Tag: Elijah White

assimilation, colonization, General History, Oregon indiansLeave a comment

Elijah White Romanticizes Oregon Tribal Peoples

David G. Lewis, PhD

Dr. Elijah White was a missionary and the first Indian sub-Agent of the Oregon territory. He was then (1837) part of Jason Lee’s Methodist Mission but had a falling out with Lee and left Oregon for the east. White returned in 1842 leading the first wagon train on the Oregon Trail. He was then appointed by the War Department to be a sub-Indian agent of the Oregon Territory. The Indian Office was transferred to the Department of the Interior in 1848 which caused a change in policy regarding the tribes. No longer were they first to be treated as an … Continue reading Elijah White Romanticizes Oregon Tribal Peoples

California Natives, eastern oregon, General History, Oregon indians1 Comment

The Grand Enterprise of Six Tribes in 1845

David G. Lewis, PhD

In 1845, before the waves of settlers had come to the Oregon Territory, a confederation of six Oregon tribes worked together to begin to expand their resources and wealth. The “Kayuse, Wallawalla, Spokans, Nes Perces, Ponderays and Snakes” sought to create vast cattle ranches in their territories. Dr. Elijah White (Indian agent) reported the happenings of their grand enterprise to buy cattle in California from the Spaniards and drive them back to Oregon.

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