---
title: "Treaty of Walla Walla | Washington State History"
description: "Treaty of Walla Walla was the 1855 agreement that ceded Plateau lands and reserved hunting, fishing, and tribal rights in Washington State."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms/treaty-of-walla-walla"
type: "key-term"
subject: "Washington State History"
unit: "Unit 1"
---

# Treaty of Walla Walla | Washington State History

## Definition

The Treaty of Walla Walla was an 1855 agreement between the U.S. government and several Plateau tribes, including the Yakama, Umatilla, and Nez Perce. It set aside reservations, ceded land, and kept some hunting and fishing rights in Washington State history.

## What It Is

The Treaty of Walla Walla is one of the major 1855 treaties in Washington State History. It was signed between U.S. officials and several Plateau tribes, especially the Yakama, Umatilla, and Nez Perce, as the United States pushed farther into the Pacific Northwest.

In practical terms, the treaty did three big things at once. First, it forced tribes to give up large amounts of ancestral land. Second, it created or confirmed reservation land for tribal communities. Third, it promised that tribes could still hunt, fish, and gather in their usual places, even after the land was opened to settlers.

That mix of land cession and retained rights is why the treaty matters so much. On paper, it was supposed to reduce conflict by separating settler areas from Native lands and setting rules for how both groups could use the region. In reality, the treaty was part of a larger pattern of pressure, where the U.S. government wanted access to land for farms, roads, and railroads while Native nations were trying to protect their homelands and lifeways.

A lot of Washington State History around this term comes from the gap between the promise and the practice. Tribes did not just lose land and move on. They kept asserting treaty rights, especially around fishing and hunting, and those rights became the basis for later court fights and political struggles. If you see the Treaty of Walla Walla in a class discussion, it usually signals the shift from Native control of the Columbia Plateau to the reservation system and the long conflict over who gets to use land and resources.

It also connects directly to Plateau culture. For many Plateau peoples, rivers, fishing sites, root grounds, and seasonal movement were part of daily life, not just background scenery. So when the treaty drew new boundaries, it did more than redraw a map. It disrupted an entire way of living while still leaving legal language that tribes later used to defend their rights.

## Why It Matters

The Treaty of Walla Walla helps you see how Washington State moved from a region shaped by Indigenous land use to a territory controlled by U.S. settlement and law. It is a clear example of how treaties were used to open land for roads, farms, and town building while still acknowledging, at least in writing, that tribes had rights that could not simply disappear.

It also gives you a way to connect geography and politics. The treaty is not just about diplomacy, it is about the Columbia Plateau, river access, seasonal travel, and the reservation system that followed. When you study Plateau tribes, this treaty shows why fishing sites, hunting grounds, and land claims keep coming up in Washington history.

The biggest takeaway is that treaties became legal evidence in later conflicts. Even when the original agreements were violated or ignored, tribal nations continued to use them to argue for fishing rights, land access, and sovereignty. That makes the Treaty of Walla Walla a foundation for understanding later court cases, protests, and debates over resource management in the state.

## Connections

### Treaty Era

The Treaty of Walla Walla belongs to the broader Treaty Era, when the U.S. negotiated many agreements with Native nations in the Pacific Northwest. Looking at it in this bigger period helps you see the pattern, not just one event: land cession, reservation creation, and promises of continued access to traditional resources.

### Reservation

This treaty helped establish the reservation system in Washington State history. Reservations were supposed to define where tribes would live after land loss, but they also became the center of later conflicts over sovereignty, movement, and access to fishing and hunting areas outside reservation boundaries.

### [Columbia Plateau](/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms/columbia-plateau)

The treaty makes more sense when you connect it to the Columbia Plateau, where many tribes depended on rivers, salmon, and seasonal gathering. Because the region was tied to specific ecological cycles, losing land there affected food, travel, and culture in ways that a simple map change does not show.

### [Chief Joseph](/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms/chief-joseph)

Chief Joseph is linked to the treaty world of the Plateau because later tensions over land, movement, and federal promises shaped the experiences of the Nez Perce. If you are tracing how treaty disputes grew into resistance and forced relocation, Chief Joseph becomes part of the same historical story.

## On the AP Exam

A quiz question might ask you to identify what the Treaty of Walla Walla changed, and the safest answer is to mention both land cession and retained tribal rights. In a short essay or discussion response, you might use it as evidence for how U.S. expansion changed Native life in Washington while leaving legal promises that tribes later defended.

If you get a map, timeline, or source analysis prompt, look for the idea of treaty boundaries, reservations, and access to fishing or hunting areas. If the question asks why disputes continued after 1855, connect the treaty language to later conflicts over interpretation and enforcement. The move is not just naming the treaty, but explaining how the treaty shaped land use, sovereignty, and resource rights.

## Treaty of Walla Walla vs Treaty Era

The Treaty of Walla Walla is one specific treaty signed in 1855, while the Treaty Era is the larger historical period when many similar agreements were made. If a question asks about the event itself, use the treaty; if it asks about the broader pattern of U.S.-Native negotiations in Washington, use the era.

## Key Takeaways

- The Treaty of Walla Walla was an 1855 agreement between the United States and several Plateau tribes in what is now Washington State.
- It required tribes to cede large areas of ancestral land, but it also reserved rights to hunt, fish, and gather in traditional places.
- The treaty helped create the reservation system and opened land for settler expansion, roads, and later railroad construction.
- In Washington State History, the treaty is a major example of how federal promises and tribal rights were written into law, then argued over for decades.
- You should connect this treaty to later disputes about land use, salmon fishing, and tribal sovereignty, not treat it like a one-time agreement.

## FAQs

### What is the Treaty of Walla Walla in Washington State History?

The Treaty of Walla Walla was an 1855 agreement between the U.S. government and several Native nations in the Plateau region, including the Yakama, Umatilla, and Nez Perce. It gave up large amounts of tribal land, created reservation boundaries, and preserved some hunting and fishing rights.

### Why is the Treaty of Walla Walla important to Plateau tribes?

It reshaped where Plateau tribes could live, travel, fish, and hunt. The treaty also became a legal document tribes used later to defend their rights, especially when settlers and state officials tried to limit access to traditional resources.

### How is the Treaty of Walla Walla different from the Treaty Era?

The Treaty of Walla Walla is one treaty from 1855, while the Treaty Era is the broader period when the U.S. negotiated many treaties with Native peoples in the Pacific Northwest. Think specific event versus larger historical pattern.

### What do teachers usually want when they mention the Treaty of Walla Walla?

They usually want you to connect land cession, reservation creation, and treaty rights. A strong answer explains both the U.S. goal of settler expansion and the tribal claim to continue using traditional lands and waters.

## Related Study Guides

- [1.2 Plateau tribes](/hs-washington-state-history/unit-1/plateau-tribes/study-guide/GwzDfkPvABcmdzXW)

## About This Document

Canonical Fiveable pages are available as Markdown at the same path plus `.md`.

- [llms.txt](https://fiveable.me/llms.txt): index of Fiveable's sections and URL patterns
- [llms-full.txt](https://fiveable.me/llms-full.txt): complete subject and unit listing
- [MCP server](https://fiveable.me/mcp): call Fiveable as tools instead of fetching pages (`https://fiveable.me/api/mcp`)
- [MCP server for AP teachers](https://fiveable.me/mcp/teachers): a teacher's classes, assignments and AP-rubric grading (`https://fiveable.me/api/mcp/teacher`)

## Structured Data

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"LearningResource","@id":"https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms/treaty-of-walla-walla#resource","name":"Treaty of Walla Walla | Washington State History","url":"https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms/treaty-of-walla-walla","learningResourceType":"Concept explainer","educationalLevel":"AP® / High School","about":{"@id":"https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms/treaty-of-walla-walla#term"},"audience":{"@type":"EducationalAudience","educationalRole":"student"},"dateModified":"2026-07-03T02:22:04.815Z","isPartOf":{"@type":"Collection","name":"Washington State History Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Fiveable","url":"https://fiveable.me"}},{"@type":"DefinedTerm","@id":"https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms/treaty-of-walla-walla#term","name":"Treaty of Walla Walla","description":"The Treaty of Walla Walla was an 1855 agreement between the U.S. government and several Plateau tribes, including the Yakama, Umatilla, and Nez Perce. It set aside reservations, ceded land, and kept some hunting and fishing rights in Washington State history.","url":"https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms/treaty-of-walla-walla","inDefinedTermSet":{"@type":"DefinedTermSet","name":"Washington State History Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms"}},{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the Treaty of Walla Walla in Washington State History?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The Treaty of Walla Walla was an 1855 agreement between the U.S. government and several Native nations in the Plateau region, including the Yakama, Umatilla, and Nez Perce. It gave up large amounts of tribal land, created reservation boundaries, and preserved some hunting and fishing rights."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why is the Treaty of Walla Walla important to Plateau tribes?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It reshaped where Plateau tribes could live, travel, fish, and hunt. The treaty also became a legal document tribes used later to defend their rights, especially when settlers and state officials tried to limit access to traditional resources."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How is the Treaty of Walla Walla different from the Treaty Era?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The Treaty of Walla Walla is one treaty from 1855, while the Treaty Era is the broader period when the U.S. negotiated many treaties with Native peoples in the Pacific Northwest. Think specific event versus larger historical pattern."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What do teachers usually want when they mention the Treaty of Walla Walla?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"They usually want you to connect land cession, reservation creation, and treaty rights. A strong answer explains both the U.S. goal of settler expansion and the tribal claim to continue using traditional lands and waters."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Washington State History","item":"https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Key Terms","item":"https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history/key-terms"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Unit 1","item":"https://fiveable.me/hs-washington-state-history/unit-1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Treaty of Walla Walla"}]}]}
```