Kalispels, Or Pends D'Oreilles, a tribe of Indians, of the Selish family, living in Montana, Idaho, Washington territory, and British America. They are a brave but peaceable and good-tempered race, willing to work, and, though originally a miserable half-starved race, have made great improvement, chiefly under the influence of the missions founded among them by Father P. J. De Smet in 1844. They have been exposed to inroads of less civilized tribes, and have been forced from lands which they had cultivated and deemed secured to them. A treaty made in July, 1855, ceded the lands of the Montana band, but no consideration was paid; this treaty was approved in 1859, and the Kalispels were left on a reservation in Bitter Root valley till 1871, when, under a clause in the treaty of 1855, President Grant ordered them to be removed to Jocko reservation. His action was approved by act of congress, June 5; 1872. The houses for chiefs promised by the treaty of 1855, and an agricultural school also promised, were never begun. In 1872 this band numbered 1,000. They had 70 farms under cultivation in Bitter Root valley, had 800 cattle, 2,000 horses, and many hogs, raised large quantities of wheat, oats, potatoes, and corn, and had to a considerable extent adopted the dress of the whites.

The band in Idaho numbered 700, and were alternately on British and on American soil. The band in Washington territory, numbering about 400, were in Kalispel valley, east of the Cascade mountains, and were reported as the most peaceable and quiet tribe in the territory, cultivating about 400 acres, and having numerous horses, cattle, and poultry. An executive order of July 2, 1872, directed their removal to a reservation north and west of the Columbia, although they remonstrated against it.