Walker River Reservation
Mineral County, Mineral County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Walker River Reservation. Although the area around Walker Lake in the Utah Territory was set aside for “Indian purposes” in 1859, it was not until 15 years later that President Grant signed the executive order formally establishing the Walker River Indian Reservation, on March 19, 1874.Indian agent Calvin Bateman reported on August 31, 1874, that the reservation “is the home of at least six hundred Pah-utes, who if absent at all, are only so temporarily. Here the government has promised them an abiding-place, and justice and honor demand that the compact remain inviolate. I am glad that the executive order ... reaffirms the obligation and sets at rest the question of its perpetuity.”In 1974, over 500 tribal members lived on the reservation. The total land area, including the northern end of Walker Lake, exceeds 300,000 acres, as it did in 1874.
Erected by Walker River Paiute Tribal Council
The Story
Land around Walker Lake was set aside for 'Indian purposes' in 1859, but only on March 19, 1874, did President Ulysses S. Grant sign the executive order formally creating the Walker River Indian Reservation. Indian agent Calvin Bateman reported that year that it was home to at least six hundred Northern Paiute, urging that the government's promise 'remain inviolate.' A century later, the reservation still spanned more than 300,000 acres and remained home to the Paiute community.
Why it matters
The reservation embodies both the federal government's confinement of Native peoples in the nineteenth century and the endurance of a tribal homeland into the present.
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Related people
- · Ulysses S. Grant
- · Calvin Bateman
Related events
- · Establishment of Walker River Indian Reservation, 1874
Themes & tags
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