Category: Oral History

General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Native Issues, Oral History, Oregon indiansLeave a comment

John Wacheno on Fishing Rights and Land Inheritance, 1931

David G. Lewis, PhD

In 1931, John Wacheno of Grand Ronde testified before a subcommittee from the Committee of Indian Affairs at Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon. The subcommittee is investigating conditions of the tribes and calls Wacheno late in the day. The two previous witnesses were Mrs. Sam Riggs from Grand Ronde and a witness from the Klamath tribe, a Mr. Meekham. Wacheno’s first concern is that the Natives at the Grand Ronde Reservation are not allowed to fish on the reservation. At least one boy was arrested by the state officers but apparently was not charged. This situation is quite odd … Continue reading John Wacheno on Fishing Rights and Land Inheritance, 1931

colonization, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Kalapuya, Oral History, Oregon indians, Willamette Valley1 Comment

The Cabbage Head Decoy and other Linn County stories of the Kalapuyans

David G. Lewis, PhD

Fear of the Kalapuyans Fearing of “Indians” in the 1850s in Oregon was a real and powerful thing among the white settlers. tribal people did not live like white people, dd not obey the laws of the United States and seemed to have their own harsh forms of justice. As such the humanity of the tribes was severely questioned and dismissed in numerous settler narratives of the region. Settlers and other used stereotypical characterizations fo the savage and heathen tribes to revalue and dehumanize them. once sufficiently dehumanized, tribes could then be destroyed and removed from the path of American … Continue reading The Cabbage Head Decoy and other Linn County stories of the Kalapuyans

General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Native Issues, Oral History, Oregon indians, Umpqua ValleyLeave a comment

Umpqua Valley Settlers Murder Klikitat Farmers: Dick Johnson’s Family Story, by Sallie Applegate Long

David G. Lewis, PhD

The story of the Dick Johnson and Old Mummy murders of 1858, was of well known Klikitat settlers in that period. None less than the prominent and politically powerful Applegate Family who lived in Yoncalla, Oregon, were their friends and neighbors and tried to help Dick and his extended family of in-laws maintain their settlement in the Umpqua Valley. Letters from Jesse Applegate in this era were received by Territorial politicians and the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, James W. Nesmith, first to help the family secure their land in the Umpqua Valley, then to help stave off the impending attacks … Continue reading Umpqua Valley Settlers Murder Klikitat Farmers: Dick Johnson’s Family Story, by Sallie Applegate Long

Anthropology, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oral HistoryLeave a comment

Indifference to the Needs of the Tribes: Testimony of William Miller, Physician at Grand Ronde, 1862

David G. Lewis, PhD

In 1862, there remained many problems at the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation. Problems of food and shelter, medicine and education where not solved yet. The seven treaties of western Oregon were ratified by 1856 (Molalla treaty is an outlier at 1859), and they all promised services for the tribes who removed, including education, food, shelter, and other services. In fact, the ratification of the treaties provided directed funds for just these purposes. Education had its own line item in the annual budgets for each treaty. Yet the Agents at the reservation were unable to get a school or adequate medical … Continue reading Indifference to the Needs of the Tribes: Testimony of William Miller, Physician at Grand Ronde, 1862

General History, Oral History, Oregon indians, trade, Willamette Valley3 Comments

The Mills, Second Buildings at Chemeketa-Salem

David G. Lewis, PhD

In the earliest lore of the City of Salem, the location was an Indian village named Chemeketa, next to Chemeketa Creek. Before this village was known by Americans, by this name, in 1812, William Wallace and others of the Pacific Fur Traders built a trading post just north of the village of Chemeketa which they called Wallace house. The fur trading post allowed the fur traders to trade furs from local tribes, trap the area about the fort, and hunt about the fort for deer and elk to be taken by canoe to Astoria. The other fur traders at Astoria, … Continue reading The Mills, Second Buildings at Chemeketa-Salem