Qualchan

Who was Qualchan?

Qualchan was a 19th-century Yakama chieftain who participated in the Yakima War with his uncle Kamiakin and other chieftains. Shortly after the Walla Walla council in 1855, in which Yakama leaders warned the United States against further settlement of the area, Qualchan and five others killed six settlers on the Yakima River. On September 23, U.S. Indian Agent A.J. Bolon was murdered by a band of Yakama while traveling along The Dalles to discuss the incident with Kamiakin. Qualchan was accused of leading the group which attacked him, although historians such as A.J. Splawn insist Bolon's murder was carried out by Me-cheil, also a nephew of Kamiakin.

Becoming a wanted fugitive by U.S. authorities, he and his father Owhi participated in guerilla warfare against the US Army for over three years. Qualchan would frequently attack prospectors, miners and others, selling their supplies to The Dalles and other settlements in exchange for weapons and calicos.

In mid-March 1856, he and Chief Leschi led an attack against Connell's Prairie but were driven back by militiamen under Gilmore Hays.

According to Assistant Adjutant General W.W. Mackall, in a letter addressed to the Department of the Pacific at Fort Vancouver on June 18, 1858, "Kamiakin and Qualchan, cannot longer be permitted to remain at large or in the country, they must be surrendered or driven away, and no accommodation should be made with any who will harbor them; let all know that asylum given to either of these troublesome Indians, will be considered in future as evidence of a hostile intention on the part of the tribe".