Let the Mountains Remember

About this book

The mountains and prairies remember Eastern Oregons tumultuous beginnings but history does not. Apart from the rush for gold little has been written about the events leading to the settlement of Eastern Oregon between 1861 and 1869. Charged with protecting travel on the roads leading to the mines east of the Cascade Mountains the military campaign which initially promised to be not much more than a policing operation against an unorganized tribe of hunters and gatherers turned into an eight-year struggle against a skillful and relentless foe. Based almost entirely on primary sources Let the Mountains Remember concentrates on the soldiers their garrison and the reactions of the white newcomers who tried to settle in the ancestral lands of the Northern Paiute. Woven into the action are the soldiers stories before during and after their duty in the remote high deserts and mountains of Eastern Oregon. Previously unpublished material provides valuable information for researchers and the clear informative text will hold the interest of students casual historians genealogists and travelers interested in the history of the American West.