Smohalla, a Wanapum spiritual leader, developed the Dreamer religion, which was based on the notion that if Native Americans eschewed white culture and lived as their forefathers had, the Creator would reward them by resurrecting deceased Native Americans and removing white people from their territory. In the late 1800's, his teachings quickly spread among the Columbia Plateau peoples. Smohalla gave promise for a restoration of freedom and dignity to tribes that had been decimated by disease, pushed out of their traditional homelands, and generally demoralized by white expansion. 
Many whites, on the other hand, saw him as a threat, not just to white expansion but also to efforts to "civilize" the Indian Native Americans. He was widely feared and reviled during his lifetime, but a century later he was inducted into Washington's Centennial Hall of Honor as one of the state's 100 most influential persons.
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