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 Wenatchee River.

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

1855 Tecolecun represented the Wenatchis signing the Walla Walla Treaty. Article 10 guaranteed the Wenatchis a thirty-six square mile reservation at the juncture of the Icicle Creek and Wenatchee River. 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 began to settle in Wenatchi territory.

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

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

1875  Passage of the Indian Homestead Act.

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

1878  General O. O. Howard recommended that the United States formally withdraw the Wenatchi Reservation for their use.

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

1883 - 1886 The Moses Columbia Reservation was opened, drawing many whites to the region.

1885  At least twenty Wenatchis filed for Indian Homesteads where they lived.

1886  James J. Hill began 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 identified a route through Wenatchi country, directly through the Wenatchapam Fishery Reserve. But the railroad never acquired 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 wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs saying that it was important to quickly survey the Wenatchis' reservation.

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

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

May, 1893  A contract was let to survey the reservation. Whites protested the reservation and demanded 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 protested at the location, and Erwin claimed 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 and 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 14,000 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 rejected the survey as not accurately representing the reservation, but that information was not forwarded to Congress.

August, 1894 Congress ratified the Yakama agreement, which ceded the improperly located the Reservation, guaranteed the Wenatchis their fishing rights, and promised them thousands of acres of allotments where they lived.

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

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

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

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

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

1900 - 1930  Most Wenatchis moved to the Colville Reservation where they became one of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Chief Harmelt and a few others remained in their homes in the Wenatchee Valley.

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

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

1935  The United States voided the contract and refused to allow the Wenatchis to hire an attorney.

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

For More Information:
History of the Wenatchi Fishing Reservation
by E. Richard Hart