Settling Up for the Indian Wars
A breakdown of the federal government's payment schedule for property and services used during the conflicts of 1855-1856.
Congress has passed a law to pay citizens and soldiers in Washington and Oregon for property and services provided during the Indian War of 1855-1856. Payments will be issued in government bonds bearing six percent interest. The schedule includes a variety of rates: private soldiers in the infantry are to receive $10.50 per month, while cavalry privates receive $32. Horses are valued at $1 to $1.25 per day, and items like beef and flour have fixed prices per pound or barrel. Other claims, such as hospital and medical accounts, will be reduced by half.
“Our patrons are aware that this war debt will be paid in Government bonds... We think they will, as a circulating medium, be equivalent to cash.”
This fiscal settlement records the transition from wartime crisis to bureaucratic management. It serves as a stark artifact of the state's role in financing the displacement and violence directed at Indigenous peoples in the mid-19th century.
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