Malheur Indian Reservation
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The Malheur Indian Reservation was an American Indian reservation established for the Northern Paiute in eastern
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
and northern Nevada from 1872 to 1879. The federal government discontinued the reservation after the Bannock War of 1878, under pressure from European-American settlers who wanted the land. This negative recommendation against continuing by its agent William V. Rinehart, led to the internment of more than 500 Paiute on the
Yakama Indian Reservation The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a Native American reservation in Washington state of the federally recognized tribe known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of Klikitat, ...
, as well as the reluctance of the Bannock and Paiute to return to the lands after the war.


Establishment

On September 12, 1872, a presidential order by
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
set aside the Malheur Indian Reservation in
Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...
for the Northern Paiute. It was intended for "all the roving and straggling bands in Eastern and Southeastern Oregon, which can be induced to settle there." The goal was to reduce conflict between the Paiute, who were struggling to find enough food for survival, and the settlers, whose farms and ranches encroached on their territory. About 800 Northern Paiute were living in settlements and at Forts Harney and
Klamath Klamath may refer to: Ethnic groups *Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon **Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon *Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people Places in the United States * ...
in
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,
Fort Bidwell Fort Bidwell is a census-designated place in Modoc County, California. It is located northeast of Alturas, at an elevation of 4564 feet (1391 m). Its population is 180 as of the 2020 census, up from 173 from the 2010 census. Geography Fort Bi ...
in northeastern
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, and
Fort McDermitt Fort McDermit (or Fort McDermitt) was an U.S. Army fort in Nevada. It was established on August 14, 1865, by Captain J. C. Doughty, of Company I of the 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry, on orders of Lt. Col. Charles McDermit, Commande ...
in northern
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
.Brimlow, George Francis. ''Harney County and Its Range Land'', Portland, Oregon:
Binfords & Mort Binford & Mort Publishing is a book publishing company located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1930, the company was previously known as Metropolitan Press and Binfords & Mort. At one time they were the largest book publisher in t ...
, 1951, pp. 90-1.
Three bands went to the reservation, led by chiefs Weahwewa, Watta-belly, and
Egan Egan may refer to: People * Egan (surname) * Egan (given name) Places in the United States * Egan, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Egan, Louisiana, an unincorporated community and census-designated place * Egan, South Dakota, a city * Eg ...
. In 1875, Old Winnemucca of the Paiute, his daughter Sarah and son Natchez Winnemucca went to Malheur Indian Reservation. In 1865 they had lost 29 of 30 people in a band in a raid by Nevada Volunteer cavalry, including the chief's two wives, one of whom was the mother of Sarah and Natchez. The reservation covered roughly the
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
of the South, Middle and
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forks of the
Malheur River The Malheur River (local pronunciation: "MAL-hyure") is a tributary of the Snake River in eastern Oregon in the United States. It drains a high desert area, between the Harney Basin and the Blue Mountains and the Snake. Despite the similari ...
. It comprised approximately or . At that time,
salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
still migrated up the Columbia and the
Snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
rivers into the North Fork from the
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.


Reductions and incursions

Almost immediately, European American settlers began requesting changes to the boundaries of the reservation in order to take over more land. In 1876, settlers asked for the exclusion of the Silvies River Valley and the
Harney Lake Harney Lake is a shallow alkali lake basin located in southeast Oregon, United States, approximately south of the city of Burns. The lake lies within the boundary of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and is the lowest point in the Blitzen ...
Basin on the southwest edge of the reservation. In January of that year, President
Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...
, under pressure from settlers, ordered the northern shores of
Malheur Lake Malheur Lake is one of the lakes in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located about southeast of Burns, the lake is marsh fed by the Donner und Blitzen River from the south and the Silvies Rive ...
open for settlement. This was a blow to the Paiute, because that was an area where the tribe collected wada (''
Suaeda calceoliformis ''Suaeda calceoliformis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by several common names, including Pursh seepweed and horned seablite. Distribution The plant is native to North America, where it can be found across mo ...
'') seeds, which they gathered as food.''Treaties and Reservations Created.''Paiute History

Burns Paiute Tribe
Burns, Oregon. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
(The Paiute around Malheur Lake were known as the ''Wadatika'': the "wada-seed-eaters".''Census of Indians in Eastern Oregon, 1865.''The Oregon Historical Project
January 31, 2016
) Settlers along Willow Creek Valley on the eastern edge of the reservation also protested the boundaries. The reservation straddled trails between then northern
Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States *Grant County, Arkansas *Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky *Grant County, Minnesota *Grant County, Nebraska *Grant C ...
, where
Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger (March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), was a leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa ...
of the
Nez Perce The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...
had received orders to move with his people to
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
, and southern Grant County. With the completion of major portions of the transcontinental railroad in 1868, cattle ranchers in the former Nez Perce lands had begun to drive herds along those trails to Central Pacific railheads such as
Winnemucca, Nevada Winnemucca () is the only incorporated city in, and is the county seat of, Humboldt County, Nevada, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 8,431, up 14.0 percent from the 2010 census figure of 7,396. Interst ...
, for shipment to the East. In the high desert country of Eastern Oregon, the ranchers considered the streams and pastures along those trails as highly valuable for sustaining the cattle on the drives.Brimlow (1951), ''Harney County'', pp. 81-130 ''passim''. But, the cattle consumed water and were pastured in lands that were reserved for the Paiute.


Bannock War (1878)

The outbreak of the Bannock War in May 1878 in Idaho led the Paiute to abandon the Malheur Indian Reservation and take refuge on
Steens Mountain Steens Mountain is in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon, and is a large fault-block mountain. Located in Harney County, it stretches some north to south, and rises from the west side the Alvord Desert at elevation of about t ...
to the south of the Harney Basin. The mountain is a large block-fault formation, and its eastern escarpment rises almost straight up from the
Alvord Desert The Alvord Desert is a desert located in Harney County, in southeastern Oregon in the Western United States. It is roughly southeast of Steens Mountain. The Alvord Desert is a dry lake bed and averages of rain a year. Two mountain ranges ...
, making it relatively easy to defend. They were later joined there during the summer by the
Bannock Bannock may mean: * Bannock (food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle * Bannock (Indigenous American), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying * Bannock people, a Native American people of what is now southeastern Oregon ...
coming west from Idaho. When
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units under the command of General Oliver O. Howard began moving toward their positions, the united Paiute and Bannock decided to move into the Blue Mountains to the north of the Harney Basin. They raided isolated ranches as they fled northward, killing some settlers, and taking horses and cattle. ''The Bannock War''
''New York Times'', June 4, 1878 (.PDF download).
"Bannock War at Camas Prairie"

Reference Series
Idaho State Historical Society. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
In engagements with the Army, both Paiute and soldiers were killed, but casualties were few, given that hundreds of soldiers were operating on each side. Near the Umatilla Agency on the Columbia River, the Umatilla saw that the Paiute and Bannock were not going to prevail against the U.S. Army, which outnumbered the Native Americans. The Umatilla allied with the Army. Under the guise of negotiation, some warriors entered an encampment of Paiute and Bannock, where they killed
Egan Egan may refer to: People * Egan (surname) * Egan (given name) Places in the United States * Egan, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Egan, Louisiana, an unincorporated community and census-designated place * Egan, South Dakota, a city * Eg ...
, one of the principal Paiute war leaders, and a number of his followers. After that point, having lost their leader, scattered bands of Paiute took refuge in the mountains, and many of the Bannock tried to return to Idaho. Ultimately, most Paiute surrendered. Together with Bannock prisoners, they were initially interned at the Malheur Indian Reservation.


Removal and discontinuation

In November 1878, General Howard received orders to move about 543 Paiute and Bannock prisoners from the Malheur Indian Reservation to the
Yakama Indian Reservation The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a Native American reservation in Washington state of the federally recognized tribe known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of Klikitat, ...
, in
Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...
, to the north. Other Paiute and Bannock were scattered about Eastern Oregon, northeastern California and northern Nevada, working for settlers or engaged in subsistence hunting and gathering. More than a year after the war, most had not moved back onto the reservation, although the U.S. government had urged them to do so. Still others were interned at
Vancouver Barracks Established in 1849, the Vancouver Barracks was the first U.S. Army base located in the Pacific Northwest. Built on a rise 20 feet (6 m) above the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading station Fort Vancouver. Its buildings were formed in a line adjac ...
in Washington. Ranchers and settlers had started to graze their herds on the best meadowlands of the Malheur Indian Reservation, and the U.S. Army had been reluctant to remove the trespassers. In his annual report in August 1879, Agent W. V. Rinehart, who had fought in the
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
under General
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and held negative views of the Natives, opined that the reservation should be discontinued, in part because the support for all agencies in Oregon was spread too thin to be effective. In October of that year, the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and ...
discontinued the agency.


Burns Paiute Indian Reservation

Today a small group of Paiute lives on a small allotment of , called the Burns Paiute Indian Reservation (or the Burns Paiute Colony) along the Silvies River, just north of Burns, Oregon."The Fight to Regain the Land"
Tribal History, Burns Paiute Official Website. Retrieved March 2, 2008.
Other Paiute are federally recognized as distinct tribes on other reservations.


See also

* Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation *
Harney Basin The Harney Basin is an endorheic basin in southeastern Oregon in the United States at the northwestern corner of the Great Basin. One of the least populated areas of the contiguous United States, it is located largely in northern Harney County, ...
*
List of Indian reservations in Oregon This is a list of Indian reservations in the U.S. state of Oregon. Existing reservations There are seven Native American reservations in Oregon that belong to seven of the nine federally recognized Oregon tribes: * Burns Paiute Indian Colony ...


References


External links


Malheur Indian Reservation (includes map)
from Oregon Historical Society
Paiutes
{{authority control Bannock people Paiute American Indian reservations in Oregon Harney County, Oregon Former American Indian reservations Native American history of Oregon 1872 establishments in Oregon