The History of the Wenatchi Fishing Reservation: Chronology
Compiled by E. Richard Hart, September 17, 2001

1780 Prior to contact with Europeans, Wenatchi (P'squosa) population probably was between 1600 and 2000, in more than twenty villages up and down the Wenatchi River.

1780-1853 Smallpox epidemics and other European diseases reduced Wenatchi population to 300 or 400.

1855 Tecolecun represents the Wenatchis signing the Walla Walla Treaty. Article 10 guarantees the Wenatchis a thirty-six square mile reservation at the juncture of the Icicle and Wenatchi Rivers. The "Wenatchapam Fishery" was one of the great fisheries of the Northwest and thousands of salmon were caught there annually by the Wenatchis and their friends and neighbors.

1856 Colonel George Wright visited the Wenatchis and marked out boundaries of the reservation, but the United States failed to survey it.

1858 In appreciation for Wenatchi assistance to Whites, Captain J. J. Archer promised to expand the reservation to sixty-four square miles.

1870 The first Whites settle in Wenatchi territory.

1872 A great earthquake rocked Wenatchi country, and briefly blocked the flow of the Columbia River.

1874 Many Wenatchis have converted to Christianity and in 1874 a Catholic mission is constructed near today's Cashmere.

1875 Passage of the Indian Homestead Act.

1877 The Wenatchis refuse to join Joseph's Nez Perce in their war against the United States.

1878 General O. O. Howard recommends that the United States formally withdraw the Wenatchi reservation for their use.

1879-1880 Establishment of the Moses Columbia Reservation. Wenatchis refuse to move onto that reservation.

1883-1886 The Moses Columbia Reservation is opened, drawing many Whites to the region.

1885 At least twenty Wenatchis file for Indian homesteads where they live.

1886 James J. Hill begins construction of the Great Northern Railroad.

1888 Special Agent George W. Gordon described the Wenatchapam Fishery and recommended that the United States formally survey the Wenatchapam Fishery Reserve as it had been described by Colonel Wright.

1889 Engineer John F. Stevens of the Great Northern Railroad identifies a route through Wenatchi country, directly through the Wenatchapam Fishery Reserve. But the railroad never acquires a right-of-way through all of that area.

1890 At a "Grand Medicine Council" Chief Harmelt and the Wenatchis wrote to General Howard asking what had become of their reserve. Whites were beginning to settle on their lands.

July,1892 Yakama Agent Jay Lynch writes to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs saying that it is important to quickly survey the Wenatchis' reservation.

November, 1892 President Harrison signs an executive order to have the Wenatchapam Fishery Reserve surveyed.

January, 1893 Harrison is replaced by Grover Cleveland as President. The Great Northern drives the final spike in its railroad, which now passes through the Wenatchapam Fishery. Agent Lynch is replaced by L. T. Erwin.

May, 1893 A contract is let to survey the reservation. Whites protest the reservation and demand that it not be surveyed.

August, 1893 Deputy Surveyor Oliver B. Iverson began his survey of the reservation, but was interrupted by Agent Erwin, who ordered his survey markers destroyed and directed him to resurvey the reservation high up in the mountains. The Wenatchis protest at the location, and Erwin claims the former agent located it up in the mountains.

October,1893 The Secretary of the Interior, responding to White protests, authorized a council with the Wenatchis and Yakamas in order to try an obtain a cession of the reservation.

December, 1893- January 1894 Chief Harmelt and a small group of Wenatchis traveled to Fort Simcoe to the Cession Council. Erwin again lied to the Wenatchis, and to the Yakamas, but promised that the Wenatchis' fishing rights would continue and they would receive at least 10,000 acres of allotments where they lived. The Wenatchi leaders returned home to discuss the matter with their people and the Yakamas then ceded the reserve and waived all rights to the area in the future.

May, 1894 The General Land Office rejects the survey as not accurately representing the reservation, but that information is not forwarded to Congress.

August, 1894 Congress ratifies the Yakama agreement, which cedes the improperly located reservation, guarantees the Wenatchis their fishing rights, and promises them thousands of acres of allotments where they live.

1894-1895 Erwin fails to make a single allotment with the Wenatchis.

1896 Wenatchis refuse to accept their share ($9.30 each) of the cession payment to the Yakamas.

1897 Indian Inspector W. J. McConnell learns details of the Wenatchi reservation and asks, "Are we a nation of thieves and unmitigated scoundrels? Are we devoid of all sense of honor?"

1899-1900 Chief Harmelt twice travels to Washington, D. C. to protest to officials about the lost reservation.

1900-1902 A handful of allotments are made to Wenatchis by an allotting agent, but at the same time the United States allows all of the Wenatchis homesteads to be taken by Whites.

1900-1930 Most Wenatchis move to the Colville Reservation where they become one of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Chief Harmelt and a few others remain in their homes in the Wenatchi Valley.

1931 Over 250 Wenatchis gather at a "Grand Pow-Wow" near Cashmere, Washington and vote to hire an attorney to sue the United States.

1933 Chief Harmelt and other Wenatchi leaders sign contract with an attorney.

1935 The United States voids the contract and refuses to allow the Wenatchis to hire an attorney.

July 4, 1937 Fire destroys the home of Chief Harmelt, killing him and his wife. His granddaugher, Celia Ann Dick and her sons carry on the fight.

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