Lt. Col. William Jenner Steptoe, a 42-year-old graduate of West Point, marched from the walls of Fort Walla Walla, Washington Territory, on May 6, 1858, with 164 men of the 1st United States Dragoons and the 9th Infantry.
Included in the column were a surgeon, a commissary officer, several civilian packers, a few friendly Nez Perce Indians and two 12-pounder mountain howitzers. Their destination was the mining region around Colville, a small settlement almost 200 miles north of the fort in the land between the Pend Oreille and Columbia Rivers.
Steptoe, an experienced officer from Virginia and a veteran of the Seminole and Mexican Wars, had been posted to Washington Territory since 1854, shortly after being offered — and refusing — the governorship of Utah Territory.
Since Steptoe’s arrival, Washington Territory had been a hotbed of activity for several dissatisfied Indian groups, among them the Yakima, Spokane, Palous and Coeur d’Alene tribes.
Most of the Indians’ unhappiness stemmed from the continuing encroachment upon tribal lands by white settlers and miners.
Territorial Gov. Isaac I. Stevens, a former army officer and railroad surveyor, had set the stage for much of the unrest in the region. In May 1855, Stevens had negotiated treaties with about 5,000 Indians representing several tribes in the Walla Walla Valley. During a long and grueling meeting, the Indians had finally signed away most of their ancestral lands for a pittance. After promising the tribesmen that they could retain their homeland for several more years — until the treaty was ratified — less than two weeks later Stevens announced the opening of the Indian lands to white settlement.
First, Build A Fort
In September 1856, the construction of Fort Walla Walla signified the army’s intention to become a permanent presence in the region.
By 1858, the influx of thousands of American miners and farmers into the eastern parts of Washington Territory had intensified the animosity the Indians felt toward white settlers. When Steptoe received a request from miners in the Colville region for protection against a suspected Indian uprising in the area, he responded by marching a column of soldiers north to negotiate with the Indians.
This provided just the right heat for the pot to boil over.
On his way to Colville, Steptoe and his men were met by a contingent of several hundred Palous, Spokane and Coeur d’Alene warriors who ordered the soldiers to immediately return to Fort Walla Walla. On May 17, Steptoe agreed to the Indians’ demand and turned his column southward toward the fort.
The Indians, in the meantime, had worked themselves into a frenzy, and even though the soldiers were slowly working their way southward, they attacked the rear and sides of the column.
Retreating to a knoll known today as Steptoe’s Butte, Steptoe’s troopers fought off repeated assaults until dusk.
When Steptoe’s command had left Fort Walla Walla earlier in the month, the colonel had cut the ammunition ration for each soldier to 40 rounds due to the extreme weight of the rest of the equipment and supplies that had to be carried on the backs of the pack animals.
Now, after fighting all day, the men were down to three rounds each. Steptoe and his officers decided to leave the howitzers, camp supplies and extra animals behind and to descend the butte under cover of darkness and rapidly retreat to safety.
Jack Dodd, the battle’s historian, summarized the outcome of the battle in “Great Western Indian Fights”: “Two weeks had elapsed since the expedition had left. ... In that time Steptoe’s men had fought gallantly against a foe that outnumbered them eight to one, and had miraculously escaped from an almost certain massacre. The final losses were two officers, ten men, and three friendly Indians killed, plus ten men wounded, and 29 horses killed or lost from wounds in the ‘Battle of Tohoto-nim-me.’”
The exact hostile losses are not known, but acknowledged losses were nine killed and 40 or 50 wounded.
The Army Responds
News of Steptoe’s less-than-successful encounter with the Indians was met with disbelief among the authorities in the army’s Department of the Pacific. Orders were immediately issued to organize a new unit, this time to be led by 55-year-old Col. George Wright, a longtime army regular and combat veteran.
Heading up several companies of the 9th Infantry, 1st Dragoons, and 3rd Artillery, Wright left Fort Walla Walla on Aug. 15, 1858, following several units of his command that had left previously to build a fort at the crossing of the Snake River.
In all, close to 700 men and 800 animals accompanied Wright on his mission to exact retribution from the Indians who had sent Steptoe and his forces scurrying back to Fort Walla Walla.
On the night of Aug. 31, Colonel Wright ordered his command to pitch camp at a spot called Four Lakes, following a day that had been marked by increased Indian activity in the area. They were just a few miles southwest of today’s bustling city of Spokane.
By dawn of the next day, the Indians had occupied a nearby hill and following a display of strength by the army, they had retreated down the north slope, taunting the soldiers all the way.
Wright deployed various elements of his forces, dislodging the Indians from their new post at the foot of the hill and sending the enemy into retreat. No U.S. Army soldiers were lost in this conflict known as the Battle of Four Lakes. About 20 Indians were killed and many more wounded.
Colonel Wright then marched northward and engaged the Indians again on Sept. 5 in the Battle of Spokane Plains.
As in the affair at Four Lakes, the army’s sword-wielding dragoons, menacing artillery and new, more accurate rifles used by the soldiers were too much for the Indian warriors, who were armed only with spears, bows and arrows, and inaccurate trade rifles.
After the battles of 1858 were over and the Indians realized that they were no match for the superior weaponry of the U.S. Army, peace, more or less, returned to Washington Territory.
Each year that followed witnessed thousands of white emigrants flooding into the territory and taking permanent possession of what had been the Indians’ ancestral lands.
James A. Crutchfield can be reached at TNcrutch@aol.com.
