Category: coos bay

coos bay, General History, Oral History, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, Siletz Reservation, Umpqua Valley1 Comment

Indian Catchers of Coastal Oregon 1850s

David G. Lewis, PhD

A truly remarkable fact of Oregon history presented itself while conducting some coastal research. In 1856 and for years after, the Indian agents employed and contracted with enterprising individuals to seek out and capture Indians still remaining in the lands or escaped from the reservations, and return them. The image recalled when hearing about this profession, is that of the Child Catcher in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In the movie, this truly evil character went around German towns hunting down children to imprison them, using candy for enticement. The Child Catcher is perhaps a direct reference to how the … Continue reading Indian Catchers of Coastal Oregon 1850s

coos bay, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Siletz ReservationLeave a comment

Canoeing the Yaquina, Coast Reservation, November 1856

David G. Lewis, PhD

The story of the Coast Reservation of Oregon is complicated. The Coast Reservation is created in 1855 by Presidential Executive Order and then for some months remains undeveloped by the Oregon Indian office. Joel Palmer, the Indian Superintendent for Oregon, planned to move all of the tribes of western Oregon to this reservation, because the 100 mile stretch of coastline and coastal mountains (100 miles long by 20 miles wide in most estimates) , were relatively unsettled, and were an intractable wilderness to the White settlers. The Coast Reservation extended from Siltcoos Lake at the south to about Cape Lookout … Continue reading Canoeing the Yaquina, Coast Reservation, November 1856

coos bay, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, Siletz Reservation, treaties, Umpqua Valley3 Comments

The Gateway on the Central Oregon Coast, Fort Umpqua and the Umpqua Sub Indian Agency

David G. Lewis, PhD

The southern and central Coast of Oregon is a relatively unknown area in Native American history. As the area is not well researched it is generally assumed to have been vacated during the Indian removals of 1856. However, federal records show us that this is not the case at all. That there were tribes and bands living on the central coast, even below the southern border of the Coast Reservation, and there was quite a lot of traffic of Native groups moving up and down the coast as they were either forced into the reservation and its encampments, or tried … Continue reading The Gateway on the Central Oregon Coast, Fort Umpqua and the Umpqua Sub Indian Agency

colonization, coos bay, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Kalapuya, Oral History, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, treaties, Umpqua Valley8 Comments

War on the Umpqua Tribes and Removal to the Umpqua Reserves

David G. Lewis, PhD

Much has been written and published of the Rogue River, Modoc, and Yakima Wars in the Oregon Territory. These wars were, by-and-large, reactions of the tribes to extreme attacks on their land, and their survival.  There were a number of other such conflicts that did not reach the status of war for historians. In the Umpqua Valley there is such a history of attacks on the tribes. In 1855, within the Umpqua Valley was the Umpqua Reservation, at the forks of Calapooia Creek and the Umpqua. The reserve was thought to be created in the Treaty of the Cow Creek … Continue reading War on the Umpqua Tribes and Removal to the Umpqua Reserves

columbia river, coos bay, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Kalapuya, Native Issues, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, treaties, Willamette Valley3 Comments

Rejection of the Nineteen 1851 Oregon Treaties

David G. Lewis, PhD

Anson Dart, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon, from 1850 to 1852, remains an enigma. His nineteen treaties with the tribes of western Oregon, negotiated by the Willamette Valley Commission, all failed to be ratified. Because of the lack … Continue reading Rejection of the Nineteen 1851 Oregon Treaties