Fraser Canyon War - Combatants

Combatants

British troops were not involved, and only arrived on scene once the war was over. The combatants of the war were six hastily assembled regiments of irregulars mustered from the goldfields around Yale, British Columbia and the Nlaka'pamux people of the Fraser Canyon upstream from there. The militias, or "companies", were formed mostly of Americans but including German and French mercenaries who had served in Nicaragua, as had some of the Americans. The Nlaka'pamux, usually known in English as the Thompson or Hakamaugh (an attempt at pronouncing "Nlaka'pamux"), also were known as the Couteau or "Knife" Indians, partly as a result of this war (their region, the middle Fraser Canyon and Thompson Canyon, also appears on period maps as "the Couteau Country", which may also be a reference to the serrated benchlands lining the rivers' canyons). The name "Kootomin" also appears on very early maps showing routes to the goldfields. Enlisted to the Nlaka'pamux side, but not seeing combat, were allied warriors from the Secwepemc, Nicola, Okanagan and other tribes. The Nlaka'pamux of the lower Canyon, notably the Spuzzum people, as well as the St'at'imc and Sto:lo peoples, remained "friendly Indians".