Month: March 2020

California Natives, colonization, General History, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, treatiesLeave a comment

Causes of the 1853 Rogue River War

David G. Lewis, PhD

The first Rogue River War was a series of skirmishes and battles between mainly gold miners and the tribes. The miners had no regard for the tribes and tended to treat them badly. Some miners, the worst of the bunch, would murder native men on sight and take native women to rape them. It’s very hard to find the ultimate beginning of the conflicts, but it likely resides in the treatment of the tribes, and the histories from the 1840s of white encroachment into the region seeking gold riches. Other white men established settlements on the coast in both California … Continue reading Causes of the 1853 Rogue River War

Anthropology, colonization, columbia river, General History, Native Issues, Oregon indians1 Comment

Baleful Gifts of Civilization: Smallpox Epidemic 1853

David G. Lewis, PhD

  It is well recording in numerous sources that diseases from Europe came with the exploring Whitemen and infected millions of the indigenous peoples of the World with waves of pandemics, causing the death of more people in the exploratory period than all of the wars of humankind. An estimated 100-300 million indigenous peoples worldwide died in this manner, a number which is a broad estimate because no one knows for sure how many indigenous peoples existed before the disease and viruses visited them. Many indigenous people, those of the island communities, Australia, and the Americas had no resistance to … Continue reading Baleful Gifts of Civilization: Smallpox Epidemic 1853

colonization, eastern oregon, General History, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, treaties1 Comment

Major Benjamin Alvord discusses Eastern Oregon Settlement, 1853

David G. Lewis, PhD

In 1853, the former Superintendent of Indian Affairs of Oregon Anson Dart had been forced to resign as none of his nineteen treaties with the tribes were ratified. Joel Palmer took this position in late May. Palmer was already a well-healed politician, and probably knew most people in Oregon at the time, and had previously had many dealings with the tribes. In the summer of 1853 Palmer was engaged with trying to get a  handle on the many issues with the tribes, mainly those in Southern Oregon captivated his attention. The months before his appointment the US Army was the … Continue reading Major Benjamin Alvord discusses Eastern Oregon Settlement, 1853

colonization, Grand Ronde Reservation, Kalapuya, Oregon indians, Willamette ValleyLeave a comment

Soc-te-la Chief of the Luckimute Kalapuya People

David G. Lewis, PhD

The following section of a letter to General Joel Palmer details that at least one chief Soc-te-la knew they were to remove and was working to gather his people in preparation for such a move. It is unclear from the letter which tribe Soc-te-la belongs to and the letter mentions the Umpqua and Siletz rivers. “Hayden Hall, August 16th 1855, I am again importuned to write you a letter for Soc-te-la, he informs me he has been very diligent since he last saw you, in hunting his wandering people, preparatory to take a final leave of this valley agreeable to … Continue reading Soc-te-la Chief of the Luckimute Kalapuya People

Anthropology, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon indians, Siletz Reservation, Termination, treatiesLeave a comment

John Collier and Indian Termination Policy

David G. Lewis, PhD

As Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier was a long-term advocate for Indian tribes. In the 1920s, John Collier, a trained sociologist, led efforts in Washington, D.C. to repeal the Dawes Indian Allotment Act (1887) and its overt attempt to assimilate Indians. John Collier was very critical of the Indian Office and in 1928 wrote the Meriam Report, published as, “The Problem of Indian Administration” with the support of Congress. In 1962, John Collier had this to say about his earlier understandings of Indian society. “In those years, I still took for granted our modern fatalism: that the Indian’s spirit, … Continue reading John Collier and Indian Termination Policy