he Cayuse had a series of leaders named "Young Chief" The Cayuse chief who attended the Walla Walla Treaty Council of 1855 was not the first, nor was he the last, to bear that English name.

Weatenatemany, nephew of Tauitau, the previous Young Chief, became the new Young Chief in October 1853, following a potlatch to mourn his uncle's recent death. His principal competition for the role of Head Chief of the Cayuse was Five Crows (also known as Hezekiah), brother of Tauitau, and leader of the hostile Cayuses. Weatenatemany had a more tractable attitude towards the white men, but he was adamantly opposed to giving up any of his homeland to the white settlers.

The Walla Walla Council
Governor Isaac Stevens knew in advance who his friends and foes would be in the Walla Walla Council of 1855. He was aware of the ambivalent nature the Nez Perce and the Yakima - with the exception of Kamiakin and his followers - exhibited towards the sale of their land to the white men. He was also aware of the single-mindedness of the Cayuse. Stevens was alerted by the Dalles agent that:

[Head Chief] remembered his uncle's advice to him, to guard his country with a jealous eye, that they kept a strict watch on whites when they came int oit (being afraid…they would put it on their backs and carry it off).

In contrast to the spectacle of the over two thousand friendly Nez Perce arriving at the Council, as immortalized in a drawing by Gustav Sohon, the four hundred Cayuse and Walla Wallas arrived on May 26th in similarly grand fashion, but with an aura of hostility and threat. Dressed in finery, the Cayuse circled the treaty camp three times, whooping and shouting, glaring at the white troops, and boldly displaying their antagonism.

Weatenatemany, Five Crows, and the other Cayuse chiefs rode up to Stevens' and Palmer's tent, dismounted and shook hands, although "in no cordial manner." They were invited to smoke, but declined, saying they had not come to talk on that day.

The confrontational stance taken by the Cayuse was not misconstrued by Stevens, who wrote in his journal:

The haughty carriage of these chiefs and their manly character have, for the first time in my Indian experience, realized the description of the writer of fiction.

Isaac Stevens wrote in the official proceedings, "The Cayuse openly displayed their resentment at the council, camping more than a mile away from the council grounds on the opposite side of Mill Creek..."

Both Isaac Stevens son, Hazard, and the official proceedings of the council, recorded a testy conversation between Young Chief, Joel Palmer and Governor Stevens:

Stevens: I propose to the Walla Wallas, Cayuses and Yakamas, that you take two oxen drive to your camp and slaughter for yourselves.

Young Chief: We have plenty of cattle. They are close to our camp. We have already killed three, and have plenty of provisions.

General Palmer, to the interpreters: Say to the Yakimas, "You have come a long way. You may not have provisions. If you want any, we have them, and you are welcome."

Young Chief: Kam-i-ah-kan is supplied at our camp.

The council was officially underway on May 29th, but at the end of the third day, Young Chief, indicating his young men were restless and tired of confinement, requested a holiday, complete with feasting. This request was granted, and the grounds were quiet the next day, as the Indians stayed in their own camps, talking. It would later be speculated that during this time, Young Chief and other non-friendly chiefs were laying plans for the slaughter of the whites on the council grounds. However, history shows that no such bloody plan was executed, and the councils proceeded peacefully.

Young Chief, although arriving with no intention of signing a treaty, was quite vocal in the Council meetings, making several passionate speeches. One of the most moving of them was recorded in the proceedings:

I wonder if the ground has anything to say? I wonder if the ground is listening to what is said?…The ground says, It is the Great Spirit that placed me here. The Great Spirit tells me to take care of the Indians, to feed them aright. The Great Spirit appointed the roots to feed the Indians on. The water says the same thing. The Great Spirit directs me, Feed the Indians well. The grass says the same thing, Feed the horses and cattle. The ground, water and grass say, The Great Spirit has given us our names. We have these names and hold these names. Neither the Indians nor the Whites have a right to change these names. The ground says, The Great Spirit has placed me here to produce all that grows on me, tree and fruit. The same way the ground says, It was from me man was made. The Great Spirit in placing men on earth, desired them to take good care of the ground and to do each other no harm. The Great Spirit said, You Indians who take care of certain portions of the country should not trade it off except you get a fair price.

When Looking Glass, Chief of the Nez Perce, arrived late in the council, Young Chief supported his claim that he, not Lawyer, was the Head Chief of the Nez Perce. Young Chief allied with Looking Glass to draw back from the agreements that appeared to be solidifying, and in doing so, was likely instrumental in gaining a third reservation for the region.

Despite his misgivings, Young Chief signed the treaty in the end, but the Cayuse and Yakima were not pleased, and the resentment they brought to the council would inevitably boil over into war a few months hence.

War on the Columbia Plateau
The Yakima, Walla Walla and Cayuse were incensed by the sudden flood of whites brought about by a premature newspaper announcement that their land was open to settlement. It had been their understanding that they would hold their territory until the treaties were ratified, so in October 1855, the tribes took up arms against the government.

Young Chief was drawn into the conflict, but by spring he and Five Crows, another chief of the Cayuses, were weary of battle. In a letter to Stevens from Spokan Garry, Garry said Five Crows and Young Chief, "acting for the tribe" wanted peace. Garry indicated that it might be acceptable to make peace with the Cayuses, without involving the Yakima tribe. Isaac Stevens did not concur.

August 30, 1856, Stevens held a council with the warring Cayuse, Walla Walla and Tenino tribes The atmosphere was rife with tension and ill-will. The session ended on September 17th, with no agreement having been reached.

The Indians were called to one more council, this one with General Wright, who served under General Wool. He explained that the army regulars understood the Indian point of view, and assured them that their lands would remain in their hands until the government ratified the treaties. Wright's actions restored calm to the region.

A Return to Normalcy
Although Young Chief and Five Crows had been hiding out in the Snake country, by spring of 1857 they were back in their homeland in the Grande Ronde. The war with the whites was over, but there were still hostilities with the Snake tribe. However, a greater burden to the Cayuse than the threat of livestock losses to the Snake was the death of Young Chief, Weatenatemany, killed in a skirmish with the Snake during the summer of 1859.

His legacy was followed by yet another "Young Chief."

Sources:
Drury, Clifford M. Chief Lawyer of the Nez Perce Indians. Glendale, CA: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1979.

Nicandri, David L. Northwest Chiefs: Gustav Sohon's View of the 1855 Stevens Treaty Councils. Tacoma: Washington State Historical Society, 1986.

Josephy, Alvin M. The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.

Ruby, Robert H. and John A. Brown The Cayuse Indians: Imperial Tribesmen of Old Oregon. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972.

Stevens, Hazard The Life of Isaac Ingalls Stevens, Vol. 2. Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1901.

Stevens, Isaac Ingalls A True Copy of the Record of the Official Proceedings at the Council in the Walla Walla Valley 1855. Fairfield, WA: Ye Galleon Press, 1985.

Brown, Willam Compton Indian Side of the Story. Spokane: C. W. Hill Printing Company, 1961.