Land of the Peacemakers

" "My parents gave birth to me here, and I fancy that this is my country . . . . Let me remain in my own country and I shall die contented. " "

-1870, Chief Moses who died in 1899 in Nespelem on the Colville Indian Reservation.


The central Washington area I think of as a land of the peacemakers. Unlike most tribes, the people of this area did not fight the government or rise up against settlers. Chief Moses was the head of the Moses Coulee or Columbia-Sinkiuse and he pursuaded Indians congregated at the Wenatchee River Confluence in Wenatchee to remain peaceful who wanted to fight during the Yakima Indian Wars. Smohalla to the south was a leader who believed in traditional ways and prayer, and remained with his growing group of followers at Priest Rapids during the Yakima Wars. Although each leader followed a peaceful route through times of great conflict- one by mediating and playing a politician (Moses) and one by meditating and playing a priest (Smohalla)- neither people who they represented have a reservation today and remain non-treaty unrecognized tribes. Most of the Wenatchee area Indians were moved to the Colville Indian Reservation in 1902, and most of the Wanapum remained at Priest Rapids until its inundation in 1957.

Timeline of Events in Central Washington

  • 11,000-13,000 B.P. The first evidence of humans in this area. Clovis technology.
  • 1781 Smallpox epidemic
  • 1805 Lewis and Clark explore the lower Columbia River near Central Washington.
  • 1807-1811 David Thompson explored the length of the Columbia River
  • 1810 Fort Spokane was built by the Hudson's Bay Company. Fur traders began traveling on the upper Columbia River.
  • 1831-1837 Outbreak of "respiratory diseases", Colville
  • 1826 Fort Colville was built by the Hudson's Bay Company. David Douglas, 1st botanist to explore much of the Northwest travels to Spokan House and Fort Colville from Fort Vancouver near present day Portland.
  • 1841 Influx of Oregon Trail settlers began, conflicts followed
  • 1848 Measles epidemic
  • 1850's A new Native religion, called Washane or Washani, was created by a spiritual leader of the Wanapum named Smohalla. Adherents to this religion believed that the white man would disappear, if rituals and traditional life was adhered to; instead of participating in armed conflicts, the people prayed. The tribe never fought white settlers, did not sign a treaty with them, and as a result retained no federally-recognized land rights.
  • 1853 Smallpox epidemic
  • 1855 Yakima Treaty of Camp Stevens, the Yakima War ensues. Major Heller and 100 men routed in battle by a joint force of Yakimas, Columbians, Wanapams, Wallawallas, Palousas, Wenatchees, and Spokanes ... "Toppenish Fight"; Chief Moses and his followers remained neutral during this, which increased his reputation among whites as a good leader.
  • 1859 Another Fort Colville is established 14 miles from the original Hudson's Bay trading post by the US Army.
  • 1860 1st major settlements in Chelan County after the Yakima War. Mining district organized by the Okanogan and Similkameen Mining District in the same area as the Columbia Reservation.
  • 1867 1st “business house” established by two men named Ingram and McBride. They operated a trading post in what is now Rock Island and conducted trading with the Indians.
  • 1871 1st business in Wenatchee, the Miller-Freer Trading Post.
  • 1872 Columbia Reservation established, but this very same year US Congress adopted laws declaring mineral deposits free and open to exploration, occupation and purchase and giving exclusive right to possession and enjoyment to the locator; Lake Chelan Great Earthquake, gases emitted, numerous deaths, no child under age 2 survived
  • 1879 Military occupation at Lake Chelan to keep peace between miners and Indians. Indians wanted the soldiers to keep settlers and miners off their land while the miners wanted to be reimbursed for the work (in excess of 10 million dollars) that they had already done in mining in the area of the Columbia Reservation.
  • 1884 Columbia or Moses Reservation was restored to public domain- sold by Chief Moses for a personal $1,000 annuity.
  • 1886 Columbia Reservation officially open for white entry and settlement
  • 1891 Population (not including Indians) of Wenatchee 108
  • 1892-1893 Construction of the Great Northern Railway through the Wenatchee Valley, and a depot 1 mile south of Wenatchee. The population of Wenatchee tripled because of the all-important railroad connecting the town. In 1892 Philip Miller, a native of Germany arrived in the Wenatchee area and introduced the first apple plantings.
  • 1900 Population (not including Indians) of Chelan County 3,931
  • 1902 Wenatchi removed to Colville Reservation except a few who remained on personal allotments of land such as Chief Harmelt- last chief of the Wenatchi.
  • 1904 Beginning of large scale irrigation along the Columbia.
  • 1908 Wenatchee National Forest established. 150,000 sheep graze the forest lands.
  • 1930 Population of Chelan County 31,634
  • 1933 Rock Island Dam built, the first in this area.
  • 1940's-1950's Damming of the Columbia for hydroelectric power
  • 1941 Grand Coulee Dam starts generating electricity.
  • 1957 Construction of the Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams forces the last native people living traditionally on the Columbia River- the Wanapum- to give up thier traditional way of life. In exchange for flooding their traditional grounds the county PUD built a village on higher ground for the Wanapum people and promised life-time jobs at the dam.
  • 1961 Chief Joseph Dam constructed. Rocky Reach Dam, Priest Rapids Dam completed.
  • 1964 Wanapum Dam completed.
  • 1967 Wells Dam constructed.
  • 2008 Courts rule that Wenatchi people living on the Colville Reservation and off the reservation have some fishing rights in the Wenatchi Fishery, which was long disputed by the Yakama who claimed all rights to the fishery. Now the Wenatchi people can again fish in Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee and on the Wenatchee River.

Much of the Columbia Rivers shorelines have been flooded by dams. With the flooding we have lost many areas that were used by Native Americans, including important fishing sites. Although it is sad to think that all of those places lie in the deep water of the Columbia, the sites that remain above water level are often subjected to worse treatment yet. Stealing artifacts is not just stealing an object, it is stealing the past from Native Americans, and history from this country. When artifacts are taken out of their context (the site itself and location, layers of substrate, and other associated artifacts) they remain just a piece to a puzzle that will never be solved- nothing can ever be learned about the people who created the artifact. The value of an artifact is not within the item itself be it wood or bone or rock, but in the connections that we can make and the stories that we can tell from entire assemblages. Archeological sites and objects, including those found on the surface of the ground, are protected under a number of Federal and State laws.
Gold mining on a Columbia River beach.
When the dams flooded the Columbia River much of prehistory was lost, entire villages and a multitude of cultural artifacts forever inundated by the river which had given it life for so long, as well as any hope of a traditional Indian way of life. Today most of the Wenatchi people live on the Colville Reservation, with Columbia Salish speakers numbering less than a handful. The Wanapum, though few in number, still live south of Vantage and work for the PUD.

Tribal Websites


The Colville Tribes Official Tribe Website
Yakama Nation Museum and Cultural Center
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Umatilla Tribes). Official Tribe Website
The Spokan Tribe of Indians by the Wellpinit School District History of the Spokane tribe and Indians of the Columbia Plain , cultural maps, camas, Salish language, myths and more.
Wanapum Heritage Center Information about the history and culture of the Wanapum.

History and Today


Tribe longs for home Twice cheated by the federal government, the Wenatchi fight to reclaim ancestral lands. Article by the Spokesman-Review.
Chief Moses, Sulk-stalk-scosum - "The Sun Chief" A biography of the leader of the Moses Coulee Band during the late 1800's.
The Creation and Reclaimation of the Columbia Reservation Executive Orders, 1879-1886. These are the documents that created and destroyed a reservation in the Wenatchee area, of which Chief Moses was a primary participant.
Moses Lake History of Moses Lake including native people- the Columbia Sinkiuse- by the Center for Columbia River History
Columbia Basin Native Fishery by the Center for Columbia River History
Wapato Point History and the Wapato family of Lake Chelan.
Biography of Smohalla Leader and prophet of the Wanapum, founder of the Washanti faith (closely related to the Dreamer religion).
Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center Which has a permanent exhibit on the East Wenatchee Clovis Site.
Cashmere Museum and Pioneer Village Cashmere museum has a very fine collection of Columbia River artifacts donated mainly by local pioneers or their descendants.
Archaeological laws: Federal and Washington State By the Washington State Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.