Robert Shortess was an early pioneer settler and Indian agent on the Columbia River. He is drawn to Oregon after witnessing a speech given by Jason Lee who is on a tour of the east working to get more white men and women to come to the Willamette Valley. He leaves Missouri in 1839, and … [Read more…]
After the tribes were removed to the reservations and the treaties were ratified payments began to the chiefs. The tribal chiefs would get the annual payment to their tribes and would be responsible for doling out the money and supplies to their people. For some 20 years this was the pattern for leadership at the … [Read more…]
Between 1853 and 1855 the federal government negotiated treaties with the Tribes who came to the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation. These tribes were promised what amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars in money, services, security and a permanent reservation forever. I have already established in other essays that the tribes were not correctly paid … [Read more…]
In 1855, Joel Palmer met with the Wasco and Deschutes tribes to convince them to sign the treaty and remove to the proposed Warm Springs Reservation. The chief of the tribes spoke powerfully about their love of their land, calling their fish, gathering and hunting places like the parts of their heart. The tribes knew … [Read more…]
At the June 1855 treaty meeting of the Deschutes, Wascoes, and Walla Wallas, there were also the Dog River Cascades. They are listed on the transcript as being there but apparently never spoke publicly at the gathering. Various letters by Palmer and others suggest that they remained on their lands for several years beyond the … [Read more…]