Bannock War
The outbreak of the Bannock War in May 1878 led the Paiutes to abandon the Malheur Reservation and take refuge on Steens Mountain to the south of the Harney Basin. Steens Mountain is a large block-fault formation, and its eastern escarpment rises almost straight up from the Alvord Desert, making it relatively easy to defend. They were joined there by the Bannocks coming west from Idaho. When U. S. Army units under the command of General Oliver O. Howard began moving towards their positions, the united Paiutes and Bannocks decided to flee into the Blue Mountains to the north of the Harney Basin. They raided isolated ranches as they fled northward, killing some settlers, and taking horses and cattle. In engagements with the Army, both Paiutes and soldiers were killed.
Near the Umatilla Agency on the Columbia River, the Umatillas saw that the Paiutes and Bannocks were not going to prevail against the U. S. Army. The Umatillas allied themselves with the Army, and under the guise of negotiation, entered an encampment of Paiutes and Bannocks, where they killed one of the principal Paiute war leaders, Egan, and a number of his followers. After that point, having lost their leader, scattered bands of Paiutes took refuge in the mountains, and the Bannocks tried to return to Idaho. Ultimately, most Paiutes surrendered, and were interned at the Malheur Reservation.
Read more about this topic: Malheur Reservation
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