Editing Wallowa, Oregon (section)

== History ==
The [[Wallowa Valley]] is within the traditional lands of the Nez Perce. In the late 19th century, the Wallowa band was one of more than a dozen groups who lived across the inland Northwest as members of the Nez Perce tribe. The U.S. government sent the army to force them out after they refused to sign a treaty that would have removed them from their land. [[Chief Joseph]] led tribal members more than 1,000 miles to western Montana. They repeatedly battled with the army as they fled.{{r|NPR}}

Wallowa was [[plat]]ted in 1889.<ref name="main">{{cite book|last=Bailey|first=Barbara Ruth|title=Main Street: Northeastern Oregon|publisher=[[Oregon Historical Society]]|year=1982|isbn=0-87595-073-6|page=29}}</ref> ''Wallowa'' is a [[Nez Perce language|Nez Perce]] word describing a triangular structure of stakes that in turn supported a network of sticks called ''lacallas'' to form a [[fish trap]].<ref name=OGN>{{cite OGN|7th|page=1006}}</ref> The [[Nez Perce tribe|Nez Perce]] put these traps in the [[Wallowa River]] below the outlet of [[Wallowa Lake]].<ref name=OGN/> The author of ''[[Oregon Geographic Names]]'', [[Lewis A. McArthur]], said that although the origin of this name is disputed, he puts great weight in [[Levi Ankeny]] who supplied this information as he was "thoroughly familiar with the early history and tradition of the Wallowa Valley" and "on intimate terms with many Indians who knew the facts of the matter".<ref name=OGN/>