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The
Battle of Spokane Plains, known to the Spokane Tribe as the "Big
Fight," was the culmination of a punitive expedition led by Colonel
George Wright in the summer of 1858 in retribution for a skirmish that
erupted when a party composed of Spokanes, Couer d’Alenes, Yakamas,
Palouses, and other tribes, refused passage to a military expedition
under Colonel E. J. Steptoe traveling north from Fort Walla Walla to the
Colville country. After
engaging and defeating the combined Indian forces in a running battle at
Four Lakes, Wright’s troops fought them again here, on September 5.
After defeating the Indian forces again, Wright wreaked havoc
along the Spokane River in an effort to destroy the Indians’ war
making capability. He
burned food stores and lodges before gathering up and slaughtering a
herd of some 600 Indian horses. After
dictating the terms of peace, Wright, during the return trip south,
summarily hanged Indians that he determined had committed depredations
against whites, including Qualchan, the son of the upper Yakama Chief
Owhi. On the last day of September Wright declared "the war is
closed."
A
large basalt rock pyramid with a bronze plaque commemorates the Battle
of Spokane Plains. It
reads: "Commemorative of the Battle of Spokane Plains, fought on
September 5, 1858." Another
plate on the monument provides further information: "The Battle of
Spokane Plains was fought near this spot on September 5, 1858.
In which the U.S. Troops under command of Col. George Wright
defeated the allied Coeur d'Alene, Palouse, and Spokane Indians."
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