Ownership of this area has been in dispute dating back to the Treaty of 1855. An 1890 survey of the Yakama Reservation, accepted by the United States General Land Office, did not include the area known as "Tract-D". The original treaty map, which included the Tract-D area, was found in 1930 after being misplaced for decades. In the meantime 98,000 acres (400 km2) of the Glenwood Valley had passed into private ownership. Another 21,000 acres (85 km2) were part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest administered by the United States Department of Agriculture. After more than 100 years of dispute, in 1972 President Richard Nixon by Executive Order 11670 authorized the return of the 21,000 acre portion of Mt. Adams, including the summit, to the Yakama Nation. The area returned to the Yakama Nation did not include the 98,000 acres of Tract D in the Glenwood Valley.[7] The Yakama Nation accepted $2.1 million in 1970 for their claims.[8]
In 2022, Klickitat County’s claim that Glenwood is not part of the Yakama reservation was rejected by the United States Supreme Court.
