resisting gamely, however, and in May 1858
they defeated another detachment under Col.
Edward J. Steptoe. Kamiakin next personally
directed an attack on army troops com-
manded by Col. George Wright at Four Lakes
and Spokane Plains in Washington Territory
in September 1858, although this entailed
confronting the soldiers in an open field—an
army specialty. The Yakimas and their allies
were thus soundly defeated in both encoun-
ters, which spelled the beginning of the end
for their confederation. Kamiakin himself
was badly stunned when an artillery shell
dropped a heavy branch on his head, and he
was evacuated by family members.
Closely pursued, the fleeing Indians broke
up into smaller and smaller bodies and were
defeated in detail. Numerous chiefs were then
rounded up, tried, and executed, although
Kamiakin managed to escape to British Co-
lumbia. He lived there for several years
among the Palouse Indians, before finally re-
tiring to the newly created Yakima Reserva-
tion around 1860. The government tried to
make amends by offering him a $500 annuity,
but he flatly refused all overtures. Kamiakin
continued living in obscurity until his death in
1877, a deeply embittered man. As a final in-
sult, vengeful settlers dug up his body, decapi-
tated his head, and displayed it as a trophy for
several years.
See also
Little Turtle; TecumsehBibliography
Burns, Robert I. The Jesuits and the Indian Wars of the
Northwest.New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966;
Gulick, Bill. “Kamiakin–War Chief of the Yakimas.”
True West31, (May, 1984): 12–18; Jackson, John C. A
Little War of Destiny: The First Regiment of
Mounted Volunteers and the Yakima Indian War of
1855–1856.Fairfield, VA: Ye Galleon Press, 1996;
Rowe, Mary E. “The Sure Bulwark of the Republic:
The Militia Tradition in Yakima.” Unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Washington, 1989; Ruby,
Robert H., and John A. Brown.Indians of the Pacific
Northwest: A History.Norman: University of Okla-
homa Press, 1981; Schuster, Helen H. The Yakima.
New York: Chelsea House, 1990; Splawn, Andrew J.
Ka-mi-akin, Last Hero of the Yakimas.Portland,
OR: Kilham, 1915; Stern, Theodore. Chiefs and
Changes in the Oregon Country: Indian Relations
at Fort Nez Perce, 1818–1855.2 vols. Corvallis: Ore-
gon State University Press, 1996; Trafzer, Clifford E.,
and Richard D. Scheverman. “Earth, Animals, and
Academics: Plateau Indian Communities, Culture,
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dian Culture and Research Journal17 (1993):
81–100; Trafzer, Clifford E., and Richard D. Schever-
man. Renegade Tribe: The Palouse Indians and the
Invasion of the Inland Northwest.Pullman, WA:
Washington State University Press, 1986.KARAMANLI, YUSUF
Karamanli, Yusuf
(1770–August 4, 1838)
Barbary Pirate
T
he Tripolitan Bey Yusuf Karamanli com-
manded a fleet of pirate vessels that
were the scourge of the Mediterranean.
His appetite for tribute and hostages was ra-
pacious, leading to the first punitive naval ex-
pedition ever mounted by the United States.
Yusuf Karamanli was born in Tripoli in
1770, part of an Arab dynasty that had ruled
that coastal enclave since 1711. The family
was originally Turkish in origin and part of
the Ottoman Empire, but in reality Tripoli,
along with neighboring states like Tunis and
Algiers, were run like personal fiefdoms.
Since the sixteenth century, the primary in-
come of the so-called Barbary states was
piracy against Western shipping. Ships, once