Cayuse Tribe

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.



Tribal Headquarters
The Umatilla Reservation was established in 1855 for the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Indians. They joined together as the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation in 1949.

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation PO Box 638 73239 Confederated Way Pendleton, Oregon 97801 Phone: 1-541-276-3165 FAX: 1-541-276-3095


 * Official web site of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, which includes the Cayuse Tribe.

Brief Timeline
1836: Marcus Whitman and Henry Spalding and their wives founded a Presbyterian mission - Waiilatpu

1847-50: Cayuse War, one cause was the spread of measles; the Whitman's were killed.

1853: The tribe settled with the Umatilla and Walla Walla on a reservation in northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington.


 * 1855 June 9, Treaty at Camp Stevens, with the Walla Walla, Cayuse, Etc.,

1855-59: the Cayuse supported the Yakama and Bannock in the Yakama War

1878: the Cayuse supported the Bannock and Yakama in the Bannock War 1877: 

Ancestral homes along the Columbia River, Grande Ronde, Umatilla and Wallawalla Rivers in northeast Oregon and southeast Washington.

Reservations
Umatilla Reservation

The tribe was under the jurisdiction of the following Superintendencies

Oregon Superintendency

Washington Superintendency

Additional References
A good history of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation is included on the tribal web site.

Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Cayuse tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

Robert H. Ruby. The Cayuse Indians, Imperial Tribesmen of Old Oregon. Norman, OK. University of Oklahoma Press, 1975.

Clifford Earl Trafzer. Yakima, Palouse, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla and Wanapum Indians: an Historical Bibliography.

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

Agency Records
Correspondence and Census

Treaties

 * June 9, 1855, referred to in Yakima treaty
 * 1855 June 9, at Camp Stevens, with the Walla Walla, Cayuse, Etc.,

Important Websites

 * Official web site of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, which includes the Cayuse Tribe.
 * Wikipedia article about the Cayuse Indians.
 * Constitution and By-Laws for the Cayuse Indians

For Further Reading
See For Further Reading.