Kate and Sue McBeth, Missionary Teachers to the Nez Perce

1859

On July 22, 1859, a new agent, A.J. Cain, informed Lawyer and many headmen of both factions that the treaty they had made with Stevens in 1855 had finally been ratified and that they could now feel secure on their lands within the reservation boundaries. Despite his assurances, the Nez Perce lands were anything but secure. West of the reservation line, the country was filling with land-hungry settlers and miners restless with rumors that the Bitterroot Mountains on the eastern side of the reservation were rich in minerals. (pp. 97)