Robert Shortess married a Clatsop woman in the late 1840s in Astoria, Oregon. He had arrived in Oregon in 1839 and was active around the Willamette Valley for a few years and then settled at Astoria by 1844. He took up a land claim just south of Tongue Point along the waters edge and it … More Lower Chinook Vocabulary by Robert Shortess, 1853
Robert Shortess was an early pioneer settler and Indian agent on the Columbia River. He is drawn to Oregon after witnessing a speech given by Jason Lee who is on a tour of the east working to get more white men and women to come to the Willamette Valley. He leaves Missouri in 1839, and … More Robert Shortess On the Columbia
Between 1853 and 1855 the federal government negotiated treaties with the Tribes who came to the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation. These tribes were promised what amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars in money, services, security and a permanent reservation forever. I have already established in other essays that the tribes were not correctly paid … More Did The Grand Ronde Tribes Get Paid for all Their Ceded Lands?
We know that Native stories, what we call oral history now, were history of our lands and peoples. Many were also teaching lessons for children. Their parents and elders in the tribes would set aside time in the winter time, usually at night to tell stories land, how it was formed, the strange animals, the … More Our World is Created by Monsters
Anson Dart’s Report of November 7, 1851, Transferring 13 Treaties to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs: Annotated with Contextual Comments Here begin the full text of the Report of Anson Dart. I have worked to include every word transcribed, there is nothing left out of the original letter. The report is amazing for its time … More Anson Dart’s Report of November 7, 1851: Contextualized
