The Yakama people were the first known inhabitants of the Yakima Valley. In
1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition came to the area and discovered abundant
wildlife and rich soil, prompting the settlement of homesteaders. A Catholic
Mission was established in Ahtanum, southwest of present-day Yakima, in 1847.
The arrival of settlers and their conflicts with the natives resulted in the
Yakima War. The U.S. Army established Fort Simcoe in 1856 near present-day
White Swan as a response to the uprising. The Yakamas were defeated and forced
to relocate to the Yakama Indian Reservation. Yakima County was created in
1865
