Month: January 2018

The Willamette Valley Treaty (Treaty with the Kalapuya, Etc.) Signed January 22, Ratified March 3, 1855

January 16, 2018

The Willamette Valley Treaty was designed to remove the tribes from western Oregon, from lands desired by American settlers. When the treaty was finally signed, on January 22th, at Dayton, Oregon, at Joel Palmer’s DLC homestead (Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon). The tribes were ready to sign, to be removed from the vicinity of … More The Willamette Valley Treaty (Treaty with the Kalapuya, Etc.) Signed January 22, Ratified March 3, 1855

Stingy American Settlers of the Willamette Valley

January 12, 2018

  The Kalapuyan tribes of the Willamette Valley have lived here for more than 10,000 years, some 500 generations of people. The whole of the valley was owned by these tribes who had distinct yet overlapping territories. A few sections of the valley were owned by relative newcomers, the Molallans, who lived in the foothills … More Stingy American Settlers of the Willamette Valley

Anson Dart and the Willamette Treaty Commission

January 4, 2018

Many scholars of Oregon tribal history have assumed, as have I, that Anson Dart, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon from 1850 to 1852 was responsible for negotiating treaties with the western Oregon tribes. In fact, numerous histories of this time intimately describe these responsibilities, but this may not have been originally Dart’s responsibility … More Anson Dart and the Willamette Treaty Commission

Dart’s Instructions of Colonization and Assimilation in 1850

January 2, 2018

In 1850, the United States passed The Oregon Donation Land-claim Act. This act gave American men 640 acres, one square mile of free land in Oregon, allowed other claims by wives (160 acres), and children, and proved up on the previous land claims of other Americans. A recent manuscript by Julius Wilm (2017) points out … More Dart’s Instructions of Colonization and Assimilation in 1850