A subject which has had little clarity in the past is when were the Umpqua and Southern Kalapuya, the Yoncallas, resettled to the Umpqua Reservation at Coles Valley. The Umpqua and Calapooia Treaty of November 29, 1854 is the treaty of land cession for these tribes and sets in motion the removal of the tribes to a permanent reservation. But that removal did not happen immediately and significant plans had to be made to create the temporary Umpqua Reservation, and develop it to the point that the tribes may be removed there. The illustration of this process and event was … Continue reading The Upper Umpqua and Yoncalla are Removed to the Umpqua Reservation
As noted in several essays on this blog, removing tribes from their lands and to the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation was not a perfect process. Most of the tribal people were removed in 1856. Still, several families, bands, and individuals remained on their lands, most wary of the removal process and expecting an early death at the hands of the settlers once gathered. Indian agents and subagents continued to work in southern Oregon managing the remaining removals, especially those located on the coast, where removals continued into the 1870s, some quite forceful and even brutal. This forced removal was imposed … Continue reading Late Removals to the Grand Ronde Reservation from Umpqua Valley and Rogue River
Between the time of the formation of the Umpqua Reservation in the Umpqua basin (1854) and the removal of the four tribes to Grand Ronde Reservation, in late January 1856, Joel Palmer the Indian Superintendent had to make fast and detailed plans. The war of the Rogue River Confederacy was raging in the Siskiyous and the Indian agents for Oregon and California were working with the US Army and the militias of both states to remove the neighboring tribes to temporary reservations to keep them from joining the fight. Tolowa Natives of northern California were imprisoned at Battery Point for … Continue reading Removal of Four Tribes from the Umpqua Reservation 1855-1856
There are two areas of Oregon with athapaskan speaking tribes. Southwest Oregon has a large number of athapaskan speaking tribes that extend as far north as the Upper Umpqua tribe and south down into northern California beyond the Klamath River. In northerwestern Oregon on the Columbia and in the Tualatin Hills to the Tillamook was another athapaskan speaking tribe, the Clatskanie, called the Clackstar by Lewis and Clark. I have assumed for years that the Upper Umpqua was a sub-tribe of the athapaskans of SW Oregon. The Tolowa and Tututni are known to be close relations with slight dialectical variations, … Continue reading Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie-Upper Umpqua
The Final Year in Our Homelands: Temporary Reservations and Encampments Over the past few years, I have been writing articles about the temporary reservations in the Willamette Valley. From March 1855 to January 1856 these reservations/encampments existed in the valley and the Kalapuya and Molalla Indians lived within their boundaries. Additional encampments were created in October 1855 for the Chinook and Clatskanie peoples on the Columbia, at Milwaukie, and Oregon City. Further gathering locations were created at Spores Ferry and Corvallis in October 1855. These projects involved concentrating all of the southern Valley tribes at these locations to be removed … Continue reading Temporary Reservations and Encampments
