Leonard White was a steamboat captain that began his career in early Oregon at Salem. White was born in Indiana in 1827 and came to Oregon Territory in 1843 with his father James and mother. They took a 640 acre … Continue reading Origins of the Willamette Valley Treaty Map of 1851
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 annually, but that things like food and services were not consistently provided due to transportation problems from the east coast and federal malfeasance. Many Tribal members died in the first few years, as a result of starvation, malnutrition and illnesses from having been exposed to … Continue reading Did The Grand Ronde Tribes Get Paid for all Their Ceded Lands?
Years ago my research on the records on the tribes revealed to me that George Gibbs was a significant part of the history of the tribes at the time of the treaties. An early ethnographer and Chinuk Wawa speaker and a translator for both the Oregon and California treaty commissions, he was highly influential in his time. At one point in my research, I encountered some language texts he collected in Northern California. They were full of Chinuk wawa (Chinook Jargon) even though they were labeled Athapaskan. I wonder if he did not use Chinuk Wawa when speaking with the … Continue reading George Gibbs and Chinuk Wawa 1851