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The Mighty Cayuse
They were called "Cayuse", just one name, but theirs was a nation made up of Tushepas, Skyuse, Skyatogas, Skynses, John Day River and many small camps that had their own names. But they all had one thing in common, their love of their great herds of ponies. "All those of the Cayuse Nation possess elegant and immense herds of ponies and their lands are covered in lush luxurious bunchgrass".
The Cayuse had so many ponies that's why the Indian ponies were called "cayuses". They were not called mustangs.
Tushepas
Sept. 4, 1805 ----- Lewis and Clark met and recorded the Tu-she-pas.
"Our course down the Creek to the forks about 5 miles where we met a party of the Tushepas, of 33 lodges about 80 men 400 in all and at least 500 horses. Those people received us friendly, threw white robes over our shoulders and smoked the pipe of peace. We encamped with them and found them friendly. Had nothing but berries to eat, a part of which they gave us. Those Indians are well dressed with skinshirts and robes. Stout and light copper complexion. Their language is gutteral, deep in throat and have a scottish burr and clucking of a hen sound and when many of them are talking forms a strange confusion of sounds. Men wear braids with otterskins, women loose over their shoulders. Long skirts tied at waist with few ornaments. They called themselves E-oote-lash-schute or Oat-la-shoot, called Sha-lees, one band of Tushepa. There consist of 450 lodges in all. Several bands on the Columbia and Missouri Rivers, 3 Forks Montana (and may stay there several years before returning home).
Met with 3 Tushepas who were in pursuit of 2 Snake Indians that had taken from their camp on the Columbia River 21 horses. One of them concluded to stay with us, the other 2 went in pursuit of their horses".
Tushepa Branches or Bands
Tut-see-wa's - - - live on branch of Columbia River, possess many ponies.
E-cup-scup-pe-ah - - - camp on Tongue, Bighorn, and Clark fork. Live on plains of plateau. May stay several years in buffalo land before returning home. (Spoke same language as Shalees).
Mick-suck-seal-tum - - - band on Columbia River.
Ho-hil-pa Band
E-oote-lash-schutes or Oat-la-shoot called Sha-lees - - - one band of the 450 lodges of Tushepas
Tushepas also lived on the Shahaptin(Snake)River.
Pish-quit-pas may have been of Cayuse nature and not Wallawalla.
1812-1813 Donald McKenzie's group of fur trappers wanted to establish a fur post on the Shahaptin(Snake)River and they spent time with the Tushepas. "We found a band of Tushepas camped along the Shahaptin River 15 miles above us and they held their bullets in their mouth ready to fight. We assured them we were friendly and looking for Le Grand Coquin. We were joined in our hunt for the Chief by a group of friendly Skyatogas passing by on their very fine ponies.
They told us the Chief Bobillard had his camp amongst the crags of the Kamooenim River, well protected by 2 falls and we would be unable to reach his camp.
The Le Grand Coquin, whose village and lodges were on the banks of the Kamooenim in a small savannah, hedged in by rocks and high precipices and had fearful rapids above and below their village so no canoe nor enemy could approach it.
They live on the west side of Kamooenim River and on the East side by the Shahaptin Indians who spoke the Shahaptin language.
Tushepas are a peaceful, but powerful warlike nation, that was divided into many camps , under different Chiefs (they had 450 lodges and were divided into several bands and also lived on the Columbia River).
They had turned their attention to ponies and heartily and lovingly devoted themselves to raising innumerable amounts of ponies, too numerous to be counted, as are the ways of the Cayuse for the love of their ponies.
The Tushepas whose land was on the west side of Kamooenum River, South of the Shahaptin River(Snake), to the Tuqualle/Thuqualle(Tucannon) and down along the Kamooenum to the willewah/ Wallawah(Grand Rond-Gran Roan)
The Head Chief of the Tushepa Nation was Bobillard, whom the French called Le Grand Coquin(a great roguish rascal) and was a favorite person of the French trappers.
The Chief had the characteristies of the desert plains Indian. He was very tall, straight limbed, lean, high cheek bones, sharp features, aquiline nose, piercing black eyes and walked with symmetry and grace of a Cayuse pony Indian".
However, Donald McKenzie was heartily disgusted and disappointed in his fur post. The Tushepas had not turned their attention to trapping furs. They had devoted themselves to raising immense herds of ponies. They were a rascally bunch who were more interested in their own way of life then that of a trapper. The game being scarce, the trappers had to rely on horsemeat. The Tushepas raised the price of a pony to an exorbitant price and McKenzie's trade goods to pay for furs were being given instead for their ponies.
McKenzie abandoned his trading post.
Skyuse / Kioos / Cayuse
Wallawalla Valley - - - "Valley of Many Waters" - - - wallawalla is a Cayuse word
Indian Chiefs - - - Umtippe - - -Tiloukaikt - - - Tintinmeetsee/Tintinmetze - - - Old Owlishwampu
Temperatures of the area could get:::120-130 summer burnt brown with many green streams meandering across the valley
30-50 below zero , winter with 3 to 4 feet snow
140-150 at Old Fort Walla Walla (present day Wallula) very hot and dusty winds, very cold winter with snow - much flooding with spring thaw
Other Indians called them "skai-yus-ish". The Skyuse lived in the Wallawalla Valley. There was one main camp Way-e-let-pu/Waiilatpu on the Wallawalla River, with small scattered camps along the many streams.
The Wallawalla and Utalla Valleys are similar in appearance, a high dry climate with little rain. Spring and fall could have flooding, with the dry streams in summer filled to capacity in spring, with much snow for spring floods.
Bunchgrass pastures are most luxurious and the Indians inhabiting this area are very wealthy in ponies. Thousands of ponies have roamed this area for years and become quite plentiful.
The nutritious grass sustains the ponies and fires are set to burn the summer's dry grass for winter green food. The ponies are moved to different areas during the burn. The Cayuse would be very upset if any of their ponies were harmed.
Narcissa Whitman - - - "The Cayuse are very rich and consider themselves of a higher class and influential to other Indians. They require wealth and work diligently to these means. They are very clean and moral with a quick intelligence. They are very exciteable and quick to anger, then settle themselves down quietly (they were described as birds suddenly taking flight, then settling back down) They have been told they are all to be killed off by whites and all their lands taken. They are in fear and great anger of this and will fight for their Indian rights and their land.
When Cayuse are quiet, they are most friendly. They are exceedingly proud, very haughty and insolent in their haughtiness and constantly stretch ones patience.
They are quite independent and willing in their crop growing to increase their wealth and their gardens are fenced, clean and in good shape. They do their own plowing and cultivating. They use their ponies as work horses and make harnesses from hides.
If they are angry at you, they threaten to whip you, destroy your crops and take your animals.
The Cayuse to the last man have their little farms spread out in every direction in the valley (are waiting to take out their claims on their own land) and their large herds of spotted ponies graze peacefully on the lush bunchgrass.
The Cayuse are usually peaceful, unless they get angry or excited, then they become quite animated and originated trouble amongst the Indians".
The Skyuse and Shahaptin NP did not get along well together and often came to blows in their hatred. At the 1855 Council, the Cayuse were in an uproar, they would not live on Nez Perce reservation with the Nez Perce. The Wallawalla and Cayuse oft times didn't get along either and had their disagreements, but most times they were together as if chained and often influenced each other in their thinking, though each think differently as they choose, they are much tied.
The Cayuse were the most powerful of all the Indians and the meanest in controlling other tribes. They were all big tall men and by their size alone intimidated others. They were very proud of their wealth and worked diligently to acquire more. They trapped very industriously and had big piles of furs, worked hard at their gardens for trade goods, bringing them much moneys.
Most had at very least several hundreds of ponies and the rich had several thousands. For to be poor with no ponies to the Cayuse was a fate worse then death. They command all the wild ponies in their land.
The Skyuse are light copper complexion, very tall, well formed, athletic and beauty itself on horseback.
They ride wild, with long black hair flying which was their pride and joy. They rode standing up, sitting down or racing beside pony on foot. They formed long line across to travel side by side across the bunchgrass land, they didn't need trails or creek crossing. They ate, lived, slept ponies and didn't like to give any away. Cayuse are always on horseback and never walk and are provided with bow and arrow, a spear or lance 6 feet long and tomahawks. Althought the Nez Perce who didn't keep track of their ponies, would come to beg, borrow, or steal them.
Their clothing were made of skins and their work clothes had none or few quill design. Work clothes were too well used to quill.
Dress garments had fringes, if deer were scarce no fringe, and they were fond of feathers, beads, buttons, quills in red, yellow, black, worked in designs. Also semi stones used and obsidian jewelry which was their trade item.
They would use paint on face and body if at war or receiving company. Red clay was used on face and hair.
They were very clean in their appearance and would wash up and comb their hair before coming into camp. When they moved camp, camp cleaners cleaned and burnt camp area so to be clean when they returned. Dogs also were good cleaners.(Whatever happened to the Indian dogs, were they killed, like the ponies).
They had great problems with the Snake Indians, for the Snakes were a blood thirsty lot and killed many Cayuses. Killing for no reason, or to get ponies and women. The Snakes were continually after ponies and also attacked the Wallawallapam near the Fort.
1673 - - - The Cheyenne Indians knew of land on coast from Cayuse slaves taken in Snake raids. Cheyenne had been to the "land of the setting sun" and had seen masses of ponies.
The Cayuse language was a difficult language. They had 2 languages, one for common use and one for Council which was more flowery.
Cayuse language was a peculiar gutteral clicking glass sound produced by the tongue pressing against roof of mouth and pronouncing a word ending with tl as if there was the letter K at the end "tlk". It is hard to convey the proper gutteral clucking hen sound. Sometimes the Indians would end all their words with tl and if 3 or 4 are talking at the same time with this singular sound, it is like many clucking hens with a scottish brogue.
Skyatogas / Scietogas / Cayuse
Utalla Valley Cayuse
Indian Chiefs - - - Head Chief Alloukt (ahl-low-kut), brother War Chief Quahats, Wallamutkin, Tauwatway and brother Achekaia 5 Crows.
1811 - Skyatogas are a very numerous tribe, are part of the Cayuse Nation and have one main camp and many small scattered camps throughout the valley.
They are also very rich in ponies that cover their Utallah River Valley. Tens of thousands roam their bunchgrass land. No where can you see more ponies. The Wallawalla Indians love the black and white and have large herds of these and Skyatogas pay great attention to select breeding (have many calico).
McKenzie - - - "This tribe lives very well and are provided with everything necessary to Indian life. They have comfortable lodges. They are well dressed in buckskin and furs. They have buffalo robes and buckskins decorated in colored quills. They use much white clay and red ochre to daub and paint their faces and their excellent ponies are also daubed with colors.
They hunt deer on horseback, ringing and surrounding them and running them in a circle. They are admirably well trained riders and manage the bow and arrow with great dexterity.
They had axes, but preferred a stone mallet and wedges of elk horn to split their wood. They had 2 or 3 brass kettles but prefer to use willow baskets and hot rocks to cook. Their women wore caps of willow neatly worked with figured designs".
1812 - - - "Crossing the Grand Rond River, The Blue Mountains, one comes to the green valley of the Skyatogas. The Utallah River is swollen with flood influx of smaller streams at flood stage and heavy rain had caused the Indian camp to move farther down stream then their usual camping grounds. The hills and valley in December were green with new winter bunchgrass.
Here we found a combined camp of Skyatogas and Tushepas, around 34 tule mat lodges and 2000 ponies ranging around the camp.
The Skyatogas were very friendly and were delighted that a whiteman had come to trade. These Indians were better clothed then we had seen before. Each had a good buffalo or deerskin robe and deerskin shirt and leggings.
These Indians were a very proud race, were uncommonly clean for an Indian. Their lodges were clean, comfortable and they had kettles, axes, pots.
They are admirable horsemen and their weapon of bow and arrow they manage with great ability and can put the arrow clean through on the exact marks they wisht, used on buffalo and game.
In the heavy fall of rain 3 of their sacred ponies had drowned. Never was there a louder sound of wailing and moaning for a pony then this and they did go on, working themselves up to a crescendo. Ponies are their very life and they never ate ponies or dogs. I have found that nothing tops an Indian in wailing and the Wallawalla are the best of them all.
We took our leave of these friendly Indians and came next day to the Columbia River. Here are the Wallawalla Indians who live on the same name river and they were frank, hospitable and sincere. The Wallawalla are a very well trained equestrian riders. They are bold, hard riders with no fear for themselves or their ponies and their ponies are as swift as antelope and as madcap as the Indians who ride them, and they pursue the games as eagerly".
1835 - Townsend - - - "I visited a truly handsome Utalla Cayuse Chief camp. Here were 15 mat lodges with a very large Chief tule mat lodge 15 X 60 feet. He asked me to make my home with him.
His lodge was very comfortable and ground was covered in buffalo robes. His immediate family was 20 females and his children were extremely handsome, some beautiful beyond words. The young girls pretty faces are oval, large tender eyes inclined to give one wanton lust, but the Cayuse women are held in check by strict morals and morals are very severely enforced by punishment to boy or girl. The Cayuse are highly moral people and both men and women adhere to this".
Head Chief Tauwatway/Tau-wit-wai, was a very rich Cayuse Chief (in the late 1830's - 1843), rich in ponies, cattle, moneys, slaves,and wives, who lived in Indian luxury in a large comfortable, pleasant, attractive mat lodge, with furs on the floor and well looked after by 20 females in his home. He was a tall, broad masculine, extremely handsome man and his children were beautiful and his daughters quite lovely.
1847 - Rev. Spalding - - - "Tau-wit-wai had a house at Thornhollow and there is to be a meeting in his house. Chief Steachus (Houtame (McKay)Creek) was our good friend as was Tauwitwai and his brother 5 Crows.
I had a nice talk with Piyu-piyu-maksmaks(peupeumoxmox) on my way to the Fort and stayed overnight with him".
1811 - Hunt - - - "On the Utalla Plains is a large and wealthy Tribe with great masses of ponies by the name Skyatogas. Here we found the Tushepas gathered with the Skyatogas."
The Skyatogas are very numerous and their ponies are as numerous as the grass itself.
They are a good hospitable friendly tribe and live in the same manner as other on the desert plains. The Tushepas who speak the same language have similar manners.
They have a warlike turbulent neighbors the Skyuse who also have many ponies.
1811 - Payette - - - The Skyatogas generally pay a visit to the Columbia River every summer to hunt deer and occasionally with the Shahaptins murder and drive away the Indians at The Dalles, for The Dalles (along with the southside of the Columbia) belong to the Cayuses. The Cayuse receive salmon in payment for others fishing there.
Skyns / skynses / Cayuse
Grand Rond Valley - - Kap Kap or Karp Karp Valley - - - A large beautiful round valley with a beautiful well timbered Grand Rond River.
We don't know that much about the Grand Rond Chiefs but in 1853 after Tauwatuway passing, Hudson Bay wanted the Head Chieftain to return to 5 Crows. But Indians thought 5 Crows to involved with war, so it was given to Grand Rond We-ah-te-na-te-ma-ny. Weahtenatemany was a leading figure in the 1855 Walla Walla Indian Council, and was killed in Grand Rond in battle with Snakes, either 1858 or 59. In 1860 Old Owlishwampu of Wallawalla Valley became the Cayuse Head Chief.
l834 - Bonneville - - - "There are 2 main camps in the Grand Rond Valley and small scattered camps along the streams. Skynses congregate in several main camps for the winter in tule mat lodges. In the summer, sometimes a few will travel together and sometimes alot will stay together.
In the summer Wallawallapam go to the Grand Rond for roots and fishing in June and back home in July.
The valley is covered with thousands of colorful ponies. They mark their ponies in hieroglyphics and let them roam in droves across the valley.
They are pony size, (10 to 12 hands tall). Their ponies were the finest, well knit, wide of shoulder, small limb and feet, extremely active, long winded and great endurance. The ponies may have been native. They don't use a bit like Spanish or American. The ponies are brought to the Fort and sold for small price. Their first rate ponies can not be gotten and they are far superior then the American ones.
The Skynses bring beaver skins in exchange for rifles, powder and ball, offering 2 ponies for l rifle.
The Indians were diligent, orderly, mild, playful, laughing as they went about their work. They were clean and orderly like the Skyatogas.
Skynses much observed Hudson Bay Co. Red River Religion
No work on Sunday - - neither hunt, fish, trade. A part of morning and evening in prayer and religious instruction.
Pray before meals or eating and say amen or ay or oy.
All is quiet in camp while the service is being held.
Chief assembles camp, gives blessings to the Deity, then exhort good conduct, diligent to family needs, no lying, no cheating, no quarrelling, must be just and hospitable to all.
Any passerby may stop and listen to service. After service is the Indian song and dance. All this in great reverence.
The Indians spent the rest of the day horseracing at hair raising speed and gambling thru the night, oft times losing everything they owned.
Bonneville thought the Cayuse had the basics, just needed help with farming and cultivation".
1835 - Townsend - - - "The Skynses were fine looking people, very tall and robust with strong manly features, very cheerful, very handsome and their women and children quite beautiful. These Indians were very clean and neat in their person, habits and camps.
Their women dress was of thin deer or antelope skin, with fine linen bodice from Whites. Red colored french silk petticoats or blue very fine cotton ones. Some of the women were wearing petticoats under their skin dresses. Winter buffalo robes with fur inside (with a bone closing) were worn, along with other types of furs.
One very beautiful Skyns maiden was dressed in finery, rings and beads, with long wide bands of scarlet cloth. She was riding a fine bay pony, whose head and tail were decorated with streamers of red and blue ribbons and her saddle was ornamented with small bells, with beads and embroidery work. She was very detached-able, letting us to know she was attached to someone important high up in ranks of office, a chief. She considered herself somebody.
All the Cayuse women as well as their men seem to feel they are on a higher plain then other Indians. They show a very self confident air about themselves and being clean and moral, very wealthy and well dressed seems to lend to this air.
There are 2 main camps in the valley. Their camp was 2 miles north from the fork on the Oregon Trail. Another trail to the Wallawalla Valley Cayuse went due North".
The Wallawalla Indians leave home in June to go to the Grand Rond to fish, camas, trade. They are gone 3 weeks and return in July to their own camp to harvest farm produce, then they are off to burn bunchgrass for winter food, have fall festivals and go to mountains for winter hunt or go to their winter homes.
The Indians gather and have a good time in Grand Rond Valley, fishing, trading, visiting, counciling, gambling, alot of horse trading, bragging and racing, with alot of matchmaking thrown in.
The Cayuse were very strong on their children marrying Cayuse to keep their heritage and language strong.
It was thought wallawalla was an ancient cayuse word as there are other walla water cayuse words, however how this works in with Wallawalla Tribe, Wallawalla Nation, Wallawalla language I have been unable to find.
Taken from early writers
Molallas
There were Molallas on the Deschutes River and in the Cascade Mountains and Wallamut camps on the Willamette River. They also were part of the Cayuse Nation.
The Cayuse
Wallawalla Valley - - - Umatilla Valley - - - Grand Rond Valley
And they all became one Cayuse
Early writers from 1810 to 1831 there seemed to be a very large heavily populated Indian population in Washington and Oregon and many different camps, large and small, spread across the country and along rivers, streams and creeks.
Then came the diseases that wiped out tens of thousands of natives, especially bad the ague flu. A very high malaria fever with flu like terrible agonizing body pain, with not many surviving.
Thousands of Indians lie dead in their camps in Washington, Oregon, California, camp after camp lie dead.
It appeared in Montana in 1829 and came to Old Fort Walla Walla in 1830, then down to California. Many camps were completely gone 100%. In one camp only the Chief was left. Hudson Bay John McLoughlin wrote, 90% of some camps and 75% of Indian population was gone.
Not only ague, but measles, smallpox, cholera, other diseases, along with killing them for their hair or just shooting them to make a good Indian or hanging them, or removal to reservations where some starved, diseased or froze to death.
The, too small, reservations that were given to them were made even smaller and if they protest they could have their whole reservation taken, and much Indian owned reservation lands were also taken in the Dawes Act, to give to others and so it goes on.
Then the thousands of Indians became a few and the once very large population became a very small population and the mighty Cayuse became one and the foreigners became many.
The removal of the "Red People of the Americas" from Alaska to Patagonia, could probably be the worst holocaust this earth has ever known.
Today there isn't even 3 million Indians in the United States and 300 million of the others.
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Author's comment - - - It is my thinking that a few Spanish horses here, could not have increased sufficiently to promote reports of large herds of ponies already in Texas, Dakotas, Washington, Oregon, California in 1600's.
Reports of so many ponies, that they very easily could have been native Indian ponies and not Spanish.