1 Years Later, Legends Abound Of Noble Chief Moses

MOSES LAKE - Take a trip to the Big Tie Up Rock near Rocky Ford on Crab Creek, or go camping near the Wenatchee Flats in Moses Coulee and the sounds of Chief Moses and his Sinkiuse tribe can almost be heard echoing throughout the prairies and canyons.

Take a walk around the foothills of Keller, Ferry County, and one can almost see the tribe gathering berries, or dipping water from the streams.

Visit the final resting place of Chief Moses near Nespelem, Okanogan County, and the description of him as a warrior, a diplomat and a noble chieftain becomes more clear.

One hundred years after his death in 1899, Chief Moses is still the subject of books, articles and historical fact-finding investigations.

The Sinkiuse chief was devoted to his heritage and its spiritual ways and to trying to preserve the ways of his people. His kindness, leadership qualities and even his weaknesses have spawned the kind of tales that make for good campfire lore.

While Chief Moses has become a figure of legend and many people know Moses Lake was named after him, few know much more about him.

For researchers/writers Robert Ruby and John Brown, who collaborated on a book about Chief Moses published in 1965, the man is an important figure who helped shape the Columbia Basin.

The Sinkiuse tribe were nomadic and traveled throughout the basin. In the summer and fall the tribe fished for salmon, dug for roots and picked berries. Winters were spent camped at the mouth of Crab Creek.

Chief Moses was born in 1829 and given the name Loolowkin. When he was about 10 years old, his father sent him to a Presbyterian school where a missionary nicknamed him Moses.

When his father and older brother died, he assumed the position of chief and took the name of his father, Sulktalthscosum, which means, "a piece split from the sun," or, "half sun."

Chief Moses was chief of the Sinkiuse tribe for 40 years, from 1859 until his death.

In the late 1800s he could see his way of life disappearing.

But unlike his counterparts Geronimo, Sitting Bull and others, who fought their way into legend, he chose to negotiate with settlers.

His requests for land were denied but he was granted a western expansion of the Colville Reservation. Four years later, however, due to the demands of miners, the land was taken back. In the end, Moses and his tribe were moved onto the Colville reservation, where he died.