Reservations established in the 19th century were typically not located on the Columbia or on valuable agricultural land. The lives of Upper Chinook peoples had centered on the Columbia River and its tributaries, such as the Sandy. But they and many other native people of Oregon were sent to reservation territory on the dry east side of the Cascades.

The order to remove Native peoples of Oregon from their land reached the superintendent for the Oregon Territory in 1855. Waves of settlers had been pouring in on the Oregon Trail. So the superintendent negotiated several treaties, including one with the Wasco, Walla Walla, and others for the Warm Springs reservation. They found it difficult, if not impossible, to maintain themselves so far from the rivers that had sustained them, despite the fishing rights they retained.