PREFACE
The present work is an outgrowth of my previous research on various Indian tribes living on the Columbia River Plateau. In 1977, I began research on a book dealing with the history of the Palouse Indians of eastern Washington. During the course of my research, I traveled west with my colleague, Richard D. Scheuerman, to the Yakama Reservation where we interviewed descendants of the Palouse people. As a result, we met Mary Jim and Andrew George, and our association with these and other elders enriched our research and our lives. This was my first acquaintance with the Yakama Reservation, and it is one that has developed over the years. In addition to researching on the reservation, I traveled to Seattle to conduct research at the National Archives, Pacific Northwest Region. There I met the gracious and helpful archivist, Joyce Justice, who introduced me to the papers of the Yakama Indian Agency, and I was impressed with the large collection of materials available dealing with the Yakama Reservation. After becoming acquainted with the collection, I determined that when I finished the Palouse book, I would begin a study of the Yakama Reservation. In 1986, Washington State University Press published Renegade Tribe : The Palouse Indians and the Invasion of the Inland Pacific Northwest, and after the book was released, I started work on a study of the Yakama Reservation.