Chilcotin War (1864)

In April 1864 several road builders and local residents were killed at Bute Inlet, B.C., by a group of Chilcotins (Tsilhqot’ins) under Chief Klatsassin. The attack was motivated by the intrusion of a road being built into the interior, and by the waves of smallpox that had devastated local Indigenous populations. The governor of British Columbia, Frederick Seymour, took prompt action, and the so-called Chilcotin War ended with the execution of Chilcotin chiefs.