Causes of the 1853 Rogue River War

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

Treaty with the Umpqua – Cow Creek Band, Negotiated September 19, 1853, Ratified April 12, 1854

  The Treaty with the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua is the first treaty in Oregon to be negotiated and ratified. The treaty establishes the Umpqua Reservation for the Cow Creek tribes. This reservation eventually became the temporary reservation for the Yoncalla Kalapuyans, Umpqua Tribes (upper Umpqua River), and the southern Molallans. Records from Douglas County Museum suggest that the settlers were not happy with this reservation in the western section of the Umpqua Valley. It contained many valuable pieces of property and vast stands of forest-lands desired by the settlers for building materials. Settlers from Roseburg and other smaller … Continue reading Treaty with the Umpqua – Cow Creek Band, Negotiated September 19, 1853, Ratified April 12, 1854