The Gila Expedition or Morehead War was an 1850 California militia attack on the Quechan Indians in retaliation for the Glanton Massacre near the confluence of the Gila River and Colorado River in Arizona. It was the beginning of the 1850 to 1853 Yuma War. Later that year, the California state government recruited men for $6 a day to attack the Quechan. On April 16, 1850, 142 men commenced the expedition against the Quechan. However, the military operation went badly and the expedition members were besieged until September 16.