Category: treaties

California Natives, colonization, General History, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, treatiesLeave a comment

Causes of the 1853 Rogue River War

David G. Lewis, PhD

The first Rogue River War was a series of skirmishes and battles between mainly gold miners and the tribes. The miners had no regard for the tribes and tended to treat them badly. Some miners, the worst of the bunch, would murder native men on sight and take native women to rape them. It’s very hard to find the ultimate beginning of the conflicts, but it likely resides in the treatment of the tribes, and the histories from the 1840s of white encroachment into the region seeking gold riches. Other white men established settlements on the coast in both California … Continue reading Causes of the 1853 Rogue River War

colonization, eastern oregon, General History, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, treaties1 Comment

Major Benjamin Alvord discusses Eastern Oregon Settlement, 1853

David G. Lewis, PhD

In 1853, the former Superintendent of Indian Affairs of Oregon Anson Dart had been forced to resign as none of his nineteen treaties with the tribes were ratified. Joel Palmer took this position in late May. Palmer was already a well-healed politician, and probably knew most people in Oregon at the time, and had previously had many dealings with the tribes. In the summer of 1853 Palmer was engaged with trying to get a  handle on the many issues with the tribes, mainly those in Southern Oregon captivated his attention. The months before his appointment the US Army was the … Continue reading Major Benjamin Alvord discusses Eastern Oregon Settlement, 1853

Anthropology, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon indians, Siletz Reservation, Termination, treatiesLeave a comment

John Collier and Indian Termination Policy

David G. Lewis, PhD

As Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier was a long-term advocate for Indian tribes. In the 1920s, John Collier, a trained sociologist, led efforts in Washington, D.C. to repeal the Dawes Indian Allotment Act (1887) and its overt attempt to assimilate Indians. John Collier was very critical of the Indian Office and in 1928 wrote the Meriam Report, published as, “The Problem of Indian Administration” with the support of Congress. In 1962, John Collier had this to say about his earlier understandings of Indian society. “In those years, I still took for granted our modern fatalism: that the Indian’s spirit, … Continue reading John Collier and Indian Termination Policy

General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, Siletz Reservation, treaties, Washington TerritoryLeave a comment

J. Ross Browne Investigation as Reported to the SF Herald, 1857

David G. Lewis, PhD

Special Indian Agent J. Ross Browne famously came to the Northwest reservations in 1857 and wrote reports of the conditions of the tribes on the reservations. The following appears to be the results of Browne speaking with a reporter in San Francisco for the Herald in October 1857. Revealed are additional details of the reservations and his interactions with tribes and tribal chiefs, with whom he held councils with. Sacramento Daily Union October 16, 1857 INDIAN AFFAIRS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON TERRITORIES. Our readers will be interested in a perusal of the following account of the present condition of the … Continue reading J. Ross Browne Investigation as Reported to the SF Herald, 1857

colonization, columbia river, General History, Native Issues, Oregon indians, treaties1 Comment

Blanchet’s Mission to the Cascades, 1841

David G. Lewis, PhD

Blanchet’s mission to the Cascades is perhaps his first visit to this location. His interactions with Tamakoun, also later called Tomaquin, are quite revealing of the tribe and its divisions. The notation about villages on the two banks suggests a different leadership and some division in the tribe. Tamakoun does not suggest that the attentions of the Methodists or the Catholics are in any way undesirable only that there is a difference, yet he had become coverted to Catholic by this account. It is in this location that Blanchet’s ethnographic notes really show the tribal culture. His notes about the … Continue reading Blanchet’s Mission to the Cascades, 1841