Imprisonment and Reconciliation: nimíipuu at Vancouver Barracks

Adapted from “In the Heart of the City”: A Historic Resource Study of Vancouver Barracks by Dr. Donna Sinclair, with additional information from the Nez Perce Tribe and the US Forest Service.

nimipuutímt names

In this article, nimipuutímt (Nez Perce language) names may differ from those used elsewhere. Based on guidance from the Cultural Resource Program Director of the Nez Perce Tribe, these changes move towards indigenous ways of referencing individuals and groups of nimípuu (Nez Perce) before the colonial period. Personal names will be given in nimipuutímt and then in English for the first occurrence. Band designations will follow the same format, as well as referencing the land or a resource (“life sources”) before an individual leader.

Hand-drawn pictograph by piyopyóot’alikt for L.V. McWhorter. The scenes show the ‘ickum’kiléelixpe (Battle of Big Hole), on August 9, 1877 and the Nez Perce camp on the ‘ickum’kiléelixpe (Big Hole River) prior to the battle.

Lucullus V. McWhorter Papers at Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections.

From the beginning of remembered time, the nimíipuu people have lived on the Columbia River plateau in the Pacific Northwest. French Canadian traders called them “Nez Percé.” In the 1870s, attempts to forcibly confine the nimíipuu to a smaller reservation within their vast traditional homelands put many in direct conflict with the US Army. One group, most of whom (but not all) were led by tim’íne’ilp’ilp (Red Heart), wished to stay neutral in this conflict but became embroiled in it anyway, leading to their arrest by US Army troops and imprisonment at Vancouver Barracks in an event that has been called “one of the most unjust episodes of the Nez Perce War.”

Setting the Stage for Conflict

The late 1800s was a time of intense conflict in the American West, as Indigenous peoples were killed, imprisoned, and forcibly removed from their homelands to make way for American settlers and miners. Vancouver’s role in this story began to take shape in the 1850s. In 1849, the US Army established Vancouver Barracks just north of the site of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort Vancouver. This location was carefully chosen. At the confluence of several rivers, as well as trails that had been established by Indigenous peoples over thousands of years, Vancouver Barracks’ location on the north bank of the Columbia River was an ideal place from which the Army could deploy troops and supplies to locations throughout the Northwest. But it wasn’t just Vancouver Barracks’ location that was significant. The post’s establishment in 1849 intentionally placed it in position to play a major role in the tumultuous decades to follow.

As the California gold rush and the establishment of the Oregon Trail inspired Americans to move westward in the 1840s and 50s, they called on their government to provide them with land and protection from the Native Americans they intended to displace. In 1851, Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act, which allowed for the creation of reservations. US Army troops were tasked with enforcing this legislation.

The options set before Tribes were limited. They could “peacefully” establish a treaty between their Tribe and the US Government, relocating their people to an established reservation that may or may not be on their traditional homelands, without knowing if they would have the resources to support their communities. Or Tribes could resist removal to a reservation and risk war with the US Army. At Vancouver Barracks, the consequences of some of these choices played out and, as the century wore on, Vancouver Barracks became infamous as a site for Native incarceration and enforcement of relocation policies.

Page from a late 1870s to early 1880s illustrated pocket notebook known as the “Cash Book,” which tells the story of the Nez Perce War through drawings by an unknown artist.

MS2/1053 Charles D. Warner Nez Perce Collection, courtesy Idaho State Historical Society, Page 6.

The Walla Walla Treaty of 1855

For the Tribes of the Columbia Plateau, including the nimíipuu, the treaty-making process played an important role in setting the scene for future conflict. There were several issues. Sometimes, the US government did not honor the terms of a treaty. Often, Native negotiators felt coerced into signing. And, almost always, the federal negotiators fundamentally misunderstood the structure of Native leadership and assumed that those signing represented the entire “Tribe” as defined by the US government. One of the results was a schism between nimíipuu who supported the treaty and those who did not, called “non-treaty” nimíipuu. The Native peoples of the Columbia Plateau were pushed onto reservations that to some degree exist today. The nimíipuu retained 7.5 million acres in northeast Oregon and northwest Idaho.

For Tribes and Tribal groups that resisted relocation, violence continued throughout the 1850s and 1860s, with example after example of cruelty toward Native Americans and acts of vengeance in return. In addition to US Army soldiers, volunteer units organized to crush Native resistance. No matter that many Native people had not yet received the promised benefits of treaty-making or that, in many cases, they lived on their own lands. By the 1870s, large-scale imprisonment accompanied forced removal as the culmination of two decades of relocation and extermination policies.

Pursuit of the nimíipuu Bands

In the 1860s and early 1870s, American gold seekers, ranchers, and farmers pushed the US Government to move the nimíipuu who remained on their traditional homelands to the Nez Perce Reservation. By this time, many nimíipuu had already relocated to the reservation, but others continued to live outside its boundaries. With homelands in northeastern Oregon, the Wallowa Mountains, along the Clearwater River, and throughout central Idaho, the nimíipuu lived a seasonal round of fishing, gathering, and hunting that regularly took them across the Rocky Mountains to Montana. Non-treaty bands had not supported the 1855 treaty and absolutely rejected the 1863 Steal Treaty, and continued to engage in their annual, off-reservation seasonal rounds.

In November 1876, Department of the Columbia commander General Oliver Otis Howard ordered the nimíipuu out of the Wallowas. Several bands refused, and the Army began mobilizing to remove them by force. Several non-treaty nimíipuu bands, including hasúutino (Place of Lamprey, the band led by ‘elelímyete’qenin’ or Looking Glass the Younger) and wal’wáama or kimúynuu (Place of Dogbane, the band led by hinmatóowyalahtq’it or Chief Joseph), decided instead to head east over the Rocky Mountains and ultimately toward Canada. As they fled, from June through October 1877, the Army pursued. General Howard faced significant pressure from his superior officers and criticism in the press, intensifying his pursuit of the non-treaty nimíipuu. This event was known as the Flight of 1877.

On July 1, 1877, tim’íne’ilp’ilp and the group he led on a buffalo hunt in Montana had returned and were camped at the village of ‘elelímyete’qenin’ on the Clearwater River when they were approached by Captain Stephen G. Whipple. Whipple and the troops under his command had been sent there by General Howard to “surprise and capture this chief and all that belonged to him.” ‘elelímyete’qenin’ sympathized with the non-treaty nimíipuu but sought peace. The location of his village was actually on the established Nez Perce Reservation, but Howard remained suspicious that ‘elelímyete’qenin’ would not remain neutral. As the US Army soldiers arrived, ‘elelímyete’qenin’ sent an emissary to calm the battle-ready troops, but a soldier opened fire and a nimíipuu man was wounded. As the villagers fled, soldiers burned the village and captured the nimíipuu horses. tim’íne’ilp’ilp and his group of men, women, and children were among those who fled.

The nimíipuu present at the attack retreated to Weippe Prairie, no longer on the reservation. The hope that elelímyete’qenin’ had for peace was shattered; he and his followers resolved to join the non-treaty bands. Days later, on July 15, non-treaty nimíipuu arrived at Weippe, having survived a clash with Howard’s troops at the Battle of Clearwater. tim’íne’ilp’ilp greeted them and bid them farewell as the non-treaty bands continued over the Lolo Trail to Montana.

General Howard, upon learning that some nimíipuu remained at Weippe, sent a scout to demand their surrender and their return to the reservation. The group with tim’íne’ilp’ilp were unmistakably noncombatants and had a reputation for peacefulness. tim’íne’ilp’ilp himself was known as a dignified, honorable leader, and father of five. The impact of the Flight of 1877 was personal; his two eldest sons had joined the non-treaty bands on their journey north. When the scout approached them at Weippe Prairie to demand surrender at General Howard’s request, these nimíipuu agreed to go to the reservation but soon learned they would, instead, be incarcerated and even tried for murder. himíin maqsmáqs (Yellow Wolf), a nimíipuu warrior who arrived at Weippe after the Battle of Clearwater, later recalled: “[the group with tim’íne’ilp’ilp] had never been in any of the war. Coming from Montana, they had only met us there” at Weippe to avoid “any connection with the conflict.” However, the departure of tim’íne’ilp’ilp from the Weippe Prairie was interpreted by General Howard as an act of surrender, not realizing that these people had not been previously involved in the fighting.

“It was all right for Chief Red Heart not to join with us. It was all wrong for General Howard to send them as prisoners to Vancouver. They were peaceable Indians. They wanted no war.”

—himíin maqsmáqs, quoted in Yellow Wolf: His Own Story

Image credit: Library of Congress, 91481172

On July 17, General Howard wrote to the Secretary of War that 40 prisoners had surrendered the previous day, “twenty-three prisoners, warriors, and 17 women and children.” In the interest of demonstrating progress, Howard failed to mention that many of the “warriors” were old men and adolescent boys who had been planning to make their way to the reservation at Lapwai.

This stereoscope image shows the Vancouver Barracks Guardhouse in the 1870s.

NPS Photo / FOVA 197400

Imprisonment at Vancouver Barracks

Although the Vancouver Independent mentioned the “surrender” in July, most newspapers inaccurately identified these prisoners as members of the bands of “Chief Joseph” and “Looking Glass,” despite the fact that both groups had already headed east to continue their flight to Canada. Rather, individuals from several different bands, including pik’úunen (Snake River Band), lamtáama (Place of Little Snow, Whitebird Creek/Salmon River Band, the band led by Whitebird), and wal’waama or kimúynuu (NE Oregon) had joined the group. The captives were bound and escorted by soldiers from the 21^st Cavalry as they marched for 61 miles though the hot, dusty summer heat to Fort Lapwai. Several members were disabled and elderly, including one who was blind. All suffered from lack of food and water, especially the children. When they arrived at Fort Lapwai, the prisoners “had their hair cut short and (were) placed in irons.” On August 4, 1877, the prisoners left Fort Lapwai for Lewiston, Idaho where the steamboat New Tenino awaited them. They arrived at the wharf at Vancouver Barracks on August 7, 1877, two days before one of the most horrific conflicts between the nimíipuu and the US Army, the Battle of Big Hole, where at least 89 nimíipuu men, women and children died.

Though 40 prisoners were reported by General Howard, 33 arrived at Vancouver Barracks under guard. In the biased reporting of the Vancouver Independent, the soldiers appeared “tired and travel-worn,” while the nimíipuu were described as “stalwart, swarthy…sober,” and potentially dangerous. The prisoners spent cold and wet winter nights in a cramped guardhouse and were placed outside during the day in a 15-foot-high corral. Even by military standards of the time, the prisoners lacked supplies for basic health and safety. “The Indian prisoners don’t like confinement” reported the newspaper. With the post’s other troops deployed to pursue the non-treaty nimíipuu, this group was guarded by members of a military band.

Later that year, soldiers from the band supervised the prisoners as they were forced to do manual labor around the military post, punished with lashings if they did not obey. It is possible the men labored on new military buildings that were under construction, or like some Native prisoners held later, built fences, roads, gardens, or worked on cemetery maintenance. The women spent their time weaving, sewing, and learning English. One of the prisoners, a 2-year-old boy, died that winter. Initially there was talk of putting the group on trial, but no official charges of a crime were ever recorded. The Army debated whether to send the group to Indian Territory in Oklahoma or release them to Fort Lapwai. On April 22, 1878, after eight and a half months as prisoners, General Howard released the nimíipuu and the other prisoners to the Indian agency at Fort Lapwai.

The guardhouse, directly south of the flagpole, on an 1874 map of Vancouver Barracks.

National Archives and Records Administration, copy on file at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

Reconciliation

Although the captivity of nimíipuu at Vancouver Barracks stands as one of the many injustices of the period, some reckoning with the aftermath has been embraced. Beginning in 1998, an annual reconciliation ceremony has been held on the grounds of Vancouver Barracks. Participants have included descendants of those who were incarcerated, other Nez Perce Tribe members, descendants of C.E.S. Wood (the aide-de-camp to General Howard during the Nez Perce War and later friend of hinmatóowyalahtq’it), City of Vancouver officials, the Community Military Appreciation Committee, the US Forest Service National Nez Perce Trail, and the National Park Service (the current managers of this portion of Vancouver Barracks). The memorial ceremony, as described by elders, pays tribute to Tribal ideals, honors ancestors, and helps to heal old wounds.

Learn more about the history of this ceremony through Confluence's Redheart Ceremony Oral History Collection.

Members of the Nez Perce Tribe in a drum circle during the annual reconciliation ceremony at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

NPS Photo

The 33 nimíipuu imprisoned at Vancouver Barracks in 1877, from a list compiled by Black Eagle, May 1930. Where spelling corrections have been provided by the Nez Perce Tribe, they have been included.

Men

tim’íne’ilp’ilp (Chief Red Heart)
te-me-nah-ilp-pilp (son of Chief Red Heart)
ne-ne-tsu-kus-ten (youngest son of Chief Red Heart)
Old Man Half Moon
tsa-lah-enosm
John Reuben
Little Bear
Alex Hayes
te-po-noth
kai-ye-wich
ha-ha-tsi he-ke-lan-tsa
”Old” Chief Jacob
a-yok-ka-sie
ipelíikt hiláamkawaat (Pile of Clouds)
wal-we-yes
Ames Hines
qul’qúul’taami
Jim Powers
pa-cus-la-wat-akth
George Raymond

Women
tsa-cope
he-ma-kio aut-way
pe-tol-we ta-looth
hamo-lits-hamo-lits
pe-to-lack-yoth
we-tah-wee-non-mi

Girls

he-yum-ki yum-mi
tal-we nom-mi

Boys

il-soo-pop
Son of Little Bear (unnamed, died Fall of 1877)

The Chief Redheart Reconciliation Ceremony at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

NPS Photo