Collection is open for research.
Gift of Alfred Blaker estate, April 2000 (Lib. Acc. 24222).
In 1855, the Yakama, Imatalamłáma (Umatilla), Cayuse, and Walla Walla peoples were forced to cede more than 6 million acres of their lands to the United States in the Yakama Treaty. The governor of Washington Territory, Isaac I. Stevens, assured Native peoples that Euro-Americans would not intrude on their remaining lands. However, gold strikes near Colville, Washington, and the Fraser River area in British Columbia led to numerous Euro-American miners passing through these lands. Native people killed some miners in retaliation, which prompted Major Granville O. Haller of the U.S. Army to deploy troops to the Yakima Valley. There, his troops battled Native fighters led by Yakama Chief Kiamiakin on October 5, 1855, which sparked what would become known as the Yakima War. During the war, Oregon Territorial Governor George L. Curry provided volunteer troops to assist the U.S. Army and Euro-American emigrants in Washington in fighting Native peoples, and notable Oregon figures such as James W. Nesmith served in the war. The war ended in 1859, and resulted in the United States seizing 90 percent of the Yakama people's traditional lands and confining them to a reservation.
Sources: "Yakama Indian War begins on October 5, 1855," by Paula
Becker, HistoryLink.org,
Newman S. Clarke (circa 1792-1860) was a United States Army officer who served in the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War. In 1857, he succeeded General John E. Wool as commander of the Department of the Pacific.
Sources: Obituary in the New York Times, November 15, 1860; "Governor
Isaac Stevens convenes Second Walla Walla Council on September 11, 1856," by
David Wilma, Historylink.org,
U.S. Department of the Pacific Special Orders No. 87, Coll 1000, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Other materials at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library relating to the Yakima War include: the James Willis Nesmith papers, Mss 577; the George Law Curry papers, Mss 700; the Military collection, Mss 1514; the George L. Curry correspondence relating to the Yakima War and the Rogue River War, Coll 895; and a vertical file, Indians - Wars - Yakima.
The collection consists of a handwritten copy of Special Orders No. 87 from the United States Army's Department of the Pacific, issued on June 29, 1857 by its commander, Brigadier General Newman S. Clarke. The document states that no white person will be permitted to settle in Native land east of the White Salmon River and north of the Columbia River in the Washington Territory or east of the Deschutes River in Oregon Territory, and states that all white persons currently living in those areas, with the exception of people who had filed claims under the Donation Land Claim Act and Hudson's Bay Company employees, will be removed. The orders note that the prohibition does not extend to the Colville mines. The orders further state that Army post commanders are to inform Native peoples about these restrictions, that their treaty with Governor Isaac Stevens of the Washington Territory has not been ratified and is therefore not binding, and that any hostile acts they commit will result in retaliation. The orders also prohibit the distribution of liquor on designated Native lands.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.