| |
|
| This
area was originally part of the Columbia or Chief Moses
Indian Reservation, established by two executive orders
in 1879 and 1880. The reservation originally extended from
Lake Chelan and the Chelan River on the south, to the Columbia
and the Okanogan River on the eastern side, to the Canadian
border on the north, and to the crest of the Cascade Range
on the western side. |
 |
Wapato Point 1910 |
Almost
immediately, white stockmen and gold seekers began a movement
to break up the reservation. On February 23, 1883, President
Chester A. Arthur signed an executive order, which restored
to the public domain, a strip of land fifteen miles wide
along the Canadian border. A few months later, on July 7,
1883, Moses and two other chiefs signed a document in Washington,
D.C., which made it possible to open the reservation for
homestead and mineral entries. |
 The
so-called Moses Agreement stipulated that certain Indians,
then living on the Columbia Reservation, "shall be entitled
to 640 acres, or one square mile of land, to each head of
the family or male adult, in the possession and ownership
of which they shall be guaranteed and protected." Although
the tracts would be allocated to the sole possession of
the Indians specified, those who did not choose to take
such special allotments could move to the Colville Reservation,
where they would be accorded full rights. |
 Members
of the Wapato Family were among those who claimed allotments.
This family, whose patriarch at the time was Nekquelekin
(Enkawhakekum) or Wapato John (sometimes misspelled Wapato),
had previously lived along the Columbia River above Ribbon
Cliff in the Entiat vicinity. In 1884, Peter Wapato, son
of John, obtained the Wapato Point area as part of the Moses
Agreement allotment No. 10, and his descendants still retain
his interest. |
 |
Later,
the Point became a gathering place for local Indians, who
played the stick game, ran their horses on a half-mile racetrack,
and staged rodeos. A grandstand was erected at the racetrack,
which was located on the west side of the neck of land leading
to Wapato Point itself. Nearby, on this neck, family members
operated a dance hall from the late 1920's into the 1940's. |
 They
also planted fruit trees on the east side of the neck. Nothing
is left standing of the early structures. In the 1950's
and 1960's, the family maintained facilities for camping,
swimming, and boating. |
 |
In
the early 1900's, the local settlers, through the Wapato
Irrigation Company, convinced Congress to reduce the size
of the allotments previously awarded the Indians. In March
1911, Congress did diminish the allotments to only 160 acres.
In the 1930's, the water level of Lake Chelan was raised
22 feet, causing approximately 50 acres of the final 160
acres to be under water, when the lake is at high water,
1100 elevation. |
 Descendents
of Peter Wapato
still live in the area. |
|
|
 |
