Northern Paiutes of the Malheur

High Desert Reckoning in Oregon Country

by David H. Wilson

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Pub Date May 01 2022 | Archive Date Apr 30 2022

University of Nebraska Press | Bison Books

History | Nonfiction (Adult)

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Description

Finalist for the 2023 Oregon Book Award

In 1870 a twenty-six-year-old Paiute, Sarah Winnemucca, wrote to an army officer requesting that Paiutes be given a chance to settle and farm their ancestral land in Oregon Country. The eloquence of her letter was such that it made its way into Harper’s Weekly. Ten years later, as her people languished in confinement as a result of the Bannock War, she convinced Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz to grant the requests in her letter and to free the Paiutes as well. Schurz’s decision unleashed a furious campaign of disinformation by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, cattlemen, and settlers, overturning Schurz’s decision, sweeping truth aside, and falsely branding Paiute chief Egan as instigator of the war.

To this day histories of the Paiutes appear to be unanimous in their mistaken claim that Egan led his Paiutes into the Bannock War. Indian agents’ betrayal of the people they were paid to protect saddled Paiutes with responsibility for a war that most opposed and that led to U.S. misappropriation of their land, their only source of life’s necessities. With neither land nor reservation, Paiutes were driven more deeply into poverty and disease than any other Natives of that era. In Northern Paiutes of the Malheur David H. Wilson Jr. pulls back the curtain to reveal what government officials hid—exposing the full jarring injustice and, after 140 years, recounting the Paiutes’ true and proud history for the first time.

Advance Praise

“In Northern Paiutes of the Malheur David Wilson captures the untold story of Chief Egan and our people, fulfilling the wish of my grandfather Hubert Egan for the true story of the Paiutes, hidden for almost a century and a half, to be revealed at last.”—Nancy Egan, direct descendant of Chief Egan and representative of the Egan family

“Wrong was done to the Paiutes—it’s as simple as that—and the passion David Wilson puts into telling their story comes through more powerfully for the restrained and careful way he tells it. This will be a book of lasting value for its contributions to the history of the West and for its simple, elegant prose, which is a western artifact of its own. Both authoritative and exciting to read, this is an excellent piece of work.”—Ian Frazier, best-selling author of Great Plains and On the Rez and two-time winner of the Thurber Prize

“Fascinating. . . . Extensively researched and carefully documented, Northern Paiutes of the Malheur is essential reading for anyone interested in Native American history of the Northwest.”—Steven Lubet, author of The “Colored Hero” of Harper’s Ferry: John Anthony Copeland and the War against Slavery

“Northern Paiutes of the Malheur fills a historical gap with a meticulously researched, fascinating story of the survival of a small band of Indians who wanted to go home—and eventually did. . . . David H. Wilson Jr. does extremely well in describing personalities and backgrounds of leading characters in the story, bringing them to life as real people, not dull figures from a history book. He also excels at placing events in context of some of the cultural and social movements that affected Indian policy.”—Roberta Ulrich, author of American Indian Nations from Termination to Restoration, 1953–2006