The Lewis Army Museum on Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington has displays featuring the Army’s roles in the nineteenth-century Western Washington Indian Wars.
According to the Museum:
“As American settlers and miners continued to stream into Indian lands, unrest was inevitable. These recent arrivals tended to view local tribes as obstacles to settlement. When violence erupted, they called on the U.S. Army.”
Puget Sound Indian War, 1855-1856
In 1855, concerned about a potential Indian uprising, American settlers in the Puget Sound area of Washington state formed four companies of soldiers. One of these companies, Eaton’s Rangers, attempted to apprehend Nisqually chief Leschi. Leschi and his brother Quiemuth were peacefully cultivating their wheat fields when the Rangers moved in. Warned of the Rangers’ approach, Leschi and Quiemuth fled their homes. This action by the Rangers against peaceful Indians started the Puget Sound War. Following this initial incident, the Rangers then roamed the country harassing peaceful Indians.
According to the Museum:
“Pushed into armed conflict, Leschi attempted to enlist other tribes to resist American settlement south of Puget Sound. He and his allies led a series of raids against isolated farms and even attacked the frontier settlement of Seattle. Gen. John E., Wool, commanding the Department of the Pacific, believed the undiscipline local militia severely complicated the Army’s attempt to enforce security in the region.”
The Indian Campaign of 1858
According to the Museum:
“With warriors from the Nez Perce serving as Indian scouts for the army, Col. George Wright led more than 600 troops against non-treaty tribes east of the Cascade Mountains==the largest military campaign in the history of Washington Territory. Wright’s column included dragoons and infantry as well as several small mountain howitzers.”
Wright’s orders from the Army states:
“You will attack all the hostile Indians you may meet, with vigor, make their punishment severe, and persevere until the submission is complete.”
George Wright wrote:
“I will make war on them; and if I come here again to war, I will hang them all, men, women, and children.”
At Four Lakes, about 15 miles south of Spokane Falls, Wright’s forces encounter a large force of Indian warriors. The Indians, eager for a fight, are armed with muzzle-loading muskets, lances, and bows and arrows. The army, on the other hand, was armed with new long-range rifles which prove to be deadly at 600 yards. Hudson Bay muskets, the primary Indian firearm, on the other hand, had a range of 200 yards or less. The Indians soon withdrew without inflicting any casualties on the Americans. The army estimated that 18-20 Indians are killed in the battle.
At the battle of Spokane Plains, the army met and defeated an estimated 500-700 Spokan, Coeur d’Alene, Palouse, and Pend d’Oreille warriors. Colonel Wright reported:
“The chastisement which these Indians received has been severe but well merited, and absolutely necessary to impress them with our power. For the last eighty miles our route has been marked by slaughter and devastation; 900 horses and a large number of cattle have been killed or appropriated to our own use; many horses, with large quantities of wheat and oats, also many caches of vegetables, kamas, and dried berries have been destroyed. A blow has been struck which they will never forget.”
Most of the horses and cattle destroyed did not actually belong to “hostile” Indians, but to Indians who were not at war with the United States. The American victories at Four Lakes and Spokane Plains demoralized the Indians and the alliance among the various tribes disintegrated.
End of the Indian Wars
The official end of Indian Wars in Washington came in 1889 when Washington became a state. At this time the Washington Militia, which would eventually become the Washington National Guard, was formed, and began to work and train with Regular U.S. Army units.
More museum exhibits
Lewis Army Museum: World War I (photo diary)
Lewis Army Museum: The Korean War (photo diary)
Lewis Army Museum: The Vietnam War (photo diary)
Veterans Memorial Museum: World War I (Photo Diary)
Veterans Memorial Museum: The Korean War (Photo Diary)
Veterans Memorial Museum: The Vietnam War (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: World War I Ship Building (Photo Diary)
More about the Washington Indian Wars
Indians 301: The Puget Sound War
Indians 101: The 1855 Battle at Connell's Prairie, Washington
Indians 101: The 1856 Battle of Seattle
Indians 101: The 1856 battle at the Cascades, Oregon
Indians 201: An Indian victory in Eastern Washington in 1858