Establishment
On September 12, 1872, a presidential order set aside the Malheur Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon for the Northern Paiute. It was intended for "all the roving and straggling bands in Eastern and Southeastern Oregon, which can be induced to settle there." There were then about 800 Northern Paiutes in settlements and at Forts Harney and Klamath in Southern Oregon, Fort Bidwell in northeastern California, and Fort McDermitt in northern Nevada.
The reservation covered roughly the area drained by the South, Middle and North Forks of the Malheur River. It comprised approximately 2,285 square miles (5,920 km2) or 1,778,560 acres (7,197.6 km2). At that time, salmon still ran up the Columbia and the Snake rivers into the North Fork from the Pacific Ocean.
Read more about this topic: Malheur Reservation