The Anishinabe-American Wars In Oregon and Washington

The first of these wars between the Anishinabek of Idaho, Oregon and Washington occurred in the late 1840s, after the first white settlers entered that region. It was white Christian missionaries who initiated the so called Cayuse War of 1848. They deliberately used "Germ Warfare" according to the Anishinabek. After the first "Germ Warfare" assaults, the Anishinabe population declined and that alarmed them, and led them to take action in order to defend themselves. In 1847, not very many whites were living in that region (most were white Christian missionaries) and after realizing that the whites were using "Germ Warfare" the enraged Anishinabe attacked the white Christian mission historically known as Whitman. They killed some 14 of the invading whites at the Whitman Massacre. By that time about half the Anishinabe population in that region had been murdered by "Germ Warfare." It may have been possible that around this same time a large group of Anishinabe left northeastern Oregon, then fled to southern Oregon and northern California, where they became known by the whites as the Modoc. After several small military skirmishes the war ended.

A few years later more white settlers arrived to the Anishinabe land in Washington and that sparked another war which is known historically as the 1855-1858 Yakima War. The whites had been continuously using "Germ Warfare" on the Indians of that region, to decimate the Indian population and the Anishinabe knew about it. After several small military engagements the war ended. In 1858, the so called Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Paloos War started. It was just an extension of the two earlier wars, with the same results. After this war, the United States likely forced 1,000s of the Anishinabek of Oregon and Washington, to relocate to Indian Territory or forced them onto Oregon and Washington Indian Reservations, where they were eventually forced to lose their identity. The reason i have included the wars that occurred in Oregon and Washington during the 1840s and 1850s, is the Nez Perce War of 1877. The last battle of that war occurred at, or near, the present day Rocky Boy Chippewa Reservation of Montana. If it had occurred elsewhere i certainly would not have included this information. However, since it occurred on Chippewa land, it led me to accept the belief that the Anishinabe settled down in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.