Wright was born in Norwich, Vermont, the son of Roswell Wright and Jemima (Rose) Wright.[1][2] Wright's family had an extensive military background; his father was a veteran of the War of 1812[1] and Norwich University founder Alden Partridge was related to his mother.[3] Wright graduated from West Point in 1822 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of Infantry.
In 1858 Wright oversaw the construction of Fort Dalles in Oregon Territory from a wood outpost to a more substantial base while in command.[4] He fought in the Yakima War in 1855–56. In 1858, in retaliation for the Steptoe Battle, he soundly defeated the combined tribes in the Battle of Four Lakes and the Battle of Spokane Plains near Spokane. On September 23, 1858, after signing agreements with the Coeur d'Alenes, Wright was in camp near Latah (Hangman's) Creek, near present-day Spokane, Washington. He had in custody Chief Owhi, regarded as a perpetrator of the attacks on white settlers which led to the Yakima War. Wright sent for Owhi's son, Qualchan, also considered a perpetrator, threatening to hang Owhi unless Qualchan came to the camp. When Qualchan rode in the next day, he was taken into custody and hung within 15 minutes. Wright issued the orders to hang him, telling Captain James Allen Hardie to carry out the duty.[5]
Although Wright would have preferred to have been sent East during the Civil War, he remained in California where he commanded the largest force ever in the Far West—6,000 troops in 1862. His duties included protecting the frontier, keeping watch on secessionists, safeguarding the coast, and moving troops eastward.
The climate of San Francisco was not agreeable to Wright, because of his asthma, and he wanted to move the headquarters to Sacramento. The headquarters did not move, although Wright did spend time in Sacramento.
Postbellum
When the regular army reorganized in 1865 and created the Military Division of the Pacific, Wright commanded the District of California for a few months until he was given command of the newly created Department of the Columbia. He may have been removed from command of the Department of the Pacific in order for the Army to have a position for Maj. Gen.Irvin McDowell.
Wright and his wife died at sea en route to his new command when the steamer Brother Jonathan was wrecked off the California coast. His body was recovered six weeks later.[6] He is interred in the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery.[7]
For his service as commander of the Department of the Pacific, he was appointed a brevet brigadier general in the regular army.
Wright's Point, a Harney County landmark, was named for him.
Fort George Wright Drive in Spokane was renamed Whistalks Way in 2020.[8] The name change acknowledges the brutality imposed on Native American tribes in Spokane by Col. George Wright. The new name honors Whist-alks, a woman warrior and Spokane Indian who played a role in the resistance against Wright in 1858.
Colonel Wright Elementary School, in The Dalles, OR, was named for him.
Family
In 1827, Wright married Margaret Wallace Foster (or Forster) They had five children, four sons and one daughter. Their first son, Thomas, was born in 1830, and in 1874 was killed in the Modoc War. Eliza (Elizabeth) was born in May 1837, and was married to Army Captain P.A. Owen. John, the youngest was born in 1839 and rose to the rank of Brigadier General of the Army. He also served as Chief Marshall of the U.S. Supreme court. Two sons did not survive childhood: James Heron, born 1832, died at age five, and Roswell, born 1834, died at age one year, nine months. [9]
^Cutler, Donald (2016). "Hang Them All":George Wright and the Plateau Indian War. Norman, OK: Oklahoma University Press. p. 36. ISBN978-0-8061-5337-7.
References
Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1889.
Hubbell, John T., and James W. Geary (editors). Biographical Dictionary of the Union: Northern Leaders of the Civil War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995. ISBN0-313-20920-0.
Schlicke, Carl P., General George Wright: Guardian of the Pacific Coast, University of Oklahoma Press, 1988, ISBN0-8061-2149-1
Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN0-8071-0822-7.
Note: One and a half columns of text published in the September 23, 1858 issue of The Press, Philadelphia. The newspaper story quotes dispatches sent by Col. G. Wright regarding an "expedition against Northern Indians, camp on the Spokane River, (W.T.), one and a half miles below the Falls, September 6, 1858."