The Cayuse War 1848-1855

After the Cayuse Indians killed 14 whites and held 53 others captive until ransomed [the Whitman Massacre], about 500 settlers took up arms and marched through Cayuse territory (southeast Washington and northeast Oregon), demanding the surrender of the warriors responsible for the crimes. US troops and militiamen from the Oregon territory were called in to suppress the Cayuse, who refused to make peace and raided settlements. Five captured Cayuse were tried and convicted of murder by a military commission and hanged on June 3, 1850. Bloodshed in the area continued until 1855, when the Indians were defeated and placed on a reservation with the Umatilla Indians. The Cayuse were greatly reduced in number by the war, and much of their tribal land was taken.

References

Dictionary of Wars, 100.

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