Oregon Trail...
and Narcissa Whitman
Narcissa Whitman
Narcissa Prentiss Whitman was an American missionary in the Oregon Country of what would become the state of Washington. Along with Eliza Hart Spalding , she was the first European-American woman to cross the Rocky Mountains in 1836 on her way to found the Protestant Whitman Mission with husband Dr...
—founded the Whitman Mission
Whitman Mission National Historic Site
Whitman Mission National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located just west of Walla Walla, Washington, at the site of the former Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu. On November 29, 1847, the family of Dr. Marcus Whitman and others were massacred by Native Americans of the Cayuse...
among the Cayuse Indians at Waiilatpu, six miles west of present-day Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,731 at the 2010 census...
. In addition to evangelizing, the missionaries established school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s and grist mills and introduced crop irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
. Their work advanced slowly until in 1842, Marcus Whitman convinced the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the first American Christian foreign mission agency. It was proposed in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College and officially chartered in 1812. In 1961 it merged with other societies to form the United Church Board for World...
to provide support. Returning the following year, he joined approximately a thousand settlers traveling to Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
Territory.
The sudden influx of white settlers led to an escalation of tension between natives and settlers, which owed much to cultural misunderstandings and mutual hostilities. For instance, the Cayuse believed that to plow the ground was to desecrate the spirit of the Earth. The settlers, as agriculturalists, naturally did not accept this. The Cayuse expected payment from wagon trains passing through their territory and eating the wild food on which the tribes depended; the settlers did not understand this and instead drove away the men sent to exact payment, in the belief that they were merely "beggars".
The new settlers brought diseases with them. In 1847 an epidemic of measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
killed half the Cayuse. The Cayuse suspected that Marcus Whitman
Marcus Whitman
Marcus Whitman was an American physician and Oregon missionary in the Oregon Country. Along with his wife Narcissa Whitman he started a mission in what is now southeastern Washington state in 1836, which would later become a stop along the Oregon Trail...
—a practicing physician and religious leader, hence a shaman—was responsible for the deaths of their families, causing the disaster to make way for new immigrants. Seeking revenge, Cayuse tribesmen attacked the Whitman Mission on 29 November 1847. Fourteen settlers were killed, including both of the Whitmans. Most of the buildings at Waiilatpu were destroyed. The site is now a National Historic Site
National Historic Sites (United States)
National Historic Sites are protected areas of national historic significance in the United States. A National Historic Site usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject...
. For several weeks, 53 women and children were held captive before eventually being released.
This event, which became known as the Whitman Massacre
Whitman massacre
The Whitman massacre was the murder in the Oregon Country on November 29, 1847 of U.S. missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa Whitman, along with eleven others. They were killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians. The incident began the Cayuse War...
, started the Cayuse War.
Ensuing violence
The Provisional Legislature of OregonProvisional Legislature of Oregon
The Provisional Legislature of Oregon was the single-chamber legislative body of the Provisional Government of Oregon. It served the Oregon Country of the Pacific Northwest of North America from 1843 until early 1849 at a time when no country had sovereignty over the region...
and Governor George Abernethy
George Abernethy
George Abernethy was an American pioneer, notable entrepreneur, and first governor of Oregon under the provisional government in what would become the state of Oregon in the United States...
called for "immediate and prompt action," and authorized the raising of companies of volunteers to go to war, if necessary, against the Cayuse Tribe. A fifty person unit of volunteers was raised immediately and dispatched to The Dalles
The Dalles, Oregon
The Dalles is the largest city and county seat of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The name of the city comes from the French word dalle The Dalles is the largest city and county seat of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The name of the city comes from the French word dalle The Dalles is...
under the command of Henry A. G. Lee
Henry A. G. Lee
Henry A. G. Lee was a soldier and politician in Oregon Country in the 1840s. A member of Virginia’s Lee family, he was part of the Fremont Expedition and commanded troops during the Cayuse War in what became the Oregon Territory...
. Called the Oregon Rifles, they were formed on December 8, 1847, and then gathered at Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
on December 10, where they purchased supplies from the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) post. The HBC would not extend credit to the Provisional Government, therefore the volunteer soldiers each pledged their individual credit to purchase supplies with the expectation that the government would repay them at a later time. The group was to protect the Methodist’s Wascopam Mission at The Dalles and prevent any hostile forces from reaching the Willamette Valley. In addition, the Governor appointed a peace commission, consisting of Joel Palmer
Joel Palmer
General Joel Palmer was an American pioneer of the Oregon Territory in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. He was born in Canada, and spent his early years in New York and Pennsylvania before serving as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives.Palmer traveled to the Oregon...
, Lee, and Robert Newell
Robert Newell (Oregon politician)
Robert "Doc" Newell , was an American politician and fur trapper in the Oregon Country. He was a frontier doctor in what would become the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of Ohio, he served in the Provisional Government of Oregon and later was a member of the Oregon State Legislature...
.
The Oregon Rifles marched to The Dalles, arriving on December 21. Upon arriving there, they drove off a band of Native Americans, but not before the Natives stole 300 head of cattle. There the troops built a stockade and named the post Fort Lee
Fort Dalles
Fort Dalles was a United States Army outpost located on the Columbia River at the present site of The Dalles, Oregon, in the United States. Built when Oregon was a territory, the post was used mainly for dealing with wars with Native Americans...
for the commander, though the small fortification was also called Fort Wascopam. In January 1848, a force of over 500 militiamen led by Colonel Cornelius Gilliam
Cornelius Gilliam
Cornelius Gilliam was a pioneer of the U.S. state of Oregon who was best known as the commander of the volunteer forces against the Cayuse in the Cayuse War. A native of North Carolina, he served in the Black Hawk War and Seminole Wars before settling in Missouri...
(who did not approve of the peace commission) marched against the Cayuse and other native inhabitants of central Oregon. These troops arrived at Fort Lee in February, and with a larger force, the militia forces pressed east towards the Whitman Mission. By March 4 the forces reached the mission after a battle at Sand Hollows. After reaching the mission, Col. Gilliam set out to return to The Dalles with a small force to supply that settlement, before continuing to Oregon City to report to the governor. However, on the journey Gilliam was accidentally killed in camp, with Lee then continuing on to Oregon City with Gilliam’s body. Lee was then promoted to Colonel, but upon returning to the front resigned as colonel, but remained as an officer, after learning the troops had elected Lieutenant-Colonel James Waters as colonel to lead the troops.
These militia forces were later supported by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. Some Cayuse initially refused to make peace and raided isolated settlements while others, considered friendly to the settlers, tried to work with the peace commission. The militia forces, eager for action, provoked both friendly and hostile Indians. Many Cayuse resisted, but they were unable to put up an effective opposition to the firepower of their opponents, and were driven into hiding in the Blue Mountains
Blue Mountains (Oregon)
The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the western United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into southeastern Washington...
.
In 1850, the tribe handed over five members (Tilaukaikt, Tomahas, Klokamas, Isaiachalkis, and Kimasumpkin) to be tried for the murder of the Whitmans. All five Cayuse were convicted by a military commission and hanged on 3 June 1850. The hanging was conducted by U.S. Marshal Joseph L. Meek.
Kimasumpkin's final statement:
I was up the river at the time of the massacre, and did not arrive until next day. I was riding on horse back; a white woman came running from the house, she held out her hands and told me not to kill her. I put my hand upon her hand and told her not to be afraid. There were plenty of Indians all about. She with the other women and children went to Wallawalla to Mr. Ogden's. I was not present at the murder nor was I any way concerned in it. - I am innocent - it hurts me to talk about dying for nothing. Our chief told me to come down and tell all about it. - Those who committed the murder are killed and dead. The priest say I must die tomorrow, if they kill me I am innocent… My Young Chief told me I was to come here to tell what I know concerning the murderers. I did not come as one of the murderers, for I am innocent. - I never made any declaration to any one that I was guilty. This is the last time that I may speak.
This did not end the conflict, though, and sporadic bloodshed continued for another five years until the Cayuse were finally defeated in 1855.
Aftermath
As a result of their defeat the Cayuse were much reduced. In 1855 they ceded most of their tribal lands, reserving the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian ReservationConfederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is a federally recognized confederation of three Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plateau region: the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla....
with the Umatilla
Umatilla (tribe)
The Umatilla are a Sahaptin-speaking Native American group living on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, who traditionally inhabited the Columbia Plateau region of the northwestern United States....
and Walla Walla peoples
Walla Walla (tribe)
Walla Walla |Native American]] tribe of the northwestern United States. The reduplication of the word expresses the diminutive form. The name "Walla Walla" is translated several ways but most often as "many waters."...
.
The war had significant long-term consequences for the region. It caused the United States government to pursue a policy of treaty-making with many tribes of the Pacific Northwest.
See also
- Yakima WarYakima WarThe Yakima War was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people on the Northwest Plateau, then Washington Territory and now the southern interior of Eastern Washington, from 1855 to 1858.- Naming :...
- Spokane – Coeur d'Alene – Paloos War
- Okanagan TrailOkanagan TrailThe Okanagan Trail was an inland route to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush from the Lower Columbia region of the Washington and Oregon Territories in 1858-1859...
- Fraser Canyon WarFraser Canyon WarThe Fraser Canyon War, also known as the Canyon War or the Fraser River War, was an incident between the Nlaka'pamux people and white miners in the newly declared Colony of British Columbia, which later became part of Canada, in 1858. It occurred during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, which brought a...
- List of conflicts in the United States