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Cultures Clash: Removal It is hereby ordered that the tract of country in Washington Territory. . . for Chief Moses and his people by Executive Order dated April 19, 1879. . . is hereby withdrawn from sale and settlement and set apart for the permanent use and occupancy of Chief Moses and his people. President Rutherford B. Hayes, March 6, 1880. Some of the Native peoples disagreed with the terms of the Yakima Treaty and refused to be removed to the reservation. Among the "non-treaty" Indians were the Columbia-Sinkiuse of Moses Lake, led by Sulktalthscosum, known to the whites as Chief Moses. In April of 1879, after a visit by Chief Moses to Washington, D.C., President Rutherford B. Hayes signed an executive order creating the Columbia or "Moses" Reservation, a 38-square mile area along the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers. 1879 delegation to Washington D.C. Left to Right, Chief Moses (Sulktalthscosum), Moses' nephew, Chillileetsah, Hiachenie of the Cayuse, and Chief Homily of the Walla Wallas. Photo courtesy of Dr. Robert H. Ruby. Columbia Reservation was already sparsely inhabited by white miners and cattlemen from whom Chief Moses, sometimes successfully, often unsuccessfully, attempted to collect rents. By 1883 pressure from whites led the government to abolish the Columbia Reservation and remove the Sinkiuse to the Colville Reservation. The Wanapums insisted on remaining in their Columbia River homes, living traditionally in tule mat lodges through World War II. They were able to avoid removal to a reservation because of disagreements between Indian agents and military officials over where they should go, and because whites perceived the region where they lived as barren and consequently unappealing.   forward Table of Contents <> Photo Archive Oral History Archive <> Documents Archive <> Bibliography To Top of Moses Lake Exhibit