Treaty with the Chasta, Negotiated November 18, 1854, Ratified March 3, 1855

The Treaty with the Chasta was signed on November 18, 1854, ceding a good portion of the Illinois and Rogue River areas, west of the Rogue Valley, to the United States. The Chasta, or Chasta Costa, were athabaskan speakers, like the Tututni, Upper Umpqua, and Tolowa Deeni peoples of the region. The Athapaskans are theorized to have been one of the more recent migrations into the area, perhaps 1200 years previously. Tolowa Deeni oral history suggests they migrated with canoes from the frozen north, landed at Yontocket (Burnt Ranch) a village site just south of the Smith River in Northern … Continue reading Treaty with the Chasta, Negotiated November 18, 1854, Ratified March 3, 1855