They also perceived the Mullan Road, whose construction had just begun near Fort Dalles, as a precursor to a land grab by the United States.

The Coeur d'Alene War (the last part of the larger Yakima War)[2] began with the Battle of Pine Creek (near present-day Rosalia, Washington) on May 17, 1858, during which a column of 164 U.S. Army infantry and cavalry under the command of brevet Lieutenant Colonel Edward Steptoe was routed by a group composed primarily of Cayuse, Schitsu'umsh, Spokan, and Yakama warriors.

[3] Following Steptoe's defeat, Colonel George Wright, commander of Fort Dalles, led a much larger unit of 500 Army soldiers, 200 civilian drovers, and 30 Niimíipu (or Nez Perce) scouts to nearby Fort Walla Walla and then north to the Spokane Plains (near modern-day Spokane, Washington).

[10] Wright now turned east-northeast to the Spokane River where, with the water at his back, he could more effectively concentrate his fire and protect his men.

[16] Kamiakin had twice assembled a large coalition of warriors from disparate tribes, a feat historian Keith Petersen has noted, which has gone underappreciated for more than a century.

Moreover, until Wright began using his skirmish line and sending out cavalry charges, Kamiakin's forces had come exceedingly close to defeating the professional soldiers through prairie fire, confusion, and hit-and-run tactics.

[10] Nevertheless, the Army victory at Spokane Plains shattered Kamiakin's alliance, effectively ending the Coeur d'Alene War.