"The mountains and prairies remember Eastern Oregon's 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"--Back cover