The Commissioner of Indian Affairs’ record
The Nestucca were native peoples who lived on the central Oregon coast at the Nestucca River. They were a tribe of Salish-speaking people, one of the Tillamookan tribes, which extended from south of the Clatsop territory to just south of the Siletz River. These tribes were the Nehalem, Tillamook, Nestucca, Nechesna, and Siletz tribes. In the 1850’s, the Nestucca and their neighbors were within the Astoria District of the Indian supervisory districts of Oregon.
In 1877, the Nestucca peoples moved from their homelands on the Nestucca and Little Nestucca rivers to the Salmon River (Neschena) village at the extreme northern edge of the Siletz Reservation. Their removal was not because of a treaty, but instead the result of the work of Indian agents who worked for two years to convince them to remove. This removal was part of the second reduction of the Coast Reservation by executive order; the first was in 1865 when the Yaquina Tract was opened to white settlement.[1] The second reduction in 1875 radically reduced the reservation, cast natives who did not have ratified treaties free from federal supervision, and consolidated the administrative affairs of the reservation to the Siletz Agency, and renamed the reservation, the Siletz Reservation.
The Nestucca people were, in 1875, a minor tribe of people who lived just north of the boundary of the Siletz Reservation (the termination of the Northern section (Neschesne to Tillamook) occurred in 1875 as part of the reduction of the Coast Reservation). The Tillamooks were enumerated at 150 individuals from Lewis and Clark’s estimates. In 1851 Anson Dart listed them in his annual report[2], and in 1853, Indian Agent W.W. Raymond created a better census and enumerated the bands of the Tillamooks with 183 individuals. The Nestucca tribe was counted by W.W. Raymond at 24 people, while the Nechesna (Salmon River) were enumerated at 10 people.[3]
The Nestuccas were able to hold their lands into the 1870s without white encroachment because of the remoteness and intractability of their area on the coast. Few Americans thought the coast valuable land because farming was not assured, and there were few easy ways to get to the region. The north coast was served by several coast trails, which were mainly widened game trails, with some regions so intractable that people either had to canoe around headlands or brave the low tides on beaches to travel north and south. The first settlements of white Americans began within bays and estuaries, which had some protection from the harsh ocean waters.
A few hardy Americans established settlements by braving the game trails and finding sites, while others walked down from Astoria to find their land claims. These early settlers found it advantageous to be friendly with the Tillamooks, who were the majority people in the region. By the 1870s, all of the best lands in the interior areas of Oregon were fully claimed, and newly arrived settlers began pushing for access to the relatively unclaimed coastal area. In 1865, the termination of the Yaquina section of the Coast reservation was caused by political pressures to open Yaquina Bay to oyster harvest. The termination of this tract of land split the Coast Reservation in half, the north being administered from the Siletz Agency, and the southern section by the Alsea Agency. By 1875, settler political pressure caused the opening of the majority of the Coast Reservation lands to white settlement, causing the consolidation of the tribes formerly resettled at river estuaries in the original Coast Reservation to only the area between the Salmon River and Depoe Bay, and the Siletz River and valley.
The tribes resettled at the Coast Reservation estuaries between 1856 and the mid-1860s were those who were waiting for ratification of the Coast Treaty. These southern Oregon coastal natives survived without much federal aid, while subsisting themselves on the resources of the ocean, estuaries, rivers, and inland coastal valleys for as long as seventeen years under federal control. In 1877, those who refused to remove to the Salmon River encampment or Siletz valley were released to return to their original homelands. Unsurprisingly, these tribes, the Coos, Coquille, and others, found all of their former villages had been taken over by Americans, and that they had effectively given up their land without payment from the federal government. In the 20th century, these tribes sued the federal government in a series of Indian Claims lawsuits to recapture the value of their lands.[4] Some tribes were never paid for their land.
The United States federal government instead assumed that the tribes of the Oregon coast had ceded their lands because of the signing of the Oregon Coast treaty by some of the coastal tribes in the summer of 1855.
“Several treaties were concluded between the foregoing dates with the coast tribes by Superintendent Palmer. By these treaties the Indians ceded all claim to lands, but were to have a reservation established for them within the general limits of the cession. The treaties were not ratified, but the U.S. authorities assumed that the cession was binding, and by Executive order of Nov. 8, 1855, the President set apart the promised reserve. The limits of the cession are therefore shown here as though the treaties were ratified.”[5]
Even though the treaty was never ratified by Congress, the United States treated the tribes as if the treaty were signed and removed them. However, the tribes were never adequately compensated for their lands, and the first generations of people, those removed in 1856 and soon after, died without gaining anything for their land claims. The Nestucca people were one of the tribes that were not adequately compensated for their lands. The lack of compensation for the title of tribal lands suggests that all Coastal tribes may still own their lands based on the longstanding principle in United States Land law of previous aboriginal occupation.[6] The aboriginal titles are assumed to have been settled in a series of Indian claims cases in the 20th century. There were several such cases, and they still need to be vetted by tribes and legal scholars as to whether all aboriginal titles were properly transferred. There were many mistakes in many of these Indian claims cases, and we must assume there remain errors and perhaps legally actionable items.
Numerous Tribal histories have erroneously reported that the whole of the Oregon coast was included in that treaty, which is not accurate. The northernmost area the Coast Treaty negotiators reached was to the lands of the Nestucca, even while it was assumed in federal reports that the treaty encompassed the whole of the Oregon Coast from the California border up to the centerline of the Columbia River.[7] In the final treaty negotiations, Joel Palmer’s Indian agents and sub-Indian agents met with the tribes at the Umpqua River, including representatives of the Nechesna and Nestucca.[8] The 1855 negotiations did not include the Nehalem, the Tillamook proper, nor the Clatsop tribes and bands, whose homelands were within the northernmost section of the Oregon Coast.[9] These three tribes had 1851 treaties negotiated by Anson Dart, but they were also not ratified.
When the Coast Reservation was created, on November 9, 1855, it extended one hundred miles on the Oregon Coast and 20 miles inland, 1.1 million acres. The northernmost border of the reservation was in the Tillamook area, while the southern border was just south of the Siuslaw at Florence, OR. The reservation was created on the Oregon Coast because there were few settlers on the coast, the land was poor for farming, and the Coast Range was unattractive to settlement. The original plan to remove the tribes to the Umatilla region was firmly rejected by all tribes, and Indian Superintendent Joel Palmer needed a reservation to remove all tribes in western Oregon, because they were in the way of white American settlement. Years of conflict in the region, caused by encroachment onto tribal lands by large numbers of white American settlers, ranchers, and prospectors, caused numerous conflicts.
Palmer’s mission was to keep the peace and eliminate the conflicts, and he was forced to create a reservation in western Oregon to contain the tribes, away from the white newcomers. When fighting erupted in the winter of 1855 on the Columbia (Yakima War) and in the Rogue River basin (Rogue River War), Palmer was forced to remove the tribes much more quickly to alleviate conflicts, and worked with the U.S. Army to purchase and create the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, as a temporary reservation until the Coast Reservation was opened. Palmer also created many temporary reserves and encampments throughout western Oregon for the Kalapuyans, Molallans, Umpqua, Middle Chinookans, and Coos to administer the tribes in safety until the permanent Reservation was prepared.
During the time of the formation of the reservations and the wars, the northern Oregon coast was quiet without conflicts. Most of the Tillamookan tribes did not have to remove, because the new Coast Reservation encompassed their lands. The northern Nehalems and some Clatsops were removed to the Tillamook region. The Nechesna tribe on the renamed Salmon River was part of a newly formed encampment of tribes removed from the southern coast in the summer of 1856. The Salmon River encampment included the nine-mile plain from the Siletz River. In this area, and as far as Newport, there were settled tribes who were removed from the southern Oregon area, which was at Salmon River Encampment, and south to the Siletz River
The Salmon River Wagon Road
While technically the Neschena village was within the territory of the Siletz Reservation, there was no active administration of the coast from the Siletz Indian Agents until 1886, because a road from Siletz Valley to this area of the coast had not yet been built, and the Siletz River was long and windy.[10]. Because of this, Grand Ronde Indian agents took charge of the Salmon River encampment and fishery to benefit the people at Grand Ronde who needed a regular food supply. Grand Ronde agents in the 1860s expanded the Elk trail to become the Salmon River wagon road, using Grand Ronde elabor, to open the fishery at Salmon River to regular visitation by the people on the reservation. It was only 20 miles to get to the fishery on the wagon road. Because of this, in 1887, during the Dawes Allotment period, some Grand Rond people took allotments along the Salmon River wagon road.
Nestucca Life ways
The Nestucca were north of the Coast Reservation, the central section of the remaining land of the reservation after reductions in 1865 and 1875, which in 1875 was renamed the Siletz Reservation. The Nestucca Tribe accessed the coastal and inland resources for their tribal lifeways, fishing the inland rivers and creeks, gathering berries from the Coast Range, and hunting the coastal hills for thousands of years previous to white settlement. The Tillamookan peoples were whale hunters and built large canoes for hunting whales in the Ocean. They also built large plank houses on the coastline.
In 1875, there was a series of meetings to negotiate the removal of the Tillamookan tribes to the Siletz Reservation. Most of the Tillamookan tribes appeared willing to negotiate and remove, but the Nestucca Tribe refused to remove without certain agreements being in place. Their first council meeting was at the mouth of the Siletz River on June 1, 1875. When Agent Fairchild arrived, he did find “Representatives of the Tillamook tribes as well as three men from the Nestucca tribe. The Chief of the Nestucca refused to attend the meeting, sending word of his refusal to remove from his lands before his demise. Additionally, the message he sent stated, “that Agent Sinnott of Grand Ronde Agency had told him no one had the right to remove him, and that he had better refuse to appear at any council, or pay any attention to my requests.”[11]
In support of the removal request, Fairchild warned the Tillamookans, “If you continue to reside there, they (whites) will trouble you continually… even if you each take a homestead you will be almost sure to suffer from the near proximity of the whites. You know yourselves that bad white men will debauch your women, and bring in bad diseases among you, and in many other ways work evil to you.”[12]
Fairchilds’ warnings were followed by statements of the benefits of the Salmon River area, “Between here (Siletz River) and the mouth of the Salmon River- it is good land and will bring large crops- There are also plenty of fish in the rivers… the govt. will give each head of family as much land as he can cultivate…”[13] By this time, for the past 20 years, cultivation on the coast for the tribes has been unsuccessful. The best the tribes could accomplish was potato crops, because wheat, oats, and corn do not grow well in the coast zone.[14]
To the Nestucca’s, Fairchild said, “I am very sorry that Bill your chief did not come here today. I wanted to talk good to him, and tell him the truth. I did not come to take away his land or any body else’s land.” Ironically this is precisely what the agent was trying to do, remove them from their land. Agent Fairchild seems to believe that removal is not taking away of anyone’s land as long as it is replaced with another piece of land. Fairchild then says, I think it would be best for you to come and settle at the mouth of Salmon River.” This would be in effect taking the land away from them.
General Joel Palmer is also at the council, and he added his own dire warnings to the Tillamooks, “Suppose you get your land in your own country by homesteading like the whites- They will cheat you out of it- If you get a good claim they will offer you a horse or something much less than it is worth, or give you whiskey and get it from you for nothing.. most of you would soon have nothing.”[15]
Joseph Duncan, the chief of the Tillamooks, stated, “there are many old people at Tillamook, who all say they do not wish to leave- They want to die and be buried where their fathers were before them.”[16]
The Tillamookans are then left to return to their villages to convey the messages and warnings of the Indian Agents. When they leave the council, they appear set on becoming homesteaders alongside the white settlers.
Between June and September 1875, the Indian agents spent a few months working with and meeting with the tribes on the Alsea reservation. The Alseas, too, are to be removed to the Salmon River Encampment. In September 1875, Ben Simpson travels to Nestucca to have another conference with the Nestucca people. Simpson arrives on the 13th and is accompanied by Brown, Folger, employees at Grand Ronde, and Indian Agent Sinnott. They travel to the coast on the Salmon River Wagon Road and then take an Indian trail over the Cascades Headlands. The council with Bill, the Nestucca chief, lasts for three days. Simpson began to warn the chief of the intricacies of the Homestead Act and began extoling the virtues of the Siletz Reservation if they removed south. Simpson promised that families would get 40 acres to farm, and they would supply nails and lumber, assistance from the government, and a white man to assist in construction, including plows and teams, and seed potatoes.[17]
These promises appear to convince the Nestuccas of the benefits of removal. They immediately begin moving their households by canoe around Cascade Headlands to the mouth of the Salmon River, to be completely moved by October 10, 1875. This removal costs the government nothing, which is in contrast to the Alsea removal.[18] The distance from the Nestucca to the Salmon River by canoe is about forty miles.
In addition to the previous report of the treaty, Fairchild reports in October that it includes “… that the Indians first desired to come here (Grand Ronde); if not, and they located at Salmon River, they wanted the jurisdiction of this agency extended over them.”[19] This request of the Nestuccas is repeated by Sinnott “The[y] gave their consent and removed to Salmon [River] with the understanding the[y] would be under the jurisdiction of this Agency (Grand Ronde) on no account would the[y] consent to be under the jurisdiction of Siletz Agency.”[20] This stipulation and agreement would continue the previous 19 years of administration from the Grand Ronde Reservation of the northern section of the Coast Reservation, and of the Salmon River Encampment.
For the past 19 years, there had been some friction between the agents of Grand Ronde and Siletz about who could claim the northern portion of the Coast Reservation. The coastal area was extremely valuable for its food resources, and with some 4000 Native people resettled at the two reservations, access to food was essential. The Indian agents at the Siletz Agency struggled with access to the northern coast, as there was no road for efficient access. The Grand Ronde agents from the earliest years (1856) at the reservation began working to provide access to the Salmon River fishery for the tribes at the reservation. The Salmon River Station fishery was established by 1860, which helped to develop the Salmon River Wagon Road as the main thoroughfare to the Oregon Coast. The salmon caught at this fishery helped to feed the 1200 Native people at Grand Ronde, who suffered from a lack of food for several years. The federal government struggled with providing enough food for the reservations, sometimes unsuccessfully shipping food to the reservations, and with providing funds to the Oregon Superintendency in a timely manner. As such, the native peoples sometimes starved. They were also not able to hunt, because for the first few years, and for some time after, the Native people were not allowed to have weapons at the reservations, because of fears that they would revolt, escape, and attack white settlements in the Willamette Valley. In addition, the native people were expected to grow their own food, like white farmers, and there was a farmer hired at the reservations to help them with this. But there were not sufficient plows, teams, seed, and the soils at Grand Ronde were mostly clay, very poor for farming. Still, the native people had small gardens for some vegetables, but they were not assigned significant parcels of land until at least 1873, and then about 100 acres for heads of households. By 1886, most of the families were farming 80 acres of oats or wheat and had fully developed farms. In the interim, there was not much help in farming, and so the tribes could not grow all their food. Therefore, the fishery at Salmon River supplied a significant percentage of the food supply in the spring, in the earliest decades.
When the southern Oregon coastal tribes were removed to the Coast reservation, they were settled within the estuaries of the many major rivers, the Siletz, Yaquina, Siuslaw, Alsea, and Umpqua rivers. They were settled into small sub-agencies of 300 to 400 people administered by a sub-Indian agent. These tribal communities were settled in this way as they waited for the ratification of the Coast Treaty, negotiated in the summer of 1855. Without the ratified treaty, there were no guaranteed funds for paying for the care and upkeep of the tribes. The estuaries provided all of the essentials for the tribes to live without funding from the government. While at these sub-agencies, the native people built their own houses, farmed, and gathered their own food from the marine and terrestrial environments. They already knew how to provide for themselves, as the southern Oregon coast is very similar in environment to the central coast. Some tribes, like the Siuslaw, never had to remove as the reservation encompassed the coastal portion of their territory. They could not leave the reservation, and when they did, they were treated harshly and punished when forcibly returned.
Upon the conclusion of the treaty meeting of September 13th, the Nestuccas begin moving, such that within the next month, they are moved to the Salmon River Encampment. Of the move, Ben Simpson writes,
“The tract selected for the future home of these Indians is at the mouth of Salmon River, at the extreme northern limit of the Reserve (Siletz). The only way at present of reaching this locality from this agency (Siletz), is by canoes from a point 7 miles below, 25 miles to the mouth of Siletz River, thence along the Seabeach 7 miles to the place in question….”[21]
Once they arrived in early winter, they were expecting the government to help them build houses. However, no help came from the Indian agents as no funding was given for the promised houses, nor was a white man assigned to help build houses. The Nestuccas were made to fend for themselves, with likely help from the other tribal peoples already situated in this area of the coast. The Indian agency letters do not appear to have resolved the issue of which Indian agency would be assigned to officially administer the Nestucca Indians, and the previously mentioned impediments to travel to the north coast from the Siletz agency by the Siletz Indian Agent remained unresolved. Without clear direction, there appears to have been no administration of the Nestucca Indians.
In the second week of December 1875, William Bagley, the Farmer assigned to the Siletz reservation, sent two messengers to assess the needs of the Nestucca Indians at the Salmon River. When they returned to Siletz Agency, five of the Nestucca and Salmon River Indians accompanied them and personally gave him their needs. Bagley writes
“They were living upon this agency as agreed upon at the late Council, and were without shelter of any kind and destitute of food, and clothing, and themselves and children suffering from the heavy rain and wind storms constantly prevailing along the coast… I at once issued them some blankets, calico, jeans, thread, needles… wheat and potatoes sufficient to supply their immediate wants.”[22]
Bagley reported that there were forty-three Nestuccas, while the Nechesne were twenty-one, for which he issued supplies and sent the men on their way, their immediate needs satisfied.[23] He then reiterated his need for funds to complete the building of a sawmill at the Siletz Agency so he can provide lumber for the building of the promised houses. The Nestuccas at this point have no recourse but to wait for the supplies, wait for the funds to finish the sawmill. In the meantime, they are very cold and likely living in temporary shacks on the coast in the midst of winter. They had no option to return to Nestucca to the good houses they had built[24], because once they removed, their houses were immediately occupied by white settlers.[25] In November, Fairchild warned in a report to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that if the Tillamookans do not get houses to replace those they lost at Nestucca, they will likely return to Nestucca and demand their land back, and the conflict with the whites will result in “bloodshed.” As a result of this experience, the Nestucca will never again go to the reservation.[26] Fairchild’s threat to the Office of Indian Affairs has no apparent effect.
By January 1, 1876, the saw and grist mills were in operation, the old French Burr mill was repaired, and the power had been attached, likely a set of leather belts. Begley then requests further funds to finish the mills. The mills are an important component to the Indian agents, not just for their ability to efficiently grind grains and saw timber into lumber, but because they are integral to the project of civilizing the Indians. The Treaties began the process of assimilating the natives from being culturally Indian by stipulating that they would have access to education and land for farming. The farming culture, in particular, is seen as a way to assimilate all of the natives into white American culture. To make their farming successful, the native farmers need to have access to a grist mill to grind their grain, and a sawmill to build houses, barns, and fence posts. Education and farming are seen as civilizing and Christianizing influences.[27]
In November 1875, Agent Fairchild wrote a report to the Commissioner, which appears to have gotten him fired. Fairchild suggested that the government had ordered the removal of the tribes to Siletz, and many were willing to remove, but that Agent Litchfield had stood in the way. The implication is that no approval to move was given, and no funding was allocated for the move of these Indians from Alsea to Salmon River. The Tillamooks had already moved to the land between the Siletz and Salmon rivers. Fairchild was adamant that it would be a perfect reservation for these Indians with plenty of fish and other resources, including flat lands suitable for agriculture.
Transcripted removal of the Nestucca, from COIA reports
Fairchild’s final report for the year presents some important details about the removal of the tribes in 1856 and later.
[the removed tribes] “soon learned to depend for subsistence to a great measure on the produce of the soil. A large proportion of which they expected the agent to supply. They built their houses, and cultivated their little patches of land at the Agency. There was their homes, and they were unwilling to abandon them to live at the Fishing Stations. Under the operation of this change of diet, the Indians died by scores and hundreds, till from a census of about 3500 they have dwindled to 1000.”
And,
“There is no doubt but the Alsea Indians would remove immediately, the Siletz Chiefs have informed me that the Alsea Chiefs had so informed them… all the Indians at Siletz Agency, who have not large farms would soon remove to the Salmon River Station…” [December 16, 1875 RG 75, M234, R621]
Ben Wright-
“seeking removal to Grand Ronde of 15 Indians north of Salmon River (Nestucca)”, 4/16/1875-Ben Wright-
Agent Sinnott (Grand Ronde)-
“The Chief of the Neztuccas refused to come to the meeting and Sinnott counsels them to remove to Grand Ronde”- Sinnott Report- June 4, 1875-
1875- “met… with the Neztucca Indians to arrange for their removal…the Indians consented to move to the Mouth of the Salmon River now included in the Siletz Reservation… the Indian first desired to remove here (Grand Ronde)… if not… they wanted the jurisdiction of this agency extended over them… under the provisions of removal… that the portion of the country they occupied to become attached to this agency” (Grand Ronde).
Ben Wright-
“Moved 0n September 17 1875 the Salmon River Encampment, south of the river, joined there by the Alseas.” (Ben Wright- Fairchild report Oct 1875)
Agent Mitchell-
“Nez Tucca… succeeded in removing them all … removed by canoe to Salmon river…under the understanding the jurisdiction of this agency on no account would the(y) consent to be under the jurisdiction of Siletz…”- Mitchell 9/27/1875-
Agent Fairchild (Siletz)-
“Ben Simpson … the terms of a treaty negotiated by him, Agent Sinnott of Grand Ronde, and Special Agent Brown with the Tillamook and other bands of Indians living north of the mouth of Salmon River, …certain terms to remove to the reduced Siletz Reservation… One of the provisions is, that a white employee shall be allotted them, to assist in the erection of houses, bringing the land under cultivation… The tract selected for the future home of these Indians is at the mouth of Salmon River, at the extreme northern limit of the Reserve (Siletz). The only way at present of reaching this locality from this agency (Siletz), is by canoes from a point 7 miles below, 25 miles to the mouth of Siletz River, thence along the Seabeach 7 miles to the place in question… It is proposed to locate at the same point, such of the Alsea Indians as chose to remove to this reservation.” (J.H. Fairchild, U.S. Indian Agent (Siletz) 9/30/1875, RG 75, m2434 r621)
Follow-up reports from the 1880s and 1890s show that none of the tribal people who moved to the Salmon River encampment received any help with building houses. They did take land under the Dawes Allotment Act of 1887 and were the people at what became Lincoln City and Otis when that section of the Coast was taken out of the Siletz Reservation in about 1909. Several Nestucca and Tillamook people chose to move to Grand Ronde following this period of removal. The Bobb family at Grand Ronde are some of these descendants.
Nestucca Bobb
Nestucca Bobb, was a leader, a chief of the Nestucca tribe of Tillamook Indians of Nestucca Bay. The Nestucca Tribe accessed the coastal and inland resources for their tribal lifeways, fishing the inland rivers and creeks, gathering berries from the Coast Range, and hunting the coastal hills for thousands of years previous to settlement. Between 1856 and 1886, the Nestuccas would visit Grand Ronde to shop for supplies and gain services. In 1875, when ordered to remove to the Salmon River Encampment, south of their territory, they asked local agents to remove instead to the Grand Ronde Reservation. In this period, many of the Tillamook, Nestucca, and Nehalem Indians married natives of several tribes on the Grand Ronde Reservation and moved to the reservation. The settler communities on the little Nestucca and the tribal peoples at Grand Ronde worked together closely in the period of the early reservation. Nestucca Bobb, also known as Tillamook Bobb, is listed on the annual Grand Ronde census for numerous years, and many of his children carried the Nestucca name, suggesting a close association with their Nestucca Tillamook heritage. Descendants of Nestucca Bobb, Levi Bobb, and Steve Bobb Sr. served on the tribal government for many years.
From annual BIA censuses at Grand Ronde.
1885 Grand Ronde Census
| 123 | Levi | Nestucka | H | m | 31 |
| 124 | Rosellie | d | f | 21 | |
| 125 | Jennie | d | f | 3 |
| 690 | Peter | Nestucka | H | m | 41 |
| 691 | Molly | w | f | 38 | |
| 692 | Hary | son | m | 17 | |
| 693 | Jones | s | m | 15 | |
| 694 | Ellen | d | f | 11 | |
| 695 | Johnie | s | m | 5 | |
| 696 | Baby | s | m | ||
| 697 | Old Mary | mother | f | 62 | |
1886 Grand Ronde Census
| 104 | Levi | Nestuc[ca] | husband | m | 30 | Good house & barn wagon & harness plow harrow 5 horses 2 cattle | 6 hogs good garden 60 a. under fence 14 in cultivation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 105 | Lucilla | wife | f | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 106 | Mrs. | Bob | Mother | f | 70 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 107 | Peter | Nestuc[ca] | brother | m | 40 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 108 | [blank] | son | m | 4 months | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1887 Grand Ronde Census
| 252 | Levi | Bob | husband | 31 | |
| 253 | Rosalie | Bob | wife | 25 | |
| 254 | Leslie | Bob | son | 1 | |
| 255 | Peter | Bob | Brother | 35 | |
| 256 | bob | mother | 51 |
1888 Grand Ronde Census
| 252 | Tillamook | Levi | Bob | husband | m | 32 |
| 253 | Tillamook | Rosalia | Bob | wife | f | 26 |
| 254 | Tillamook | Leslie | Bob | son | m | 2 |
| 255 | Tillamook | Bob | mother | f | 52 | |
| 256 | Tillamook | Peter | Bob | brother | m | 36 |
1889 Grand Ronde Census
| 228 | Levi | Bob | m | h | 33 |
| 229 | Rosalie | Bob | f | w | 27 |
| 230 | Leslie | Bob | m | son | 3 |
1890 Grand Ronde Census
| 128 | Levi | Bob | m | widower | 34 |
| 129 | Leslie | Bob | m | son | 4 |
| 130 | Bob | m | son | 1 |
[1] The Yaquina tract was taken due to pressure from white Americans for more land open for settlement and pressure from oyster gatherers who wanted access to Yaquina Bay oysters.
[2] Anson Dart Report in Letter of September 1851, RG75, M2, R11
[3] W.W. Raymond, Astoria District 7/11/1853
[4] Name lawsuits
[5] Royce, Indian Land Cessions in the United States, 1900, p 813.
[6] This is a question of law, a question which has not yet been answered, as the legality of the takeover r of these lands has not been challenged in court.
[7] Find reference
[8] Include more details
[9] The Clatsop, Tillamook and Nehalem were negotiated with by Indian Superintendent Anson Dart in 1851, but these treaties were never ratified.
[10] June 4, 1875 RG75, M234, R621, The details of the removal of the Nestucca peoples have been shrouded in federal archives for more than 150 years. Few details of their removal have been noted in history or anthropology texts.
[12] June 4, 1875 RG75, M234, R621
[13] June 4, 1875 RG75, M234, R621
[14] See federal letters regarding the Alsea reservation and the attempts of the tribes to grow food.
[15] June 4, 1875 RG75, M234, R621
[16] June 4, 1875 RG75, M234, R621
[17] 10/28/1875 Ben Simpson
[18] The Alseas refuse to remove without funds to help them remove overland. This need stalls their removal for a few years as the federal government does not allocate funds for several years.
[19] Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior, for the year 1875, Pp. 346-347, Mitchell letter of 9/27/1875, letter of 10/20/1875, September 30 1875, RG75 M234, R621
[20] 9/27/1875, P.B. Sinnott letter to John H. Mitchell at the Office of Indian Affairs, 12/28/1875 transferred to the auditor Jan 17 1879.
[21] 9/30/1875, RG 75, m2434 r621
[22] 12/24/1875 William Bagley,
[23] 43 Nestuccas- 15 men, 14 women and 14 children, & 21 Salmon Rivers- 8 men, 7 women and 6 children, 12/24/1875 William Bagley,
[24] The Tillamookans were known to build sturdy plankhouses out of western red cedar.
[25] Fairchild 11/4/1875, Sinnott 9/271875
[26] Fairchild 11/4/1875
[27] Bagley 1/1/1876
[28] President Andrew Johnson signing the Executive Order of December 21, 1865
[29] San Franciscans liked Yaquina Bay oysters, and there came pressures to settle the Yaquina tract to legally access the oysters.