Land area

Land of the Nez Percé (Moses' band) in Washington, ceded 1883 (area 642)

Shape traced from the 1899 maps; approximate. Open on the map
  1. 1879

    Set aside as a reservation

    The 1899 record: “President sets apart a tract known as "Columbia reservation"”

  2. 1883

    Taken back by the United States

    The 1899 record: “President restores to public domain a portion of land withdrawn by Executive order Apr. 19, 1879, for Columbia reservation”

In the record

Set apart in 1879 as the northern part of the Columbia reservation for Moses' band of Nez Percé, then returned to the public domain in February 1883. The area covers about 644 thousand acres in what is now Washington.

The 1899 record names Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) as the people of this land.

Today, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and Nez Perce Tribe carry the history of the people named here.

Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.

See this cession on the map

Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.

Who is doing the work

This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:

Land return and Native-led work nearby

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Connections

Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Nations named for this land 2

Located in 1

Sources

  1. Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1879-04-19primary record
  2. Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1883-02-23primary record
  3. Royce’s map sheet: Washington 2 (Library of Congress)primary record
  4. USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work
The record’s fields
Area number in the 1899 record
642
Dates in the 1899 record
1879-04-19; 1883-02-23
Kind of instrument
Executive order
Peoples as named in the 1899 record
Nez Percé (Moses' band)
States
WA
Counties
Okanogan; Whatcom
Map sheets in the 1899 record
Washington 2
Geometry
Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps
Research notes

geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.

Kind
Land area
Confidence
Medium

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