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The Cayuse War (1847–1855) was an armed conflict between the
Cayuse people The Cayuse are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe in what is now the state of Oregon in the United States. The Cayuse tribe shares a Umatilla Indian Reservation, reservation and government in northeastern Oregon with t ...
of the Northwestern United States and settlers, backed by the U.S. government. The conflict was triggered by the Whitman massacre of 1847, where the Cayuse attacked a missionary outpost in response to a deadly measles epidemic that they believed was caused by Marcus Whitman. Over the next few years, the
Provisional Government of Oregon The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected settler government created in the Oregon Country (1818-1846), in the Pacific Northwest region of the western portion of the continent of North America. Its formation had been advanced ...
and later the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
battled the Native Americans east of the Cascades. This was the first of several wars between the Native Americans and American settlers in that region that would lead to the negotiations between the United States and Native Americans of the Columbia Plateau, creating several
Indian reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...
s.


Causes

In 1836, two
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman—founded the Whitman Mission among the Cayuse Native Americans at Waiilatpu, six miles west of present-day
Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,339 as of 2023. The combined populat ...
. In addition to evangelizing, the missionaries established
school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
s and
grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...
s and introduced crop irrigation. Despite initial successes, the Whitmans did not have any Cayuse baptized into their church. Due to lack of success and high costs, in 1842, the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian mission, Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the l ...
was going to close the mission until Marcus Whitman returned east pleading to keep the mission open. Returning the following year, he joined approximately a thousand settlers traveling to
Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...
. The sudden influx of American 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 (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...
killed half the Cayuse. The Cayuse suspected that Marcus Whitman—a practicing physician and religious leader, hence a
shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
—was responsible for the deaths of their families, causing the disaster to make way for new immigrants. Seeking revenge, Cayuse tribesmen attacked the mission on November 29, 1847. Thirteen settlers were killed, including both of the Whitmans. All 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, precipitated the Cayuse War.


Ensuing violence

The Provisional Legislature of Oregon and Governor
George Abernethy George Abernethy (October 7, 1807 – March 2, 1877) was an American politician, pioneer, notable entrepreneur, and first governor of Oregon under the provisional government based in the Willamette Valley, an area later a part of the American sta ...
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.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. Called the Oregon Rifles, they were formed on December 8, 1847, and then gathered at
Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th-century fur trading post built in the winter of 1824–1825. It was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was ...
on December 10, where they purchased supplies from the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
(HBC) post.Fagan, David D. 1885. History of Benton County, Oregon: including its geology, topography, soil and productions, together with the early history of the Pacific Coast, compiled from the most authentic sources : a full political history ... incidents of pioneer life and biographical sketches of early and prominent citizens : also containing the history of the cities, towns, churches, schools, secret societies, etc. regon D.D. Fagan. The HBC would not extend credit to the Provisional Government, therefore the volunteer soldiers each pledged their credit to purchase supplies with the expectation that the government would repay them at a later time.Rogue River War.
GlobalSecurity.org, accessed September 25, 2007.
The group was to protect the 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, Colonel 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 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 The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
. 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' actions led to confrontations with both friendly and hostile Native Americans. 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 June 3, 1850; see Cayuse Five. The hanging was conducted by U.S. Marshal Joseph L. Meek.Brown, J. Henry (1892). Political History of Oregon: Provisional Government. The Lewis & Dryden Printing Co.: Portland. p. 114 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 Native Americans all about. She with the other women and children went to Walla Walla 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.Washington State History Museum
This did not end the conflict, though, and sporadic bloodshed continued for another five years until the Cayuse were finally defeated in 1855.


Aftermath

The Cayuse population and territory decreased significantly following their defeat. In 1855, they ceded most of their tribal lands, reserving the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are the federally recognized confederations of three Sahaptin-speaking Native Americans of the United States, Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plate ...
with the Umatilla and Walla Walla peoples. The war had significant long-term consequences for the region. The Cayuse War stressed an already frayed developing government in Oregon state. At the war's end, the crushing debt was unsurprisingly handled with little diplomacy and organization, but was eventually reimbursed through a series of negotiations. What was not restabilized, however, was the government. The Cayuse War undoubtedly made evident the nearing United States government; however, when the war ended, the provisional government ceased to exist.Victor, Frances Fuller, Early Indian Wars of Oregon: Compiled from the Oregon Archives and Other Original Sources: with Muster Rolls (Oakland, CA: F.C. Baker, 1894) 263. In its place a new, sturdier, more permanent government apt to negotiate properly with the Natives emerged. The United States government had tried to pursue a policy of treaty-making with many tribes of the Pacific Northwest; but not after seeking revenge for the Whitman massacre. In March, the military brought five Cayuse men to the capital of Oregon Country. They were charged, tried, and hanged even though their guilt and the jurisdiction of the court were not fully established. This trial had been the first capital punishment following a legal preceding in the new territory. Ambivalent responses followed the trial for decades.


See also

*
Coeur d'Alene War The Coeur d'Alene War of 1858, also known as the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Pend d'oreille-Paloos War, was the second phase of the Yakima War, involving a series of encounters between the allied Native American tribes of the Skitswish ("Coeur d'Alen ...
*
Fraser Canyon War The Fraser Canyon War, also known as the Canyon War or the Fraser River War, was an incident between white miners and the indigenous Nlaka'pamux people in the newly declared Colony of British Columbia, which later became part of Canada, in 1858 ...
* List of conflicts in the United States *
Okanagan Trail The 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. The route was essentially the same as that used by the Hudson's Bay Company fur brig ...


References


Timeline: Native Americans in the Inland Northwest: Wars and Treaties
* "Sacajawea's Dual Legacy: Heroine In Discovery, Catalyst In Conquest", ''The Oregonian'', July 23, 1993 * ''The Cayuse War (Early Indian Wars of Oregon, Vol. One)'', by Frances Fuller Victor. Taxus Baccata: 2006.
Hubert H. Bancroft, History Of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 1845–1889, The History Company, San Francisco, 1890. Chapter VI Indian Wars 1855–1856 and V Indian Wars 1856–1858


External links




Guide to the Cayuse War (1847–1855) at the University of Oregon.
{{Oregon Pioneer History